Episode discussion post: "The Rat"

[jae]

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

This is a discussion post for episode 406 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 six.)

Original promo trailer

"The Americans 4x06 Promo "The Rat" (HD)" (Watch on YouTube)

Overnight reviews

From Vulture
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From the AV Club
From the LA Times
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From the New York Times
From Slant
From Entertainment Weekly
From Collider
From Paste
From Hidden Remote
From the Daily Beast
From USA Today
From Indiewire
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From Geeks of Doom
From tv.com
From TV Fanatic
From The Young Folks
From the Observer
From TV Over Mind
From Showbiz Junkies
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From Celebrity Dirty Laundry

Comments

[selenak]

If Martha was a dead woman walking last episode already, she's one even more so now. When she walked out on Gabriel and the safehouse, I felt like screaming "don't do this", and yet, if you look at it from her perspective, does she have any reason to believe he (and the KGB in general) doesn't intend to kill her already? (Incidentally, I guess that's what the scene at the Rezidentura was there for where Arkady briefs Oleg and Tatiana on Martha - so the audience knows that the plan at this point is in fact extraction, not death.) Presumably she believes he's the one who has taken her gun, too. And Martha has become a double agent first unwittingly and then solely because of her love for Clark, not because she sees anything good about Soviet Union, as opposed to the late Gregory or Charles. It's suicidal to walk away, and she has to know that, but if she believes she's dead already...

But back to the start. Philip deciding unilaterally to extract Martha and thus force Gabriel's (and the Centre's) hand isn't surprising, and would have worked on a technical level, but for those pesky emotions on everyone's part. I have been wondering whether Martha post-revelation realised that Jennifer didn't really exist, but apparantly not; until she sees Jennifer again in this episode, in the safehouse, she seems to have clung to the belief that Jennifer was indeed Clark's sister. (And that Clark is Clark, only spying for the other side.) When she asks Clark about her, the "are you involved with her?" is the second question already, and there's no good way Philip can answer this, since the core of the story he's been selling to Martha from the start was that he's madly in love with her, and only her. So he gives a classic Philip non-answer ("we've been working together for a long time"). But Martha isn't even the woman most rattled on that occasion, though Elizabeth's shock is of a different nature and for a slightly different cause - when she sees Philip out of Clark guise and learns, as Gabriel did earlier, that Philip has shown himself to Martha this way since three weeks. Part of the shock is the security breach. The bigger part is what Elizabeth voices when she says "did you want her to see you?". Because that implies Philip wanting to share something real about himself with Martha. (Flashback to season 2: that's why Elizabeth was so rattled by Martha's tipsy talk about what an animal Clark was during sex that she started to push for the disastrous ending role play.) In a way, this is to her what the Gregory experience was for Philip in s1, when he found out Elizabeth came to Gregory with her fears - with something real - back in the day.

Btw: and just as it would have felt terribly wrong if Philip had been the one to kill Gregory late in s1 (he'd have done it partly to spare Elizabeth having to do it, but there couldn't NOT have been emotions on his own involved, and it would have damaged him and Elizabeth long term), it would be a disaster now if Elizabeth ends up as the one to kill Martha.

In other plot threads: William delivering the titular rat also delivers a bit of background that calls slightly into question what Gabriel said about him at the start of the season, when he told P & E that William and his partner hadn't worked out together, which made it sound like they didn't get along. What William says that his partner, Eliza (obvious point about the name is obvious) was sent back and he wanted to protest that but didn't have the courage to, which makes it sound more like they got along too well for the KGB's taste. Hmmmm.

Elizabeth making the Korean dish Younghee taught her for Paige and referring to Younghee as a friend (again) when talking to both Paige and Henry continues the unprecedented way in which she lets her professional relationship swap over into her private life - meaning this friendship IS real to her, meaning, this show being this show, disaster must follow. I repeat my guess that this time, Elizabeth will be forced to watch the fallout for Younghee of whatever the reason for her assignment was, and it won't be pretty, or quick.

Philip taking the Chekovian gun from Martha's handbag is such a great ambigous moment. Is he afraid she'll kill herself? Or someone else? Either way, he does it, and that contributes to the impending tragedy. (It also very much makes me fear he'll end up shooting her with this gun.)

