Mischa: The Love Child

[Umbelina]

I thought Misha needed his own thread. 

I'll spell it the way the show does for the title.  Ha. 

Philip's love child is escaping from the USSR and will hopefully join dad and his evil stepmother soon.  Just kidding about the evil stepmother part, my reaction to so many hating Elizabeth, but maybe to them she will be.  Will this be the most important catalyst of all to end the show?  Perhaps it shall, because if the Jennings did decide to run and return to Russia with their no-doubt unwilling kids, Paige and Henry, what about Misha?  He certainly wouldn't be able to return.  Could this motivate Elizabeth to sacrifice her patriotism for her husband, or finally break the love Philip feels for her, and have him choose all of his kids over her?  What will they do with a Russian speaking youth, who will need help, once he's in the USA?  Will they hide him from Gabe? 

Lots of good questions and problems coming up.  Jump in and discuss Misha and how he will change things for the show.

So, Misha is on his trek to find his daddy, and some think he isn't acting much like a battle-hardened soldier, more like someone you want to cuddle and make hot cocoa.  Is the actor just miscast or the writers handling this escape story weirdly or what? 

This was one of my responses to that, it's working for me.

It doesn't matter how trained you are, some people simply don't survive war as tough guys, it breaks a lot of men, or changes them.  Napoleonic Wars? "Soldier's Heart" or "Irritable Heart. Civil War?  Melancholia.  WWI?  Shell Shock.  WWII?  CSR, Combat Stress Reaction, later called Battle Fatigue.  Vietnam and after?  PTSD.  In some ways, perhaps those men had a deeper humanity, so I don't know that I would, in any way, denigrate them for their response to being in war.

Coming out of basic?  Most I've met change a lot, and are "tough guys" and now even "tough girls."  Basic Training isn't war though, in general people aren't dying, or having their heads chopped off in front of you, children aren't dying from explosives you fired, you aren't surrounded by devastation, you haven't watched your friends scream in pain, or die. 

Misha came home and was moved enough to protest the war and speak up for the Afghanistan people, speak of them in kind terms.  They never attacked Russia, they weren't any threat to his homeland.  His morality couldn't handle it.  Maybe he would have done better fighting Germans on Russian Soil?  Mental Institution or Prison, he was once again controlled, told what to do by authority figures.

It appears that the only time he wasn't following orders, being told what to do, where to eat, and where and when to sleep, after becoming an adult at 18 was the brief period of time after the war and before the Mental Institution.  I don't think that prepared him to travel on his own escaping the Soviet Union.  His mother left pretty skimpy instructions.  He had no option about "trusting" the people behind the door he knocked on this episode.  He probably didn't, his Russian ingrained fear of strangers, and logical fear of everything while escaping showed in his face, and on top of that, the one his mother told him to contact was already caught. 

I think all of those things explain his actions.  War, rather than harden him, devastated parts of him, but even if the skimpy stuff I'm basing that on isn't true?  In no way did it suddenly prepare him for what he's doing now.  Passports, money, different languages, borders, hiding from his own people, traveling.  Any sane person WOULD be scared, he gets caught?  He's a dead man.

[JennyMominFL]

I wanted to address something you mentioned in the episode thread about how basic training changes you some what but not completely. My  original job in the Marines was Intel.  To make a long story short I ended up a cook, because as the MasterGunny said "that was a better job for a woman". I was stationed at 22 Area in Camp Pendleton near the airfield. I served in Gulf War 1. We were on call 24/7 because when people were going to deploy we had to go in a cook them a meal before they got on the plane. Some of those men came through the line with tears. They were afraid. They are human and it didn't matter how much training they had. Most of them are very young, 19, 20 years old.

 Sadly many of those Marines came back with strange illnesses 

 Bottom line, Misha's behavior doesn't surprise me, especially if he lives with PTSD

[Umbelina]

I think one of the most interesting things about introducing Misha is:

What happens if the Jennings are blown now?  Do they really drag Henry and Paige to Russia?  When you add in Misha, what will happen with Philip?  He knows he can't take Misha back.  Will Philip finally choose his kids and his heart over Elizabeth?  Or, could Elizabeth be the one to finally side with Philip's feelings, could Misha be the final push for her to agree to just run, or defect, or at the least, not return to Russia?

Will they lie to Gabe about Misha's presence?  Will they be hiding him from the Residentura and other KGB?  Or will Philip have to lie to Elizabeth about all of it, keep her in the dark?

Lots of good possibilities.

[Umbelina]

I hope we get to see more of Misha tonight, and I wouldn't mind a small time jump just to get him closer to America.  Once he gets to a free(er) country, he's only one plane trip away.

I still don't think he's abnormally "much too innocent/stupid" for a war veteran, but I certainly understand those posts in other threads before this one was created. 

For example, why did he have all his money in one place?  Then again, maybe he didn't...

When he does arrive in America, all hell should break loose in new and interesting ways.  I'm most interested to see if Elizabeth lies to Gabriel.    Or if Gabriel lies to Center (which, I could almost see happening, but nah.) 

Let's hope his mother left Misha some direct information about where Philip is, and his American name. 

[Umbelina]

Well crap!  The previews showed Misha

Spoiler

finding Gabe, and Gabe telling Claudia!

  That's NOT the way I wanted this to go at all.  I really wanted to see if Elizabeth would

Spoiler

lie to Gabe. 

I know previews are exempt, but I'm tagging them for those that don't watch previews.  Sorry mods if I'm wrong to do that.

[sistermagpie]

Yes, looks like we're looking at a different decision. And I can't imagine the person in question having to think much about it. That said, seems like he's not in much trouble for it!

Though given the yelling outside seems like he's got the same genes as Paige when it comes to keeping the head down!

[Erin9]

Gabriel and Claudia know he's disappeared. I guess it figures they'd know he arrived first. 

Gabriel was speaking English to him iirc. He must know some then. I wonder if it'll really be as simple as Gabriel just telling Philip. Claudia seems to be really good at getting him to do things her way. So, I wonder. 

[Umbelina]

http://www.fox5ny.com/good-day/244670825-video

Spoilers about Misha in this interview with "Claudia."

[crgirl412]

33 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

http://www.fox5ny.com/good-day/244670825-video

Spoilers about Misha in this interview with "Claudia."

Oooooh, the scene about Misha with Claudia and Gabriel was good!!!  

It was good to see the fight scene again!  Elizabeth was so enraged at Claudia!  I had forgotten how brutal it was! 

[Erin9]

7 hours ago, crgirl412 said:

Oooooh, the scene about Misha with Claudia and Gabriel was good!!!  

It was good to see the fight scene again!  Elizabeth was so enraged at Claudia!  I had forgotten how brutal it was! 

She has an interesting definition of 

Spoiler

Mentally unstable. He spoke out against a war he fought in and knows far more about the reality of than she ever will. I'd say I'm surprised, but Claudia is a hardliner. Gabriel seems inclined to be compassionate; I wonder if Claudia will talk him out of it. I can't wait to hear their whole conversation. I'm impressed with Irina; she seemed to have planned this out really well. Being a spy, she'd have access, but still, she did good. 

That fight was brutal, but I can't say I sympathized with Claudia.  

One thing about Mischa, he's not lacking in the courage department. Between fighting in Afghanistan and then escaping the Soviet Union, knowing the consequences for failure, he's clearly inherited his parents bravery. 

[methodwriter85]

He comes all this way and he's supposed to go right back? Are you kidding me, show? There's less than 20 episodes left in this series. Are they supposed to hold off on seeing each other until the finale?