S03.E11: One Day In The Life Of Anton Baklanov

[John S]

I see as much danger for Stan as for Philip in Paige's newfound knowledge.

 

In those kitchen scenes in which we see Stan through Paige's eyes, here is the scenario I began to dread (because I like Stan): "Hmmm," Paige contemplates, "This FBI guy is really good friends with my parents. My parents who are Russian spies. OMG, he is one of them! Stan Beeman is a mole!"

 

Somehow (and this is pure speculation, I don't know anything), this misunderstanding by Paige is going to turn tragic for Stan, when she says the wrong thing to someone, and it combines with Tappett's investigation into Gadd's pen and then somehow with Stan's secret meetings with Oleg coming to light. Paige's misreading of the kitchen scene (if I'm right about what was going on in her mind) will be the key to sending Stan away for a long time.

You might be proven to be correct but I don't see Stan going to jail just because his neighbors are Russian spies. No matter what Paige happens to say, the FBI would need more than her questions about him.

In next week's episode, she "acts out". I'm interested in seeing just what exactly she does. From the previews, it doesn't look like she will act out against her parents or walk into a store and just take something off the shelf.

I'm wondering if she thinks that she has more power than she actually has and decides to go to the Soviet Embassy and starts screaming at them to let her mother visit her dying mother. It APPEARS that Elizabeth has to protect her. It will be interesting to see who Elizabeth is protecting Paige from - the Americans or the Soviets.

[sistermagpie]

Somehow (and this is pure speculation, I don't know anything), this misunderstanding by Paige is going to turn tragic for Stan, when she says the wrong thing to someone, and it combines with Tappett's investigation into Gadd's pen and then somehow with Stan's secret meetings with Oleg coming to light. Paige's misreading of the kitchen scene (if I'm right about what was going on in her mind) will be the key to sending Stan away for a long time.

 

 

I'm not sure sure she did misunderstand it that way--this week she said they weren't really friends so I think she interpreted it correctly, that Stan was an innocent dupe just like she had been.

 

I'm wondering if she thinks that she has more power than she actually has and decides to go to the Soviet Embassy and starts screaming at them to let her mother visit her dying mother. It APPEARS that Elizabeth has to protect her. It will be interesting to see who Elizabeth is protecting Paige from - the Americans or the Soviets.

 

 

I wouldn't be so sure Paige would have a clue that the Russian embassy had anything to do with her parents. I don't remember anything that showed Elizabeth protecting Paige in the previews. I would guess she'd act out in the same world she's been acting out in so far--pushing it with her parents at home by being loud and maybe bringing Pastor Tim into it. Not by telling him everything or anything, but in teasing them by dropping hints or talking around them. Or maybe setting up another one of Pastor Tim's surprise drop-ins where he trolls her parents about religion.

 

The main danger with Paige is that she doesn't really get/feel the danger. I think her parents understand that. That's what's been the issue in their scenes so far with them hissing at her to keep her voice down, Philip saying that even if it seems obvious she needs to remember she's got their life in her hands. From the previews it looked like at one point Elizabeth was literally smothering her mouth with her hand to shut her up. So Paige could be acting out by scaring her parents about telling because even with her new knowledge and even with her parents warnings, it's very hard to make a middle class American teenager with Paige's life feel unsafe. The danger is not real to her.

[Guest]

I didn't think Paige was suspecting Stan of being a mole in that scene.  I thought she was just putting it together that her parents are friends with an FBI agent who looks for spies, so it just upped the ante in seriousness for her.  The threat of prison for her folks is very real.  They're playing with fire with Stan and she also needs to keep it together around him.

[Milburn Stone]

I didn't think Paige was suspecting Stan of being a mole in that scene.  I thought she was just putting it together that her parents are friends with an FBI agent who looks for spies, so it just upped the ante in seriousness for her.  The threat of prison for her folks is very real.  They're playing with fire with Stan and she also needs to keep it together around him.

 

You might be right, and if you are, it points up the rock/hardplace situation Paige now is in. Because maintaining utter secrecy carries for her its own peril. Namely, that she will have been made complicit in her parents' treachery. If the Feds ever discover that she knew and didn't say anything, then she is guilty of treason.

 

Oy.

[John S]

I'm not sure sure she did misunderstand it that way--this week she said they weren't really friends so I think she interpreted it correctly, that Stan was an innocent dupe just like she had been.

 

 

I wouldn't be so sure Paige would have a clue that the Russian embassy had anything to do with her parents. I don't remember anything that showed Elizabeth protecting Paige in the previews. I would guess she'd act out in the same world she's been acting out in so far--pushing it with her parents at home by being loud and maybe bringing Pastor Tim into it. Not by telling him everything or anything, but in teasing them by dropping hints or talking around them. Or maybe setting up another one of Pastor Tim's surprise drop-ins where he trolls her parents about religion.

 

The main danger with Paige is that she doesn't really get/feel the danger. I think her parents understand that. That's what's been the issue in their scenes so far with them hissing at her to keep her voice down, Philip saying that even if it seems obvious she needs to remember she's got their life in her hands. From the previews it looked like at one point Elizabeth was literally smothering her mouth with her hand to shut her up. So Paige could be acting out by scaring her parents about telling because even with her new knowledge and even with her parents warnings, it's very hard to make a middle class American teenager with Paige's life feel unsafe. The danger is not real to her.

When Elizabeth has her hand over Paige's mouth, I took it to mean that she was trying to make sure that Paige didn't give their position away - although I could be wrong.

We will find out how Paige does decide to act out.

[rubyred]

Elizabeth's long con on her Northrup 'friend' changes when hubby Maurice point-blank starts naming prices and making demands. (And just like that, they are now coworkers and co-conspirators.) I'd worry more about Maurice, who I'm sure is doomed, except that we've already seen he is a freeloading, wife-beating lowlife in the past, so I can't say I'll mourn him when Elizabeth inevitably has to take him out. But the actor's phenomenal.

Let's not leave out pimp, since he is essentially pimping out Lisa for money. She's the one with the security clearance, she's the one who will go to jail. It was an interesting moment, seeing E taken aback, but I immediately thought, byeMaurice, and sorry/notsorry. He's too much of a wild card.

 

Paramitch, great insight on Martha's behavior. As much as it chafes, it makes perfect sense that she would tow the line with Clark; she has intuited that as long as she's an asset to him, she's safe. But I thought it was interesting that in her interview with Taffet she mischaracterized her relationship with Amador, saying she was more interested than him. That was definitely not the case; she blew him off because she was already in thrall to "Clark." The sad irony is that Amador was killed because of his concern for her.