The titular rat

[lovingboth]

Oh, there are lots of rats in this one.

Martha is now a rat as far as the FBI is concerned, and Gabriel would agree by the end.

Philip is a rat as far as Martha is concerned, and Elizabeth and Gabriel probably agree, albeit for different reasons.

As a smaller rodent, so far, Oleg is wondering aloud to co-workers if he should be in the US.

Martha's belief

[lovingboth]

She's in a complete mess, but it should be obvious to her that if the KGB wanted her dead, she'd be dead already.

What's dead is her relationship with Clark. She isn't going to find him by leaving the safe house and talking like that is, as you say, suicidal.

general comment

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Yes, all of the things Selenak says above.

I'm going to try to write something later, but I need to run off to work and we're going out for drinks (I think) afterwards, so I'm not sure when. I will probably try to jot down a few things during the day, because this episode was intense.

Let me just say that I absolutely LOVED the cinematography in this episode. The close-ups, the handheld camera, the focus moving from one person to another, the silences (was there 1-2 instances of music?); it all had this impending feeling of doom over it. Has Kari Skogland directed episodes before?

And I really liked the start of the episode, much more so than the end of the last one. To me, that showed their intimacy much better than sex, which just feels titillating.

The start of the episode

[jae]

That was a great little moment, wasn't it? I love seeing Elizabeth being a little playful.

-J

[(Anonymous)]

Elizabeth seeing Philip without disguise does feel like the Gregory betrayal in S1 but there is a huge difference between P&E's reactions to betrayal. Philip with immediate anger, and Elizabeth with quiet hurt, shock and disbelief. They had nothing to worry about with Gregory - he was one with the cause, and therefore posed no threat to P&E's cover and the mission. Whereas Martha, armed with the knowledge of P&E and Gabriel as KGB spies, AND a threat to reveal them if they won't let her go, could spell disaster for all.

Extraction sounds like a good plan, but I doubt Martha can last long without Clark.

I love how Elizabeth has grown into an understanding and sensitive partner to Philip. It's just unfortunate that Philip is starting to unravel because of his feelings for Martha. It doesn't help that Paige is being suspicious and Henry is wanting an ill-timed vacation.

Martha vs. Gregory

[sistermagpie]

I thought Philip was quietly hurt as well. He has a long scene where he's looking at invisible ink while Gregory tortuously goes through their relationship. It's only later that he's angry at Elizabeth

And of course here, Elizabeth couldn't be angry in quite the same way because she just doesn't really get why he did this. Or even quite what he did. I mean, she knows he revealed himself, but he did have a professional reason to do so.

While watching thoughts

[lovingboth]

Interesting they have the end of episode sex in the 'previously'.

Ah, an afterglow scene. No, Martha is not ok. Guilt's not good in this line of work, Philip.

Three episodes of the gun in a row. We're being teased.

The early 60s pregnancy and abortion shocks Stan more than most things he's seen. The level of sexism is quite staggering, even if they're right to be suspicious about her story.

William is as enthusiastic as ever. "Nasty stuff", "Sounds good".

"Feelings!"

Presumably he knows she's not being followed, but making promises you don't know you can keep is a risk. No, it's not ok. He's saying promise a lot. A lot, and why can't she hear what they're saying?

'Promise' again, this time from Gabriel reminding Philip of a previous one.

Yes, Martha probably is "done".

Another Martha on an empty sofa shot. And then Elizabeth as Jennifer turns up.. and lies to Martha.

Philip told Elizabeth about being seen, didn't he? Obviously not - her question is a 'being come out to' one. Ha, about her needing the wine, and again after Philip wants to stay the night there rather than at home.

Paige's 'and she cooks Korean food?' is a bit ignorant. Ha at being rude about tofu.

She pointedly turns away after saying Philip is working.

"Where will WE go?" Ha at the echo for Martha sitting on Philip's lap and the difference in the sex with Martha being demanding. Gabriel looks like he's heard agents having sex far too often.

Martha is beginning to realise what's in store for her.

Noticeable that Philip takes the gun, rather than just the bullets and leaving the gun in her bag.

