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: The Gabriel and Claudia scene

[sugangel7.livejournal.com]

And Gabriel being all but "UPHILL BOTH WAYS IN THE SNOW" about his spy career was kind of interesting in terms of how there's a very real generation gap between him and Philip and Elizabeth.

Yeah, the "in my day" comment really humanized him for me and reinforced how the reason he can't see things the way they do and vice versa is because of this generational gap (whereas last season I was all on Philip's side in feeling all untrustworthy about every single one of his intentions - which like some lack of trust is needed, sure, but it's not all about him manipulating them but also seeing it from a different angle and experiences).

Re: The Gabriel and Claudia scene

[sistermagpie]

The more I think about it, the more interesting it is to think of Gabriel wrt Philip and Elizabeth here. They spent the night together where they (and William) cared for him when he was sick. That was the first time he told them about the Purges, specifically in the context of how maybe it's not always right to act based on pure survival.

Now here he's remember his friend's face when Gabriel had to drag him off to prison, and he decides to give them a vacation when he sees Elizabeth and Philip, who were sniping at each other earlier, comforting each other.

It seems like they're giving Gabriel some of his own memories bubbling up, like he's being effected by the new marriage of Philip and Elizabeth too.