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.)

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Comments

Paige's Russia lessons

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly. Paige's comment was actually pretty honest given her background. They're never going to be able to give her the secret ingredient, which is their suffering or their childhood. For her it's just a stew. It only matters because it's one of many things she's made to cook in her nights at Claudia's, but she'd be just as happy making anything else. It's never going to be her childhood favorite food and she's never going to have a single memory of Russia as home.

I don't even think they're making Russia sound grim because for them the suffering is what makes them superior. Paige would probably love to be able to get in on that, but she can't.

Really, for all Elizabeth's complaints about having to do this in the US, the fact that Paige is American is the only reason Elizabeth and Claudia are able to completely control the Russian narrative. Kids Paige's age in Russia are the ones Philip described. They're not sitting at home listening Tchaikovsky and being grateful for peasant food every night.