 

Re: E going to Russia. No. Look, I am not a spy, I only read about them and watch them on TV. But it completely beggars belief that they would try a clandestine visit to Russia. The logistics alone boggle the mind. And from a narrative standpoint, why? To continue to "soften" E, make her more "likeable?" IMO they've already compromised a very well-drawn character by making her so blind to the aftereffects of telling Paige that she's only NOW having regrets. As an agent, E has always been a fluid, subtle thinker. But she likes to think Paige is like her - saying it doesn't make it so. Paige is not an extension of E, and she is not Russian (in the way P&E think of it).

 

There's already plenty of implausible ish going on on this show; please no trip to the Motherland.

[sistermagpie]

That was definitely not the case; she blew him off because she was already in thrall to "Clark." The sad irony is that Amador was killed because of his concern for her.

 

 

Well, that's how it was by the time we met them. I got the impression that Amador had cheated on her before that and was now repentant when she broke up with him and wasn't eager to take him back when he wanted back in. She referred to him as her jerk boyfriend so I think she might very well see their relationship this way. She probably just thought he was bored and wanted to use her again when he tried to get back with her--I wouldn't say he was concerned for her when he died, just mad that she was seeing someone else.

 

When Elizabeth has her hand over Paige's mouth, I took it to mean that she was trying to make sure that Paige didn't give their position away - although I could be wrong.

 

 

I can't imagine that Elizabeth would already be taking Paige places where they had a position to give away--that's like they're on a mission together. It's like Philip taking Kimmie along on a mission.

 

There's already plenty of implausible ish going on on this show; please no trip to the Motherland.

 

 

I'm dreading it and hope it doesn't happen--especially if there's some cliffhanger that goes along with it somehow. I have no reason to think that's the case, but the show really loves its Elizabeth apologia and Elizabeth/Paige bonding and they've gone to Russia before.

[rubyred]

Well, that's how it was by the time we met them. I got the impression that Amador had cheated on her before that and was now repentant when she broke up with him and wasn't eager to take him back when he wanted back in. She referred to him as her jerk boyfriend so I think she might very well see their relationship this way. She probably just thought he was bored and wanted to use her again when he tried to get back with her--I wouldn't say he was concerned for her when he died, just mad that she was seeing someone else.

Oh, I missed this! I didn't realize they'd ever dated, and thought that he'd been hinting around but she was already falling for Clark.

[Umbelina]

Instead of being in love and happy for the first time in her life to this dream guy, Martha has learned that EVERYTHING was a lie, and that she has no options. If she flips on Clarke, her career is over and she may very well end up in prison. If she flips on the FBI she betrays her country and ideology. She's between a rock and a hard place. Worst of all, the man she is in love with may decide at any moment to kill her if she becomes too great a liability. She knows this.

 

Only, not really.

 

I seriously doubt they would have jailed Martha, had she gone to the FBI and told them the truth.  She thought she was working for Taffet's organization.  She was stupid, she was fooled, but she was actually trying to help.  This kind of thing, including the marriages, really happened.  The FBI would have probably given her immunity if she helped them catch Clark.  Especially if she hired a lawyer.

 

The KGB suspects Philip because Elizabeth ratted him out, and stated her concerns to the KGB about his possible seduction by the USA life first season.

 

Stan could go to jail for many reasons, he's an FBI agent, he's held to a higher standard, and he has different rules to follow, many of which, he just continues to break.  Including meeting clandestinely with a KGB agent for his own desires, killing that guy, almost giving secrets to the Soviet Union (he had them in his hands.) 

Edited April 11, 2015 by Umbelina

[John S]

Sistermagpie - The IMPRESSION that I got was that Elizabeth and Paige were hiding from someone and Elizabeth didn't want Paige to make any noise, giving them away - but previews are often deceptive. We will find out on Wednesday.

[Milburn Stone]

Elizabeth's long con on her Northrup 'friend' changes when hubby Maurice point-blank starts naming prices and making demands. (And just like that, they are now coworkers and co-conspirators.)

 

Help me out here. So, Maurice has somehow figured out that Elizabeth only befriended his wife in order to get Northrup Grumman secrets. How did he figure that out? Is it that improbable that they would just be friends? I mean, he's right and all, but why would anyone leap to that conclusion?

 

And Northrup Grumman Lady (sorry, don't know her name) seemed oddly unperturbed that she was being conned. If anything, she seemed apologetic to Elizabeth for demanding money. Wouldn't there be some feeling of betrayal in the mix there?

 

I have a feeling I'm missing something.

[sistermagpie]

Sistermagpie - The IMPRESSION that I got was that Elizabeth and Paige were hiding from someone and Elizabeth didn't want Paige to make any noise, giving them away - but previews are often deceptive. We will find out on Wednesday.

 

 

Yes, I understood what you meant. My impression that she was telling her not to talk so loud or say something out loud because somebody might hear. Both impressions make sense given what Elizabeth is doing, I was just saying that a situation where Elizabeth and Paige are hiding somewhere and Elizabeth is shushing her so that someone--like a Soviet or an American--doesn't find them is outside their normal life.

 

The KGB suspects Philip because Elizabeth ratted him out, and stated her concerns to the KGB about his possible seduction by the USA life first season.

 

 

I do like the idea that Elizabeth's zealous reporting of her bad impressions of Philip (since that was basically what they were), especially coming from her who seems to have always been the darling of the Centre, might wind up causing even bigger tragedies down the line. That's a pattern with Elizabeth where she thinks she's right, stands by her actions, gets what she wants and then is scared of the results. I honestly wasn't sure if we were supposed to assume that really was the root of it all, or if there were other factors as well. Did Gabriel agree with Elizabeth for all those years?

 

Help me out here. So, Maurice has somehow figured out that Elizabeth only befriended his wife in order to get Northrup Grumman secrets. How did he figure that out? Is it that improbable that they would just be friends? I mean, he's right and all, but why would anyone leap to that conclusion?

 

 

I think he suspected Elizabeth because he was in a bitter state with the world already and then this nice white lady shows up and drops a hell of a lot of nice things into his wife's lap--first a nice house where she can live, then hints about a way to make a lot of money. Once he heard about that he thought he'd figured her out because before that he was too suspicious of anyone to believe anybody would be that nice to his wife just for no reason.

