Episode discussion post: "Rififi"

[jae]

Aired:
2 May 2018 in the U.S. and Canada

This is a discussion post for episode 606 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 six.)

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Comments

[quantumreality]

So much to unpack this ep.

If I had to pick a few highlights -

- Philip and Elizabeth's most barbed encounter yet :O
- Henry being willing to do a *lot* for his dad feels.jpg
- Philip having to bite the bullet and lay people off :(
- Dennis and Stan get their final breakthrough after almost six years!

My review

[selenak]

The one where Henry has more than two minutes screen time, even, dare I say, an important part in an episode, and it's Turkey Slaughter Day again.


I'm not entirely kidding, it's been eons since Henry got more than background stuff or a few minutes, let alone interaction with his mother as opposed to Stan Beeman or his father. And in a way, it's worth the wait in that the Henry screentime is connected to Elizabeth finally having a breakthrough of sorts, or at least the beginning of one. Though right at the start when hearing about the burning of Kimmie-as-an-asset by Philip's eventual refusal, she hits as low as we've ever had Elizabeth do verbally in this show, including the bad state of affairs between her and Philip in season 11.

Incidentally, I can't help but notice that for a kid who's home only for the holidays and only talks regularly to one of his parents, Henry is far more clear-sighted than Paige the supposed spy-in-training (who has only excellent in cluelessness this season). It doesn't take him long to (correctly) deduce Elizabeth is deeply unhappy (even if he doesn't know why), or that Philip does need some outside help in the floundering business, whatever he says. Clearly, the KGB is betting on the wrong Jennings offspring.

Elizabeth, for the first time, trying to draw without being prompted by her patient - an activity which the show has coded to opening yourself up to your emotions all seasons - consequently is followed up by her calling her son and trying to talk to him. That Henry immediately concludes this means something is wrong also says something about Elizabeth's increasingly tunneled focus on work and her daughter in recent years. But as importantly: it had to be Henry, because emotions between Philip and Elizabeth have always been mixed up their work from the get go, for better and worse, and Paige has been tied into all things spy ever since she found out the truth. Henry symbolizes emotions outside the cause.

I'm still not entirely sure this whole "the travel agency is doing badly" storyline is worth it beyond making a point about the shadow side of everyday capitalism, but there we are: Stavros gets fired. Alas. Now I'm suspecting this might be so we don't have to wonder what becomes of the travel agency employees once we get into the endgame? Which apparantly we're now in, with an illegal discovered in Chicago, Stan on the case, Elizabeth being directed there and Philip ending the episode with deciding to join her.

The irony that Stan's US patriotic Thanksgiving speech is one of the things that spur Philip to get more active into spying on Elizabeth - for Russia, not the US -, isn't lost on me. I also love that there are two layers in Philip deciding to join Elizabeth in Chicago at the end. He does it because she's in danger and he loves her for better or worse, yes - but I think it's also because his effectiveness in spying for Arkady & Oleg on Team Reactionaries who are pulling Elizabeth's stringers is limited as long as he's staying outside of operations. And he does want to help the mother country into a better future, which, ironically, is why I suspect Elizabeth in the end might see this as less of a betrayal than a point blank refusal to spy, full stop.

Lastly: is the Sam Nunez intern Elizabeth is trying to hook the same one Paige wanted to win as an asset, or is it someone else? *is bad at youthful faces, apparantly*

Re: My review

[saraqael]

I was hoping you knew if the intern Elizabeth is after is the same one Paige slept with. I couldn’t tell. I’m going to have to go back and watch the scenes with Paige again to check.

Re: My review

[sistermagpie]

Paige's guy was Brian. This is a different guy. Totally different type, especially.

Re: My review

[(Anonymous)]

Sam Nunn's intern was a different guy I think.

It would be HELLA AWKWARD if Paige and Elizabeth were working the same guy. :O

- QR who isn't logged in rn

Re: My review

[jae]

It would be just like this show to do something THAT AWKWARD, though.

