Iserson’s quest was to balance the humor and heaviness. “Part of our purpose is to take a show about two women who can be funny with each other, but actually is grounded in emotion and narrative weight,” he said. “And to treat it the way that many people would treat shows about men.”
It’s no secret that the television industry remains largely male-dominated. For decades, spy movies—and intelligence work itself—have been as well. But onscreen, Bea and Twila use misogyny to their advantage. As unassuming women, said Fogel, their invisibility is their superpower.
Susanna Fogel and Ira GlassOK McCausland.
“The ’70s are interesting, because it’s a time that—at least in America—we were loudly talking about feminism a lot in culture, but people were still in traditional marriages and had families with traditional expectations,” Fogel told VF. “This was an interesting prism through which to look at: How empowered are you, really, deeply down?”
Post-screening, the crowd spilled out into The Whitby Bar and Restaurant, where Richardson sipped a dirty martini (with three olives) alongside her fellow cast members. She joined her dashing costars from episode one: Artjom Gilz, Nicholas Podany, and Petro Ninovskyi, circling a faux-memorial for the one comrade who couldn’t make it, Adrian Lester. On a table below them, a framed photo of Lester’s smizing headshot was adorned with flowers and votive candles.
