I think on one hand it's the killing, and specifically his looking for and not finding a clear good result from it. He's still trying, and I think he still thinks that there must be one, but he doesn't like feeling like he's killing people for a bunch of one's and zero's--as opposed to getting rid of, say, a guy who's killing Russian soldiers. He's had to take out people that are difficult for him--like if he had a whole series of Bettys. His usual mo seems to be to find ways to make his manipulations as painless an even nice as possible.
This season it seems like that's kicked up a notch so that he's wondering about how to treat other people even beyond that. Like it's one thing for him to sacrifice in pursuit of a higher goal, but springing on him that his reward for that is to see his children cursed the same way is a problem.
the things he's been able to articulate tend to center around these kinds of questions. He's getting more personally defensive of the innocent (Paige, Martha, Kimmie) and making more demands about how their own are treated (Elizabeth should get to see her mother, Gabriel should be protective of them).
I remember reading a comment somewhere where someone pointed out that while Gabriel asks if Philip is falling apart in fact, in their view, he was more on the ball than ever. He seems to see Elizabeth as manipulated in ways he didn't as much before, if only in subtle ways. I don't think he always saw her that way.
The focus on children, in fact, I think has some different levels to it. Paige, Kimmie and Elizabeth have all been in positions where he seems to want to protect them from adult manipulation (Elizabeth's relationship with her mother is pretty much still that of the 16 year old she was). Martha, too, brought children into the equation when she wanted to adopt a kid and make them happy. Then there was the one time Philip remembered himself as a kid, perhaps triggered by having to run out of Kimmie's house "like a teenager," when he was going through sex training. He didn't seem to be aware of himself as a victim there, but the audience was I think supposed to make that connection.
Think of Elizabeth and Paige's different reactions to Elizabeth's mother's actions. Elizabeth passionately defends her mother's unblinking order to live this life. Paige asks "Would you do that to me?" in an accusatory way, as if this is a betrayal. Philip...says nothing.
no subject
This season it seems like that's kicked up a notch so that he's wondering about how to treat other people even beyond that. Like it's one thing for him to sacrifice in pursuit of a higher goal, but springing on him that his reward for that is to see his children cursed the same way is a problem.
the things he's been able to articulate tend to center around these kinds of questions. He's getting more personally defensive of the innocent (Paige, Martha, Kimmie) and making more demands about how their own are treated (Elizabeth should get to see her mother, Gabriel should be protective of them).
I remember reading a comment somewhere where someone pointed out that while Gabriel asks if Philip is falling apart in fact, in their view, he was more on the ball than ever. He seems to see Elizabeth as manipulated in ways he didn't as much before, if only in subtle ways. I don't think he always saw her that way.
The focus on children, in fact, I think has some different levels to it. Paige, Kimmie and Elizabeth have all been in positions where he seems to want to protect them from adult manipulation (Elizabeth's relationship with her mother is pretty much still that of the 16 year old she was). Martha, too, brought children into the equation when she wanted to adopt a kid and make them happy. Then there was the one time Philip remembered himself as a kid, perhaps triggered by having to run out of Kimmie's house "like a teenager," when he was going through sex training. He didn't seem to be aware of himself as a victim there, but the audience was I think supposed to make that connection.
Think of Elizabeth and Paige's different reactions to Elizabeth's mother's actions. Elizabeth passionately defends her mother's unblinking order to live this life. Paige asks "Would you do that to me?" in an accusatory way, as if this is a betrayal. Philip...says nothing.