Question of the week #6

[treonb]

The two central elements of the show are the relationship between Philip and Elizabeth and their work. They are also parents, however. 

So here's this week's question: How do you feel about the way the show treats these elements of their lives? Which elements of it work for you, and which don't?  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

[jae]

The show doesn't dwell on the kids quite enough, as far as I'm concerned. I do think they're close in the sense that I wouldn't want too much more attention on the kids than we already get, but more explicit acknowledgment that the kids are aware that they get left alone more often than their friends do would be great, even just in passing. Like, remember how in "Trust Me," the kids had a long B-story of their own? Maybe the show was just being early-80s-accurate in the fact that they found a way to get home by themselves and weren't completely freaked out by that, but I still think that some explicit mention between the two of them of the fact that their parents often operate with that sort of benign neglect would have added something to the overarching storyline.

I'm also really glad that they eventually explained how things work when Philip and Elizabeth are both away at night (i.e. based on the finale, it's clear that the kids have a rule that they're not to disturb their mother while she's in her room with the door closed after bedtime, and that when she's "in her room with the door closed," she's actually often gone), but I wish that explanation had come sooner.

As far as storylines that are specifically about parenting issues, though, I'm okay with the amount of time the show devotes to that. They could have a few more without tipping the balance, but too many more and it would change the show for the worse.

-J

[treonb]

I'm generally happy with how the show treats the family aspects. I'm not sure it's always realistic: Philip and Elizabeth are often out of the house. I guess the children are old enough to take care of themselves now, but I wonder how they managed when the kids were younger.

But overall, it does help ground the show in real life, it helps reflect on the chars themselves (as in how Elizabeth responded to the kids acting against her authority), and I love the humor around it.

[maidenjedi]

So far I'm okay with the way the series handles the kids - they're there, but not central to the story yet, and the amount of time we got with them seemed to work. I do think going forward it will be more difficult - how realistic they stay with Paige in particular will be interesting. And she fascinates me, now that I come to it. Paige is old enough, and certainly at that precise age, when she's not going to write off something her parents do when it conflicts with what she sees in other families. It doesn't seem that either of the kids is terribly social, but as Paige moves into high school, that will definitely change in some respect. And I think that will affect the way the kids react to what happens around them.

The relationships between Paige/Henry and Elizabeth/Philip seemed really true to me, as well, especially Paige/Elizabeth. Elizabeth clearly has baggage from her relationship with her own mother, and her upbringing and how her experiences are so starkly separate from what her daughter experiences. She can't relate to Paige, or hasn't wanted to, and we join the family right as Paige is reacting to that.

Philip....I can see how, especially if it's true that he's been in love longer than Elizabeth suspects, he has a better handle on the idea of fatherhood, even if it doesn't always play out. We don't know a lot about his family background yet, so it's difficult to say - is he compensating for a childhood not unlike Elizabeth's, or is he demonstrating a role he has witnessed? Hmm.