I was wondering at what point they'd involve the rest of the FBI.

Meanwhile, back in the Rezidentura... some moping and some action. What's wrong with putting her in a car / van to Canada?

Stan finally tells Gaad. It's not crazy, it is very embarrassing, personally and for the Bureau.

Who's watching the handover?

Ha at William being the only one supporting Philip, and sounding the most cheerful I think we've seen him while doing it.

"It's a lovely day.." not that I am going to let you out of the place to see it!

No, he does not believe that, and now Gaad's onside too.

Oh, where's my gun gone?

WTF is he doing letting her out of the house?!? Why wasn't the door seriously locked?!?

Gabriel is doing his best to look harmless, but she is completely out of control.

He can't let he go - if he's got a car outside, there needs to be a fatal accident asap.

Re: While watching thoughts

[quantumreality]

I thought Hans was the one watching that handover. He signalled to Elizabeth with his mirror, it seemed.

Martha's abortion

[jae]

I adore the backstory about Martha having had an illegal abortion. It turns out the actor didn't know that for sure until she got the script, but she'd come up with basically the same backstory on her own, too. It certainly accounts for how she played the scenes where she and Philip were thinking about adopting.

-J

Sistermagpie's thoughts on first watch The Rat

[sistermagpie]

I love that there was an actual rat in the end. And how perfect the trouble it caused. Philip doesn't wake Martha up to tell her he's leaving probably to a) avoid a confrontation and b) to just let the poor woman sleep. But of course there's yet another thing he has to do so they send him out and it all goes to hell. There's the KGB for you.

Speaking of which, Martha's reaction to "KGB" was fantastic. Philip's announced himself as KGB twice and he always knows the power it has. Some people feel he did something wrong in letting Martha know this, as if her declaration at the end made Gabriel angry at Philip for revealing them but...come on, she knew that. She just wanted him to say it. There's just a reason even they call it "the Centre."

I thought Gabriel/Philip was SOOO interesting in this ep. When Philip goes to get the rat he puts his hand on Gabriel's shoulder and Gabriel presses his hand in return. It's the first sign of affection I remember from them in ages and there's no reason for either of them to fake it. So why this sudden tiny coming together? Especially when Philip's just done all this stuff and Gabriel is sending him out on yet another errand?

I feel like here Gabriel finally got a clue about how to handle Philip these days. He's been doing so badly all last season. Then last week when he talked about life under Stalin I thought that was a good step for Philip because he was admitting that things could be fucked up. Now here instead of playing some psychological game or flattering him or making him feel personally responsible or scolding him like a child he gave him a plain reason for why the rat was important and Philip listened and decided to go get it. Loved that deliberate way he turned the coffee cup and slid it over to Gabriel like he was even giving it to him to drink.

As opposed to Martha, btw, who refused the KGB omelette. I said on Twitter she was like somebody in the Underworld wisely refusing the pomegranate seeds.

I feel like there's all these characters who need honesty and are in different places with it. Paige demanded honesty but wasn't really able to handle it. Martha finally asked who Clark worked for and was freaked out but still ready as long as Philip was there. Philip is beyond needing honesty with Gabriel and bonding with William over being able to just admit their bosses don't know what they're doing. When Gabriel spoke to him like an adult it actually worked really well.

The Martha/Philip sex was the saddest thing ever. Leave it to Martha to even climb into his lap as if she'd seen last week's episode. Philip might as well have been humming Under Pressure to himself in a minor key. Note him doing that eye-squeezing thing he does when he's blocking out terrible things from his mind. He first did it in The Clock. Good luck explaining this one at EST.

William's revelation about Eliza definitely seems like it might apply to Philip. Elizabeth even already laid the groundwork with her early informing. I was thinking about Trust Me here, actually, since here Elizabeth was dealing with a professional and personal betrayal by Philip in revealing himself to Martha without telling her. But I also thought of Philip saying them "I fit in like I was supposed to." He was supposed to get into this love affair with Martha and now it's treated like it's something he did for himself.

For Elizabeth I think her only understanding of this is Gregory. For her, the other guy was where her "real" self was. I think she still doesn't quite get how Philip operates, that he really gives himself to these people on some level and feels something for them. That doesn't mean he's keeping something from her.

