Episode discussion post: "The Great Patriotic War"

[jae]

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

This is a discussion post for episode 605 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 five.)

Original promo trailer

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[saraqael]

They drank a shot of olive oil to 'coat their stomach' before drinking the vodka. I've never heard of doing such a thing but then, I was never prone to drinking too much in bars and getting in fist fights.

A little part of me is hoping that the whole drinking shots whilst reminiscing about the bad old days was actually a set up so that Claudia and Elizabeth could gauge how well Paige holds her liquor (answer: not at all). And maybe they'll compare notes later when Paige isn't around and decide to wash her out of the spy game because she clearly loses her cool after a couple of drinks.

I doubt it, but it would amuse me. Elizabeth already admitted to Philip in her tossed off comment that Paige can't do the job. Whether she is ready to truly believe it, Elizabeth knows that Paige as spy isn't working out.

[sistermagpie]

They drank a shot of olive oil to 'coat their stomach' before drinking the vodka. I've never heard of doing such a thing but then, I was never prone to drinking too much in bars and getting in fist fights.

It's totally one of those silly tips you'd get in college that would of course not really work. They ought to have just told her to eat a lot of bread before going out and ordering club soda and pretending he was alcoholic.

[quantumreality]

I would've expected them to explain the old "eat bread with your liquor" trick.

Drinking tips

[sistermagpie]

Exactly! Eat a lot of bread and try to order things that look like alcoholic drinks but aren't.

[alley_skywalker]

Is eating bread actually a college "tip" for how not to get drunk? That's so silly. What exactly is bread supposed to do? What you need to do is eat something protein heavy.

drinking tips

[treonb]

I also had in mind eating bread (and eating in general), so I looked it up:

https://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Documents/Alcohol%20myth%20buster.htm

7) Lining your stomach with a big meal before drink can help to reduce the risk of getting drunk.

FALSE: Drinking on a full stomach before you go out will delay alcohol getting into your system, not prevent it. A meal will only delay the rate of alcohol absorption, but if you go on to drink heavily you will get drunk. However, it's still best to eat a proper meal before a night out, especially foods rich in carbohydrates and proteins.


Btw, olive oil is extremely thick. I don't think it's that easy to gulp it down like they did. I was going to test it myself, but I chickened out.

ETA: Turns out you can find anything on youtube, including ppl who drink olive oil

Re: drinking tips

[jae]

Holly Taylor said in an interview that she actually had to drink a shot of olive oil for the scene, and that it made her "almost quit her job on the spot". ;)

-J

Re: drinking tips

[treonb]

I can understand her! Though my guess is she had to do a lot of other things I'd chicken out from...

Googling around, I found a Russian guide to staying sober:
http://konstantin2005.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-to-drink-vodka-and-stay-sober.html