The Americans 3.11
Apr. 9th, 2015 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakFallout time.
Paige's question in the car after Elizabeth's story about her mother and growing up in a multifamily apartment - "How can I believe anything you say?" - cuts to the core of the emotional dilemma inherent in many of the show's characters, not solely our leading couple: most of them are trained liars whose life depends on them being able to lie convincingly. And it does spill over, you can't just neatly separate the professional from the private. Take Nina. Did she say the truth when she told Oleg's father to tell Oleg that it had been real with him? Or when she told Evi that she had been whatever her two lovers wanted her to be, and had loved them both in different ways? Or when she told Anton Baklanov in this episode she's been bartered and traded from one to the other so often she barely knows who she is anymore? Or all or none, since Nina in each case could have had a secondary motive for her statements (winning Oleg's father over who could end her prison sentence, connecting with Evi according to her mission, connecting to Anton for the same reason)? Does Nina even know when she lies and when she says the truth anymore?
Elizabeth has been telling her daughter some tidbits about her childhood before, in edited-for-American-context form, and even before she caught the recruiting bug, it was important to her to share at least something that was true before she became Elizabeth Jennings. When Paige asks her question, she doesn't reply with this, or with "now that I don't have to anymore, I wouldn't lie to you!" or something like this. Because it's besides the point. There is no good "because" in reply to Paige's question. (And incidentally, Elizabeth was sort of lying by omission - i.e. if lies of omission count as lies for Paige - to her when saying her father was a WWII soldier who died when she was 2; she doesn't mention what we found out in an early flashback this season, that her father had been a deserter. As far as the audience knows, Elizabeth never told this to anyone, including Philip.) No logical reason why Paige should trust her. It's a leap of faith you have to make; Philip and Elizabeth do it with each other, too, but sometimes, as with Philiip in mid season 1, they break it, too.
Philip-as-Clark is training Martha in the art of lying in this episode, and the irony is that whilie he's doing that, he's probably more truthful to her than he's ever been (statements like "I had a bad day" when he did have aside). At the same time, he's avoiding and skitting around something she briefly brings up: until now, Martha could at least have claimed to have acted in good faith if the FBI caught up to what she's been doing. But not any longer, and each additional action she undertakes just dig her proverbial grave deeper. (BTW, the Martha scenes made me conclude that my theory about Martha trying counterspionage redemption was wrong.) Clark's tips on how to successfully lie to Taffet are useful, but Martha has to wonder whether he's been using the same technique with her, surely.
Meanwhile, the mail robot bug is about as useful as I expected, but I have to admit the scene with Oleg and Tatiana going thorugh endless FBI chatter transcripts about such captivating topics as the broken vending machine or sports games was hilarious. (I also expect the robot bug will eventually record something useful, otherwise the show wouldn't have bothered to establish Oleg now has access to these recordings.)
Lisa's alcoholic husband Maurice also turns out to be Lisa's exploitative husband Maurice, as he does Elizabeth the favour of pushing his wife to sell out confidential information so she won't have to. I thought Elizabeth's reaction showed she may have started to actually like Lisa (and loathe Maurice on her behalf), but of course she's too much of a pro not to use the opportunity. Not sure this isn't a trap, though, given the nature of this show. Do we know what Maurice did for a living?
Philip asking Gabriel to make it possible for Elizabeth to see her mother one last time is on the one hand a parallel to Elizabeth having asked Gabriel for a transfer for Phiip's son, and undoubtedly Philip does want that for her, but at the same time, I wonder whether the request isn't also meant as a test. After all, Gabriel can say what he likes about Misha Jr.; Philip doesn't know the young man (or even knows for sure whether or not he exists). But Elizabeth's mother exists, sends verifyable tapes, and the Center really could arrange something if they wanted to. As a travel agent, surely Elizabeth has a pretext to go to Europe. Of course, Elizabeth so far refuses to ask for this as well, and another reason for Philip's request may even be that he wants Elizabeth to do something that puts personal emotion above being a good agent. Mind you, it occured to me Elizabeth may have reasons other than being a good agent for not having asked Gabriel for this favour herself and saying no again when Philip suggests it; she has clung to a certain image, a memory of her mother (loving but tough, proud of her as a KGB agent) as a way of grounding herself throughout her time in the US, and the reality of a dying woman might be very different, which just now when her relationship with Paige is in entirely new territory may be something she's too scared to contemplate.
If the episode reminds us of Elizabeth both as daughter (via the tape, likely the last tape, of her mother) and a mother, it also shows Philip in the identies of agent (with Gabriel, chiding his handler and critisizing their mutual bosses) and handler (with Yousef, projecting confidence and sureness in the worthiness of the cause). Essentially he's giving Yousef the same speech Gabriel is giving him (adapted to Yousef's diifferent circumstances), and yet he probably wouldn't regard what he tells Yousef as a lie - I wouldn't be suprised if we heard Philip's own self justification there. But it still angers him to hear this kind of reasoning from Gabriel.
Lies and truth overspill: Elizabeth having sex with her mark leaves her in a brooding and uncertain mood (because it was that bad or that good? Becasue she couldn't make it real or because it became unexpectedly real when it wasn't supposed to?), and so she comes home and has sex with Philip, but the way the scene is staged is very different from how Philip and Elizabeth sex scenes otherwise were, where the show was careful to show them mutually engaged to the same degree. This time, Philip barely reacts. Breakdown of communication in this most intimate of surroundings? And then you get Paige, who once caught her parents having sex, the next morning carefully knocking and asking another question. Which they answer truthfully. But it's not what Paige wants to hear, apparantly, and she closes the door behind her (never a good visual signal on tv or in film). This episode leaves the characters feeling like they're in freefall, if you allow me the fanciful comparison, and they don't know yet whether someone will catch them or whether they'll crash on the ground.