-J

Re: My review

[sistermagpie]

Lastly: is the Sam Nunez intern Elizabeth is trying to hook the same one Paige wanted to win as an asset, or is it someone else? *is bad at youthful faces, apparantly*

I think that kid's name was Brian and this one was Jackson. I noticed that too. Also Paige's guy was hunkier. She would probably never have gone for sensitive French movie loving guy (who might be gay for all we know).

And he does want to help the mother country into a better future, which, ironically, is why I suspect Elizabeth in the end might see this as less of a betrayal than a point blank refusal to spy, full stop.

I tend to see it that way too. She'd be relieved that he cared.

[saraqael]

At this point, I don't know what's going to take down the Jennings, the Chicago caper (which is shaping up to be a disaster) or something much more mundane, like Stan stumbling across a Penny Savers car purchase that reminds him of one of his neighbor's cars. FWIW, I'm betting on the Penny Savers. It would be just like real life if these fabulous spies were ultimately done in by the most mundane trivia. These two spies got away with murder (literally) for years, but are ultimately captured when the FBI discovers that 'Clark Westerfeld' bought a car that Stan has seen parked in his neighbor's garage. That would be deliciously ironic.

If it is ultimately the Chicago mission that does them in, I wouldn't mind because the Chicago situation is bringing Philip and Elizabeth back together emotionally. If these two go down in flames, at least they will be together. Thanks to Henry's clear-eyed comment about Elizabeth's unhappiness, Philip was shocked out of his own reactionary anger towards her and was able to see that she's in desperate straits and has been desperately lonely and sad for months. She still loves him so much (of course) that she doesn't want him to risk his life on a mission that she fears will end in blood. He still loves her so much (of course) that he'll help her out on a mission that he doesn't believe in.

How great was Henry? I think he had more lines in this episode than he's had in the last several years on the show. Henry's always been the observant outlier in the family. He's always been the one off doing his own thing, largely unobserved (not neglected) by his family. But he was always observing them, and his independence gave him the distance to see right through all of the tension in the household. He could tell right away that Elizabeth was unhappy and that Philip was distraught over his failure to make the travel agency thrive. Instead of reacting like the emotional basket case that is his sister Paige, Henry calmly offered up solutions: he's checking out alternate scholarship options, he'll get a summer job, he's networking with his pals to swing more business to the travel agency, etc. And he comments on the emotional issues he saw in a direct manner but without being judgmental at all. Henry has become a normal, well adjusted young man. I was so pleased to see the person he is becoming.

And speaking of Henry, I was so glad that Elizabeth called him. Even though their conversation was awkward enough that even Henry noted that it was weird for her to talk to him about trivial stuff, it was so apparent that Elizabeth loves her son. She's never been effusive and always been awkward about expressing her maternal love for her kids, but it was on full display here. She didn't want to possibly die on this Chicago mission without reaching out to her son with one (possibly) final expression of awkward love. Good for her.

Last thought: it was very striking to see Elizabeth sitting on the bed sketching, just like the dying artist she has been spying on all season. I mean... yay that Elizabeth has started to draw all on her own (even if only to take her mind off the fact that she's expecting the Chicago plan to end in disaster) but scary to see her literally paralleling the same pose as a dying woman.

Why Philip is going to Chicago

[lovingboth]

I wonder to what extent Philip is going there to make sure that, if necessary, Elizabeth does not survive to help the plot against Gorbachev.

It's what Oleg told him could be necessary, Philip offered her an out that was rejected, and she is clearly prepared to do things that he finds unacceptable.

Yes, the links between a dying woman and Elizabeth in mortal peril doing art are definitely deliberate. Especially if Elizabeth is in peril from something 'inside', like her partner.

