Episode discussion post: "Jennings, Elizabeth"

[jae]

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

This is a discussion post for episode 609 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 nine.)

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Comments

[saraqael]

That's a good point. We knew it was Stan Beeman, but Tim couldn't be 100% sure. He had to word his answer carefully for any number of reasons.

[lovingboth]

All Stan has to do is invite Tim to go to the US Embassy and speak to him via some secure line. Unless the US diplomatic service has been infiltrated, it guarantees that he's speaking to the FBI agent he met.

[saraqael]

True. I guess Stan didn't feel like he had the time to set up something that formal. Plus, he's still not entirely sure of his suspicions so he may have wanted to keep the conversations less formal.

As for Tim: In the Slate podcast (or some interview I read) the Js were cagey when asked why Tim didn't tell Stan about the Jennings being spies. Over on Twitter (I think is where I saw this), Kelly AuCoin dodged the question and said that Tim's non-answer 'was in the script'. Obviously they all want the audience to draw our own conclusion. I think that having Tim avoid saying anything damning about the Jennings was the best of all possible answers. It leaves it all ambiguous which is fabulous (at least to me). It makes the character feel more real to me.

Tim's phone call

[sistermagpie]

I was rewatching it last night and it's a fabulous scene. KO is great in it. It's one of those nice people being spies scenes because we can see Tim's real reactions on his face while he gives chipper answers.

I don't think he had any doubt he was talking to Stan. The KGB testing him like that when he'd kept quiet all that time would be maybe pushing him to confess. Plus, I just don't think he'd imagine them doing anything so elaborate. He did meet Stan. He's got far more reason to expect the FBI to call because they've gotten suspicious over something the Jennings are doing than the KGB doing random prank calls.