anonymiss

Absolutely. Their choices within the home, though, have always surprised and impressed upon me that they are loving, warm, and permissive parents. Their voices are heard and respected, even if doing wrong like when P scolded Paige for skipping school and lying about it. He apologized for his rare outburst. She has been raised wjth a freedom to be insolent, reflected in her adult behavior when given any criticism.

Yup. But there is middle ground as well as more structured but still "American" well-to-do parenting styles (like helicoptor parenting) that drives kids to perform or to the Ivy leagues like where Henry seems a good fit for.

This surprised me too. They've raised them soft, with the casual freedom to talk back to their parents, to come and go as they please, the pleasure of celebrating special occasions with multiple gifts, and an individualist right to privacy (so long as they aren't skipping school). My immigrant parents raised me in a much more austere, strict environment. P and E obviously want differently for their children than they got, which recalls what P said when arguing that Paige could do the job, but shouldn't. It's also why E kept overprotecting Paige from the harsh reality of the job (and the world, really). E was just as against their kids being involved as P was until Paige took to God and E was driven to divert that devotion elsewhere.

Agreed. They had the time so none of this would feel rushed but chose instead to devote it to pointless Paige. All that time after her blankly staring into space after sleeping w/ the intern was precious time wasted. She only ever seems to grow a brain when it's convenient for the plot and is always twice as annoying when indignant because she is naively indignant. She was indignant in demanding her parents' truth and naive in thinking she could handle it (and even do it better than her dad after landing some sucker punches). And tonight she had an awfully convenient, but woefully naive epiphany about the nature of her mother's work, which she was set to devote her life to the other week. She was a waste of Elizabeth's and Claudia's time and my time.

LOL I was literally thinking the same thing during her performance. I only tuned in for Fall in Line by Christina Aguilera feat. Demi Lovato. Really enjoyed it but the staging was weird.

They also all get their fair share of criticism, too. For me, I don't even bother with Ramona and Sonja because I've written them off as lost causes. Carole, however, actually seems liked she is stable and sensible enough that she should know better.

None of the characterizations I take issue with acknowledge she was robotically following orders. They essentialize her work as who she is--a monster, a sociopath, a hateful shrew who enjoys this. Years ago, after Elizabeth's mission with the lady who was an addict went bad, and she ended up killing her to stop her from going to the police, there was a comment about how Elizabeth enjoys this and was getting antsy not having murdered in a while like the sociopath she is. It was agreed with and one of many that paint her that way. So I don't see the cheering. I see a vilification, which, for the reasons I've mentioned previously, is a double standard.

There is no debate on whether Phillip is the more conscientious critical thinker, especially not after this episode spelled that out. But I do see a double standard in how quickly she is labelled a no-conscience-having "monster," "sociopath," "evil," and "hateful shrew." (The last pejorative came from her not being thrilled at learning her husband has been spying on her. Yet, it's clear she does understand, which is why she takes the actions she does.) Part of this double standard is a confirmation bias in ignoring the evidence that doesn't support this black-and-white view of her. The post you quoted was in response to how much is made of her body count when Philip would have had a comparable number if they had been working together this season, as they have been equal prior. To your points, I do see Elizabeth caring about her kids. I do see her struggling with her conscience, like in the Young-Hee mission you mention (to the point where Gabe sees it and submits a request to do it another way). I don't see the equivalence to Kimmy and this young man. Why would Elizabeth need to "postpone" or be "troubled by the sex? He's not an underage girl and even though she only knew him a short time she was torn on how to contain him, and ultimately let him go. As we know, Philip seduces and uses whomever he needs to, one of them ended up in a suitcase. If the same had happened to one of Elizabeth's long-term assets we would have seen her similarly troubled by it, like she was with Gregory.

Yup. I've even seen on her elimination Access interview a pile-on in the comments starting from a normal "I don't like her" to "She even manipulates people." SMH.

It was just another self-promotional opportunity to show us how much "gorgeous," 20-something Adam can't get enough of her. I wonder how much she paid via her publicist for those social media celebrity mentions.

Thank you. If Elizabeth hadn't insisted he quit, his murder toll would be comparable to hers. Evidently, there are different standards for women, though. Bless Oleg, but yes, this show--as much as I adore it--has enough contrivances that we don't need more. Yes. Also, the start to gaining Elizabeth's trust was established when she told Elizabeth that Philip lied to her about sleeping with Irina. Later, Elizabeth gives Philip a hard, long look and he hilariously obliviously says, "Just drinking me in?" Her response was something cryptic like, "Yeah, just looking at things differently. And maybe we were wrong about Granny."

I'm bitterly not. This show has always screwed over the better dancer for the sensational story, which is the norm in show business. Yes. When Adam joked, "The one thing I'm grateful for is that I'm a beautiful crier," that is exactly the kind of attitude Mirai tries to emulate but because she is a woman she can't. In Adam's case, everyone laughed and thought, "Isn't he wonderful?" In her (or any woman's case) it'd be, "How dare she be so egotistical! What a snob!"

I used the term Other as part of our explication of this series. An acknowledgement of discrimination is not an endorsement. The term is used in scholarly discussion past, present, and will continue to be in the future for the same reason I used it.

