Gabriel: The Former Count Dracula

[sistermagpie]

I can't believe we didn't have a thread for him! This is from the Roy Rodgers in Franconia thread... 

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It's funny how we can get such different impressions.  When Gabriel first started working with them again, I thought it was obvious that he cared more for Elizabeth, and Elizabeth really trusted him.  I thought Philip was much more cautious, if not suspicious of Gabriel.

 

My impression from the time and from now is that Gabriel and the Jennings were all very close before season 1, but that he always had to work both of them differently, especially since all that time the two of them weren't a couple. Elizabeth was staunchly loyal and responded to Gabriel telling her how proud her mother and her country was of her. When they first arrive at his apartment he's affectionate with both of them, but Elizabeth comes across like the favored, petted grandchild while Philip is more like the shy kid you have to draw out. It's not that there's no affection--when they first meet Gabriel hugs Elizabeth and says she looks even more beautiful and then he pushed Philip's face and says he looks the same, or something like that.

But right after that Gabriel starts bringing up Paige and Elizabeth reveals she's already on it, which sets Philip off being hostile to Gabriel and I think the idea was the fact that he had trusted Gabriel makes him more hurt and betrayed by this. So it's not, I don't think, that he necessarily cared more for Elizabeth (although maybe he did--who knows?) but that Philip was just more difficult. As he would be, since Elizabeth was always all about winning the approval of her father-like superiors by proving herself the best. Gabriel's like Zhukov, or even Timoshev before he took advantage of her. Gabriel would no doubt have known all about her suspicions of Philip, but I don't think he shared them. Look at how he is with William, after all, saying he believes him to be at heart a patriot despite his complaining. I think he understood Philip better than Elizabeth did then.

So in S3 with Elizabeth he was affectionate and gave her tapes from her mother. With Philip they play Scrabble, a more casual way of hanging out together. In Season 3 Philip was being really difficult and not responding to the usual stuff--it seems like Gabriel usually stressed Philip's skill and how people needed him to get him to work. Then things were difficult with Elizabeth too because her new feelings for Philip made her more sympathetic to him. Rather than just reporting on exactly where Philip seemed to be mentally, she took his side. But early on he was obviously doing a reward/punish thing. I'll never forget the ep where Elizabeth gets a gourmet dinner (and a push to move forward on Paige despite Philip) while Philip doesn't even get leftovers and is told to sleep with Kimmie.

But now the three of them seem to have worked through some of those difficulties. Gabriel and Philip now seem a bit like a father and son who went through a difficult adolescence but now the affection and respect is there. Gabriel no longer seems to be always pushing Philip in ways he doesn't like, and Philip isn't always challenging him. In fact, it even seems to be Philip who's had a couple of comforting moments, like when Gabriel mentioned having experienced being defenseless back home or the way being alone didn't protect him. I don't think this means he cares more for Philip, but I think he gets that Philip is someone he can confide insecurity to a little easier. He's come to appreciate the same things he was criticizing last season.

Also that little exchange where Gabriel admitted he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing and Philip said "You'll always have Elizabeth" and said the Centre made a good match sort of brought the three of them together in a different way. Instead of Elizabeth's steadfastness being an example Philip ought to follow, or an example he refused to follow, they just both acknowledged her Elizabethness and how they both relied on her and sort of affectionately acknowledged her relentless loyalty.

[jrlr]

I love the relationship among the three of them - it seems like there is genuine affection, but then again, Gabriel is their handler and because of that, I'm always a little suspicious about what he is telling them.  He does seem to be a little more forthcoming with Elizabeth, maybe because she is more like him than Phillip is, but I really enjoy trying to figure out how much of what is being said is accurate and how much is just meant to spur them on - kind of like what Gabriel did with William (although to me, that was way too obvious!).

Langella is one of my faves and has been forever.  Ages ago (1970s?) I saw him as Dracula on stage and he was fabulous and sexy.  His first entrance when he flings his cape off and tosses it backwards to a servant without even looking was swoon-worthy!  

