What is Philip’s greatest worry this season if not letting go of his daughter? And what better way to bend him to a breaking point than by asking him to cross a new moral boundary, this time in the form of Kimberly, daughter of the Afghan Group head. “We’ve never used someone this young before,” he tells Elizabeth plaintively. She tries to ease his discomfort by showing sensitivity, a rarity for her at this juncture, but when he continues to resist, she falls back on the company line: “The C.I.A. is a hard target.” When Elizabeth lacerates Philip further, asking who wears the pants in Clark’s relationship with Martha, director Thomas Schlamme tracks Elizabeth to the powder room, but shifts focus ever so slightly, drawing us into the playing Baby Soft ad along with Philip. His wife and his country are telling him to be a man, even though in this scenario, being a man means doing something as despicable as seducing a teenager.
Thus “Jim,” the lobbyist who knows his weed and fake I.D.s, is born. When he first goes to contact Kimberly, Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes” taunts Philip in the background. As evidenced last week, Kimberly is actively pursuing older men, but that doesn’t let Philip excuse himself for capitalizing on that fact. Things only get messier when Kimberly’s Yazz tape allows Philip to further ingratiate himself to Paige, by buying her a copy of Upstairs at Eric’s. “I thought you just listened to country music,” the delighted Paige says, a comment on Philip’s musical taste that finds a loaded refrain when Kimberly later asks Jim about what music he listens to.
When Elizabeth finds out about what a Cool Dad Philip is being, it’s the light-hearted overture to a gutting argument that both knew was inevitable. “What are you trying to say?” Philip fires at Elizabeth when trying to beat around the bush. Schlamme cuts to a closeup of Elizabeth to signal the end of passive aggression, and the beginning of the Jennings’ second confrontation of the hour. The words exchanged are like those that any parents will weaponize when arguing over their child’s future; anyone eavesdropping wouldn’t know that either party is a K.G.B. spy. But like most fights, the end result of having it out is Philip and Elizabeth are more honest with one another than they have been in a long time.
Philip doesn’t feign ignorance of Elizabeth using church to develop Paige, just as Elizabeth doesn’t pretend he still has a choice in the matter. “It is happening Phillip, it is just happening. And yes, I am. I am doing it, with or without you,” she explodes, Schlamme moving the camera in to support her grab for control of the situation (wearing her power color doesn’t hurt). Each parent’s truth of the matter finally comes out, and it’s ugly and raw. “Dimebag” physically plays into the episode’s reminders from the past by repeatedly having characters look backwards. When Philip stares back at Elizabeth after leaving the room, he’s sending a message to her that won’t be heard until the end of the hour.
Published: Feb 18, 2015 10:55 pm