Episode discussion post: "Crossbreed"

[jae]

Aired:
11 April 2017 in the U.S. and Canada

This is a discussion post for episode 506 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 five, episode six.)

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Comments

Re: Lay Your Hands on Me-S506 review "Crossbreed"

[saraqael]

My default assumption in all of this is that Elizabeth did not know about Philip's brother until we, the audience, found out. The writing up until now has just been too careful to show/withhold information about everyone's identities. The entire conceit of the show is about identity.

I'm going to have to re-watch the scene of the first memory that showed the brother because I can't recall if Philip talked about that one, or if he only mentioned these memories to Elizabeth in that phone call.

You're right that since they've lived together all this time without talking about their real lives, it's not strange that Elizabeth didn't react when he mentioned his brother in these circumstances.

It makes sense to me that she didn't know until now, but I can just as easily see that she knew (for how long?) but simply never gave it much thought because it was irrelevant to them now...or so she thought. We may find out more about what she did/didn't know, because this whole memory thing is still unfolding.

Re: The Unknown Brother

[sistermagpie]

I'm going to have to re-watch the scene of the first memory that showed the brother because I can't recall if Philip talked about that one, or if he only mentioned these memories to Elizabeth in that phone call.

As I remember it--and I think this is accurate--Philip did not mention the first flashback. So, just as you said. He only said anything after he had the second flashback, speaking on the phone to Elizabeth. He described them as memories about his father bringing things home. So no mention of anybody but his father, and he just mentioned him bringing home food or clothing.

It makes sense to me that she didn't know until now, but I can just as easily see that she knew (for how long?) but simply never gave it much thought because it was irrelevant to them now...or so she thought. We may find out more about what she did/didn't know, because this whole memory thing is still unfolding.

It's interesting to think about because he would say something about Elizabeth. I mean, with Philip we've heard him just listen to things she says about her mother, but Elizabeth is pretty open about her. She tells stories as stories and Philip would have good reason to think that it's better to just listen to the story she told without pressing for details. If she wanted to give them she would.

But with Elizabeth...early on she didn't think it was right to talk about their personal lives, I'd assume, because we know it was only in the pilot when she did it. It seems odd to imagine Philip just giving her information when she probably would have told him to shut up because it was against orders. Now she'd in a very different place and knowing to ask questions because Philip's asking for help sorting out the memories.

But still, it seems like part of her new openness would include a new curiosity about him. It's hard to figure out just when he would have given her this information.