[Loandbehold]

I find there is a definite parent-child relationship that Gabriel has with both of them. I think this was illustrated not just by the examples you gave, sistermagpie, but also in his conversation with Claudia where Gabriel expresses his frustrations over how P & E are handling things. He begins talking about the past and how difficult life was when he was younger compared to how easy kids have it today. I swear, he was thisclose to yelling at the kids to get off his lawn. Compare his relationship to what Claudia had with them and it's vastly different. She was their handler - not a parent and not a friend.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, jrlr said:

Langella is one of my faves and has been forever.  Ages ago (1970s?) I saw him as Dracula on stage and he was fabulous and sexy.  His first entrance when he flings his cape off and tosses it backwards to a servant without even looking was swoon-worthy!  

I saw that production too. And yes.

I remember one time he came into the store where I worked and was ordering a book. Somebody else was taking the order and they kept asking him to repeat his name so they could spell it. I was like AAAGH! How do you know who he is and what his name is?

But it was kind of great because he kept saying "Langella" in his totally Frank Langella voice.

1 hour ago, jrlr said:

He does seem to be a little more forthcoming with Elizabeth, maybe because she is more like him than Phillip is, but I really enjoy trying to figure out how much of what is being said is accurate and how much is just meant to spur them on - kind of like what Gabriel did with William (although to me, that was way too obvious!).

Which also reflects on Philip and Elizabeth and Paige, too. Like there's times where he might be manipulating them, but that doesn't mean he doesn't always care about them. 

29 minutes ago, Loandbehold said:

Compare his relationship to what Claudia had with them and it's vastly different. She was their handler - not a parent and not a friend.

So interesting that Claudia was their first handler we saw. Claudia never acted like a mother but she did sort of set herself up as a role model for Elizabeth that Elizabeth really didn't like. And it's interesting how they wound up seeming to work out a relatively good relationship with her as well after their initial struggles. 

I swear the Illegals seem to be the best relationships on this show, maybe because they know only each other can understand what it's like to be them. It's like being a Beatle! 

[kokapetl]

Is there any particular reason he lives in that crumbling apartment/house?

[sistermagpie]

6 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

Is there any particular reason he lives in that crumbling apartment/house?

Seems like that was a quick replacement when his own place got infected with Glanders. It was probably the quickest place and in a good spot, I guess. Don't know if he'll go back to the original place, but he probably thinks it's fine.

[crgirl412]

1 hour ago, Kokapetl said:

Is there any particular reason he lives in that crumbling apartment/house?

It probably reminds him of the Motherland. 

[Umbelina]

Well, I have a slightly different impression of Gabe.

He's been around for a long time.  He was alive during the revolution of the people to fight for human rights and to overthrow the wealthy Czar and his cronies, to spread the wealth around, a time of great hope, incredible courage, and in a very real way "power of the people."  He then watched it disintegrate into corruption and basically dictatorship, blockades by every major country stopping supplies of food and medicine, even fire wood.  Nothing worked.    Stalin took over and now the freedom they had fought for, the place at the table so to speak, was completely eliminated, along with the dream, and millions of people killed for whatever reason Stalin's sick brain woke up with that day.

THEN, he lived through WWII, after already probably suffering as a child through WWI.  Millions more died.  Gabe has seen it all, hope, despair, frustration, fear, impotence... 

He would kill any of them in a heartbeat if he was told to do that.  He tells the story of being ordered to kill his friend.  He might not like it, but he would do it without question or backtalk.

He's a handler.  He's a spy.  His job is to get his subordinates to do any idiotic thing "Center" tells them to do, by any means necessary, and he does that well.  If that means acting fatherly, no problem, if that means acting caring, hey, got that down too, if that means drumming the patriotism theme, sure.

I was watching REDS last night, Warren Beatty's film about the Russian Revolution, prior, during, and after it all began to fall apart.  Maureen Stapleton's character was so amazing (she won an Oscar for that role) and in some ways she reminded me of Gabe, an idealist with hopes crushed, despair all around her, realistically looking at the chaos.  Her choice? To get the hell out of Russia, she was an American.  Gabe, the Russian though chose to stay, but I think he knows the dreams of the workers were shattered, and now, I don't know what he has left?  I think he still loves his country, but he also knows it's just as, if not more corrupt than the United States. 

I think he knows that what Elizabeth thinks of as home is a pipe dream, but still, he goes through the motions and does his job.  Why?  Does he have family in Russian that would suffer?  Does he still think the dream can work someday?  That's the big question for me about Gabe.