 

Lisa perhaps doesn't know this, though. She just thinks she told Maurice about Lisa's deal and Maurice is telling her she should get in on it. It was only after she left the room that Maurice let Elizabeth know that he knew she was running a scam and he was taking control of it on Lisa's behalf. Rather than stepping in to protect Lisa's integrity he thinks it's a better idea to make sure she gets what she's worth. Elizabeth's scam wouldn't stand up to anybody who went into it with a suspicious mind. Lisa didn't have one but Maurice did.

[John S]

Sistermagpie - The previews say that Paige "acts out". If she had wanted to act out against her parents, I believe that she would have already done so. I believe that that acting out will make for something "outside their normal life" - like MAYBE pissing off the Soviets. 

My speculations sometimes tend be bizarre, when oftentimes the simplest thing is what actually happens.

[ToastnBacon]

I always thought the reason that Phillip didn't work Stan as a source is because it would be too dangerous for their primary cover.

P&E always use a different identity when they work sources, they keep the Jennings name clean because that is what is keeping them in America.

If anything went wrong working Stan for intelligence, they are done as spies because they have nothing to fall back on.

Stan really is their friend in a strange way, even if it is only because of circumstance.

Edited April 12, 2015 by ToastnBacon

[gwhh]

That reminds me of my own mother.  If you tell her that you protested the Vietnam war.  She would ask you if you had any photos of you doing that?  And than get out her own photos of her protesting the war.  I on the other hand is so far to the right, I make Rush Limbaugh look like a card carrying commie!  Me and mother often joke if the revolution started.  How we would turn each other in to the "man" so we could "save" each other.

 

The far Christian right and left did agree on ONE thing during the cold war.  They had to save the world from "godless communist", they just differed on how to go about that.  Ronald Regan could unite both sides of that debate like no other man during the cold war!

 

I remain unconvinced by the argument that Paige is necessarily in danger of exposing her parents at any moment, so they were fools to ever trust her with the truth. I mean, obviously, the Jared situation is hanging over everything precisely so we wonder whether something catastrophic might happen, but I don't find it nearly as inevitable as some folks seem to -- nor would I find it improbable if Paige chose to hold her peace.

 

Whether you're willing to turn in your own family is a deep and serious moral consideration, not the sort of thing that's going to turn on a dime if a teenager is feeling especially peeved or hormonal or whatever. Worrying that Paige might expose her parents in a fit of pique seems like worrying that she might start stabbing everyone at church one Sunday because she doesn't like Pastor Tim's homily.

 

And I say that as someone who would turn in his family for high crimes, without a second thought. That's just how I was raised -- to be extremely morally parsimonious. It was drilled into me from a young age that good is good and bad is bad, and personal relationships don't change that. If I betrayed my country or murdered someone, I would expect my parents to turn me in and think less of them if they didn't, just as they would expect me to turn them in if they committed some heinous deed.

 

But I have friends who were raised differently, who find that sort of moral code absolutely baffling. "You'd turn in your own mother?" I have one friend who says he would prioritize family over institutional loyalty even given the most absurdly lopsided hypothetical I could think of. ("What if you found out that your sister planned to betray the defense of Baghdad to the Islamic State?") So it's not hard for me to imagine that Paige might be the kind of person who would have a fundamental moral block against giving up her parents' secret. Especially since her parents would've had a vested interest in her feeling more loyal to them than to Western society.

Edited April 12, 2015 by gwhh

[Umbelina]

Help me out here. So, Maurice has somehow figured out that Elizabeth only befriended his wife in order to get Northrup Grumman secrets. How did he figure that out? Is it that improbable that they would just be friends? I mean, he's right and all, but why would anyone leap to that conclusion?

 

And Northrup Grumman Lady (sorry, don't know her name) seemed oddly unperturbed that she was being conned. If anything, she seemed apologetic to Elizabeth for demanding money. Wouldn't there be some feeling of betrayal in the mix there?

 

I have a feeling I'm missing something.

It's really not that sharp of a scam.

 

Maurice never liked her, and he's looking at just the sequence of events, not being seduced by her charm or friendship.  When you just look at the facts it is pretty damn easy to figure out that she's playing her for secret information.  I doubt Maurice cares if she's from a competing company or if she's a spy, he just wants a decent cut of the money.  As much as he can get, and he rightly assumes it's more than she's offering since, in street parlance, this is a "long con."

[AGuyToo]

The relationship between Philip and Stan is one of the things I like best about the show. You're right that Philip really is Stan's friend.

 

A lot of Philip's struggle over these last seasons has been about how to be human and not merely a spy/soldier/robot. He wants to be a good father, a good husband, and a good friend. He is not willing to sacrifice Paige to the Center's plans (and, indeed, if it came to it, I am sure he would fight to the death for her); he wants his marriage to Elizabeth to be real (and not just a Center-arranged farce); and he wants Stan to be his friend and he wants to be Stan's friend. 

 

When Paige demanded to know whether they were really friends with Mr. Beeman, Philip didn't hesitate when he said yes. That seemed real.

 

I think the fact that Philip rarely works Stan is just proof that he's really is friend. He's not going to him for information, he's going to him for companionship--he's a good friend because although Stan doesn't know it, they're in the same job and have a lot in common. 

 

Though I think underneath if Philip does have designs on Stan they're more about things like hoping Stan would protect his kids if they got caught and wanting to have an eye on him so he can pick up if Stan seems to have figured anything out about them. It's true that Stan could bring unwanted attention down on them if his colleagues start suspecting him, but Philip and Elizabeth probably wouldn't expect that when they moved in. Philip probably thinks of Stan as a good, loyal American so figures he's in good standing at the office.

Edited April 12, 2015 by AGuyToo

[AGuyToo]

deleted by poster

Edited April 12, 2015 by AGuyToo

[AGuyToo]

Now he's basically Uncle Stan.

My favorite funny moment in the show was when Elizabeth asked who would take the kids if something happened to them and Philip deadpanned, "The Beemans."

 

Yes!  I loved that moment. Philip said it as a joke, but it actually made sense to me. What other friends do they really have?

Edited April 12, 2015 by AGuyToo

[AGuyToo]

I just don't think we can extrapolate all of Pastor Tim's political views from one issue. Plus as I stated I don't think it matters, no matter how much he might disagree with Reagan he is not going to be pro-Soviet Union, a state that was against all religion and promoted atheism.

