Question of the week #56

[treonb]

We've seen Nina tell Anton Baklanov that she empathizes with him.  Do you think she really does?

You can expect spoilers for the entire first three 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

[treonb]

Nina is extremely hard to read, but I tend to believe her on this one. If only because she'd come out extremely cruel if she's just leading him on. Also, we haven't seen any reason to suspect that he's actually doing anything bad, besides possibly writing his son that he's suffering.

As I've ranted when the episode aired, I don't like it, but I'm not sure I like the other options better at this stage.

Also, back then somebody suggested that this was a way of showing the dissident movement which makes a lot of sense. Even though they've mostly ignored it until now, this was one of the sticking points between the US and the USSR.

[jae]

I actually can't read Nina at all, so I'm reluctant to even have any theories! But if I'm forced to guess, back against the wall, I'd bet that she's indeed empathetic toward Baklanov, but in the same sort of way that Philip feels toward Kimmy or the guy whose suicide he faked.

-J

[treonb]

Ouch. So you think she's still loyal KGB?

[jae]

If I HAVE to guess, that's what I think. But I honestly can't tell. Like, at ALL.

-J

[soupytwist]

I think she does feel empathy for him, yeah. If only because I do get the sense she understands the system they're both caught up in, and that being caught in it is often, well, scary and unpleasant.

I do think that her desire to stay alive and out of Siberia is going to win in any contest, though. It's hard to gauge exactly where Nina's real opinions stand, but she's got self-preservation instincts like WOAH.

[sistermagpie]

Good question. I think she does genuinely feel empathy but at the same time it's hard for her to not be looking out for herself and know that she might have to sacrifice him--as Jae said, it's a bit like Philip. As to whether that means she's loyal to the KGB, again I think that means that she might not be completely against them but she is seeing the truth in the things he says about keeping himself separate from what he's forced to do.

It seems like more and more that's a choice/theme for some characters, where there's a power to be found in at least knowing what you want and who you are gives you some control when you're doing what you don't want or acting like someone else.

Also I think Nina might honestly have a weak spot for men--that is, wanting to see men in a good light. I think AM has said, for instance, that Nina did see Stan as times as a potential American hero who would save her, and I think she also liked to see Oleg as a potential romantic savior, so I think she's primed to see Anton in a romantic light. Not romantic in terms of being in love with him but just as a romantic figure who has strength and wisdom.

[soupytwist]

Nina definitely challenges simplistic ideas of what might constitute 'loyalty'!

I am fascinated by your idea that she has a weakness for romanticised ideals of men. I think there's something to that... that she really wants there to be a simple way out, someone who can just make things better. I don't think she consciously believes that that's true, but I can see her wanting it to be.

[sistermagpie]

Yeah, it's weird because it really does seem to be canon that she does that. It's not just a case of these men projecting onto her and she uses them or whatever--she seems to get emotionally involved herself. Like even when she was in jail and saying that the two men abandoned her...of course she was trying to influence her cell mate but I thought she did have some feelings like that and that's why it came to her. Yet there wasn't really any reason for them to save her. So I really do get the feeling that on some level this is a fantasy she really wants to be true and is hurt when it isn't even when she knows the score.

I think that's another pattern on the show, and one that's pretty common in spy stories in general, is the spy wanting somebody they feel is totally on their side. It takes different forms with different characters, but I could see Nina with Stan and Oleg and also Elizabeth responding to Philip's killing Timoshev and Philip himself resenting Gabriel for not protecting him...it's like underneath the manipulation and even knowing that the relationship is about manipulation, they can want something else.

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Maybe that is because they've been taught not to trust anyone? It's just that this distrust goes against the very core of being human, because as babies we want to trust whoever is taking care of us. Philip was supposed to be able to trust Gabriel as a father-figure, hence his disappointment. Nina was perhaps expecting more from Mother Russia in general when she signed up? I can't remember if we've been told much about her childhood and reasoning for joining the KGB, but I'm thinking that basically all the Russian characters come from broken homes due to the war.

[jae]

I am also fascinated by that idea!

Someone (not me) needs to write a story about it. :)

-J

[(Anonymous)]

Nothing in Season 3 plot line for Nina to attract or hold viewers.

[quantumreality]

I honestly can't tell for sure. She's proven to be amazingly manipulative and chameleonlike, especially if it is part of being able to snatch any chance of getting herself out of prison. It's not all that different from how Philip and Elizabeth exploit physical or emotional attraction to obtain what the Centre has indicated they need to get.

The question is, how far will this new skill of hers take her? Could she actually get transferred out of the Gulag and back into mainstream Soviet society? And if so, might she then find that a highly-placed Soviet official might either genuinely, or against advice, like her and have her deemed "rehabilitated" only for her to springboard that into a defection to Western Europe?

I noted in Season 1 and the early half of Season 2 that she's smart, driven and ambitious. That hasn't changed, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it stand her well in Season 4.