He's probably more jaded and more aware than Oleg and William, yet Oleg and William have chosen to be like the soviet who didn't launch the missiles, thinking of people instead of governments.  Why hasn't Gabe made that leap?  Is he too jaded and discouraged to even see a possibility of hope anymore, or is he deluding himself that hope still exists for the original goals of the revolution?  Or is he just too tired to fight anymore, and going through his life by rote? 

[sistermagpie]

27 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

He's probably more jaded and more aware than Oleg and William, yet Oleg and William have chosen to be like the soviet who didn't launch the missiles, thinking of people instead of governments.  Why hasn't Gabe made that leap?  Is he too jaded and discouraged to even see a possibility of hope anymore, or is he deluding himself that hope still exists for the original goals of the revolution?  Or is he just too tired to fight anymore, and going through his life by rote? 

Seems like that's just something he's starting to consider since his illness. His whole turnaround on Pastor Tim was kind of about that issue--he said when he was young he just did what he was told in the vain hope that it would keep him alive another day, but now he realizes that it was almost luck either way. That is, following orders maybe wasn't the thing that kept him alive. It no doubt didn't hurt (had he disobeyed he would have been killed definitely) but it's not necessarily the best thing to do even for survival. That's why he figured hey, if Philip and Elizabeth choose to live in the burning house I can't really tell them that's going to be the thing that gets them.

So I feel like he's still playing his role, but he's starting to see the light (or darkness) at the end of the tunnel of his life and would like to do something where he feels he's accomplished it, even if that thing is keeping his agents alive and letting them have their dream of a personal life or something.

Or perhaps he's just realized in his death finally how to work this new pairing of Philip and Elizabeth more efficiently--by accepting and supporting the new status quo.

He can, of course, be those things at the same time. He's an old man who's probably thinking he's going to die soon and even if he has totally manipulating these two, they're all he's got in terms of family, right? He probably is attached to them as much as he can be attached to anyone. He looks back on the purges and sees probably nothing to be proud of, so maybe he is starting to see the value in people not stabbing each other in the back. 

[RedHawk]

18 hours ago, jrlr said:

I love the relationship among the three of them - it seems like there is genuine affection, but then again, Gabriel is their handler and because of that, I'm always a little suspicious about what he is telling them.  He does seem to be a little more forthcoming with Elizabeth, maybe because she is more like him than Phillip is, but I really enjoy trying to figure out how much of what is being said is accurate and how much is just meant to spur them on - kind of like what Gabriel did with William (although to me, that was way too obvious!).

Langella is one of my faves and has been forever.  Ages ago (1970s?) I saw him as Dracula on stage and he was fabulous and sexy.  His first entrance when he flings his cape off and tosses it backwards to a servant without even looking was swoon-worthy!  

I saw him back then, too, and it's a piece of theatre you never forget! He was indeed sexy!

[crgirl412]

I clicked back to the Tony's to catch the end of Gabriel giving a really touching speech about the events in Orlando today.  I wish I had seen the whole thing as well as what his Tony tie in was.  

[CarpeDiem54]

23 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

I clicked back to the Tony's to catch the end of Gabriel giving a really touching speech about the events in Orlando today.  I wish I had seen the whole thing as well as what his Tony tie in was.  

He won the Tony for Best Actor for a Play starring in The Father.

[Loandbehold]

Playing a man suffering from Alzheimer's, which, according to his speech, his brother suffers from. I do not wish that on anybody.

[BW Manilowe]

If you check YouTube, his acceptance speech is probably there. I think someone else linked to the part where Keri introduced the performance by the cast of Waitress (she starred in the movie version, which the musical's based on) via a YT clip (in the Media thread).

[kokapetl]

Frank Langella gives me a "poor man's Max Von Sydow" vibe.  

[Umbelina]

I commented in last week's thread about Gabe seeming as shaky as Philip right now.  He's gone all mushy, which is not very KGB like.  I speculated that is why Claudia is suddenly hanging around again, she's not just there to assess the "shaky" Philip, she's possibly assessing the equally suspect Gabe.

If so?  Gabe is failing that assessment.  Not only wasn't his first instinct to kill the traitor escapee Misha who was a danger to this extremely valuable Jennings operation, he also talked about just letting Philip and Misha meet up!  Then, crazy talk about some massive operation to get Misha back to the USSR, where, at least Claudia knows, he'd promptly be shot or imprisoned.  WTF? 

