Sarah 103

My guess is that they had some type of savings plan, even if it was only part of thier cover, for the kids' college education. Henry's private school education was unexpected and expensive. Agreed. An actress/actor can only do so much with that they are given. If they are given bad matieral to work with, that is totally not their fault. Agreed. I wished they had spent more time with Henry and playing up the massive differences/contrasts between the characters. It seemed like that's what the writers were setting up and then totally dropped the ball. Yes! They should have made her training somehow connect to her life at college. Instead of having her do spy missions with Elizabeth, make her work on her observational/listening/other skills while at the university, like how many people in X room are wearing red shirts or something like that.

Pretty much the same era (older vs. younger) Now to step out of the shallow end I thought he meant at the start. When the Centre wanted to recuit her Philip didn't care whether or not she could do the job, he did not want her doing the job under any circumstances. Love the reference. That's a serious deep cut from the 80s.

Elizabeth was raped by her trainer but I never thought that was her first time. This is where the writers just dropped the ball in a big way. The original plan for 2nd generation illegals (as was described to the audience) was that as real official native born U.S citizens, the 2nd generation would be able to get high level jobs in government or intelligence agencies that someone foreign born would not be able to. Another element was that the 2nd generation would be able to pass almost any type of background check. Based on this, the Centre should be letting her take classes, have internships, participate in clubs (because maybe the econ major in _______ club/society becomes a big deal in government or the engineering major becomes someone important in a company involved in the military industrial complex). Instead we have spending time doing spy missions that take her away from making connections and dramatically increase the chance that she will be discovered. I don't think so, because how does she mention the information without revealing who Jim is and how she knows him? Yes! I love all of this expect for the Witness Protection program. This is exactly the type of thing that could set up my spin-off where Oleg, Stan, Henry and now Philip team up to fight crime A-Team style. He looks so much better now. In Moonlighting, Mark Harmon is nothing special, but in NCIS he is total silver fox. The only way this works/makes sense is if they're trying to show Stan working on his marriage after seeing things go horribly wrong with Teacups. Based on where they are in DC, I doubt they'd drive to a bar. They would probably share a cab, take Metro/MetroBus or just walk. There's probably tons of places close by to get a drink I'd love to watch an episode of Elizabeth and Philip just talking about thier past and sharing stories about what thier lives were like before they met. There's probably someone new doing the same job. Kimmy would probably just chalk it up to pot or some other type of drug kicking in at that moment. I want to see where everyone ends up too. I hope it happens.

I don't understand what Elizabeth thougth she had accomplished with Paige after telling her about WWII. To Paige, WWII was almost ancient history. What Paige did at the bar looked like basic-self defense to me. I didn't see anything especially Soviet/Russian about it. If someone asked her she could claim she took a self-defense class. Weren't self-defense classes for women a big deal in the 1970s through part of the 1980s? I loved the confrontation between Philip and Paige in her apartment. He looked off the minute he walked in, like something ready to explode. When Stan walked into the house I thought for sure he was close to figuring it all out. I'm hoping Philip realized it was a form of interrogation and did everything he needed to keep his cover. Here's the part I don't understand about the Kimmie story. Why does Kimmie have to be home for him to change the tapes? I know it's easier that way, but in an absolute dire emergency/time-sensitive situation like this one, wouldn't it be easier to find a night when her father isn't home, break-in, and change the tapes that way? I understand that would not work on a regular basis, but it seems easier as a one time thing than a kidnapping/ransom plot.

I really like this idea because both teams both have a family structure and use the idea of teammates/co-workers as surrogate family. Nate has to be the one cutting/carving the turkey at the end.

Thank you! This is the point I was trying to make.

I think Henry is on their radar but they are waiting for something. I have no idea what the something is Martha could be an intersting version of be careful what you wish for. She really wanted a child and now she has one. I have no idea what her life is like, but I wouldn't mind on more check in to see what her life is like with a young daughter. Henry was never too interested in his parents. He thought Paige was the favorite and had no idea why. I think a week home with his family and he would come very close to figuring out that something is very wrong and it involves Paige. Now I'm picturing a parallel show to this one about the police/other law enforcement dealing with all of Philip and Elizabeth's murders.

I posted this in another thread, but it works here too. This season, instead of having Paige do crazy spy missions with Elizabeth, they should have her working off campus in a place where people from the government eat or drink. She'll be working in a coffee shop, bar or restaurant which no one will think is a strange job for a college student. We would see her practice her listening/observation skills, as well as how to get information from a source. They would show us Paige learning how to communicate with handlers (Elizabeth,) how to do dead-drops, and other useful spy skills that she would use in her future job without the potential to damage her ability to get that job.

I meant the kind of job. Paige will not be doing dangerous covert missions like what we see Philip and Elizabeth doing. The goal for Paige is to have a job an intelligence agency, State Department or key government agency. I agree with this part of list, but except for photos we have not seen her doing anything that would help her accomplish these tasks. In her office job, she would probably not be using a purse camera. She would use the excuse of staying late to catch up on paperwork and use a camera similiar to what we saw Elizabeth using in the house when photographing documents. We already saw her working on self defense and the current missions they have her doing will not help her with this. Also, being skilled at lying would be just as important, so she can lie about where she was when the murder/attack took place. No she won't. They are not going to jeopardize an amazing asset/source by making her go on these type of missions. There will be other people who use disguises based on the information they get from Paige. I also think a great deal of follow-up may be done by other people as well. Paige might think something is happening at location X, so instead of having Paige risk her job and security clearance by breaking into location X, they will send a team (not Paige) to break into/gain access to location X. This is a distinct possibility. The KGB understands there are going to be limits. If she tells the KGB her male boss picks up information in the shower after he goes to gym, they are not going to ask Paige to sneak into the men's shower-room. They are going to find a way to get male agent into the shower room at the right time to listen in. The KGB knows one person is not going to be able to tell them everything they need to know.

