theamericans | Episode discussion post: "Tchaikovsky"

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theamericans

Aired:
4 April 2018 in the U.S. and Canada

This is a discussion post for episode 602 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 six, episode two.)

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From:

beer_good_foamy

When Elizabeth said "at least her husband's doing something" about the artist I felt like that was central to Elizabeth's character now because...what is she doing? That is, what's she doing it for? She thinks she's saving the world, but what for since she holds all humanity in contempt?

Exactly. It seems, like I think I wrote last week, that she's just playing teams now - she's not fighting for anything, just playing it out to the end she thinks is inevitable.

And when they're telegraphing her upcoming death so clearly, there has to be a twist. What would be more heartbreaking than someone who has lost all their motivations and accepted their death... only to have to live on?

If I were Paige, I'd ask Claudia for a bulletproof vest.

From:

shapinglight

And when they're telegraphing her upcoming death so clearly, there has to be a twist. What would be more heartbreaking than someone who has lost all their motivations and accepted their death... only to have to live on?

Yes, and see everything she's spent her life fighting for destroyed. It's actually more cruel.

From:

quantumreality

I'm really not looking forward to the absolute kicked-puppy look that P&E would get in 1991 knowing it all crashed down around their ears.

From:

shapinglight

I'm not sure Philip would feel that way. I suspect he'd be secretly relieved.

From:

jae

I actually don't think this is/will be true at all. There's a difference between thinking your country has flaws and looking forward to its demise. I'm sure in 1987 he'd be a reformer (if he were there), but he wouldn't ever wish to see his country collapse. You can't make the kinds of sacrifices he's made for his country and wish to see it destroyed.

-J

From:

shapinglight

You can't make the kinds of sacrifices he's made for his country and wish to see it destroyed.

It wasn't really the Soviet Union as a country I was talking about as such. More the system that Philip works for. Or the ideology, or whatever. I'm not sure he would see them as the same thing any more.

Edited Date: 2018-04-06 05:31 pm (UTC)

From:

sistermagpie

I almost wonder if they lived until the present if Philip would be more bummed about it than Elizabeth. I mean, Elizabeth might get some satisfaction out of seeing how democracy crumbled as if that proved her right.

From:

shapinglight

Quite possibly. Whereas Philip might be more likely to buy into the initial optimism of Arkady and Oleg that things were going to change for the better and then be horribly disappointed.