Question of the week #42

[treonb]

In the season two episode "New Car," Philip and Elizabeth had a discussion about life in the U.S. that ended with Elizabeth saying that "easier is not always better."

What do you think the main differences are between how Philip and Elizabeth see life in the U.S.? And how about people like Nina, Arkady, and Oleg, who are viewing the U.S. from more obviously external perspectives--what do they think about life in the U.S.? 

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]

Philip sees his life as Philip Jennings to be his life - he cannot be completely honest about who he is, but he doesn't create a personality/character to be when he is Philip. He lets his interests and character show. He sees himself as a sort of immigrant with a new life in America with his wife and kids. He lets Misha and Philip be as much of one as they can be.

Elizabeth sees Elizabeth as another persona. The only time she's who she is, is when she's with her kids or working with Philip/alone with Philip. But then she's Nadezhda. Elizabeth is a job. America is a job.

The Rezidentura are very detached from American life, as detached as they can be while living there. They can't be in love with the culture or else their commitment might be questioned. They can like aspects (the music, the food) but at the end of the day, I think they feel isolated from American culture.

[(Anonymous)]

First of all, let me say that apolla_savre ‘s comments were very insightful and I agreed with everything apolla said. This comment was particularly brilliant: “He lets Misha and Philip be as much of one as they can be.” I had never thought of it in quite those same terms, but when I consider it, I totally agree.
When Matthew talks about the dilemma of Phillip and Elizabeth, he always says that Phillip thinks their life, as is, is unsustainable. And we, as viewers, also can see that the end is coming, maybe quite soon. Maybe it is coming sooner than either of them can imagine. Still, we never see Elizabeth express the same concern that the clock is ticking…quickly. What are the things that Phillip sees that Elizabeth doesn’t? And, why doesn’t he communicate them to her? Is he still afraid that she is reporting on him back to the Centre?
My view is that Phillip likes the American way of life quite well enough to defect and would do it in a heartbeat, if he could persuade Elizabeth. But, because he truly loves her, it’s hard to see him making that decision alone. It does, however, remind me of that moment in the Pilot when he removes Timoshev from the trunk of the car and tells him he is trying to make a deal. Elizabeth arrives and he tells her the same thing. After she beats up Timoshev, she tells Phillip to do what he wants with him.
What does that say about her willingness to be ‘caught’ as a spy? And what would she really imagine her life to be if Phillip DID turn in Timoshev to the FBI? Would she stay with Phillip because she loves her children? Or, would she escape to the Soviet Union and then inform on Phillip?
I know that a pilot covers lots of bases that are not necessarily revisited, but this one intrigues me.
As for the Arkady, Nina and Oleg, I think they may be conflicted. They like their US posting, and yet they cannot be too obvious about appreciating the finer things…. Nina obviously got in trouble for that.

CA

[sistermagpie]

I think one of the biggest differences between Philip and Elizabeth is that Philip is a pragmatist and Elizabeth an idealist. And I think that this also plays into what Apolla said. I think Mischa created a character for Philip when he came to the US and has grown with that character over the years. It's his default persona that incorporates things he likes and loves. Elizabeth thinks of Elizabeth as a cover and doesn't really want to think of herself as having grown into her US life at all, though of course she has, especially as a mother.

So yeah, I think that Elizabeth above all wants to be loyal to the cause--as Zhukov said she was chosen because she'd never surrender. While Philip is above all a survivor. He's looked around the US and definitely thinks he can survive here. Though he could survive elsewhere as well. Both Philip and Elizabeth have proved they have the ability to adapt and I think they could again. It's not really the living conditions or the place that sustains either of them.

Both of them want to have it all and they see different ways of getting that. In the pilot Elizabeth saw telling the kids as terrible, just a way to make the kids hate them--but that was when it was part of the defection package. As a way to get the kids into the cause with them it suddenly seems doable. Likewise Philip though telling the kids was fine as a lead-up to a defection retirement plan with minimal betrayal of the USSR. But telling them to bring them in would destroy them.

So I think on some level for both of them the kids are bound up in "life in the US." They disagree on whether one can be a loyal Soviet while enjoying all those beautiful shoes, and whether enjoying their life is a weakness. But they've come to see that those differences don't make either of them untrustworthy to the other. But they both value their kids the same, and their kids are part of their life as the Jennings. And the kids can speak for themselves.

I think it's easier for the guys at the Rezidentura because they have a more open relationship with the US. They can enjoy things to an extent, and without the anxiety about their identity. They're also surrounded by other people being openly Russian and can see their reactions to things. Philip and Elizabeth only have each other to go by.

[(Anonymous)]

In the end, Elizabeth will be forced to choose between her children and her country. "Sophie's Choice" has always been the most impactful movie in my life. This choice is very similar.

CA

[cadma]

I think all the Soviet characters are aware of how they're *supposed* to see life in the US -- as based on exploitation etc -- and they must all agree with this to some extent or they wouldn't have committed to working for the USSR in the ways they have. But not everything they experience is going to fit into this picture, and I think Philip accepts this more easily than Elizabeth does. She seems to be more inclined to explain things in terms of some bigger phenomenon -- so Paige going to church is because she's seduced by the opiate of the masses which holds up the whole of society. For Philip it's more individual -- Paige happens to like the music or the people. So I think Elizabeth if she gets new shoes probably does find it hard to think of them independently of the system which produced them, whereas for Philip it's more compartmentalised. He does seem kind of guilty about the car when he sees her reaction though, without her needing to say anything or even look that judgmental. And he wants her validation for how he feels about it, so I don't think he's totally ok with the system.

[cadma]

With the people at the Residentura, like Apolla says they're pretty isolated -- they go out to shops, diners etc but they don't seem to have much interaction with Americans. They're also under more surveillance and whereas with P & E the main conflict is about how they feel for the legal agents it seems to matter what they do and say. Oleg's pretty open about what he likes about the US because he's in a privileged position but Nina won't even go out dancing while she's under suspicion. They both seem to be interested in the opportunities they get by being posted in the West -- Nina with her black market operation and Oleg just for having fun. But Nina risks execution to be able to keep her old life instead of a new American one. I don't think they have any emotional attachment to America like P & E do.

[treonb]

This quote of Elizabeth's is my top quote from the show.

The way I see it, what Elizabeth is saying is that US vs. USSR is not a contrast between two ideologies, it's a contrast between materialism (and the good life) vs. real ideology.

And in that sense, I think all the Russian chars in the show would agree with her. There are some good things about American life, and it's all a matter of how much you 'slip' in accepting the good that the US has to offer (whether it be music or food or a new car). It's there, so why not enjoy it. But even if you are willing to give in completely, like Philip seemed to be doing in the Pilot, it's not because he accepts America. It's because life is comfortable and that's what he wants for his family.