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

Convenient if Martha is dead

[saraqael]

"In a way I wouldn't even be surprised if Philip more than Elizabeth was thinking how convenient it would be if she was dead. I mean, I think he wants to protect her as herself, but if she's blown he doesn't want her getting them caught."

I agree, and I think that this is one reason Philip feels extra guilty and conflicted. Philip the KGB officer knows that Martha is a liability and needs to be dispatched. Philip the man doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore, least of all this woman. Of course, he's already destroyed her in the most insidious way possible, by pretending to love her and manipulating her love for him in return. And he knows it.

It feels like the story has reached a point where the Martha plot is about done. We'll get to see what it has done to Philip afterwards.

Re: Convenient if Martha is dead

[sistermagpie]

It's funny that people so often seem to see it just in the context of Philip being the one who cares about Martha personally, because I think Philip is the one being most practical about the danger here. How on earth can they want to just keep risking Martha by having her take pictures etc. when the woman knows what Philip looks like? If I were them I'd want to back off immediately with all these obvious signs of danger. It's not like this is just about not caring about Martha. If Martha's arrested she can give a clear description of Philip!

Re: Convenient if Martha is dead

[saraqael]

Yes, this is true. Philip was aghast at the suggestion that they send Martha back into the Bureau with a camera. She's a blown asset. One tiny false move and they'll have in handcuffs. She'd confess, and then Philip's cover would be blown. He wants to protect her from being arrested by her people or killed by his people, but at the end of the day, he will put his welfare, his family's welfare, and his mission ahead of her fate. Whatever happens to Martha is going to further move Philip towards his ultimate fate - that was the whole point of the Martha plot, IMO - but no matter what he feels towards her, she is still just a tool. That's Philip's personal hell. He got into this line of work to reduce human misery and all he's done is destroy people on a profound, intimate level.

At the end of the day, this story is about Philip and Elizabeth, not Philip and Martha.

Re: Convenient if Martha is dead

[saraqael]

My other thought about this is, right now the FBI still doesn't have anything concrete to go on. They're still acting on Stan's hunch. The cover story about having an affair with a married man is a good one. If they all backed off now and Philip never saw Martha again, there's a possibility that she might never be caught. If she wasn't caught, there's a good possibility that she'd never confess either. She'd be too distraught. I think she'd just kill herself. Stan and gang could write it off as the affair going bad.

Philip's instincts about not sending her back into the Bureau as an asset is sound.