Episode discussion post: "Urban Transport Planning"

[jae]

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

This is a discussion post for episode 603 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 three.)

Original promo trailer

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[saraqael]

The way they filmed the scene of Elizabeth throwing the Russian food into the sink really provoked a visceral reaction in me. They shot it in close-up and the wet plop noise it made when it hit the sink seemed extra loud.

How symbolic that Elizabeth ground up her Russian comfort food with an American garbage disposal.

I agree about the Leonard Cohen song. It seemed to take on a foreboding air. Dance Me to the End of Love Love me to the bitter end.

Garbage Disposal

[sistermagpie]

It reminded me of a shot in Ordinary People where Mary Tyler Moore gets a similar hostile shot with a breakfast she made that her kid doesn't want to eat.

[quantumreality]

What really surprised me was how paranoid P&E both got about the food. Wouldn't any visitor have just assumed it was an ordinary beef stew of some kind?

Stew

[sistermagpie]

IKR? I get why they're like that psychologically but only Claudia would think a meal like that was uniquely Russian.

Re: Stew

[treonb]

Even if people would have immediately recognized it as Russia, Elizabeth could have put it in the refrigerator just for the night.

[shapinglight]

I agree about the Leonard Cohen song. It seemed to take on a foreboding air. Dance Me to the End of Love Love me to the bitter end.

Yes, there's an awful lot of 'this is not going to end well' signalling going on.