Episode discussion post: "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears"

[jae]

Aired:
4 May 2016 in the U.S. and Canada

This is a discussion post for episode 408 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 eight.)

Original promo trailer

"The Americans 4x08 Promo "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears" (HD)" (Watch on YouTube)

Overnight reviews

From Vulture (and here)
From Vox
From Hitfix
From the AV Club
From Slant
From the LA Times
From the Wall Street Journal
From the New York Times
From USA Today
From Entertainment Weekly
From Variety
From Collider
From tv.com
From Indiewire
From TV Equals
From Hidden Remote
From the Examiner
From Mstarsnews
From Den of Geek
From The Young Folks
From the Observer
From Inverse
From Celebrity Dirty Laundry
From Showbiz Junkies
From Flavorwire
From Uproxx
From Hidden Remote
From IGN
From TV Fanatic

Comments

Re: Jennings fights

[sugangel7.livejournal.com]

Loved when she pointed out that EST was not exactly making him feel better if he was not sleeping or eating. Nice that somebody in the family noticed him looking like shit for so long!

Yes, yes, yes to this. Elizabeth, for all her criticism of EST in that moment, criticism that wasn't put in the best way was really spot-on with this comment for me, especially as it came from a place of true caring and concern for him --> of course he doesn't take it that way but still.

Re: Jennings fights

[sistermagpie]

Yeah, I can really understand where she's coming from practically there. For the first time I wondered whether he really wanted to be at EST and got something from it or if he felt he should be at EST because he deserved to brood about this stuff. Before I always thought of it as liberating, but given Philip's personality it could be another excuse to be self-loathing that isn't necessarily productive. The whole public confession thing could have that aspect to it.

Like, as much as Elizabeth might go too far in the direction of thinking she's justified in everything she does because of the cause, Philip can't really look just to himself for the reasons he "is the way he is" as he said to Martha.

He even rejected the EST guy's rational about the bully in his guilt. On one hand of course he did--the guy didn't realize that Philip had killed someone. But otoh, Philip might see that kid now from the perspective of being a grown man who could have handled him without killing him, but maybe he is being a bit hard on his child-self. He told the EST guy hitting him made him feel powerful, but he wasn't focusing so much on how terrified and powerless the kid made him feel before that. It's just complicated.

Btw, I'm so glad you've joined this comm! It's awesome reading your comments!

Re: Jennings fights

[sugangel7.livejournal.com]

Before I always thought of it as liberating, but given Philip's personality it could be another excuse to be self-loathing that isn't necessarily productive.

Agreed. Especially after all the S3 stuff with Annalise and the Paige stuff and now with Martha, I at first understood his need to go to EST but it now seems to be just wallowing for the sake of wallowing at times in a way that isn't helping him or his family right now.

And thanks for the welcome! The last show I was this obsessed with was Fringe and that's been off the air now for a few years so it's nice to have another great show to analyze!

Watching 3.5 seasons in a month

[jae]

I too am delighted to see you here! And am in awe that you managed to watch that much of this show in such a short time. Whoa.

-J

Re: Watching 3.5 seasons in a month

[sugangel7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had like one week of vacation which helped (spring break - I'm a teacher) and then I kept choosing between sleep and The Americans which was not a good idea but ultimately worked out. :/

But yes, I super binge-watched!