Question of the week #7

[treonb]

The marriage at the centre of the show is the one between Philip and Elizabeth, but there's another marriage that looms large as well: the one between Stan and Sandra. Both marriages have problems.

So here's this week's question: To what extent are those problems similar, or are they entirely different?  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]

I agree with all of this, but I do also think it couldn't have been emotionless for them, not with their history. Regardless of his complete devotion to Elizabeth, there was no way they were just going to be able to be businesslike about it (and the KGB knew that when they assigned him that particular mission in the first place, and did it deliberately). I just think that adds a layer of ambiguity to it that Elizabeth isn't able to see due to her (as you point out) hot button about trust and lying.

-J

[jae]

I get what you're saying about how it could have gone down with Irina, and mostly agree with it. But I do think that the KGB knew the nostalgia factor would be strong, and that's the very reason they brought Irina back in right then.

My take on the Elizabeth-and-Gregory reunion in "Only You" is that it happened a) while Philip and Elizabeth were still broken up, and b) at a time when they both realized that Gregory only had a few hours to live. I think Philip can hardly begrudge her that, given those mitigating factors.

-J

[jae]

Hmm, that's an interesting perspective. I'll have to think about it some more (and maybe do some rewatching in light of what you're saying), but for now I guess I'm more willing to give the characters the "passes" they're giving themselves. I tend to come down harder on the one who's seeing things in a black-and-white way when things are full of shades of grey (and they've both done this).

-J