Incidentally, it’s really no surprise that the real strength of an episode all about surveillance is in how it captures characters looking at one another. As his own private meet with Gabriel suggests, Philip’s dissent to Paige joining the illegals program is falling on deaf ears. The whole affair is becoming less of a “what if” question, and more of “when,” with Philip’s sulking disapproval only getting more obvious at the same time. Ever since he stepped into those cowboy boots in the pilot, we’ve known Philip is the more moderate half of his marriage. But his want of a normal life for his daughter is insignificant against the needs of The Cause, which is perhaps why Gabriel, Elizabeth, and even the camera are making his obstinacy seem somehow childish.
“Paige’s birthday is coming up. I saw a necklace she’d like,” Elizabeth says to Philip at home, attempting “normal” conversation while wearing nothing but a bath towel. “Maybe you think she’d like it because you like it,” Philip pouts, while making little effort to disguise the real conversation being had. Knowing she can’t appeal to Philip’s heart on the Paige quagmire, Elizabeth changes strategies, dropping the towel in an effort to appeal to something else of his. When simply presenting herself isn’t enough, the mention of Hans’ interest in her (hard to disagree, given the evidence) is meant to get a rise out of Philip, but only serves to make things worse. It’s bad enough Philip thinks Elizabeth is developing their daughter, but to think she can ply tradecraft on him so simply is a real insult.
“You recruit men, that’s part of it, right?” Philip asks indifferently, before springing to full alert the moment Elizabeth joins him in bed. It’s easy to see Philip’s own misgivings about how Elizabeth is used as an asset as part of his greater fears for Paige’s future, should she start working for the K.G.B.. Listening to a teenage girl hit on Afghan Group member Ted Paaswell forces both Philip and Elizabeth to confront the deeply uncomfortable reality of how Paige, as a young woman, could be exploited by The Centre for the needs of the greater good.
Those misgivings considered, the Jennings parents are still hopelessly divided on the issue, their daughter’s future presenting an always-present bother that’s mirrored by Elizabeth’s broken tooth. With words failing them, a somber, painful sequence of silence (featuring a few staccato cries of agony) is what helps bridge the gap a little. Having escaped the F.B.I. tail by the skin of their teeth, the Jennings proceed to do a little at-home dentistry, Philip presumably having received his license from the same toolbox where he keeps his instruments.
It’s a harrowing sequence to watch, the inevitability of what’s about to happen conveyed through the simple gestures and looks Philip and Elizabeth exchange. The wordlessness and physicality of the scene devolves their relationship and problems down to a base, almost animal existence during the twilight rendezvous. Their faces reflect back in each other the trust and empathy needed to survive the ordeal of the moment, and Schlamme lets us see every facial twitch and tick in fine detail. For a moment, the two share the kind of eye-to-eye accord they’ve wanted and needed these last few days. The broken tooth as metaphor for their broken relationship ultimately proves to be just that, a fleeting symbol. The fundamental disagreement the Jennings have about Paige doesn’t fix itself along with Elizabeth’s jaw. Yet, that last closeup of Elizabeth’s eye, tear-stained, but still fixed on Philip, conveys the enormity of her new understanding for how all this business with Paige is affecting him.
“Paige will have a choice. There is always a choice,” Gabriel tells Philip later, ignoring the obvious hypocrisy of only presenting said choice after developing Paige to ensure a desired outcome. It’s Elizabeth who’s given an actual choice, along with Philip, at the hour’s end, as both choose to stay on Paaswell, even after their brush with disaster. Will infiltrating the Afghan Group, or stopping C.I.A. funding to Afghanistan, or even taking down the entire U.S. government, really prevent the Centre from recruiting Paige? It seems unlikely, but for now, the only option Elizabeth and Philip have is to do their job so that their daughter will never have to. As continues to be seen on The Americans, the want of a better job and life for yourself rarely outweighs the need to keep the one you have from being forced on someone you love.
- Stray Thoughts
-Our check in with the Russian embassy doesn’t advance things much for Oleg, beyond confirming his desire to stay in America in spite of his father’s wishes. It seems more important that Arkady would put Oleg’s decision above the administration’s, providing both a sign of his camaraderie with Oleg, and a potentially bad omen of things to come for the current rezidentura head.
-The other important rezidentura business: the Brezhnev portrait has been replaced with one of Yuri Andropov. To borrow from The Who, meet the new boss, same as the old boss…
-In other, Martha-related news, she’s set on challenging Clark’s “No Kids Allowed” policy by taking in a foster child. “It’s temporary, so you can try it out.” “Like leasing a car?” Once again, animal instinct wins out over reasoned debate, though Philip’s own childhood may have inspired him to distribute the plenty he and Martha share to a child in need.
-Disguise of the Week: Philip channeling James Spader in Stargate with his “non-threatening prospective homeowner” look.
-Speaking of flicks, First Blood, My Favorite Year, and Amityville II: The Possession were this week’s offering at the local Cinemart. Philip and Elizabeth picking at the bones of a broken household like vultures was foreboding enough: the last thing the Jennings need in their home right now is a haunting.