Re: Why Philip is going to Chicago

[saraqael]

IMO, he’s going to Chicago because he loves her. Not to stop her (though I won’t be surprised if he tries to talk her out of it). Not to spy on her for Oleg (though that will be an aspect because their lives are so tainted and complicated that even their love lives are effected). She as much as signaled that she’s going to fail and die in Chicago and he wants to save her if he can because he loves her.

Re: Why Philip is going to Chicago

[sistermagpie]

I wonder to what extent Philip is going there to make sure that, if necessary, Elizabeth does not survive to help the plot against Gorbachev.

I don't think he's there for that at all. He's protecting her because he loves her and he would have no problem protecting an Illegal. This isn't part of the plot against Gorbachev as far as he knows.

Henry and Walden

[sistermagpie]

She still loves him so much (of course) that she doesn't want him to risk his life on a mission that she fears will end in blood.

I didn't give Elizabeth that much credit here. Not that I think she wants him to risk his life, but I thought she'd backed herself into such a contemptuous position that she couldn't bring herself to ask for help and be vulnerable. She had no trouble asking him to do the thing with Kimmy because that was just her needing him to serve her in an op. But after deciding he was a waste of space selfish jerk she could only ask for help in her old passive-aggressive way. That is, not ask for help at all but take an opportunity to tell him he's an asshole for expecting her to be as useless as he is.

I think reaching out to Henry was also a way of reaching out to Philip. That is, she wanted an emotional connection, she's too angry at Philip, but Henry is like Philip in that he, too, loves her for things other than being a spy. He's normal and gives her what she needs. It's nice that he responds to her just because he can see she's asking him for something but doesn't quiz her on why. He just gives her what she's asking for and then alerts his father to the trouble.

Another small thing about that phone call is I thought it was a nice little "tell" (if we could call it that) that she'd never read On Walden Pond, a book that so many high schoolers have to suffer through. Of course it's possible she could have just missed it, but it's pretty standard. Especially for AP American Lit which Henry would be taking--how great that even his favorite subject was American.

Also that seemed to relate to Philip to me because part of Walden Pond is about living the simple life. Experiencing the joy of nature as opposed to these bigger things that every other person in the family is focused on, even Henry with his plans for the future.

Re: Henry and Walden

[saraqael]

I disagree that Elizabeth didn’t ask for help for fear of appearing to be vulnerable. She flat out admitted that Chicago is going to be a disaster and she expects to fail. She chose to go this solitary route to spare him from doing any more bloody field work. She still wants to spare him from that. These two hit their absolute lowest emotional point in this episode but what they’re facing has shocked them both into remembering that they love each other deeply. Even Philip’s flippant answer to her ‘who are you?’ question was a sly admission of love. ‘I’m the same idiotic asshole who's loved you all along, and I’m coming to save you.’ That was his way of burying all the emotional hatchets they’ve been throwing at each other all season.

Also disagree that Elizabeth’s call to Henry was meant to be a proxy for Philip. I take that scene at face value. Elizabeth thinks that she is about to die. In her own awkward way, she wanted to tell her son that she loves him. Her fumbling around talking about trivial things was her way of showing Henry that she did care about every tiny aspect of his life, even if she never showed it. It was so much all at once that even Henry was surprised because she’s never shown that much open interest in him before.

The cars

[lovingboth]

Has Philip ever brought one of the work cars home? I can't remember it happening - that they're not connected to him is part of the point of them.

Re: The cars

[treonb]

In the Pilot I think they used their own car, and Stan was suspicious about it. There's no reason they should buy that car through a fake account, but maybe that's going to be a link somehow.

Re: The cars

[saraqael]

I don't know if he's ever brought one of the work cars home. For all we know, their regular family cars were bought via a Penny Savers ad (the Craig's List of it's day). Philip may even have purchased his current cool car from Penny Savers. The first episode even closed with Stan searching around their car in their garage. If that type of car popped up on one of these Penny Savers lists, I'll bet Stan would remember it. The more I think about it, the more I want them to be done in by a car purchase. Imagine them getting out of Chicago by the skin of their teeth, only to come home to find Stan standing there with the title for their old car, made out in the name of Clark Westerfeld. (I default to Clark only because that's the only local Illegal cover name that Stan is familiar with.)