Paige's question in the car after Elizabeth's story about her mother and growing up in a multifamily apartment - "How can I believe anything you say?" - cuts to the core of the emotional dilemma inherent in many of the show's characters, not solely our leading couple: most of them are trained liars whose life depends on them being able to lie convincingly. And it does spill over, you can't just neatly separate the professional from the private. Take Nina. Did she say the truth when she told Oleg's father to tell Oleg that it had been real with him? Or when she told Evi that she had been whatever her two lovers wanted her to be, and had loved them both in different ways? Or when she told Anton Baklanov in this episode she's been bartered and traded from one to the other so often she barely knows who she is anymore? Or all or none, since Nina in each case could have had a secondary motive for her statements (winning Oleg's father over who could end her prison sentence, connecting with Evi according to her mission, connecting to Anton for the same reason)? Does Nina even know when she lies and when she says the truth anymore?
Elizabeth has been telling her daughter some tidbits about her childhood before, in edited-for-American-context form, and even before she caught the recruiting bug, it was important to her to share at least something that was true before she became Elizabeth Jennings. When Paige asks her question, she doesn't reply with this, or with "now that I don't have to anymore, I wouldn't lie to you!" or something like this. Because it's besides the point. There is no good "because" in reply to Paige's question. (And incidentally, Elizabeth was sort of lying by omission - i.e. if lies of omission count as lies for Paige - to her when saying her father was a WWII soldier who died when she was 2; she doesn't mention what we found out in an early flashback this season, that her father had been a deserter. As far as the audience knows, Elizabeth never told this to anyone, including Philip.) No logical reason why Paige should trust her. It's a leap of faith you have to make; Philip and Elizabeth do it with each other, too, but sometimes, as with Philiip in mid season 1, they break it, too.
Philip-as-Clark is training Martha in the art of lying in this episode, and the irony is that whilie he's doing that, he's probably more truthful to her than he's ever been (statements like "I had a bad day" when he did have aside). At the same time, he's avoiding and skitting around something she briefly brings up: until now, Martha could at least have claimed to have acted in good faith if the FBI caught up to what she's been doing. But not any longer, and each additional action she undertakes just dig her proverbial grave deeper. (BTW, the Martha scenes made me conclude that my theory about Martha trying counterspionage redemption was wrong.) Clark's tips on how to successfully lie to Taffet are useful, but Martha has to wonder whether he's been using the same technique with her, surely.
Meanwhile, the mail robot bug is about as useful as I expected, but I have to admit the scene with Oleg and Tatiana going thorugh endless FBI chatter transcripts about such captivating topics as the broken vending machine or sports games was hilarious. (I also expect the robot bug will eventually record something useful, otherwise the show wouldn't have bothered to establish Oleg now has access to these recordings.)
Lisa's alcoholic husband Maurice also turns out to be Lisa's exploitative husband Maurice, as he does Elizabeth the favour of pushing his wife to sell out confidential information so she won't have to. I thought Elizabeth's reaction showed she may have started to actually like Lisa (and loathe Maurice on her behalf), but of course she's too much of a pro not to use the opportunity. Not sure this isn't a trap, though, given the nature of this show. Do we know what Maurice did for a living?
Philip asking Gabriel to make it possible for Elizabeth to see her mother one last time is on the one hand a parallel to Elizabeth having asked Gabriel for a transfer for Phiip's son, and undoubtedly Philip does want that for her, but at the same time, I wonder whether the request isn't also meant as a test. After all, Gabriel can say what he likes about Misha Jr.; Philip doesn't know the young man (or even knows for sure whether or not he exists). But Elizabeth's mother exists, sends verifyable tapes, and the Center really could arrange something if they wanted to. As a travel agent, surely Elizabeth has a pretext to go to Europe. Of course, Elizabeth so far refuses to ask for this as well, and another reason for Philip's request may even be that he wants Elizabeth to do something that puts personal emotion above being a good agent. Mind you, it occured to me Elizabeth may have reasons other than being a good agent for not having asked Gabriel for this favour herself and saying no again when Philip suggests it; she has clung to a certain image, a memory of her mother (loving but tough, proud of her as a KGB agent) as a way of grounding herself throughout her time in the US, and the reality of a dying woman might be very different, which just now when her relationship with Paige is in entirely new territory may be something she's too scared to contemplate.
If the episode reminds us of Elizabeth both as daughter (via the tape, likely the last tape, of her mother) and a mother, it also shows Philip in the identies of agent (with Gabriel, chiding his handler and critisizing their mutual bosses) and handler (with Yousef, projecting confidence and sureness in the worthiness of the cause). Essentially he's giving Yousef the same speech Gabriel is giving him (adapted to Yousef's diifferent circumstances), and yet he probably wouldn't regard what he tells Yousef as a lie - I wouldn't be suprised if we heard Philip's own self justification there. But it still angers him to hear this kind of reasoning from Gabriel.
Lies and truth overspill: Elizabeth having sex with her mark leaves her in a brooding and uncertain mood (because it was that bad or that good? Becasue she couldn't make it real or because it became unexpectedly real when it wasn't supposed to?), and so she comes home and has sex with Philip, but the way the scene is staged is very different from how Philip and Elizabeth sex scenes otherwise were, where the show was careful to show them mutually engaged to the same degree. This time, Philip barely reacts. Breakdown of communication in this most intimate of surroundings? And then you get Paige, who once caught her parents having sex, the next morning carefully knocking and asking another question. Which they answer truthfully. But it's not what Paige wants to hear, apparantly, and she closes the door behind her (never a good visual signal on tv or in film). This episode leaves the characters feeling like they're in freefall, if you allow me the fanciful comparison, and they don't know yet whether someone will catch them or whether they'll crash on the ground.
