Like seemingly everyone else, I LOVED THAT EPISODE. Wow. That was gorgeously done. I loved that we got a swap of the way around analysis has usually talked about Philip and Elizabeth: here we got Philip associated with the Soviet stuff, and Elizabeth with the American stuff. I love how that says they're both fundamentally conflicted, fundamentally multi-faceted, in their responses to these issues. Philip is more open to seeing the good in American culture, but he's still Soviet born and bred, he was the boy who played with icicles. Elizabeth is very consciously and deliberately Soviet in her approach, but she has an American daughter she loves and she can go and have stereotypically American girly nights drinking wine and talking about sex, and she can meet a nice American man and talk to him in a way that is at least partly honest. It was fantastic.
Other things:
I loved the actual spy plot this week even more than usual. My heart broke for that poor scientist. He just wanted a life, his own life of his own choosing, with his family. God. I loved the note of ambiguity brought by the radio broadcast - we ARE suppposed to think Arkady managed to wrangle a deal about the scientist for the refuseniks, somehow, right? - and how that didn't make it okay when the guy woke up and realised he was on the ship. And keeping the anti-semitism there, making it so clear WHY a guy who could otherwise have done reasonably well for himself WITHOUT risking everything fleeing to another country, would do that. So well done.
JENNIFER MEETS MARTHA omfg I have an embarrassment squick and I seriously had to keep stopping the show during that scene to shriek. OMG EEEEEEEK. I also had Jae's question of "how on earth is Elizabeth not falling over drunk?" I think probably Elizabeth was not drinking as much as she was pretending to, while giving Martha as much booze as possible, but the idea of Elizabeth, like, training on shots of vodka did occur to me.
(Also: when Martha wakes up, really, I feel like her first question should be WHAT KIND OF CREEPY SISTER ACTUALLY ASKS THAT QUESTION ABOUT HER BROTHER?! But I doubt she will. :) Luckily for everyone! And it does seem that the application form bullet has been dodged for now....)
I love that we got so much functional detail on how spy things work in this episode - the guy picking up Philip's messages and sending Elizabeth a warning, the multi-car tail of Oleg co-ordinated by walkie-talkie things. (Note my fearsome grasp of the correct terminology. :P ) We even got a note on how they might deal with people they're holding on to needing the toilet! Which, ok, wasn't all that great for anyone concerned, but it's the sort of sense of realism I love. I believe that people live in the world they're showing: real people, with bodily functions and thoughts and lives and sudden cravings for chips at two in in the morning.
(related to THAT, Philip's face when Elizabeth tells him Clark's got a lot of explaining to do was perfection. I have made that face. Usually it means it's four o'clock on a Friday and I skipped lunch and I've just been told about some big new piece of work I need to do, or something. That is "Oh god okay fine it's my job but not right now because I cannot, I am DONE" face.)
I don't quite know how literally I take Philip's not remembering the icicles and then remembering later... It did seem like he wasn't exactly lying, but I was thinking maybe it was more of a "I can't let myself remember that right now so I'm going to say I don't instinctively to protect myself" thing? But I do think that however that works for him, he looks to Elizabeth to keep the different sides of him together. And owwwww my heaaaaaaaaaaart.
(Also, my episode ended on Paige calling "mom? dad?" and I love that. Because it's true: the fact of their being parents, of having created these whole new people together, IS what draws all those opposing factions in their lives together. Everything else is up to debate, is nebulous - "your face is not your face" - but their kids ARE their kids.)
I love Paige's conversation with Elizabeth so much. it breaks my heart. they both LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH, but that doesn't actually mean they can magically communicate. I think they both got that the other cares, though, mostly. And I don't think Elizabeth got until right that second that Paige being suspicious means Paige feels like something is WEIRD AND WRONG. Because to her, suspicion means they have thought that I may be KGB suspicion, not I live in a house where weird shit is going on and I don't understand. Gaaaah. (Also, Elizabeth, Paige's point was kind of proved by the way that A PHONE RINGING was a massively weird jarring event in your house. Omg.)
I am loving to hate Oleg right now! And I am wondering... did he really "spot" the tail? Or is something else going on? Nina mentioning Oleg specifically could just be her keeping Stan in information, but I wonder. Multi-car/multi-people tails are supposed to be REALLY difficult to spot, even if you know to look. Especially while they were still in a populated area. I don't think Nina knew Oleg would try to play Stan that way (DUDE I THINK THAT IS A BAD, BAD CALL AND OMFG DON'T YOU DARE PUT NINA IN ANY MORE DANGER THAN SHE ALREADY IS, OMFG), but I wondered... could she have mentioned him hoping that the FBI would get to him and maybe make him a hindrance? Like, if she made him interesting enough to the FBI maybe he'd get sent back to Russia? It did smash cut right after Oleg asked "what's really going on here?", but presumably Nina must have answered...
