Season one group rewatch: "The Colonel"

[jae]

This is the discussion post for "The Colonel" (episode #13, the season finale) in the group rewatch of season one. When you rewatched the episode, was there anything you noticed that you didn't notice the first time (and any subsequent times) you saw it? What things about it did you perhaps view differently after having seen the later episodes?

You can expect spoilers for the entire first season in the comments. Feel free to join in even if you didn't get a chance to watch the episodes that preceded it!

Comments

[wendelah1]

Finally I get to participate because I saved this episode from last spring on my DVR. Unfortunately, I don't think I have any great insights.

The episode functions to recap where each character, each relationship has ended up, and to set the scene for the next season. (See, very insightful...)

I couldn't remember if the Colonel was based on a real person. It sounds right but I couldn't verify it. Everything he said about the Star Wars program was true. The science was a fairy tale. While President Reagan may not have intended to bring down the Soviet Union by forcing massive military spending, that may have been one of the factors.

Given that the person who recruited the Colonel is now in Federal custody, shouldn't Philip or Claudia have told him that? I'm sure he'll end up in a military prison even though he didn't actually give away anything of consequence--since there wasn't anything to give.

Elizabeth's meeting with Claudia had some interesting lines, which I'm paraphrasing to the best of my ability.

"I know you better than you know yourself and you don't know me at all." I think that was meant to set up the scene where Claudia murders the man she believes responsible for Zukov's death. Claudia sees herself as a better agent than Elizabeth, and a more loyal friend to Zukov since Claudia's plan succeeded where Elizabeth failed. Claudia has access to Elizabeth's entire file. Elizabeth knows only what Claudia wants her to know. I think ordering the eggs florentine for Elizabeth was meant to be a tiny demonstration--See, I even remember what you ordered the last time we met here.

"They're in danger of losing you." "You've been in the field too long." So are we to take it that Claudia thinks Elizabeth should be pulled out of the field? What has changed in Elizabeth to make Claudia believe that? Is it her growing attachment to Philip? Her feelings for her children? Her loss of control?

I think Claudia might be correct. Elizabeth's feelings for her family, especially her children, are a vulnerability. The person Elizabeth loved most in the world was her mother. She listened to that tape to strengthen her resolve. Her mother. Her mother country. This is why I'm here, to protect them, the way they protected me. And now Elizabeth's a mother. The center never should have had Elizabeth have children of her own. It's changing her.

Philip. His biggest vulnerability is his feelings for Elizabeth, which have only gotten stronger since the separation. He told her that he wanted to do the meeting with the colonel because of the children. The children need you. You're their mother. And maybe he half believes that. But if his first loyalty was to his children, he would have done as Claudia suggested and gone home to them, left Elizabeth in the safehouse. (A very crummy safehouse, by the way, to bring a woman who suffered a gunshot to the abdomen.) He didn't follow the Center's orders because he wanted to protect her. If he wanted to protect his children, as soon as he found out the car pickup was the setup, he should have rushed home to collect Paige and Henry and headed for Canada. Instead, he drove like a madman to try to save her.

If the Center had any sense, they'd pull them both out of the field but then we wouldn't have a second season.

Arkady Ivanovich should be in a strengthened position. He listened to Claudia, made the right call, and sent the abort signal, thereby saving his illegals. Claudia should be, too, since it was her advice to abort. But the Center is staffed with at least some people who make bad decisions, so who knows what will happen.

Only one thing has changed for Stan Beeman, and he doesn't know it. He's still estranged from his family. He's still chasing his tail at work, trying to find Elizabeth and Philip, the people he believes are responsible for his friend's death, etc. The big operation went south because his forced recruit, Nina, turned on him. He's developed feelings for her and she's his weakness now. She's working him now. Maybe she's been working him all along.

Martha Hanson. How could she be so blind? She's got to figure out that that bug she planted is giving information to the enemy. This is just speculation obviously but I think she's toast next season. Philip will kill her if he thinks she's getting suspicious.

Paige. I think the scene where she goes down to the basement to take a look around is to let us know that she's suspicious. Something is not right with her family. I think she's been thinking about that for awhile. That scene where she confronts her mother about the laundry told us that. "What are you doing?" Exactly. Philip's decision to send his kids to the Beeman's instead of going home is going to have repercussions.

I can't wait for next season!

[jae]

Great to see you in the discussion!

The center never should have had Elizabeth have children of her own. It's changing her.

I've wondered about this too. In real life there were illegals who didn't have kids (though there were of course some who did too). I imagine that they must have discussed that; weighed the pros and the cons.

So are we to take it that Claudia thinks Elizabeth should be pulled out of the field? What has changed in Elizabeth to make Claudia believe that? Is it her growing attachment to Philip? Her feelings for her children? Her loss of control?

I can't imagine she wants Elizabeth pulled out entirely; she's too good, and they've made too much of an investment in her. Maybe given a vacation (and some reeducation). I think the fact that she's shown herself to be someone who could fall in love with Philip makes Claudia suspicious, certainly. And the way the thing with Patterson went down must have made Claudia go "whoa, hold on."

Philip. His biggest vulnerability is his feelings for Elizabeth, which have only gotten stronger since the separation. He told her that he wanted to do the meeting with the colonel because of the children. The children need you. You're their mother. And maybe he half believes that.