 

I agree that Paige's opposition to Reagan, which I think the show runners have made clear, does not imply sympathy to the Soviet Union. The American political landscape was vastly more complicated than Reagan at one end and Soviet totalitarianism at the other. There were plenty of Cold War liberals, people who opposed totalitarianism and communism as fervently as Reagan did but who also opposed his economic, social, and foreign policies. Of the nine presidents (four Democrats, five Republicans) who served during the Cold War, Reagan was the one furthest to the right. He didn't define the landscape -- he was an outlier. Much of the Cold War was administered by people like Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson who, at home, were liberals but who, abroad, were strong anti-communists.

 

While I think that all indications are that Pastor Tim is an opponent of Reagan's policies (nuclear weapons, the apartheid regime in South Africa, Vietnam), that worldview won't drive Paige into her parents' spying game. Indeed, there are aspects of Tim's worldview (pacifism, civil disobedience, nonviolence as a philosophy rather than merely a tactic) that would make Paige abhor her parents' work even more than anti-communism and as much as her Christian faith.

Edited April 12, 2015 by AGuyToo

[SlackerInc]

You might be right, and if you are, it points up the rock/hardplace situation Paige now is in. Because maintaining utter secrecy carries for her its own peril. Namely, that she will have been made complicit in her parents' treachery. If the Feds ever discover that she knew and didn't say anything, then she is guilty of treason.

 

Oy.

 

I wonder if that's true at her age.  Maybe.

 

Well, that's how it was by the time we met them. I got the impression that Amador had cheated on her before that and was now repentant when she broke up with him and wasn't eager to take him back when he wanted back in. She referred to him as her jerk boyfriend so I think she might very well see their relationship this way. She probably just thought he was bored and wanted to use her again when he tried to get back with her--I wouldn't say he was concerned for her when he died, just mad that she was seeing someone else.

 

Right, this was my understanding as well.

 

It's really not that sharp of a scam.

 

Maurice never liked her, and he's looking at just the sequence of events, not being seduced by her charm or friendship.  When you just look at the facts it is pretty damn easy to figure out that she's playing her for secret information.  I doubt Maurice cares if she's from a competing company or if she's a spy, he just wants a decent cut of the money.  As much as he can get, and he rightly assumes it's more than she's offering since, in street parlance, this is a "long con."

 

Right.  I think a lot of people are overcomplicating this, speculating that Maurice and Kim have really stepped in it, that "the jig is up" and now they have to die, etc.  But that is just not my impression at all.  Maurice is clearing it down to brass tacks, and that should be just fine with the KGB.  Didn't their old handler "Granny" (Claudia, was it?) say that there are various reasons people give up information, and that she liked it best when it's just straight up for money?  Remember, that was how Philip got some good intel from that dying guy: he started out, just as in this case, getting closer to the guy under a false pretense, but then just offered him a bunch of money for intel, and when the guy asked who was paying, shrugged "Does it matter?".

 

There was some interesting info that came from the writers of this episode in the latest podcast, that sheds some light on some areas that many viewers (including me) found ambiguous.  I'm going to spoiler tag this stuff for people who take the "Death of the Author" approach and just want to go with their own interpretations (though I think it's a little different in an ongoing story as opposed to a completed work like a non-sequelled novel or movie).  They could of course still change course if they decide to, but I do think it's interesting to know what the writers of this episode intended, anyway:

 

--Nina is apparently

not playing Anton.  She is genuinely feeling new things with Anton "that she has never felt before".  So her talking tenderly to him about his son, and saying "I don't know" (why she didn't turn him in) was intended to just be an outpouring of emotion, not some clever ploy or long con on her part.

 

--This part was a little more ambiguous, but the impression I got from their discussion was that Elizabeth's sex with the hotel guy

was supposed to be actually hot for her.  That to whatever extent she felt uncomfortable was not because she was just like "yuck" throughout, but because it was so pleasurable (unlike a lot of times when she is using sex to honeytrap guys) and she felt guilty/weird about that.

Edited April 12, 2015 by SlackerInc

[Milburn Stone]

Maurice never liked her, and he's looking at just the sequence of events, not being seduced by her charm or friendship.  When you just look at the facts it is pretty damn easy to figure out that she's playing her for secret information.  I doubt Maurice cares if she's from a competing company or if she's a spy, he just wants a decent cut of the money.  As much as he can get, and he rightly assumes it's more than she's offering since, in street parlance, this is a "long con."

 

I guess I'm a gullible sort, because I thought Elizabeth was being a good enough actress that I would have believed the friendship was genuine. Is it also that back in 1982 it was a rarer thing than today for a white person to be friends with a black person? Maybe that's what pinned Maurice's BS meter.

 

All that said, however, it still seemed not-human-nature for Northrup Grumman Lady to be so sheepish and apologetic about the confrontation. I'd expect at least a little anger in her, for being conned and betrayed.

 

I wonder if they really have to kill Maurice and Wife now. Maybe simply paying them is the best option, as long as they don't get too greedy. Turning them into criminals could be Elizabeth's best protection, since they'll now have something to hide. (But of course if Wife gets caught, she'll probably give up Elizabeth to save her own skin. Oh well. Sayonara, nice Grumman Lady and Maurice.)

 

Edited to add: SlackerInc's post, written while I was writing mine, puts me back into thinking that paying Maurice and Kim will be just fine.

 

Edited again to add: SlackerInc, I just wanted to thank you for spoiler-tagging the stuff that came from the podcast. I never heard my point of view called the "Death of the Author" approach, but I think I get the term. My own term would be "The Work of Art Speaks for Itself, and If It's Not in the Art, It's Irrelevant at Best, and Damaging to Know at Worst." The rules don't require you to spoiler-tag that stuff, so I wanted to give you a shout-out for your consideration to those of us who prefer to enjoy a work of art on its own merits.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Milburn Stone

[SlackerInc]

Sorry for the double post--it appears the "View First Unread" button is a little hinky, and skipped some posts (which I only discovered because I got a notification that one quoted me).

 

  I'm not confusing baptisms with Baptists.

I'm pretty sure that Phillip referred to Paige as a Baptist in an earlier episode.
 

 

If you can find the episode and give us the time point when it happened, I've got access to all of them, either on Netflix, iTunes, or Amazon and I will eat my words if it's there.  Otherwise, it's the old "pics or it didn't happen", I'm afraid.  :)

 

 

In podcasts the showrunners have said the opposite-- that they go to great pains to get the details all correct as far as what actually existed at the story date.  They say they won't even use the perfect song or idea if it came out a few months later.  I don't know how good a job they do but that's what they've said is their aim.  They said they know Alan Sepinwall will eviscerate them in the press if they get anything wrong so it keeps them honest.  