Claudia must be more concerned about Gabe about now that she is about Philip.  Neither are acting like loyal, steadfast soldiers for the cause.  It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Claudia killed both Gabe and Misha.  Now if Gabe spills

Spoiler

some secret from Philip's past

and Claudia or Center find out about it?  He's probably a dead man walking.  (it's only a preview "spoiler" under that tag)

ETA

The more I think about it, the more trouble I think Gabe's in.

Philip and Elizabeth's little trip to Germany to visit her dying mom, ignoring Gabe telling them not to?  Gabe trying to pull them out and send them home, ending their mission, a couple of times now?  Gabe insisting they get a long vacation?  Philip and Elizabeth having the gall to balk at recruiting their children?  Now, Gabe seriously acting like an idiot about the traitor/criminal or insane Misha?

I wouldn't be surprised if Gabe meets an untimely end here soon.

Edited April 6, 2017 by Umbelina

[MisterBluxom]

If he does, I would suspect it would be because he has some better rl options. He is a very talented actor and I'm guessing that he is very much in demand. But that is just a complete guess.

Would anyone know fer sure?

[suomi]

12 hours ago MissBluxom said

Quote

I'm sorry to be negative about this. I've always really enjoyed his work. If you want to see something really shocking, you should see the film "The Tweve Chairs".

It stars Mr. Langella in his youth and he was one of the most handsome men in Hollywood at the time. I'm talking Rudolph Valentino handsome. No Kidding!  He could have been called the best looking man in motions pictures ever!

Maybe even just get a still shot of him from that picture. It's amazing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066495/mediaviewer/rm1938673152

The above link is not a great picture. But it does show him in his youthful glory. The following pix are much better:

http://www.gettyimages.ca/photos/frank-langella?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=frank langella&family=editorial

Boy! He sure must have gotten a whole lot of   ***BLEEP***   back in his youth.   (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

But given he is leaving the show somewhat suddenly and there is no explanation, I would have to guess something bad is happening to him or with him. I sure do hope not because he is a great actor and has helped make some mediocre movies really great. But it seems to me these events forbode something very bad about to happen to him.

re the bolded above: He was blessed with especially pleasing features, wasn't he? His looks are androgynous - that face would look equally beautiful whether it was assigned to a male or a female.

I worked as a hospice CNA for many years and, thankfully, most of my patients were elderly. I noticed from the beginning that (many/most) very elderly men exhibit a female facial appearance which minimizes their "maleness" and the reverse is also true - (many/most) very elderly women exhibit a male facial appearance which minimizes their "femaleness." Infants/toddlers are neither male nor female in facial appearance and the very elderly often revert to that same state. Seems like we leave this realm the same way we entered it (if we live long enough).

But Mr Langella is in a whole 'nother category! Thank you for posting the photos!

Edited April 20, 2017 by suomi

[crgirl412]

On 4/19/2017 at 9:04 PM, suomi said:

12 hours ago MissBluxom said

re the bolded above: He was blessed with especially pleasing features, wasn't he? His looks are androgynous - that face would look equally beautiful whether it was assigned to a male or a female.

I worked as a hospice CNA for many years and, thankfully, most of my patients were elderly. I noticed from the beginning that (many/most) very elderly men exhibit a female facial appearance which minimizes their "maleness" and the reverse is also true - (many/most) very elderly women exhibit a male facial appearance which minimizes their "femaleness." Infants/toddlers are neither male nor female in facial appearance and the very elderly often revert to that same state. Seems like we leave this realm the same way we entered it (if we live long enough).

But Mr Langella is in a whole 'nother category! Thank you for posting the photos!

That is so true!  I am a nurse and see older women with mustaches and chin whiskers while I see older men who don't need to shave anymore. 

[Nash]

The guy is an old school chekist who survived the purges; whatever he is saying to the Jennings is either a lie or a calibrated truth to keep them in place. 

Yes, he knows what he's done and he's probably struggled with it for a while. Even so I'd not trust him with a spent match - agree his offer of an exfil and the Jennings might get the 9mm solution. The value they gave alive in Moscow is the ability to train more illegals to be Americans.