Episode discussion post: "Harvest"

[jae]

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

This is a discussion post for episode 607 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 seven.)

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Comments

Re: Paige's Ideological Convictions

[sistermagpie]

In a way it's not even that she thinks she knows what's right. It's that she wants Elizabeth and Claudia to know what's right. As I mentioned someone said about her in this ep, when it comes to expressing those beliefs for herself she manages a couple of cliches before falling back on an appeal to their authority.

She's really not on fire for her cause any more than she was for Jesus. She just sees these beliefs as defining her group. If Elizabeth became disillusioned tomorrow Paige would go right along with her.

In this ep Elizabeth tries to give her an out but of course Paige can see that if she got out she'd no longer have the only relationships that mean anything to her. She'd still have Philip, but she's never been able to handle his way. He's alone--more alone than almost any other character at times. He never has any easy answers for her.