 

Right, yeah, that was funny.  But I think that extends only to current events or people watching TV shows (they are super meticulous that if Paige is watching TV at 11:35 on a Friday night, and they play the Tonight Show, it has to be the monologue and not some later segment with guests or whatever).  They just blow this off all the time with exterior scenes (pretty much every street sign is wrong for the era, and there are usually anachronistic cars in the background as well, plus overly modern commercial signage, etc.).  They just don't have the budget to do it right.  I've only seen a couple episodes of Mad Men, but I'm guessing they avoid showing the characters outside much.

 

In addition, I think they back off of some of the '80s fashion that looks ugly to us.  In the pilot, they did have a scene with Elizabeth wearing super high waisted jeans with a big ol' long zipper, but I haven't seen those reappear much.  They sort of fall back on an averaging in between, definitely not showing women with muffin tops from their hip huggers but not really going for the full '80s deal in that case.  I think they mellow out on the hair and glasses, too, unless they want to make someone look comical (like at "Clark" and Martha's wedding).

 

Edited to add: Milburn Stone, you've got the idea exactly right on "Death of the Author".  Here's TV Tropes with more.  I was disappointed though that given their name and mission, their article didn't explore more of the specific ways this can work out differently in an ongoing TV show.  I tend to agree with the theory more when it concerns a movie or novel, especially if the author actually is dead, but someone unearths an old interview or essay in which s/he provides interpretation.  But I think in this kind of case, holding on to an impression of an action or series of actions in the most recent episode (or in the episodes leading up to it) which is not what the writers intended, is likely to lead to a "WTF?!?" moment in a subsequent episode when the character's later actions do not correspond with that impression (this is obviously more relevant to Nina's story).  But I still don't want to be a spoilsport, and MMV, so you are quite welcome for the spoiler tags.  :)

Edited April 12, 2015 by SlackerInc

[Guest]

 

--This part was a little more ambiguous, but the impression I got from their discussion was that Elizabeth's sex with the hotel guy

was supposed to be actually hot for her.  That to whatever extent she felt uncomfortable was not because she was just like "yuck" throughout, but because it was so pleasurable (unlike a lot of times when she is using sex to honeytrap guys) and she felt guilty/weird about that.

I didn't find that ambiguous.  But I'm glad to see I was right (for once)!

 

Regarding how Maurice got on to her, I think Elizabeth was just a little too helpful to Lisa.  White and black women could be friends then, of course, but I think the odds of meeting someone in AA who basically turns into your guardian angel practically overnight... it's a little hokey.  I'd be suspicious, too, especially once the selling secrets talk started.  

[paramitch]

This part was a little more ambiguous, but the impression I got from their discussion was that Elizabeth's sex with the hotel guy

[Guest]

I felt like Phillip had mixed feelings about Elizabeth coming home horny, because he knew that one reason could be that she enjoyed the 'work sex'.  

[rubyred]

I think Elizabeth does genuinely like Lisa. Not that that would stop her from burning her if necessary. But Maurice is not a "mark" like Lisa -- he's trying to position himself as a player. I thought that Lisa did a great job of subtly putting across that this was his idea. The way she held herself stiffly, sitting slightly forward so that Maurice couldn't see her face, and some subtle eye movements - it was clear to me that she was signalling to "Michelle" that she wasn't the one who wanted to play this game. She's never seemed interested in the past, telling Michelle to be careful but not showing any greed herself. And I felt like Michelle got the signal, as she directly most of her dialogue to Lisa. So now I have faint hope that Lisa will get out of this relatively unscathed. Don't care what happens to Maurice.

[sistermagpie]

She's never seemed interested in the past, telling Michelle to be careful but not showing any greed herself. And I felt like Michelle got the signal, as she directly most of her dialogue to Lisa. So now I have faint hope that Lisa will get out of this relatively unscathed. Don't care what happens to Maurice.

 

 

Lisa would be the one in the most trouble since she's the one with the security clearance. She also seems to be the one person who doesn't know what's really going on. She thinks Maurice is the one pushing this on Michelle and buys Michelle's warnings to her to not do it. Maurice knows Michelle's whole game. But whether she knows what she's doing or not, Lisa has now committed treason--she's in the same boat as Martha now.

 

I'm not sure how much Elizabeth likes her. She doesn't seem to dislike her, but I don't know if she considers her a real friend on some level the way Philip considers Martha a real friend.

Edited April 12, 2015 by sistermagpie

[BW Manilowe]

I wonder if that's true at her age. Maybe.

Right, this was my understanding as well.

Right. I think a lot of people are overcomplicating this, speculating that Maurice and Kim have really stepped in it, that "the jig is up" and now they have to die, etc. But that is just not my impression at all. Maurice is clearing it down to brass tacks, and that should be just fine with the KGB. Didn't their old handler "Granny" (Claudia, was it?) say that there are various reasons people give up information, and that she liked it best when it's just straight up for money? Remember, that was how Philip got some good intel from that dying guy: he started out, just as in this case, getting closer to the guy under a false pretense, but then just offered him a bunch of money for intel, and when the guy asked who was paying, shrugged "Does it matter?".

There was some interesting info that came from the writers of this episode in the latest podcast, that sheds some light on some areas that many viewers (including me) found ambiguous. I'm going to spoiler tag this stuff for people who take the "Death of the Author" approach and just want to go with their own interpretations (though I think it's a little different in an ongoing story as opposed to a completed work like a non-sequelled novel or movie). They could of course still change course if they decide to, but I do think it's interesting to know what the writers of this episode intended, anyway:

--Nina is apparently

not playing Anton. She is genuinely feeling new things with Anton "that she has never felt before". So her talking tenderly to him about his son, and saying "I don't know" (why she didn't turn him in) was intended to just be an outpouring of emotion, not some clever ploy or long con on her part.

--This part was a little more ambiguous, but the impression I got from their discussion was that Elizabeth's sex with the hotel guy

was supposed to be actually hot for her. That to whatever extent she felt uncomfortable was not because she was just like "yuck" throughout, but because it was so pleasurable (unlike a lot of times when she is using sex to honeytrap guys) and she felt guilty/weird about that.

