Episode discussion post: "Rififi"
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theamericansAired:
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.)
Original promo trailer
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.)
Original promo trailer
no subject
Date: 2018-05-03 05:38 am (UTC)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
Date: 2018-05-03 10:05 am (UTC)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*
no subject
Date: 2018-05-03 01:05 pm (UTC)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.
While watching thoughts
Date: 2018-05-03 01:35 pm (UTC)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.
Why Philip is going to Chicago
Date: 2018-05-03 01:44 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2018-05-03 03:14 pm (UTC)Re: My review
Date: 2018-05-03 03:21 pm (UTC)Re: My review
Date: 2018-05-03 03:22 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2018-05-03 03:29 pm (UTC)-J
Re: My review
Date: 2018-05-03 04:30 pm (UTC)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).
I tend to see it that way too. She'd be relieved that he cared.
Re: My review
Date: 2018-05-03 04:30 pm (UTC)Re: Why Philip is going to Chicago
Date: 2018-05-03 04:31 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2018-05-03 04:38 pm (UTC)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: Philip and Elizabeth's fight
Date: 2018-05-03 04:42 pm (UTC)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.
Re: My review
Date: 2018-05-03 05:01 pm (UTC)Re: Henry and Walden
Date: 2018-05-03 05:24 pm (UTC)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.
Re: Henry and Walden
Date: 2018-05-03 06:29 pm (UTC)No, I didn't mean he was a proxy for Philip. I meant that Henry, along with being Henry himself who I agree she was calling for himself, also represents things she loves in Philip but is currently unable to say she appreciates.
Re: Why Philip is going to Chicago
Date: 2018-05-03 07:30 pm (UTC)Re: Henry and Walden
Date: 2018-05-03 09:23 pm (UTC)In this particular discussion, I don't think that she was trying to manipulate him into coming to help her. As for her calling him a jerk earlier, they both said or implied incredibly poisonous things to each other. That happens in a stressed marriage. The closer people are to each other, the easier it to to know exactly what to do or say that will be the most hurtful. They're both flawed and both communicate poorly with each other. That's been one of the most fascinating things to observe in this series, to me at least. This season long breakdown in their ability to communicate with each other has been painfully fascinating to watch because it parallels real life married couples so well. Married people sometimes say horrible things to each other when they're stressed or when their life choices start to separate them acutely. Couples can either break up at that point, or else remember that they love each other. Sometimes getting Philip to communicate what he feels is like pulling teeth. Other times he's open and eager (sometimes too eager) to share what he's feeling. Elizabeth tends to demonstrate what she's feeling in lieu of expressing it in words. She was ready to be done with all the spying last season (3 years ago in show time) just as much as Philip was. Now she's beyond the edge of her endurance but she's pushing on anyway. Even now, she would never tell Philip she wants his help. It's not a pride thing or because she thinks he can't cut it. She's trying to uphold her end of the deal they made when he quit. No matter what other issues they both still need to resolve between them, Philip finally opened his eyes and saw the state she's really in and he's going to help her because she needs him. He was broken at the end of the last season and she stepped up for him. Now three years later, she's broken and he's stepping up for her.
That's how I see all this.
Re: My review
Date: 2018-05-03 09:42 pm (UTC)Philip and Elizabeth
Date: 2018-05-03 10:02 pm (UTC)I think Elizabeth called Henry to say goodbye. Not because he reminds her of Philip, but because he's the only non-spy in the house, who has no idea what his mother does. When/if everything blows up, he's going to get the shock of his life. She might be dead by then, and so when that happens, she wants him to think good of her.
She's not trying to save Philip, she is truly contemptuous of him right now. Philip, on the other hand, is going against everything he believes in, because he does love Elizabeth.
In the episode, Philip said he loves Elizabeth.
"Look, I love your mother. She loves me."
But Elizabeth never said that.
And it's just as believable as his next sentence, that "everything's fine."
Elizabeth might accept Philip's help, because she really has no choice, but she really doesn't want to. She didn't call for help, even when she realized that things are extremely bad. In fact, she didn't call Philip at all. No "get the kids out before it's too late" this time.
The cars
Date: 2018-05-03 10:15 pm (UTC)Re: The cars
Date: 2018-05-03 10:27 pm (UTC)Treon's thoughts
Date: 2018-05-03 10:27 pm (UTC)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: The cars
Date: 2018-05-03 10:30 pm (UTC)