But sometimes he *is* keeping something from her. Elizabeth is going to get this more when the Young Hee thing comes to a head. She's just so clueless here happily telling everyone about her "friend" she's so excited about-the kids have noticed it's unusual. She doesn't get this will make it harder when she has to do whatever she has to do.

Really I love how this revelation about Philip's secret explains a lot of his stress this season. He's looked so haggard and now we know it was both EST AND this huge secret about Martha he knew he was hiding. No wonder he was more worried about her getting caught than anyone else. Interesting that Elizabeth asked "Did you want her to see you?" because I get what she means and I don't think Philip knows the answer, but more importantly it reminded me of her saying "It's what you've always wanted" about her dying and the kids being raised American AND saying "I know that's not what you want" about running.

I believe he doesn't answer any of those statements beyond a bitter chuckle or a head shake. It seems like it's hammering on that sort of EST idea--what do you want? The sex with Elizabeth last week was very different from the sex with Martha, but they also each had somebody else coming to Philip and demanding sex and him acquiescing. I think he wanted to with Elizabeth--and feels positively whenever Elizabeth climbs into his lap because it's very good for him to know she actually wants him after all those years. But it's still not him doing the demanding. Even with his rebellion against the KGB he's mostly making demands on other peoples' behalf.

It just makes me think of even that first, sad flashback sex when Elizabeth said "I'm ready" about having a baby. There again we had the standard blocking of Philip sitting on the bed and Elizabeth facing him, taller than him, and being the one to say "we're having sex now." Then he says, "Are you sure?" Again, no question of whether or not he wants to have sex. Not that he's never initiated anything, of course, but there is a pattern here. It's also like he tells Paige about Pastor Tim, how they have to now think about what Pastor Tim wants.

I hear Henry's "don't kill the dream!" lines about EPCOT as a sinister reminder that that's going to happen. They've put it off, but "the dream" is that things are going to work out with Pastor Tim.

Philip is also still putting off killing the dream with Martha. Perhaps with Anneleise in mind, he's determined to just get her to safety somewhere. He wants to imagine her having a life she can adjust to somewhere else, like Elizabeth did with Gregory. But it all rests on him being with her (just as he'd only want to run with Elizabeth) and eventually I feel like there'll have to be a reckoning there. They could do a seriously chilling scene with Philip giving her a romantic last meal, talking openly about himself and making her feel truly connected to him (and unburdening himself) and then killing her. Like Electric Sheep but with an actual character so it doesn't just feel contrived.

It's really interesting how possessive Elizabeth of Philip, how she's so insecure about the idea of him sharing himself with Martha. I get her reasons for it, but I just mean that this is a woman who early on was all about claiming everything was for the cause. Martha is not some chick he's sleeping with on the side, she's an asset he openly honeytrapped and is still honeytrapping. But Elizabeth is totally not comfortable with it. Philip is like the one thing in her life where she's more selfish and possessive--she doesn't like the thought of this other woman having "her" Philip or her not having "their" Philip. And I love how the ep opened with Elizabeth noticing something about Philip she never had before physically, like a little echo of Martha knowing what Philip really looks like and also reminding us that you can be married to somebody for years and still have never noticed little details about them. Elizabeth was just amused in the first scene, but not so happy when she got a bigger surprise later on.

The nature of Elizabeth's jealousy of Martha

[jae]

Martha is not some chick he's sleeping with on the side, she's an asset he openly honeytrapped and is still honeytrapping. But Elizabeth is totally not comfortable with it.

She's not comfortable with it, no, but she's equally uncomfortable with her own discomfort. We've seen Elizabeth when she thinks she's entirely in the right--she has no trouble being self-righteously angry/aggrieved. But she's not acting like that here. On some level she seems to feel like combination the nature of her relationship with Philip and his relationship with Martha means jealousy isn't "allowed."

-J

[soupytwist]

Beginning with the post-coital snuggling going awkward was in retrospect an excellent way to sum up the episode.

William saying "in a COFFIN" was ominous. This whole episode was pretty DOOM doom DOOM doom, but yeah.