The character of the handler from Moscow/Elsewhere in Russia, as played by Margo Martindale, is/was "Claudia", yes. She was their handler after Gabriel retired (I think Gabriel had retired by the time the show started, because we never physically saw Gabriel until Frank Langella began playing the character this season, we just heard references to him) but, as I remember, there was a certain time frame--between Gabriel's retirement & Claudia being assigned as their handler, & we started seeing Margo as Claudia--when it seemed Philip & Elizabeth apparently weren't working with a specific handler. Unlike after Margo Martindale got the role in The Millers & they had to make allowances for her unavailability due to her role in The Millers, they never cast a "temporary" handler. We never saw anyone else talking to them about their missions, either beforehand or in a "debriefing" type way afterwards. Philip & Elizabeth also never referred to an unseen handler before Claudia came on the scene, like they did with the then-retired Gabriel.

When Margo Martindale got the part in The Millers, they briefly cast a younger actress (younger than Margo, anyway) to play a character named Kate who seemed to function as a "temporary" handler whenever they supposedly needed 1 & Claudia/Margo wasn't available (& the showrunners hadn't come up with the plan to bring Gabriel out of retirement to work with Philip & Elizabeth again).

"Granny" (or "Grannie"-I've seen it both ways), as I remember, is a nickname for Claudia that Philip, Elizabeth, or both came up with & use for her. I think it has to do with the fact that Margo/Claudia looks as if she could be someone's Grandmother, even if Gabriel/Frank perhaps doesn't yet)

Edited April 12, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[sistermagpie]

When Margo Martindale got the part in The Millers, they briefly cast a younger actress (younger than Margo, anyway) to play a character named Kate who seemed to function as a "temporary" handler whenever they supposedly needed 1 & Claudia/Margo wasn't available (& the showrunners hadn't come up with the plan to bring Gabriel out of retirement to work with Philip & Elizabeth again).

 

 

Kate wasn't supposed to be a temporary handler, actually. She was supposed to replace Claudia after the Jennings (mostly Elizabeth) requested a new person. When Claudia dealt with them during that time it wasn't as a handler, just as a colleague who had an interest in the Connors' murders.

 

Iirc, it was Philip who called her Grannie or came up with the name.

[PinkRibbons]

I don't think Philip and Elizabeth even knew that Gabriel had retired when Claudia appeared, because Philip immediately asked something like "what happened to Gabriel?"

 

The pilot makes a point of saying that with Reagan starting to get more aggressive about counter-intelligence, Philip and Elizabeth were now  going to be working harder and presumably more than ever before. I wouldn't be surprised if before this they only saw Gabriel every few months or so. Any other instructions probably came from dead-drops that presumably Gabriel had left.

[Ellaria]

Meanwhile, I think " Clark" made a tactical error in teaching his wifey the tip- of-the-nose trick. I think it gave her away. Martha is not long for this world.

 

I think that he made an error, too, but I don't think that it "gave her away" to Taffet. At some point, she will use the tip-of-the-nose trick on Clark and succeed. Philip is conflicted right now about many things, including Martha. He is going to let his guard down with her. I find it interesting that Martha knows who Clark is not but hasn't done anything to find out more about who he actually is. At the moment, something else is driving her - fear, loneliness, avoidance - but it isn't going to continue. Something or someone is going to push her in a different direction and then she, in turn, will push Clark. And disaster will ensue.

 

Agreed. I was really surprised by this as well -- Hans is, to me, very unstable...

 

I was fascinated by that interview, which made me wonder if in fact someone is watching Martha's flat. If they are, then they're seeing Clarke show up once or twice per week -- or they will -- which means they'll know she's lying. And if she's lying about one thing, she may be lying about others.

 

I agree on Hans - unstable and not trustworthy. He is over confident and seems to overstep his boundaries as a Jr. Spy. Since the character has not been given any depth, I don't think that he is long for this world. Hanging around Martha's apartment building could be his doom since we know that her gun has to go off soon.

 

Based on the questions in that interview, it would surprise me if they weren't watching her building.

 

Last but not least, one of the things that's maddening about Gabriel, is that he has basically spent the entire season looking balefully and suspiciously at Philip, asking him constantly, "Are you losing it? Are you cracking? Are you okay?" then when Philip responds with anger and frustration, Gabriel looks at him with this kind of amiable bland hurt expression, going "What's wrong? I love you. We all love you." Etc. It's very interesting and very subtle and has to be driving Philip absolutely crazy.

And yet at the same time, I love Langella in the role and find Gabriel fascinating. I just wish I ever, for one minute, really felt like Gabriel cared about them. I wish we could see him actually prioritize them, not play them. Granny was rather chilly, but even so I got the feeling more than once that she had in fact truly backed up P&E (after her early mistake with them, hee). I'll be delighted to see Martindale back if she returns, as I adore her and love the rather precise diction she gives Granny. It's perfect English and yet you can feel a kind of translation or foreignness behind it.

 

I'm really tired of Gabriel's passive-aggressive approach with Philip. I liked Martindale much better and hope she sticks around.

 

I'm probably not going to give up on the show, but I totally agree with the rest of this.

 

Further, I've kind of been feeling a loss here, if I'm honest.  I really, REALLY loved this show, and even tried my best to get others to watch it.  I felt it ranked up there with Breaking Bad, and Mad Men...or it was close enough that I was seriously glad to have it around.  Yay!  Another show to love.

 

Until this season.

 

I have to agree. For me, this season is not as compelling as previous seasons. Stan's story arc is a disaster. It will take expert writing to bring that character back to the guy that was snooping around the Jennings' garage. Since Nina got booted from the rezidentura, Arkady has almost disappeared from the story. Oleg - once an incredibly interesting character - is reduced to plotting to bring his true love back to the US and making beeping sounds. This season it feels that Philip and Elizabeth are involved in a lot of disparate plots (the Afghanis, South Africa, Northrup, CIA) that aren't lending to a cohesive narrative. I didn't have that sense in the past.

 

I still enjoy this show and will stick around for a 4th season but I'm worried that it has lost focus. I'm also not interested in the "Paige and Elizabeth visit the homeland" story line.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Ellaria Sand

[crgirl412]

Help me out here. So, Maurice has somehow figured out that Elizabeth only befriended his wife in order to get Northrup Grumman secrets. How did he figure that out? Is it that improbable that they would just be friends? I mean, he's right and all, but why would anyone leap to that conclusion?

 

And Northrup Grumman Lady (sorry, don't know her name) seemed oddly unperturbed that she was being conned. If anything, she seemed apologetic to Elizabeth for demanding money. Wouldn't there be some feeling of betrayal in the mix there?

 

I have a feeling I'm missing something.

I think that the original cover of AA and being Steppers together is still the premise and Maurice still believes it.  Elizabeth's plan to get an insider in Northrup is working out splendidly and even she couldn't have dreamed of Maurice's greed and willingness to pimp out his wife.  She could go to jail but he doesn't care!!  

