The lengths they’ve had to go to in order to preserve their mission and the safety of their family has proved damaging, particularly for Philip, who has had to murder a string of people, including an unusually high number of innocent bystanders. This has led to the erosion of his once composed state.
“Philip is incredibly torn as to where their future lies or where his beliefs and loyalties lie,” Rhys said. “So I think the killing of people is now more of a survival instinct for Philip. It’s more so the security of his family isn’t breached. That’s his primary goal in life. So I think he has to be the best spy he can be, and if that means killing people, unfortunately—if it means securing his family’s identity and future, then he’ll do that…”
While Philip’s softness as a parent initially contrasts Elizabeth’s hard-lined approach, his downward emotional spiral has led him to lash out at Paige. In a pivotal scene, he condemns her newfound interest in Christianity and tears out pages from her bible.
“Obviously the pressure on him is enormous,” Rhys said of the gut-wrenching moment. “He realizes there’s an element with his daughter that she’s slipping out of his reach, and in that way that so many of us do, you lash out because you feel helpless.”
As for Philip’s eventual acceptance of his daughter’s religious curiosity, Rhys believes his growing tolerance is quite telling.
“He wasn’t allowed to be the person that he wanted to be,” the actor said. [He and Elizabeth] were, to a degree, sort of brainwashed. I think he wants his child to be whoever she wants to be and to live the life she wants to live, which is something he certainly wasn’t allowed.”
Philip’s ever evolving relationship with Elizabeth has also been strained by the extremely close ties they must form with their assets. Late in the season, Philip took a telling step in assuring his wife would sit out a crucial honey trap – opting to use the less experienced Annalise to seduce a vital political figure.
“He doesn’t fit well with the honey trapping now,” Rhys said. “These real emotions have developed for the pair of them, and now certainly, the conflicts between that and their mission statement, their mandate, it makes for very difficult situations whereby the thought of Elizabeth honey trapping, it preys on him enormously, and that’s why he chose to use Annalise, because his feelings have evolved and grown so much, and are now very real.”
As for what lies ahead for the Jennings, Rhys says that the season finale will present an entirely new conflict for them to weather.
“There is an enormous about-turn in the last episode that I think keys up the third season beautifully, in a way that’ll bring in a greater conflict of Philip and Elizabeth,” he said. “Having seen them separated for the majority of the first season because of what they were going through, and then reunited for the second season…what happens at the end of the finale is, I think, going to bring such division to the two of them and will be very interesting to see how they play out.”
The Americans airs Wednesdays at 10pm on FX, and season 2 is set to conclude on May 22. For more from Rhys, along with the rest of the cast, check out the video below.