I flailed at the mention of Arpanet, partly because I know at least one other person watching would too, and partly because I am so excited for what it might mean plot-wise!
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-03-27 09:16 pm (UTC)Other things:
I loved the actual spy plot this week even more than usual. My heart broke for that poor scientist. He just wanted a life, his own life of his own choosing, with his family. God. I loved the note of ambiguity brought by the radio broadcast - we ARE suppposed to think Arkady managed to wrangle a deal about the scientist for the refuseniks, somehow, right? - and how that didn't make it okay when the guy woke up and realised he was on the ship. And keeping the anti-semitism there, making it so clear WHY a guy who could otherwise have done reasonably well for himself WITHOUT risking everything fleeing to another country, would do that. So well done.
JENNIFER MEETS MARTHA omfg I have an embarrassment squick and I seriously had to keep stopping the show during that scene to shriek. OMG EEEEEEEK. I also had Jae's question of "how on earth is Elizabeth not falling over drunk?" I think probably Elizabeth was not drinking as much as she was pretending to, while giving Martha as much booze as possible, but the idea of Elizabeth, like, training on shots of vodka did occur to me.
(Also: when Martha wakes up, really, I feel like her first question should be WHAT KIND OF CREEPY SISTER ACTUALLY ASKS THAT QUESTION ABOUT HER BROTHER?! But I doubt she will. :) Luckily for everyone! And it does seem that the application form bullet has been dodged for now....)
I love that we got so much functional detail on how spy things work in this episode - the guy picking up Philip's messages and sending Elizabeth a warning, the multi-car tail of Oleg co-ordinated by walkie-talkie things. (Note my fearsome grasp of the correct terminology. :P ) We even got a note on how they might deal with people they're holding on to needing the toilet! Which, ok, wasn't all that great for anyone concerned, but it's the sort of sense of realism I love. I believe that people live in the world they're showing: real people, with bodily functions and thoughts and lives and sudden cravings for chips at two in in the morning.
(related to THAT, Philip's face when Elizabeth tells him Clark's got a lot of explaining to do was perfection. I have made that face. Usually it means it's four o'clock on a Friday and I skipped lunch and I've just been told about some big new piece of work I need to do, or something. That is "Oh god okay fine it's my job but not right now because I cannot, I am DONE" face.)
I don't quite know how literally I take Philip's not remembering the icicles and then remembering later... It did seem like he wasn't exactly lying, but I was thinking maybe it was more of a "I can't let myself remember that right now so I'm going to say I don't instinctively to protect myself" thing? But I do think that however that works for him, he looks to Elizabeth to keep the different sides of him together. And owwwww my heaaaaaaaaaaart.
(Also, my episode ended on Paige calling "mom? dad?" and I love that. Because it's true: the fact of their being parents, of having created these whole new people together, IS what draws all those opposing factions in their lives together. Everything else is up to debate, is nebulous - "your face is not your face" - but their kids ARE their kids.)
I love Paige's conversation with Elizabeth so much. it breaks my heart. they both LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH, but that doesn't actually mean they can magically communicate. I think they both got that the other cares, though, mostly. And I don't think Elizabeth got until right that second that Paige being suspicious means Paige feels like something is WEIRD AND WRONG. Because to her, suspicion means they have thought that I may be KGB suspicion, not I live in a house where weird shit is going on and I don't understand. Gaaaah. (Also, Elizabeth, Paige's point was kind of proved by the way that A PHONE RINGING was a massively weird jarring event in your house. Omg.)
I am loving to hate Oleg right now! And I am wondering... did he really "spot" the tail? Or is something else going on? Nina mentioning Oleg specifically could just be her keeping Stan in information, but I wonder. Multi-car/multi-people tails are supposed to be REALLY difficult to spot, even if you know to look. Especially while they were still in a populated area. I don't think Nina knew Oleg would try to play Stan that way (DUDE I THINK THAT IS A BAD, BAD CALL AND OMFG DON'T YOU DARE PUT NINA IN ANY MORE DANGER THAN SHE ALREADY IS, OMFG), but I wondered... could she have mentioned him hoping that the FBI would get to him and maybe make him a hindrance? Like, if she made him interesting enough to the FBI maybe he'd get sent back to Russia? It did smash cut right after Oleg asked "what's really going on here?", but presumably Nina must have answered...
I flailed at the mention of Arpanet, partly because I know at least one other person watching would too, and partly because I am so excited for what it might mean plot-wise!