Promo discussion: Episode 4x10

[treonb]

This post is intended to allow discussion of the upcoming episode, as reflected in the official show promos.

Please keep the comments spoiler free from anything not mentioned in the promos (interviews, articles etc).

"The Americans 4x10 Promo "Munchkins" (HD)" (Watch on YouTube)

When Paige’s long-ago indiscretion threatens to resurface and destroy the family, Philip and Elizabeth find themselves scrambling – and Paige finds herself reevaluating who her parents really are.

Comments

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Why did I somehow think Alice would also go to Ethiopia when she is heavily pregnant? My mind must have been somewhere else.

Hang on, didn't the huge famine start around this time in Ethiopia? Are we going to get a flashback to BandAid? (I remember how hard it was to follow that live on TV and radio throughout the day!)

Reading on Wiki it appears there was a Civil War from 1974-1991. Great time for some missionary "vacation"...

[sistermagpie]

That's probably why Pastor Tim is going there, is my thinking.

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Yeah, it' funny how you realise things are you are typing. ;-)

Alice

[sistermagpie]

This is the most intense preview ever. I find myself just wondering what order those scenes come in. Like, I guess Alice goes to their house and confronts them first since she's giving them the news about Pastor Tim. I like that she says *she* made a tape--I've always wondered if Alice was following Tim's orders as a good Christian wife in not spilling the beans on the Jennings but that she always wanted to turn them in more than he did. I've just always seen that whole traditional marriage thing with them (Paige's claims that Alice suddenly gets blabbery around women sealing the deal). Plus even if it wasn't that way Alice would be defending her own way of life now.

Then she's telling Paige she's never been scared before--yes, that would be that middle class American bubble the three of you have been in this whole time.

But then her reaction is still typically safe and self-centered. Tim went to a dangerous region and disappeared, but that can't be about the world being a dangerous and chaotic place. Obviously Jesus would have protected him like always. So it has to be the fault of the people she knows who have done this, and she has to be able to bring him back by complaining to the right people.

Meanwhile there's no reason Philip and Elizabeth would have anything to do with this because the last thing they'd do is take out Pastor Tim and leave his wife running around to do...exactly what she's doing.

I wonder what Paige's reaction will be, though. On one hand she's in Alice's position of suddenly having someone she knows touched potentially by violence. She, too, seems to think it's a perfectly logical connection that Ethiopia being connected to Communism means Philip and Elizabeth did it. But otoh, it seems the reality is just that it was an accident and that their attempts to make nice to Pastor Tim by getting him a deal on the trip will backfire on them. Half-measures, as they say on Breaking Bad, and that's down to Paige.

I also love that clip of Philip and Elizabeth saying they might have to leave (this seeming to be after she's talked to Alice abut being afraid and defending her connecting the Soviets to Pastor Tim's disappearance) and Paige saying, "You and Mom?"

Like, what, does she think she and Henry will just live in the house by themselves with her parents sending them grocery money etc.? Is she making plans to raise Henry herself? Move in with the Tims? Does she think they're just leaving town or the country for a while? It really takes a while for Paige to get that things can change. I can see her approaching her parents as if this is all about how Alice isn't being so unreasonable and her parents shocking her with the fallout from this. Which makes Paige see that she's in danger of being Alice herself.

communists in Ethiopia

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Quickly reading through the Wiki on the Civil War in Ethiopia it does appear that the Soviet Union helped at least during the early stages in the 70's. But how much did the general public know about this? I'm wondering about this, since Alice obviously assumes it's the communists that are holding Tim hostage. How would she know that? Or does she simply jump to the conclusion that the KGB would somehow take advantage of him being in a country far away to get rid of him?

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[sistermagpie]

It seems like she knows it since Paige calls it a Soviet-controlled country. I have no memory about what the rest of the world thought, but I guess if he's going there he might know this.

I think she is just jumping to that conclusion because she thinks it's got to make sense. Pastor Tim couldn't have just run into some random person in a chaotic place. If it's P&E behind it she can just threaten them about it. Plus it explains that God didn't just let it happen--the Soviets did it deliberately!

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[treonb]

Plus it explains that God didn't just let it happen--the Soviets did it deliberately!

Why would the Soviets be a factor in the question of whether this was God's wish? I mean, why would the Soviets be capable of thwarting God's plan more than any other random abductor?

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[sistermagpie]

Well, it's kind of torturous logic but I can totally see Mrs. Tim using it. She trusts that God and the angels will protect Tim on his trip, but if humans using their own free (evil) will decide to kidnap him then than's their fault, not God's.

It's far from the weirdest "all God's plan" logic I've heard.

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[treonb]

Humans can of course use their own free will, but then why would it be so important that it be the Soviets? A human thief or other random Ethiopian can also use his free will to kill her husband.

I can understand why Alice would love for it to be the Soviets - as you said, she feels she can do something about it and bring him back. But I don't understand how religion plays into it being so important.

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[sistermagpie]

I think it would be important that it be the Soviets because that's a more ordered world. A random Ethiopian killing Tim when he's come to help them is more chaotic than the whole thing being set up by the evil people she knows who were specifically out to get godly Tim. Random acts of violence naturally lead to thoughts of "How could God let this happen?" than planned acts of violence by the Evil Empire.

Religion comes into it only because I assume for Alice religion always comes into it. The more straightforwardly God can be the good guy the better. With the random Ethiopian you have to imagine the scenario. Here it's laid out in a totally validating way.

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[treonb]

It's interesting, and I don't want to get into a theological discussion, but I think the Jewish perspective is very different.

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[sistermagpie]

Oh, I'm sure it is. Also I think this kind of thinking has as much to do with life experiences as well. I think that's hinted at in the clip too, when Alice says she's never been scared before. The demographics of that church are pretty uniform.

Re: communists in Ethiopia

[theplatonicnonyeah]

I forgot the randomness of deities... ;-)

Martial Eagle

[sistermagpie]

Thinking about this clip I wonder if Mrs. Tim is going to bring up Philip's menacing visit to Pastor Tim back in Martial Eagle. Because of course he told her about that.