That would make sense. They started off as lower level employees and worked their up. Of course that still doesn't answer the question of how big a role (if any) the KGB had in creating or keeping the travel agency in business. Having Paige move back home for a year makes the most sense. The writers really dropped the ball on the scholarship. They just needed one line of dialogue earlier to explain that it was a partial scholarship, not a full ride. If they gave Paige the bag with the camera, I'm guessing they wanted her to actually use it and take pictures.

Paige does not need to be on operations any more than Martha needed to be on operations. Paige is going to be Martha but on the other side. Paige is going to go into knowing who she is working for and what her job really is. In her day to day job, Martha was not involved in covert operations. Paige would need to know how some stuff about tails and dead drops but she is not going to be sitting in the car doing surveillance at 3 AM or any of the crazy dangerous missions.

I agree that the travel agency is a totally legitmate business and was designed to be one/appear like it from day one. Do we know how long they've lived in DC? Maybe the travel agency wasn't thier original cover. They could have worked at other jobs first to earn money/build up credit so then they could later open thier own business and the Centre decided on travel agency.

That is my biggest problem with the Paige storyline too. Instead of sleeping with interns she should be one. That's my question. There must be some front groups with legitimate travel needs that the Centre can send to Dupont Travel Angency. I thought that was strange too. Philip wasn't all gung-ho when Henry first mentioned boarding school. Legacy means going to the same school your parents went to, which is not Henry's situation. I have never heard of a scholarship lasting only one year. You are correct. In college it is easier to have a part time job on campus or off campus. (This would have been a great story-line for Paige. Get her an off campus job at a restaurant/coffee near one of the intelligence/government agencies. That way she could be still be doing spy stuff but in a way that would not put her future at risk). In college there are also work study jobs, which are usually on campus. In private schools, especially boarding schools this type of work study situation is far less common. Exactly right. The Centre needs the travel agency so Elizabeth can keep her cover story, and if they are looking at Henry, they would want him at the school because right now, he is making better contacts/connections than Paige. I actually thought of line dancing as more of an early 90s thing than a late 80s thing, but I could be wrong. Paige could apply for different forms of financial aide because she is in college but not Henry. Those types of programs do not cover private school before college.

Agreed. More time jumps would have helped. While this is often difficult with child actors, Mad Men managed to cover 10 years in 7 seasons without too much of an issue. The key was time jumps between seasons. Yes! My biggest problem with the Paige storyline this season (and I know I am not the first to point this out) is that if the goal is for her to be working in the State Department, one of the major intelligence agencies or another key position in government, then why are they putting all of that at risk by having her go on these missions? The risk of her blowing the entire operation, her cover, and her future is incredibly high. I get that they want to give her stuff to do, so here is how I would fix that. I would not have the massive three year jump between season 5 and season 6. I would have done smaller time jumps between episodes and seasons. I would show Paige learning spy skills in a mall, because I love the idea of KGB agents training her in the ultimate capitalist setting. Show Elizabeth teaching her how to spot, avoid, and lose a tail, how to do a brush pass, and what not. Have Paige sit in the food court or on a bench and then have Elizabeth quiz her on details during the ride home. Bring in another character to help her with the verbal side of it (I just don't see Claudia doing this part and I'm not sure if Philip would). During a conversation, how do you get someone to reveal more than they planned, how do you read between the lines, and other similiar skills/techniques.

They used to do a better job of this last season. At the start of the episode they would show Bull celebrating or mentioning how well a case for a wealthy client worked out.The episode would then focus on the case involving a client who needed his skills but could not pay as much.

That works. Both teams are after the same object but for different reasons. I love this as a running gag until the two teams actually formally meet each other and decide to team up/work together.

I thought that the domestic violence shelter was something new and that it had not yet opened. Maybe the sign just went up a day or two before we saw Bull looking at it. Also, it seems like some of the team knew and some of the team did not know what happened.

I'm guessing he's trying to figure out how to get them back together. The alternative is that he's mad at Walter and is now not sure Walter is good enough/the right man for his mother. That's exactly what I thought once I saw the ending, but I think they will all be back together by episode 2 maybe 3 at the latest. Me too. I had a feeling that's where the plot line would go. They can easily keep it up for an entire season. I can see conversations about foreign vs. domestic. There will be episodes dealing with social workers/home visits. Because it's TV, there will be a story-arc where it looks like they will finally get the baby/kid they want but something will go wrong at the last minute. If we're lucky enough to get a season 5 it will probably be the last one, so I could see a series finale involving Happy and Toby getting a kid.

I never thought about that but you make a good point. Someone who has to work harder at understanding people may be more likely to pick up on things that others miss because they are paying closer attention. I am confused by what you wrote. An explaination would be greatly apperciated because I'd love to know what you meant with this point.

He's cute and he has a great car so I'm for almost any excuse that will keep him on the show. I love this idea.

That is surprising and I totally missed it. Obviously they are passed the stage where all they talk about is thier kids but a quick update seems about right, especially since Henry was just mentioned.

@Driad So Wolotots it is then.

I've been thinking about the Librarians/Leverage crossover (because I loved the concept) and I was trying to figure out why the two teams would be working together. Anyone have any ideas?

That was my first thought, followed by where did Georgie get the money from. Missy is quite advanced reading Cosmo, but not really having a clue what she is reading about. Also, once again Missy totally sold out her brother.

I like Wolotots and as an alternative propose the word "Wolobabies"