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)

Overnight reviews

From Vulture
From the AV Club
From Hitfix
From Vox
From Entertainment Weekly
From Slate (official podcast)
From the LA Times
From the New York Times
From the Wall Street Journal
From Slant
From IGN
From tv.com
From TV Fanatic
From Den of Geek
From Geeks of Doom
People's World
From Inverse
From For the Win
From Hidden Remote
From Mstarsnews
From Mashable
From The Young Folks
From TV Over Mind
From Celebrity Dirty Laundry

Comments

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.