Poor Martha. I cannot believe the episode ended where it did dammit. I feel so bad for her and she's in SO MUCH TROUBLE. Like, she's in this world she does not understand at all. She didn't really get that Clarke being fake meant everything he told her about his life was fake, and even now with the realisation that Elizabeth wasn't his sister, she still hasn't jumped to 'his declared love for you was fake'. She keeps having these mini revelations and jumps forward, and yet still doesn't see why running away right now is such a bad idea.

(See also, the MOST AWKWARD SEX EVER. Poor Philip. Poor Martha - like, surely she'd normally be with it enough to get how VERY not into that Philip is?)

I had completely not realised that neither Gabriel nor Elizabeth knew Martha had seen Philip without the wig. I think my head had filled that conversation in as happening offscreen. But no, they did not, and OH GOD. "did you want her to see you" = "do you love her" for spies, yo. It's not about the sex or even specific feelings, but trust.

Likewise, I hadn't really put together that Philip didn't know about the valium. I feel like that was focused on in a fairly ominous way...

Gaad being all "she worked here ten years and I barely looked at her" made me yell YEAH YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD GAAD. You got stuffed by your own inability to recognise your secretary was a person with a brain. Boo frickin' hoo.

There's a rat in a jar. RAT. IN. A. JAR. Okay. "Good for you." was COLD. And that was a COMPELLINGLY different story from William about what happened with his wife. Philip was clearly taking that in too. Stuff's gonna happen there.

Basically, oh god Martha's got angry at the worst possible time and EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE and where's the next episode.

[quantumreality]

I was thinking back to how Philip was able to use slanted recordings to make Gaad look bad to her.

That never would've worked if Gaad had been more insistent about clamping down on workplace sexism and had made more of an effort to express to her that he appreciated her competency and efficiency.

Martha's Valium

[sistermagpie]

Likewise, I hadn't really put together that Philip didn't know about the Valium. I feel like that was focused on in a fairly ominous way...

He did know about the Valium--she told him she'd gone to the ER with her panic attack and they prescribed it for her. The woman's like surrounded by instruments of death: Valium, wine, a gun. Chekhov would go nuts.

What Gabriel and Elizabeth knew about Philip revealing himself to Martha

[jae]

I also had somehow filled in a scene somehow in which Philip and Elizabeth had talked about him showing Martha what he really looks like (I figured Gabriel didn't know yet, but I was so sure Elizabeth did)! I even knew exactly when it happened--remember that scene from the start of one of the other episodes from this season where they're lying in bed, and Philip is brooding and brooding, and one of them eventually says something about how he's going to go talk to Martha? I figured it happened then.

This is way more interesting, though, and I'm glad I was wrong about that.

-J

Sad for ALL of them this time!

[jae]

God, this episode. We got all the emotional moments between pretty much every pair of characters, but plenty of cat-and-mouse spygames too. It's really so well put together.

Although I just ended up feeling terrible for all of them! Martha for all of the reasons that have already been discussed, but Philip is a quick second, because he so did not want to be doing anything he had to do in that episode. And of course Elizabeth, because even though she was clearly hurt and jealous and confused, she was so mature about not making it all about her and I just wanted to hug her. And then there's Gabriel, who must be feeling so scared that he's losing control of his agents when it's his job to be in control of them. Oh, my heart.

-J

Re: Sad for ALL of them this time!

[sistermagpie]

And Philip and Elizabeth even have to put off talking about this with Martha on the run. I hope they do talk about it. But at the same time, I don't know if they even have the words to. I mean, Elizabeth was correct in asking, for her own personal fears, whether Philip wanted Martha to see him. But I don't think Philip was really able to answer. I mean...I don't think he did. I really don't feel at all that he had some secret desire to come out to Martha and have her really see him at all. I think he really did do it for her. But it wasn't just for professional reasons. I think he was appealing to her personally by putting his face in her hands.

"You promised me this would never happen"

[jae]

It was an episode with a lot of great scenes, but I think the scene where both Philip and Gabriel allow themselves to get a little angry (when Gabriel first comes to the safe house) might be my favourite by a hair. Just such tremendous, subtle acting from both of them.