[TimWil]

The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that Elizabeth and Paige will go to somewhere like East Germany and not to Russia itself. This trip is meant to, above all, trigger a sense of family and bond Paige to Elizabeth via bearing witness to her grandmother's suffering. There's no need to actually be in Russia to do that.

[John S]

The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that Elizabeth and Paige will go to somewhere like East Germany and not to Russia itself. This trip is meant to, above all, trigger a sense of family and bond Paige to Elizabeth via bearing witness to her grandmother's suffering. There's no need to actually be in Russia to do that.

You might be right but it is still illegal for an American (Paige) to go to East Germany - or if not illegal, then highly ill advised.

We also don't know if Elizabeth's mother is healthy enough to make such a long trip even on a plane.

[viajero]

I'm not going to bail on the show because it was at one point a favorite but I'm close.  I *hate* the Paige stuff.  It probably doesn't help that I watched Nashville before this ep and I hate the Maddie teen drama there as well, so it was just more teen hate.  It also probably doesn't help that I have a girl that age and while she's occasionally a little moody she's nowhere near the idiotic teen stereotype of the insufferable, disrespectful bitch that tv writers seem to be so in love with.   

 

So far I’m actually enjoying all the Paige stuff. For me this show has always been about the dichotomy between Philip and Elizabeth’s professional and family lives.  In this context, Paige finding out the truth about her folks was a needed next step.  It also sets up some fascinating potential story lines.

 

It probably helps that I don’t find Paige to be an “idiotic insufferable disrespectful bitch”. Her reactions have seemed quite natural and perhaps even a bit mature for her age, given the circumstances.  But perhaps this is because Paige is a paragon of rational behavior compared to the way my own sister acted at that age. While Paige may not be quite as admirable a character as some of the teen girls on other current shows like Chasing Life or The 100, I personally feel more sympathy than dislike for her.

 

 

Good points, but to anyone religious who listened to Reagan quote Lenin rejecting all morality derived from supernatural beliefs, I doubt it made them a sympathizer of the Soviet Union either.

Yes, I get it, the left hated Regan and still does, but I don't think the Evil Empire speech would drive Pastor Tim and Paige into the arms of the Soviet Union.

Especially since the speech was crafted for a religious audience.

Here is a link to it: http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3409

 

I agree.  I knew a lot of people on the Christian left during the Reagan era.  While most of them actually agreed with Reagan on social issues like abortion, they strongly objected to his foreign, environmental and economic policies (I lived in a state that was devastated by the Reagan recession of the early 80’s).  But this does not mean that they had any illusions about Soviet communism. 

 

When it came to the USSR, their problem with Reagan was not so much over his ultimate objectives, but rather over tactics.  They strongly believed that opposing communism did not justify behaving in an un-Christian manner (as they defined it).  We even had a very religious Republican senator who thought along these lines, very conservative on social issues, but who also actively opposed Reagan on the arms build up (until the Reaganites forced him out as part of their purge of moderate Republicans and promptly handed his seat over to the Democrats).

 

My impression though was that while many of these churches were very alarmed by things like the Evil Empire speech and the nuclear brinksmanship, what really moved them to direct action were Reagan’s wars in Central America.  Several of these churches participated directly or sympathized with the Sanctuary movement in the mid-80's (kind of an underground railroad for Guatemalans and Salvadorian refugees fleeing the civil wars in those countries, after the administration refused to categorize them as refugees).  Of note though is that many of those same churches also held fund raisers for the Polish Solidarity movement.

 

Of course things may have been different in other parts of the country.  I was living in a state that began the 80’s as leaning red, but ended the 80’s solidly blue and where self described Christians continue to vote for Democrats in higher numbers than elsewhere in the country.

Edited April 14, 2015 by viajero

[Umbelina]

The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that Elizabeth and Paige will go to somewhere like East Germany and not to Russia itself. This trip is meant to, above all, trigger a sense of family and bond Paige to Elizabeth via bearing witness to her grandmother's suffering. There's no need to actually be in Russia to do that.

That doesn't work with a (supposedly) DYING mother though.  Yeah, get out of that hospital bed and go fly somewhere to meet your daughter! 

 

You might be right but it is still illegal for an American (Paige) to go to East Germany - or if not illegal, then highly ill advised.

We also don't know if Elizabeth's mother is healthy enough to make such a long trip even on a plane.

It would be incredibly easy for them.

 

Travel was much simpler then, and there are many ways to get into Russia when the KGB is on your side.  No Visa's.  No stamped passports.  Fly to a European country and then take a boat, car, or small plane in.  Or the whole ship thing they did with Nina.  Drive up to Canada, which didn't need a passport, and go from there on faked documents.  Lots of ways.

[RedHawk]

I feel sure we won't see Paige and Elizabeth making any kind of trip to visit Elizabeth's mother. I think the next we'll hear of her will be that she has died. 

[sistermagpie]

Travel was much simpler then, and there are many ways to get into Russia when the KGB is on your side.  No Visa's.  No stamped passports.  Fly to a European country and then take a boat, car, or small plane in.  Or the whole ship thing they did with Nina.  Drive up to Canada, which didn't need a passport, and go from there on faked documents.  Lots of ways.

 

 

Exactly. And if they were going to get the mother out of bed to East Germany when as long as the USSR is letting her she could go somewhere that wouldn't be a problem for Elizabeth and Paige? No, I agree Mom's not going anywhere since she's dying.

 

My only hope is they'll try to go and for some reason they can't or something because I just don't empathize with Elizabeth's mother issues and passing them on to Paige (to add to Paige's own). I'm also worried they'll leave it on a cliffhanger and they'll still be over there by the end of the season or something for the Elizabeth and Paige show. I'm hoping to be proved wrong about all of these things.

 

I agree.  I knew a lot of people on the Christian left during the Reagan era.  While most of them actually agreed with Reagan on social issues like abortion,

 

 

Oh good, so I'm possibly not wrong in many of the opinions I always imagine Pastor Tim as having and teaching to Paige.

[AGuyToo]

You might be right but it is still illegal for an American (Paige) to go to East Germany - or if not illegal, then highly ill advised.

We also don't know if Elizabeth's mother is healthy enough to make such a long trip even on a plane.

 

It wasn't illegal to travel to East Germany or other Warsaw Pact countries in the 1980s or even earlier. For example, Bill Clinton traveled to the Soviet Union itself in 1969 when he was a grad student (http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-09/news/mn-752_1_soviet-union).