While watching thoughts

[lovingboth]

Well, Rififi is the title of a classic heist film, complete with a long section with no dialogue (they're too busy robbing to chat...)

Lots of Philip's betrayal in the 'previously'.

Philip noticeably doesn't look up when Elizabeth comes in. And she doesn't think it worth mentioning.

I love the way that Elizabeth doesn't deny that she did it, just that she did it in front of the kid.

"Of course you aren't, you were never going to do it."

"You just wanted to fuck her." Wow. That would kill off some relationships. Especially as we know it's not true, but it's good writing that he doesn't say that - he knows it, we know it, and in this state, Elizabeth wouldn't acknowledge that she knows it.

Pointed shot of the family pictures in the background as Philip walks up the stairs.

"Every time I go down there, someone winds up dead."

Ha, would the mail robot be that smart? You'd have one per floor, because it can't press the buttons and doesn't know which one it's on. (It's not still bugged, is it?)

Finally a breakthrough for the FBI. (And the suggestion of some sex between men?)

Really, they couldn't scream THIS IS THE LAST SEASON louder if they tried, could they?

Insert usual 'I don't believe this plot line' for the school fees.

Henry's got the networking aspect going...

Oh, it's just that Elizabeth is going to see Rififi. With the least convincing casual 'do you mind if I sit here' for a while. Given how chatty she is, I'd want her as far away as possible in case she continues during the film :)

Gosh they've been busy in the FBI, haven't they? I wonder who is going to die.

Henry picking up on the tension at home.

(I saw a shop with an enormous slotcar racing track in Barcelona recently.)

Yes it is work. Just not the travel agency.

I am surprised she doesn't just grope him.

Ah, at some point Paige is going to be pissed that HER MOTHER is going to try shag him, isn't she?

No, it's you who drive on the wrong side of the road :)

'You wanted to see me Mr Philip?' Yes, you're fired. (I wonder if he knows too much to fire.)

Nice that some people in the room know what 'work' means and some don't.

(Ah, this is 'let's stick Elizabeth in direct peril' time for the writers.)

I wonder if we're going to see a full-on physical fight between Philip and Elizabeth at some point. Part of her wants one.

No-one's asking where Stan's son is.

Lovely set of reaction shots to Stan's 'peace through strength' speech, including one from Renee.

How naughty is Philip being, I wonder, with the message to the dead letter box. He looked like he was wondering about that too.

Elizabeth's accomplice sounds and looks far too nervous to be much use!

Ha, she's doing a drawing of the TV rather than watching it to relax.

A different bonding over food in the office.

It's a sign of how she's feeling that she calls Henry. And lies to him.

A bit too 'What did she say' from Philip, but yes Henry has that there are problems sussed.

Things are so tough between them that they're communicating again, but Philip's suggestion of forgetting about the job was always going to go down badly.

You just did ask him.

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's fight

[sistermagpie]

"You just wanted to fuck her." Wow. That would kill off some relationships. Especially as we know it's not true, but it's good writing that he doesn't say that - he knows it, we know it, and in this state, Elizabeth wouldn't acknowledge that she knows it.

This feels like the second (interesting!) time the show's played out a sort of classic misogynist scene with the genders reversed. That whole thing of Elizabeth performing a new emotional connection leading up to her pimping Philip out and then turning around and calling him a whore for doing it seems like something you usually see male characters doing to women in one form or another.

mail robot

[treonb]

Good catch! Maybe it could work if it asked for help. Instead it sat there silently, serving as a buffer.

Treon's thoughts

[treonb]

Wow, what an episode! The FBI is finally putting everything together. Aderholt is amazing. I thought the FBI would never catch P&E. Now I'm really not sure.