There's one thing I'm confused about, though. Gabriel says to Philip about Martha: "You promised me this would never happen." What exactly is he referring to? What did Philip promise?

-J

Re: "You promised me this would never happen"

[maidenjedi]

I think he means Philip having feelings for a honeytrapped agent. And I wonder about something else, too - Gabriel wasn't around when Clark married Martha. I wonder whether he would have been on board with that entire plan. I want to go back and watch those episodes, because I don't remember - was it the Centre that wanted it to happen, or was it Philip's idea?

Anyway, Gabriel. I think he was referring to the feelings involved, because that's clearly the misstep and problem here. Philip's love, whatever that looks like, for Martha has clouded his judgment, in Gabriel's POV.

What Stan (and the FBI generally) suspects

[jae]

I'm wondering if we could speculate a little about what the FBI has put together at this point. I mean, it's clear that Stan suspects the illegals are involved somehow, but I'm not sure whether that's just a wild stab in the dark based on the fact that he just generally has a bug up his ass about illegals, or whether he's actually put things together. What do you all think?

-J

Re: What Stan (and the FBI generally) suspects

[lovingboth]

I don't think he's necessarily going 'illegals' even though they showed the sketch of Philip in disguise - I'm now forgetting just which event that was from, the end of S1? - to whoever had the key to the apartment.

But they are going KGB / Eastern Block.

[saraqael]

We can run. Nothing matters so long as we're together...

I wonder how Philip felt hearing Martha pleading with him to do the very thing that he wants to do: run, get away from this terrible situation they're trapped in, and just be together, counting on their love to see them through. Only Philip wants to run with his real wife, not with Martha. It seems to me that Philip's tangled feelings for Martha are the result of an undercover gig that simply went on for too long, and became too intimate. Philip is so good at 'making it real' that he made his own pretend feelings real and he created a serious mess as a result.

It was so painful to watch Martha slowly comprehend just how badly she's been deceived, but even at the end, when she stormed out and snarled at Gabriel about the KGB, she still seems to be clinging to the idea of Clark as a victim of the KGB and not a willing officer. She doesn't seem able to accept that he was a predator and she was the prey.

Have we ever seen Elizabeth so shocked that she was literally speechless? I felt so bad for her when she saw him out of his Clark disguise. Unlike Martha who is so slow to comprehend what's going on, Elizabeth put it all together in just a couple seconds. She couldn't even look at Philip. I can't wait to see the consequences of this.

I can't help but wonder if William's comments about his wife being sent back to Russia is foreshadowing the possibility of Philip threatened with being sent back for screwing up with Martha so badly.

[sistermagpie]

It was so painful to watch Martha slowly comprehend just how badly she's been deceived, but even at the end, when she stormed out and snarled at Gabriel about the KGB, she still seems to be clinging to the idea of Clark as a victim of the KGB and not a willing officer. She doesn't seem able to accept that he was a predator and she was the prey.

It's kind of impressive in terms of her resilience. The only thing she has is the love affair. That's what she's been using to justify everything she's done. If she admitted it was all a lie she'd really have nothing.

So it's kind of great that when she needs to find her strength she makes up this new romantic fantasy where Clark's probably been murdered by Gabriel because of his love for her and that gives her a reason to leave without admitting the truth.

I seriously do not understand why Philip didn't tell Elizabeth. He presumably knew she was coming in this scene so he knew the jig was up but seriously, what was he thinking? He must have known she wouldn't like it, but I don't know how much he gets how she wouldn't like it.

You're the KGB

[sistermagpie]

I have to ask about this because I keep seeing it places. I didn't think that Martha saying "I know who you are--you're the KGB!" was important because it revealed to Gabriel that Philip had told her that and this was on the level of his taking off his wig for her.

I mean, to me it just makes Gabriel seem comically dumb. Martha's worked for 10 years in the counterintelligence department of the FBI. They literally spend most of their time focused on the KGB. They interact with people they know are KGB like Oleg and Arkady and Nina and Vlad. The KGB is a totally real thing for them.