I think you're exactly right about this, but I do think that he's not just deceiving himself about the role the children play in this, either. My read is that becoming parents sort of originally sealed the deal on his burgeoning feelings for Elizabeth, back in the day, so it's all sort of one big blob of an Achilles heel for him. Look at the pilot, where he avenges Paige's honour in very much the same irrational way that he wants to defend Elizabeth later, in "COMINT."

But the Center is staffed with at least some people who make bad decisions, so who knows what will happen.

Absolutely. But the Center are people who are following orders from people very high up the food chain who may or may not have any idea about spywork. It must make them feel conflicted all the time.

The big operation went south because his forced recruit, Nina, turned on him. He's developed feelings for her and she's his weakness now. She's working him now. Maybe she's been working him all along.

I think they were both working each other all along, but you're right--by the end Nina definitely has the upper hand.

-J

[sistermagpie]

I think they were both working each other all along, but you're right--by the end Nina definitely has the upper hand.

Which is probably why there's that scene with Sandra. Stan's making a half-assed attempt to save himself by making things up with his wife but it's not that easy and he turns back to the relationship he thinks he has with "easier" Nina.

I think you're exactly right about this, but I do think that he's not just deceiving himself about the role the children play in this, either. My read is that becoming parents sort of originally sealed the deal on his burgeoning feelings for Elizabeth, back in the day, so it's all sort of one big blob of an Achilles heel for him. Look at the pilot, where he avenges Paige's honour in very much the same irrational way that he wants to defend Elizabeth later, in "COMINT."

Yes, for me the important point here is that he doesn't separate the kids from Elizabeth. Because if he had to sit down and really assess the dangers, it would make sense to save the kids first even if the danger to them seemed less pressing. But his instinct is, of course, to save Elizabeth in hopes of saving all of them. I think he'd do exactly the same thing if Paige was in danger in such a way that he'd risk his cover or whatever to save her, but his actions here and in the pilot show that when he says "family comes first" he doesn't necessarily mean the children come before everything. Whoever is in the most danger at that moment is the priority.

[katiac]

I think you're exactly right about this, but I do think that he's not just deceiving himself about the role the children play in this, either. My read is that becoming parents sort of originally sealed the deal on his burgeoning feelings for Elizabeth, back in the day, so it's all sort of one big blob of an Achilles heel for him.

And really, this is one of the only "real" things about their lives that grounds them and can't be taken away. For someone like Philip who can be such a slippery personality, having something that roots him (to use Elizabeth's great choice of words) would be a huge draw.

The center never should have had Elizabeth have children of her own. It's changing her.

I've wondered about this too. In real life there were illegals who didn't have kids (though there were of course some who did too). I imagine that they must have discussed that; weighed the pros and the cons.

It's such a great scenario to have them have kids because on the one hand, who knows how much earlier someone might've gotten suspicious of them if not for the presence of kids continually working in their favor to present an image that was the opposite of "spies" in their minds? But on the other, it's a risk to bank on the idea they won't get attached to their kids and bond as a family. Sure, some people don't, but most do.

[sistermagpie]

They probably tried it differently with different people. Robert doesn't have kids, so they did have some agents working alone. I wonder if they thought Elizabeth was one of the better candidates for being able to handle the division of loyalty, with Philip there to smooth things with his manipulations.

[treonb]

Except that Robert did have a kid, a secret family.

Which makes me wonder if the KGB expectations from people to completely devote their lives and give up a family wasn't too much.

[sistermagpie]

Oh right, but I meant that was his own thing. As far as the KGB knew he was living as a single man, so they must have put agents in different living situations that would have different advantages. For Robert the pressure of living completely alone seemed to be too much--I'd guess the KGB totally did expect him to just be "married" to the KGB, unless they ordered him to get into a Martha-type marriage, for instance.

[katiac]

"They're in danger of losing you." "You've been in the field too long." So are we to take it that Claudia thinks Elizabeth should be pulled out of the field? What has changed in Elizabeth to make Claudia believe that? Is it her growing attachment to Philip? Her feelings for her children? Her loss of control?

I can see why she would. Elizabeth has proven a good agent, but in the past few months she's become a loose cannon. She beat up Claudia for merely following orders, which is unthinkable from the purist KGB perspective. She's getting cozy with her assigned partner. She had a failed mission with the assassin (from their POV.) She showed completely flawed judgment and no perspective with the Gregory situation and then directly defied orders. She was out of control with the Patterson situation and again defied orders. Elizabeth would have to majorly be on their radar at that point, and because of her, probably Philip too.

Martha Hanson. How could she be so blind? She's got to figure out that that bug she planted is giving information to the enemy. This is just speculation obviously but I think she's toast next season. Philip will kill her if he thinks she's getting suspicious.

I know, right? It's such a great demonstration of watching Philip slowly work her that he's now got her planting bugs and thinking everything is just grand for their future. I suspect/hope she gets killed in the end too, both because the character doesn't do much for me and also because I find it fascinating to watch the details of how they actually carry out these things from start to finish, and the effect it will have on Philip if he has to kill her. Like you have to assume they've had lots of "Marthas" in the past, so how does he typically extricate himself?

[treonb]

Everything he said about the Star Wars program was true.

Except for saying it's technology 50 years in the future ;-) I think we have very similar capabilities now.

Maybe she's been working him all along.

I can see it either way. She has the cunning and ability and I can see her turning Stan.