It's harder to make friends in adulthood but very natural in childhood, yet what is incredulous to me is she's never shown to have had any ever. Any socialization has been for work like church volunteering. She never was shown using that phone in her bedroom to talk to anyone but Pastor Tim and (unsuccessfully) eavesdrop on her parents. They never took the time to flesh her out into a whole believable character so she is just a one-dimensional plot device.

I don't believe and never said beauty and whiteness are linked. As a poc myself I'm surprised by this misunderstanding. The point is whiteness and belonging are linked and pretty and belonging are linked. I didn't think that needed to be explicitly stated but apparently it does.

I don't think that "any average young white girl is pretty." Paige is above average even with the awful styling. I didn't say gorgeous but she is pretty and has no reason to be the friendless outcast she's been. Holly Taylor when she styles herself looks like a print model. She's not my taste but I think objectively any agency would agree. She has no Otherness to explain why she has no social life. It's a classic case of bad storytelling where we are told it is so without showing it.

She seems like an empty vessel. She hasn't been developed as a believable human being, let alone aspiring spy. She exists only as a convenient plot device who somehow escaped all the influences of American life and popular culture. She doesn't have any hobbies or interests (except a convenient desire springing out of nowhere at a wee age to dedicate her life to making a difference) and only has superficial critical thinking, replete with a default deer-in-headlights expression. Paige is a pretty and seemingly normal white girl. She wouldn't have to "put her mind" into forming friendships. If they wanted to be less lazy they could have developed that Paige has extreme shyness or some impediment that makes her get bullied like a speech impediment (she already has poorly affected delayed speech), or was the target of mean girl bullying for being a mega-nerd and now is traumatized. But she is a pretty and "normal" girl who has never been abused or mistreated and was given the things she needed to fit in (as was Henry). Paige is just too well adjusted for any of this to be believable.

I'm so disappointed. I now agree--this is unconvincing, lazy writing. I expected a lot better from people paid to do this. Why is it rushed, forced, and contrived? They were supposed to have masterfully planned this defining moment and the entire last season could have helped to execute something spectacular instead all I recall it developed was Paige coming to terms with Pastor fucking Tim! (And a single meaningful scene for P&E that took the entire season of filler to get to.) I guess P&E are the only white couple that travelled at that time and E is the only "pretty," unsuspecting white woman around. Stan shouldn't have jumped to his closest friend and wife immediately--it really needed more than what Henry said and the aforementioned to go from blind trust of his bestie to immediate investigation. (I also thought it was unbelievable in the pilot.) I forgot to mention it but that last scene with Paige cements it: Holly Taylor is a really poor actress. She's almost as incompetent as Jessica Pare and just as annoying as she tries to make up for lack of ability by speaking as slowly as possible. She should have been on a CW teen show at best and would have been the weak link there, too. It's also absurd that Paige has never had a single friend in her entire existence except the person converting her to Christianity.

I thought of that and it's true but not on this franchise (which is the only one I watch). Tinsley, Dorinda, even Lu show more than tell and Tins and Dorinda don't have that agenda at all. Carole can't stop her yapping, self-aggrandizing at every turn in a transparent Trumpian style where she thinks she's being clever but isn't, and has to constantly remind us how desireable she is sexually with her "trophy" of a younger man.

Carole was blathering on to her sycophant Tins and I couldn't watch anymore. She is full-blown insufferable now and seems to be getting twice as much air time because she's the only one who came determined with a prepared storyline and thought-out outfits to combat the "boring" reputation she well earned from Bethenny. For someone who isn't a Trump supporter she is similarly driven by narcissism and endlessly self-promotes via self-congratulatory bullshit and hyperbole.

I think that is intentional and makes sense because their work is doubly dehumanizing now that she's doing it all herself (and training a petulant liability of a daughter doesn't help). She isn't carrying on like a typical relateable person because she isn't. But she is still human and Keri does portray her internal conflict in a skillful nuanced way true to her hardened character. In order to be what she is, she has to believe the ends justify the means and she is conditioned to compartmentalize emotions from work. However, we see when the emotions threaten to come out, e.g., when she has to take a moment and collect herself after the double murder to contain the strain registered on her face; when she looks hard at herself in the mirror and gulps before tying the suicide pill around her neck; when she wants to hear from her son because she's scared she may not have the chance again. If she lets herself feel more, she won't be able to perform for her life's mission, so she just keeps smoking as her only release.

I agree. I hope it's not as literally shitty as I felt it was on Breaking Bad.

I've yet to see Adam come anywhere near his potential. I haven't liked any of his dances so far and I'm trying not to assume it's because of his teacher but it has to be. Hopefully this changes as it's still only week 2.

Those are two instances of something very normal from two very loving, but imperfect parents: it's perfectly normal to be out of touch w/ your teenagers or withhold expressing your "adult" issues onto them. I've seen countless examples of Philip and Elizabeth's love for their children that many children can only be so fortunate to have.

Mirai speaks like her bestie Adam. That's who she seems to be imitating in her voice and attitude, and it can come off fun and sassy on him but snide on a woman. Not to me, though, I adore her and hope she wins but will probably lose to Adam.