 

Still, if the Center hopes to recruit Paige, it would be inadvisable for her to make such a trip. They want her to get a job at the FBI or the CIA. Having to explain why she would have gone anywhere in the Soviet Bloc as a teen probably wouldn't help matters.

 

ETA: As Umbelina points out above, the KGB could obviate the need for Paige to travel under her own passport. It still seems to me like a big risk to take.

Edited April 15, 2015 by AGuyToo

[RimaTheBirdGirl]

Thaddeus Daniels is the actor who plays Maurice.  I'm universally in awe of all the casting on this show.  Even the smallest roles are brilliantly acted.  That feline evil entity who enlists Nina to delve into the kidnapped Jewish-refusenik?  (He's in all the "previously on the Americans.")  He gives me the shivers, every time.  And Walter Taffet?  His kohl-rimmed eyes bespeak such sorrowful knowledge.  He's like a living Rembrandt.   

 

And good God, Lois Smith!  

  

The great care taken by this show gives me a lot of patience with all the short-comings Umbelina listed.

  

 

(It's interesting to think about, especially as this season I do think at some point Clarke and Martha became a kind of weirdly real second marriage.)

 

This show may explore and depict marriage better than anything since Friday Night Lights.  It's fascinating, and dizzyingly unpredictable.  

 

I loved the scene, in bed, I think, when Elizabeth veered from her righteous path, and apologized to Philip for not telling him about her conversations with Paige.  Which was immediately answered by Philip telling her about his son. It played so true to me -- how just the merest acknowledgment of your partner's point of view (the very thing you've been furious at him for) changes everything.  Those good-marriage-moments make me ache.  

 

And I do see them with Clark and Martha too -- but Martha's struggle towards intimacy only deepens the fear and sadness I have for her.  (Run Martha, run!)

 

I'm not sure how much Elizabeth likes [Lisa the Northrup lady]. She doesn't seem to dislike her, but I don't know if she considers her a real friend on some level the way Philip considers Martha a real friend.

  

Remember Elizabeth persuading the Nicaraguan agent to kill her Capitol Hill boyfriend?  There can be no friendships with one's assets in this world.  No loyalties.  If the Center can order the honeytrapping of Jared  (the 18-year old son of the other pair of Illegals), then there is no personal bond that won't be sacrificed for the Mission.  

 

Which is one reason why Elizabeth's story with Paige is so terrific.  I think Elizabeth knows this truth.  Lois Smith (good God) told her.  I think a huge part of E's reasons with Paige are not to follow the Center's orders, but to be intimate with her daughter about who Elizabeth is.  It's let-me-pierce-your-ears, all over again.  She wants a shared life with her daughter.  

Edited April 15, 2015 by RimaTheBirdGirl

[sistermagpie]

Which is one reason why Elizabeth's story with Paige is so terrific.  I think Elizabeth knows this truth.  Lois Smith (good God) told her.  I think a huge part of E's reasons with Paige are not to follow the Center's orders, but to be intimate with her daughter about who Elizabeth is.  It's let-me-pierce-your-ears, all over again.  She wants a shared life with her daughter.

 

 

I agree. It suddenly makes me think of Philip in S1 claiming he was "working" Stan when he really seemed to be using that as a cover for being his friend. I don't think either Elizabeth or Philip is completely aware of themselves as seeking intimacy with another person, but you can see it. The Centre telling Elizabeth she *must* reveal herself to Paige is a dream come true for her. She can get the intimacy she wants and say it's all for the cause--until she actually hears the people who are pointing out that this isn't a good thing to want for her daughter.

 

Also there's the issue with her own mother who gladly tossed her out of her life and into this one without blinking and how Elizabeth needs to believe that was her being a good mother.

[John S]

The new episode is only a few hours away. I can't wait to see how Paige acts out and against who.

[SlackerInc]

You might be right but it is still illegal for an American (Paige) to go to East Germany - or if not illegal, then highly ill advised.

 

It's ill-advised, as others said, for her to go under her own name if she wants to pass muster in the future to get access to top secret intel as part of the FBI or CIA (ironically, I suspect both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama would have had trouble with such background checks, but they made their way to the top-secretest level of all through electoral politics, much to the chagrin of the right).  My parents went to the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War, and I went to the USSR and East Germany after the wall fell but shortly before unification (it was interesting to encounter the now-neutered East German border guards when entering that country by train).

[henripootel]

I felt like Phillip had mixed feelings about Elizabeth coming home horny, because he knew that one reason could be that she enjoyed the 'work sex'.

 

I think Phillip knew only that it affected her somehow, either because she felt guilty and was 'making it up' to Phillip or because she felt the need to purge after what should have been a routine action.  In either case, not professional.  That's why he was looking a gift blowjob in the eye - something was up.  

[sistermagpie]

The new episode is only a few hours away. I can't wait to see how Paige acts out and against who.

 

 

I think Pastor Tim will make an appearance. I wonder if she might use him to push it somehow.

 

That's why he was looking a gift blowjob in the eye - something was up.

 

 

 

Heh. Or looking a gift blowjob at the ceiling.

[RimaTheBirdGirl]

I think Pastor Tim will make an appearance. 

 

Does anyone else suspect that Pastor Tim's hair color is there ONLY to skeeve us out?  Damn, that man does resonate creepy.

[SlackerInc]

I feel bad for the actor and casting director, who must both facepalm every time they hear sentiments like those. I don't see it, personally; but there's no denying a LOT of people react to him that way.

[sistermagpie]

I honestly don't think it's the actor. The show runners seem to chalk it up to being in the Jennings pov, but I think the character himself is written as genuinely threatening and often played that way. Not threatening on a deadly level, but very provocative. It's not suddenly benign because it's a legit church or he's a legit youth pastor.

[kikaha]

It's ill-advised, as others said, for her to go under her own name if she wants to pass muster in the future to get access to top secret intel as part of the FBI or CIA

The flip side is that the trip might be necessary on several levels.  One, to heal the gaping wound between Paige and her parents.  That is critical for P&E to function as spies in the US.  Emotionally and logistically: as long as Paige mistrusts them, she is a bigger risk to expose them, even if it's unwittingly. 

 

Two, the trip might make Paige more sympathetic to P&E's cause.  It might be a first step in turning her. 

 

I'm pretty sure the KGB can cover Elizabeth's and Paige's tracks, so the Americans (the real ones) never suspect a thing.  Seems to me the upsides outweigh the downsides.