Episode discussion post: "Clark's Place"

[jae]

Aired:
13 April 2016 in the U.S. and Canada

This is a discussion post for episode 405 of The Americans, intended for viewers who are watching the show on the U.S./Canadian schedule. (Feel free to dive in to the discussion even if you're coming in late--and you should also feel free to start a new thread if it seems too daunting to read through what's already been posted first. If you're reading this at a point where you've already seen subsequent episodes, though, please take care to keep comments spoiler-free of anything that comes after season four, episode five.)

Original promo trailer

"The Americans 4x05 Promo "Clark's Place" (HD)" (Watch on YouTube)

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Comments

Elizabeth and Martha

[lovingboth]

I saw it as Elizabeth consciously using sex to make Philip feel better rather than herself.

He is absolutely concerned about Martha, but I find it difficult to believe that Elizabeth feels threatened by her. She's concerned about Philip staying committed to the cause and we've seen earlier this time what losing someone does to people's commitment when they blame the cause for the loss.

There will be a Tuesday, and the gun - reminders two weeks in a row! - will be there too.

Re: Elizabeth and Martha

[theplatonicnonyeah]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, and I think the audience as a whole will have two interpretations of Elizabeth's motives.

I think she has sex with Philip partly to make him feel better, yes. But definitely also because she wants to reassert herself as the main focus of his love and devotion. Her insecurities about this came to the surface already in Behind The Red Door, where she wanted to know what Clark was like in bed, because she thought he was different to Philip.

I interpret this as her not quite "getting" Philip. She doesn't know how loyal Philip really is, the way we have heard him talk about her to other people (William, Sandra).

It also seems to be their modus operandi as a couple when things are bad. Emotional stress makes them want to have sex. I leave the psychological analysis of that to someone else. ;-)

A detail that may or may not have been important was Philip keeping his eyes open during the act. That usually means he is "making it real", so I'm not entirely convinced he was all that present in the moment after all.

Re: Philip "making it real"

[(Anonymous)]

Small detail, but Philip in all the sex scenes with Elizabeth always has his eyes open (Pilot ep?). Even while kissing.

For the record, I think he enjoyed it too. The only sex that I felt like he didn't feel was the one in season 3, after Elizabeth honeytrapped the hotel manager. Seems like he felt it was forced and borne out of something bad that happened at work (E's regret over sleeping with Neil).

Re: Philip "making it real"

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Ah! I wasn't entirely sure about that detail, I must admit. And to be honest, it might even be that the actor himself isn't consciously keeping his eyes open or closed. I just distinctly remembered the scene with Martha from way back when, and how "focused" he looked, as if counting the seconds until he could stop.

Re: Philip "making it real"

[sistermagpie]

Yes, I think it's a really intentional detail. Elizabeth often does too. They check in with each other a lot.

I'd also agree about that one scene showing them having sex without feeling connected. In that scene, and in the one where he's with Martha, his eyes are open but he's staring out at nothing. In scenes with Elizabeth his eyes are open when he's looking into her eyes. I don't think his eyes being open or closed is related to whether or not he's making it real.

Whether or not Elizabeth was jealous of Martha

[jae]

I think she has sex with Philip partly to make him feel better, yes. But definitely also because she wants to reassert herself as the main focus of his love and devotion. Her insecurities about this came to the surface already in Behind The Red Door, where she wanted to know what Clark was like in bed, because she thought he was different to Philip.

They talked about this issue on the official podcast this week, and the discussion seemed to confirm that Elizabeth was meant to read to us as jealous. The filming made a pretty big deal out of the look on Elizabeth's face after she would have been able to read his lips visibly saying "I love you" to Martha. Then, later, when they're alone, she looks kind of...flustered? Like she's jealous but aware that she "shouldn't" be rather than getting self-righteous about it and asserting her dominance.

I do think Ian's right, too, though--that there was also some element of...not wanting to make Philip "feel better" so much as wanting to focus him because she could tell just how close to the edge he was. Look at the way she keeps kind of "checking" him in the scene with Gabriel where Philip is acting kind of desperate.

-J

Re: Whether or not Elizabeth was jealous of Martha

[sistermagpie]

You know, the more I think about it that's a significant thing. Because Elizabeth is so often described as being all about the mission etc.--there are people who read this sex scene as Elizabeth literally working Philip to get him more on board with the cause again through her sexual wiles.

But Elizabeth has a really overwhelming, primal feeling about Philip, actually. More so in this narrow way than he does about her. He was upset about Gregory, but he seems able to deal with the idea that she had this very important relationship who will always be part of who she is. I can't think of any scenes where Philip seems to have any need to assert dominance over the thought of Gregory, even given the way he died.

But Elizabeth "claimed" Philip as her own in the pilot after he showed his devotion to her over everything, and the fact that she gets so jealous even about people she knows aren't really a threat really says something about where her real feelings lie too, imo. Philip is the one thing in her life that she's pretty unabashedly possessive of, even if she often fights that. (In S1 she was so scared of her neediness in that area she tried to just kill the whole relationship and couldn't.)

I have no idea where that could be important but I think it's a big part of their dynamic. For all that Philip knows he has to share Elizabeth with the cause I think part of her is forever insecure about the parts of him she feels she can't have.

Re: Whether or not Elizabeth was jealous of Martha

[jae]

For all that Philip knows he has to share Elizabeth with the cause I think part of her is forever insecure about the parts of him she feels she can't have.

Yes, exactly. And this is a thing that's changed since the pilot, too. Before that, it would have never occurred to her to be jealous of him sleeping with other people, nor would she have ever imagined that she'd WANT to have all of him.

-J

Re: Whether or not Elizabeth was jealous of Martha

[theplatonicnonyeah]

I have no idea where that could be important but I think it's a big part of their dynamic. For all that Philip knows he has to share Elizabeth with the cause I think part of her is forever insecure about the parts of him she feels she can't have.

This is what I meant about us as an audience knowing how Philip feels about Elizabeth, because he's told William and other people. But he's never really said it to her, so how would she know?

Second thing is that I remember Keri herself saying that she likes to play it as jealousy, if there is no other obvious (mission?) reason for the Jennings to quarrel.

Re: Whether or not Elizabeth was jealous of Martha

[sistermagpie]

I tend to think one of the big sources of Elizabeth's insecurity is that Philip has never been like her in terms of how he is in general or how he expresses things. So she can't be sure. I mean, he has said he loved her, he killed Timoshev for her. But he's always going to have things about him that to her read as distant. It's like when she asked him if he ever had to make it real with her and he said yes. It's good because he's being honest, but it's still scary.

Re: Elizabeth and Martha

[saraqael]

"I think she has sex with Philip partly to make him feel better, yes. But definitely also because she wants to reassert herself as the main focus of his love and devotion."

I agree with you that there was a strong element of wanting to reassert herself as the main focus of Philip's love. I didn't see it as her being jealous of Martha. I saw it as Elizabeth understanding that Philip's emotions are so torn right now, and wanting him to remember that she is there for him and he needs to be there for her, too. Despite the turmoil that is happening around them, the two of them together are all that matter. It was as if Elizabeth was saying, 'stay focused on me'. That will get them through this present stress and anything the future might throw at them. Also, not to make it seem like she initiated that sex only to comfort Philip, but she just came through a terrible physical stress herself and had to consider that she might be dying. I think she was also sort of saying, 'hey, I know that you feel sorry for Martha, but I need your attention and I need this intimacy from you right now, too.'