Question of the week #57

[treonb]

What does Martha really think about Philip?  How far would she be willing to go to protect herself, from both Philip and the FBI?

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

[jae]

I read all the interviews I can find, and so I think I've taken my cue on what to think of this from the actor who plays Martha. That doesn't mean they're 100% "right," of course, but I do think what she says is going on is likely to represent something close to what she's trying to achieve.

Anyway, I think she genuinely loves him. I also think she thinks he genuinely loves her, though she has doubts about that every once in a while. I think she tries very hard not to think too much about what he most likely is, but thoughts about that intrude frequently when she least wants them to. I think every time she's alone, she's afraid of what he might be doing, who he's doing it to, or that he might be dead. She's very afraid that he'll just never show up again someday, and she'll never know what happened to him.

I think it hasn't occurred to her yet that she might be in danger from him, but it's definitely occurred to her that he is in danger, and that she might also be in danger from whatever "dark forces" could be after him. If that ever changes, and she starts feeling that "Clark" himself is a danger to her, I think "protecting herself" might enter into the equation. But until then I think she'll be putting most of her energy into keeping her head above water and trying to maintain the fragile status quo.

-J

[sistermagpie]

When she says she tries not to think about what he most likely is, does she know what that is? I mean, does she think he's an American working for...somebody? Does she actually think "Russian Illegal?" Or has she not allowed herself to even go far enough to consider either of those things?

Because I do tend to think that the leap to "Russian" is a really difficult one given how they present. Like even when he ripped off his Clark face, it wasn't an actual lizard underneath. He still looks and sounds and acts convincingly American to her.

But I'd be kind of fascinated if she ever got close enough for that to come out in the vaguest of ways, because you know she'd adjust to the idea and love the foreigner within.

[jae]

I can't conceive of a scenario in which Martha could realistically have heard about Soviet illegals (her clearance isn't that high), so no, I didn't mean that. But she knows who the enemy is, and she's smart enough to put two and two together and realize that her husband must therefore be working for them. And if she had heard of Soviet illegals, her brain would definitely go there.

-J

[sistermagpie]

It's funny--I agree with you about her not having clearance to hear about the Illegals but I swear people have argued with me that of course she would know about them. But yes, if she'd heard about them she'd probably have wondered about them even outside of Clark.

It's funny that thinking about the scene I thought again how scary that de-wigging scene is, despite the fact that I know what he looks like under there and it's only Philip. But then I thought...well, actually maybe it *isn't* Philip, because Philip is a persona constructed for a specific context and that context really doesn't exist with Martha. He's not revealing himself as "Philip Jennings" because most of Philip not only doesn't exist for Martha, he can't exist. So that really is a new person peeling off the wig there.

[jae]

I love that last insight! It will be fascinating to see how he is with her going forward--he can't be Philip Jennings the full-fledged person/character, but maybe what he shows her will now be closer to that, at least.

-J