WEISBERG We work hard to keep ourselves in sort of a bubble so we don’t write to modern-day themes. We let that happen on its own, which we know it will. For example, if we’re telling the story about the Soviet conflict in Afghanistan, which is of course a story you have to tell if you’re writing about the Cold War in this time, its going to reflect what’s happening in Afghanistan and radical Islam now, without any effort on our parts.

The thing that we work more deliberately to do is reflect on marriage. Even though most people aren’t spies and aren’t out there killing people, we like to think that most of the conflicts Phillip and Elizabeth have are relatable, if you strip that part of it away.

FIELDS There is also a universal story being told in which the human becomes political: How we view our enemy. When we give ourselves over completely to a cause, however good it might be, there will be consequences. And to the extent that we blind ourselves to them or we dehumanize the other side, we will pay some price. It may be a price that is necessary for society, but we’re kidding ourselves to think there isn’t a price. And we’re kidding ourselves if we think that there isn’t a point of view on the other side that is also human.

What we do with Phillip and Elizabeth is we show the consequences up close, and I think showing them up close gets you to examine them differently and wonder about it.

When you’re devising story arcs for the season, which comes first: the political-espionage story lines or the personal-family story lines? Or is it impossible to focus on one angle without incorporating the other? — Elizabeth, Quinn

WEISBERG Season 4 was the first season when that happened really differently from the way it had happened in previous seasons. Generally, we always had a time when we broke the espionage story, and a time when we broke the marriage story. They were pretty separate and had to be blended together. At the end of this season, we realized that hadn’t happened and that everything had been sort of integrated.