It's actually not Philip's perspective we view differently, it's Elizabeth's. I agree that Philip has a very strong sense of wanting to protect the people he loves. I think this comes from a very deep-seated part of him (almost certainly rooted in his past as Misha), and it's not a rational thing, but I certainly agree that it ultimately boils down to that.
I don't, however, think Elizabeth likes this trait at all when it's turned on her, and I don't think her dislike for it is based in "she wants to be a partner, not treated like the little woman" (I mean, I do think those things are true for her, but I don't think that's why Philip's knee-jerk protectiveness bothers her). Instead I tend to think that for her, this is another thing that boils down to control and autonomy. When Philip sees the marks on her back in COMINT and says he's "going to deal with it," he's taking her control of the situation and her autonomy in deciding how she's going to deal with it away from her, and he's doing it in an arena where she's got proven competence and ability (i.e. her work). This is why she responds, angrily, "If I wanted to deal with him, you don't think he'd be dealt with?" Philip clearly can't help his reaction--it's an irrational response that he has when it comes to anyone he loves being hurt--but I see this as a very, very bad mismatch of their particular neuroses, and one of the major things that they're going to have to figure out how to deal with if they want to move forward with a relationship.
As for my take on Elizabeth's positive reaction to the Timoshev murder, like I said elsewhere in this discussion, I don't think that's evidence that she actually really does like this trait of his. I think she reacted positively because she had spent the whole episode up until that point saying that she wanted to deal with the situation in one particular way, and he kept reacting by saying she was wrong, that they shouldn't do that, etc. Then he found out what was behind it and immediately responded by doing the thing she'd been wanting to do all along. So her positive reaction wasn't a matter of "he did this to protect me, oh, isn't that great" but a matter of "he gets why that was important to me, and now that he gets it he's willing to do this thing he felt strongly about not doing." She said "do what you want with him," and Philip chose to do exactly what she'd been wanting to do all along. That is a huge validation of her autonomy. She could have killed Timoshev herself only moments before, so she didn't need Philip's protection--she needed his validation. And she got it.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-07-06 07:09 pm (UTC)I don't, however, think Elizabeth likes this trait at all when it's turned on her, and I don't think her dislike for it is based in "she wants to be a partner, not treated like the little woman" (I mean, I do think those things are true for her, but I don't think that's why Philip's knee-jerk protectiveness bothers her). Instead I tend to think that for her, this is another thing that boils down to control and autonomy. When Philip sees the marks on her back in COMINT and says he's "going to deal with it," he's taking her control of the situation and her autonomy in deciding how she's going to deal with it away from her, and he's doing it in an arena where she's got proven competence and ability (i.e. her work). This is why she responds, angrily, "If I wanted to deal with him, you don't think he'd be dealt with?" Philip clearly can't help his reaction--it's an irrational response that he has when it comes to anyone he loves being hurt--but I see this as a very, very bad mismatch of their particular neuroses, and one of the major things that they're going to have to figure out how to deal with if they want to move forward with a relationship.
As for my take on Elizabeth's positive reaction to the Timoshev murder, like I said elsewhere in this discussion, I don't think that's evidence that she actually really does like this trait of his. I think she reacted positively because she had spent the whole episode up until that point saying that she wanted to deal with the situation in one particular way, and he kept reacting by saying she was wrong, that they shouldn't do that, etc. Then he found out what was behind it and immediately responded by doing the thing she'd been wanting to do all along. So her positive reaction wasn't a matter of "he did this to protect me, oh, isn't that great" but a matter of "he gets why that was important to me, and now that he gets it he's willing to do this thing he felt strongly about not doing." She said "do what you want with him," and Philip chose to do exactly what she'd been wanting to do all along. That is a huge validation of her autonomy. She could have killed Timoshev herself only moments before, so she didn't need Philip's protection--she needed his validation. And she got it.
-J