So I can't imagine Gabriel being like, "Wait, what? This lady knows we're KGB? She could only have gotten this information from Philip. He's totally betrayed us by telling her this information!"

Some have suggested that saying KGB is like speaking Russian and they just don't do it, but I can't believe it's that much of a thing. I can't believe Charles Deluth has never referred to the people he works for as the KGB to Philip.

To me the importance of that line wasn't that Martha *knew* this information but that Martha was both saying it out loud in broad daylight and saying it as a clear declaration of war. She chose her side against them--her and Clark against the evil KGB.

Re: You're the KGB

[jae]

I think the issue is that there's a difference between knowing something through your own observation and knowing something because she was told. I mean, yeah, like you, I actually said out loud to the television to Martha "you have to have known that! you have to have known that!" when she reacted so stone-faced to Philip's response. But I think like Alison Wright has said in interviews, Martha had run through her mind all of the possibilities of who Clark could be, and while the KGB was one of the things she thought of, it was definitely the worst one. So when she was shouting at Gabriel at the end, she was leveling her accusation from a perspective of real knowing, not "knowing."

(Also, there's the point that she's demonstrating not just that she knows that they're KGB, but that she's willing to shout it in a public place. That makes a huge difference to Gabriel, moving her from a place of "this woman is emotionally unstable and needs to be handled with care" to "this woman cannot be trusted at all." That can't be good for Martha's health, at this point (and on some level, I can't even blame Gabriel for that)).

I kind of like the idea that saying the term 'KGB' out loud is like speaking Russian, and they just don't do it. It was something I remarked on early on in our discussions of the first season--they really haven't said it since the pilot. In the pilot the term 'KGB' stuck out for me like a sore thumb because we know that illegals didn't really think of themselves as 'KGB'--they thought of themselves first and foremost as illegals, and their training was usually kept completely separate from other KGB training. But they haven't really said the term even among themselves since then--not even in the Rezidentura!--which suggests that there's some prohibition at least in the writers' room if not in the KGB-of-the-show.

-J

What Martha suspected

[treonb]

Martha was completely shocked to hear she's been working for the KGB. What did she think until now?

She knew Clark wasn't who he said he was, she knew he killed Gene, she knew she was giving him photocopies of surveillance teams, that he's afraid she's been made by her fellow agents.

And then it slowly downs on her that Jennifer isn't Clark's sister. Why would she be?

Martha believes Clark loves her now, but he must have been the one to initiate contact with her as the intelligence oversight officer, and that was long before there was any talk of falling in love.

It's like she doesn't even want to think about it, and then when the obvious truth comes out, she's in complete shock.

Martha in shock because of the KGB

[maidenjedi]

I wondered about that, too. What the hell did she think was going on when Clark revealed he was a spy? I can't come up with anything that makes sense, so all I can imagine is that Martha had at least considered it, but in her desperation, pushed it aside. To have it confirmed was having her worst suspicion come true; she had to have at least wondered.

She's not been making the connections for an awfully long time. Would someone so highly placed in the FBI (even as a secretary and not an agent) seriously believe in a secret internal affairs gig like Clark's original presentation, where the dude comes to her home and asks her to spy on her boss?

At some point, I would think/hope that Martha would at least own how badly she was played, all because she was flattered. It is so wretched. :-/

The gun

[treonb]

When Stan searched Martha's apartment the first time, he focused on her gun, even though he admitted later that he already knew about it.

At the beginning of the ep, when she took the gun, I figured they had that whole scene in order to remind us about the gun.

But then Stan searched the apartment again. We heard him open drawers and I was sure he would come back and announce that the gun is gone. I don't know why he didn't.

Re: The gun

[jae]

I think that's got to come up next ep. Like, Stan will have a line at some point: "...and she's got a gun" or something.

-J

[shapinglight]

That was a terrific episode, and I must admit I admire Martha's up-to-now ability to hide the truth from herself, but I am really surprised that she sticks with the 'it's Clark and me against the world' POV at the end there. How can she possibly still trust Clark? I guess it's because she has nothing else left. Poor woman.

Great moment there at the end. If the next episode is Martha's last, then I'm glad she had that first.

I am slowly catching up. I may ever have caught up completely by the end of the season. ;)