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

[jae]

I think I'd seen this twice, but I'd seen the final ten minutes or so several more times than that. There were still a few new things it occurs to me to say, though, even so! :)

• Claudia to Elizabeth: "you don't know me at all." She's right about a lot of the things she says to Elizabeth in that initial speech, but nothing more than that.

• I have to say, I'm still with Elizabeth on which one of them should stay with the kids if the worst were to come. I think either of them could single-parent them if they had to, but Philip would do a much better job explaining to them the kinds of things that would need to be explained to them in a situation like that. And would there ever be explaining to do!

• Arkady must see Nina as very promising to have stuck his neck out for her like that. (The fact that he gives her that chance--and convinces Moscow to go along with it--is actually just shy of believable, but I can still believe it if I squint.)

• Elizabeth is still angry with Philip (on several levels), but she still invites him to stay. She doesn't begrudge him what could potentially be their last evening together as a family. (Which also suggests that even though she and Philip are broken up at this point, she still sees them as an intact family.)

• The "letter from Nadya's mother" thing is unfortunately totally unrealistic--the parents of real-life illegals were never actually told that their kids were illegals and tended to be told that their children were on missions in Outer Mongolia and unreachable or stuff like that. But you know what? I don't even care! That scene just kills me. It tells us so many little subtle things about both Elizabeth and her relationship with her mother.

• I love love love the "Paige starts to suspect something is up" plotline, and can't wait to see where they take that in season two.

• Also? Philip putting Elizabeth in danger at the very time that he's trying to secretly manipulate things to keep her out of danger is both fascinating and horrifying. He must have been so devastated when he realized!

• I also love that it was Nina who saved Elizabeth. Even though they've never even met!

• The first time I saw this episode, I actually rolled my eyes a little at the big FBI/KGB confrontation scene. I thought: "Come on, really, a car chase? And everybody gets away unscathed? This show is better than those kinds of action clichés!" But then came the twist: Elizabeth was actually hit, and Philip is left to improvise in order to clean up the mess. Which he does, but of course there are still consequences. I still feel guilty for underestimating my show like that, but man, did the surprise factor ever make watching it the first time more intense!

• Philip being forced by scarce resources to help operate on Elizabeth just breaks my heart. But I have to say: there is no scene in all thirteen episodes of the first season that makes me love Philip more than the one where he's calling up the man who just shot the woman he loves and asking him to watch his kids. That sums up his character so well. He has no hard feelings toward Stan: he was just doing his job and staying true to his American self.

• Also, how much do I love Elizabeth for speaking Russian to him??? THIS MUCH. That says so much more than just the actual words she said, you know?

• And this isn't a new observation, but COULD I LOVE THE WRITERS MORE for using "Games Without Frontiers"??? I think not.

(Sorry for all the all-caps. It's just...this EPISODE. GAH.)

[sistermagpie]

• I have to say, I'm still with Elizabeth on which one of them should stay with the kids if the worst were to come. I think either of them could single-parent them if they had to, but Philip would do a much better job explaining to them the kinds of things that would need to be explained to them in a situation like that. And would there ever be explaining to do!

Agreed, and I thought about this in a new light after reading wendelah's post. He's essentially giving the kids to Elizabeth, imo, more than making a true considered decision that the kids would be better with her. He's basically telling her that he believes in her and she shouldn't sell herself short as a parent, knowing that he's going to sacrifice himself. (Or at least thinks he knows he's going to sacrifice himself.)

I do love how easy it is to believe that Philip would trust Stan with the kids.

Elizabeth speaking Russian is easily one of my favorite moments in the series. I'll never forget how to say "Come home" in Russian now. (Though apparently she's literally saying something more like "Come back to us.")

[treonb]

is actually just shy of believable, but I can still believe it if I squint.

I don't know.. they have an agent who's trusted by the FBI. That's quite an asset. A dangerous asset that should be handled carefully, but still an asset.

Philip putting Elizabeth in danger at the very time that he's trying to secretly manipulate things to keep her out of danger

What I love about this is that we know all along. It was heartbreaking.

[jae]

I don't know.. they have an agent who's trusted by the FBI. That's quite an asset.

That's true, of course. And the Powers that Be in the Soviet Union (not just in the KGB, but the party and the government) were so paranoid and knee-jerk about so many things, but maybe the KGB highers-up just...decided not to pass this one on. ;)

What I love about this is that we know all along. It was heartbreaking.

I know, right? I love it because it's not just about the suspense and the action that way, so you're not just worried "is she going to be caught???" but you're also realizing what the way it went down means for the two of them.

-J