Question of the week #24

[treonb]

Now that Claudia has been reassigned:

Who would you like to see as Claudia's replacement in Season 2?

You can expect spoilers for the entire first season in the comments.

(There's no expiration date on these questions, so if you're reading this post months later and feel like jumping in, please do.)

Comments

[sistermagpie]

My first choice as replacement would be...Claudia!

But if it can't be her, let's see. Whoever their handler is is always a good opportunity to bring out things in the characters, so it probably comes down to what they're doing in the season. Claudia was sort of who Elizabeth would have been/would be if she rejected everything Philip had to teach her, so she was a great influence on the marriage story.

I don't think they'd do (or should do) just the opposite with somebody like that for Philip. If the theme this season is Paige and her parents, it should probably be somebody who brings a pov that says something about that.

Like, if the handler in some ways considers him/herself Philip and Elizabeth's guardian (like a parent) s/he could come with a lot of secrets that make them nervous, but ultimately aren't hostile to them, necessarily. Like Grannie was ultimately protective of them. So the new person might be hard to pin down, or make decisions without being willing to talk about them.

As to what they'd be representing in terms of the USSR, that would probably come into it too. We know there's conflict in Moscow, so this person might represent one side or the other, or s/he might be running interference, trying to make decisions that will benefit P/E even if it means not following orders from Moscow. (Hmm...now s/he is sounding more like Philip where Grannie was like Elizabeth.)

It might actually be very interesting if this person disapproved of the whole family idea too, like if they considered the children a danger that needed to be closely watched and controlled rather than a benefit that made them fit in. We don't know if there's any way the handler would be aware of Paige's investigations, but if she is investigating the handler might become aware and pressure them to control her. Hell, they might even come into contact with her (Grannie did meet Paige that time in the diner) and set up their own creepy watch, pretending to be friendly.

[jae]

I loved Claudia as their handler, but I have faith that they could actually make this work for them even better than the old scenario did. It's clear that Margo Martindale wants to keep up her relationship to the show, but presuming the role of the handler should be someone who can be available more often than someone with a full-time job on another show, what if rather than reprimanding Claudia, the KGB were to promote her to a recurring role with even more ultimate power over our favourite illegals? That could be really fascinating.

As for Claudia's replacement, I think it might be interesting to pick someone who's very different from Claudia in some key ways. Which ways doesn't particularly matter, just something that showcases some other aspect of the inherent tension in the handler/spy relationship.

-J

[treonb]

I'd also go for somebody who would cause tension - though I'm not sure what's best: tension between Philip and Elizabeth or tension between them and the handler.

Also, I'd like to see somebody really new to the job. I guess as a contra to the very experienced Claudia.

[treonb]

Hell, they might even come into contact with her (Grannie did meet Paige that time in the diner) and set up their own creepy watch, pretending to be friendly.

Cool idea! They might even do that just to get a feel for what Philip and Elizabeth think.

[jae]

That's sort of where my train of thought was going too--it would be interesting to see how they would cope with someone who was quite young for that line of work, for example.

-J

[katiac]

I love the idea of it potentially fitting in with the family theme, and I think it seems smart that they would help it tie in from multiple fronts. One interesting thought that keeps coming up is how there's really so many sides P/E can feel "attacked" from on the kid issue. Like it's a threat that Paige might discover what they're up to, both the personal threat of how she'd feel towards them, and the danger that then someone who hasn't agreed to keep the secret, knows the secret. And of course, the Centre isn't going to really care about the first reason, but would be highly freaked out about the second, much more so than P/E who are likely to have a more balanced position out of loving Paige.

And so it leads me to wonder, how are P/E going to react to Paige getting suspicious? Do they let Moscow know at all in the interests of not getting pushed to do things that might set her off? Would Moscow want them to recruit her? Would they send someone to watch her like you suggested? It could be very interesting if pressure started to be applied in a variety of ways.

[sistermagpie]

I suspect they wouldn't want to let Moscow know at all, and that they'd see it as a danger to Paige first and a danger to themselves second. Moscow might potentially want to recruit a kid of illegals, but I don't think the Jennings themselves would want that for her at all, especially Elizabeth. I mean, she'd love the idea, but not if it involves Paige learning about her etc. I think they'd feel totally trapped, trying to protect Paige from herself without being able to explain it to her.

[katiac]

It's such an interesting conundrum, isn't it? Because Elizabeth feels unable to connect with Paige because Paige can't know/understand the real her, versus the connection Elizabeth had with her own mother which was so strong and honest, but on the flip side, Elizabeth is the one most adamant that the kids never be told and therefore never have any possibility of following in her footsteps. In a way, she's kind of wanting Paige close but pushing her away before she can get TOO close much the same way she did in romantic relationships.