Question of the week #41

[treonb]

The Church and Pastor Tim seem to serve as additional parental figures for Paige--parental figures that provide a more unambiguously black-and-white, worldview than her real parents can. We also know that Philip and Elizabeth will soon be asked to tell Paige the truth about their jobs and their lives in the U.S.

Do you think Paige might confide in her pastor if her parents try to bring her in?  What do you think she would tell him?

You can expect spoilers for the entire first two seasons 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

[apolla_savre]

You know, I don't think they will tell her.

At the end, Philip told Arkady that they're *done* if the Center tries to bring in their kids.

They swore to each other that they would never tell them. Elizabeth slapped Philip when he talked about defecting and the kids would know about their spy lives.

They both seem pretty adamant that they do not want their kids to know or be involved.

I don't think Paige would tell, though, if she found out. She's a smart enough kid to know that people who find out are likely to turn her parents in. Does she want them to go to prison? No.

[cadma]

I could maybe see Paige turning them in if she decided it was the right thing to do, but I think it's a decision she'd take some time to come to. She wouldn't risk doing something that would get them arrested if that's not her intention.

[katiac]

Yup. I think the whole "does she want them to go to prison?" question is the hugely complicating one. Because Paige would almost certainly feel some sense of "wrongness" about them killing people, conning people, and all the other things they do even in the service of a good cause. Whether or not they turned her into a spy for the KGB, Paige would still love her parents, would not want her family destroyed and would have a lot of guilt and anxiety about what would happen to her and Henry now and in the future should her parents be sent to prison. It's definitely not so simplistic as deciding between right and wrong. Henry might wind up blaming her for the choice to turn them in (which he would have some right to, having no say in it and having it affect his life) and she could be left with no parents and a brother who wants nothing to do with her. I don't think Paige would be dumb enough to make any move lightly. Also as SisterMagpie points out above, Pastor Tim being let in on the secret puts his life in danger and they have no fond reason to spare him. She would be doing him no kindness.

[sistermagpie]

Also, there's so many degrees of knowledge here, it's not all or nothing. Philip and Elizabeth could tell Elizabeth something about what they do without explaining any of the details. She's not going to leap to the conclusion that Philip has a second wife, Elizabeth's blowing strangers in hotel rooms, they're both assassinating people. She doesn't know the details and she'd have no reason to know them. These aren't things either parent would be eager to talk about with her and they're going to be naturally reticent anyway because these are secrets that aren't always just theirs to keep. I think they'd both be somewhat aware that there's a huge difference between what they consider normal (like Elizabeth just saying "it happens" about guys getting rough in the bedroom with her) and what other people consider normal (Paige being more freaked out by seeing them having sex than they were).

One of the interesting things about that last ep, the more I think about it, is that Philip actually doesn't tell Arkady the kids are off limits. He tells him that the Centre can't approach the kids themselves. It's still presumably understood that Philip and Elizabeth are expected to fall in line. So that's where we're left, with Philip prepared to find a way to avoid having the kids brought in and Elizabeth considering whether they should do it. They made it an issue between the two Jennings instead of Jennings vs. the Centre for now.

[katiac]

And it seems like what he's really objecting to is their exploitation, the same way Jared was used, and seen 0as this bright shiny object by the Centre, to the point they wound up losing not only him, but two other agents, and Amelia in their greed. If Paige came to the conclusion on her own she wanted to spy for the KGB, it's not like he would object on ideological grounds, or like he loves Elizabeth any less because of what they do. But he doesn't want their kids treated like pawns, manipulated into the spy game and put at great risk unless it's something they freely want. Elizabeth just doesn't view it the same way so the same issues don't come up. And really P and E have to be thinking with the kids they're so close to being "safe." Paige will be an adult in 4 years, Henry in just 7 and then even if something were to happen to their parents, they've reached an age where they can survive, even if a bit messily, and now the Centre wants to take that future from the kids too, who never signed up for this.

[sistermagpie]

Yes, I think it's also significant beyond just that the two of them tend to play Devil's Advocate with each other, that Elizabeth was so freaked out over the idea of Paige and Henry being set loose in Europe where they'd be "dead in a week" in her mind, while Philip had confidence they'd be fine. It reflects their views a bit here, I think. Elizabeth sees the kids being under the eye of the center as potentially a good thing because it gives them structure for their life, protection and stability in exchange for their sacrifice and work. She saw them being completely on their own as dangerous to them because they're so unprepared.

Where as Philip saw that situation as a sink or swim moment that would end with them swimming. This I think, is reflected in the little we know about them both. Elizabeth has always needed something bigger to give her life shape and been disturbed by things like kids playing all day, thinking it makes them soft and directionless. Philip seems to really like the idea of them having freedom to choose to be or do what they want--and he seems to see survival situations in his own life as really formative. He never got to the end of that story about the milk but he seemed to be setting it up as a moment where he took control when left on his own. So the only two stories Philip's ever told about his past life involved play (swordfighting with icicles) and survival. Where Elizabeth's stories are more about responsibility and sacrifice (she took care of her mother on her own;they refused food because it came with hidden strings attached). Survival is Philip's default mode.