I really pity Henry. He's so enterprising about getting to finish his last year of school, about helping his parents' business. He has no idea what dark clouds are swirling over his family.

The USSR is really in a bad state if the KGB has the schematics for the sensors and still needs to steal the device. Unless it's just partial schematics or something.

Philip was extremely stupid to tell Elizabeth he stabbed her in the back. In the state of mind she's in right now, he's lucky he was just thrown out of the bedroom.

In their argument, Elizabeth says to her defense that the kid "was in another room. I-I didn't see him." And if she would have seen him? She was trying to back out when Bystrov showed up and so she had no choice.

Re: Treon's thoughts

[sistermagpie]

Wow, what an episode! The FBI is finally putting everything together. Aderholt is amazing. I thought the FBI would never catch P&E. Now I'm really not sure.

I kind of love that the FBI is finally following all these clues and they were all basically left by Elizabeth and her secret mission.

[shapinglight]

Have to say, I'm mightily sick of the travel agency story. I hope spending so much time on it pays off in the last four episodes.

Travel agency

[sistermagpie]

OMG, yes. And they're not even using it as an excuse to illuminate Philip's background and maybe show why he ultimately is not a capitalist. They're spending more time on angst about that than the actual danger of the work Philip and Oleg are doing.

Late thoughts

[cadma2]

It feels like the pace is finally picking up a bit! I’m sure the earlier seasons used to be more eventful. To be honest I came into the season looking forward to the endgame so I’ve been waiting for the Teacup and sick wife storylines to finish, but a lot of the episodes so far have felt a bit repetitive? All Paige’s Russia lessons feel pretty similar and Philip is just going back and forth on whether to help Elizabeth or Oleg. On the other hand I thought the same about Philip and Henry’s phone calls until this episode, but having them as a contrast to Henry’s conversations with Elizabeth really paid off. Those scenes were so sad. Elizabeth definitely knew what Henry was doing at school in season 1. Henry’s probably unusual among his schoolfriends in having his mother be so much more distant than his father? He seems to accept it quite happily though.

I actually like the travel agency storyline. Philip’s quit the spy life but the cover life he used to enjoy is going as well – the kids moved out, Stan apparently stopped having beer with him once he met Renee, the business is failing and now he has to fire Stavros and the others he’s been working with for decades – probably they’re the main Americans he knows outside of spying. That might affect his choices later on.

I also really like the FBI's detective work and hope it leads them somewhere interesting. I don't totally understand why they couldn't have done it before though. It doesn't seem like a big leap to check out dodgy car sales or apparently empty houses where someone's paying for the utilities. Or do they need a precedent so they can persuade higher-ups to give them the manpower?

Re: Late thoughts

[sistermagpie]

It feels like the pace is finally picking up a bit! I’m sure the earlier seasons used to be more eventful.

I think part of the problem is there's a lot of business that goes no where--on purpose, to a point. Elizabeth seems to have these new missions every week but she never gets what she's going for. They just take up a lot of screentime to establish.

Totally agree on Paige's Russia lessons. They almost feel like Granny fan service to me some of the time and don't seem to do anything for Paige, who the showrunners continue to insulting describe as having "a Russian soul."

I actually like the travel agency storyline. Philip’s quit the spy life but the cover life he used to enjoy is going as well – the kids moved out, Stan apparently stopped having beer with him once he met Renee, the business is failing and now he has to fire Stavros and the others he’s been working with for decades – probably they’re the main Americans he knows outside of spying. That might affect his choices later on.

There was a quote from MR that made me wish this story worked better for me. He said Philip's always chased this dream of being a success outside of spying and now he's realizing it *wasn't* his dream. I see how all his troubles add up to that but I wish they'd made stronger choices character-wise about it. That is, to show that emphasized Philip recognizing that this isn't who he is rather than him just realizing this sucks too/he's not good at this.