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

Re: Dark Room

[sistermagpie]

re: Elizabeth's look of uncertainty: I think because this is really a first for her. The one time she went directly against Center orders before was in a cause of personal vengeance. This is different, because "the good of the country/the cause/the people" and "what the Center tells me to do" can not be reconciled in her eyes, and that puts her into so new territory that she has no precedence to cling to.

Totally agree. She's in the "Dark Room" the EST guy talked about, moving forward by instinctively reaching out her hands. And she grabbed her wedding rings--Philip ended that ep by asking her to marry him.

Just like Philip's "think like a human being" phrase last week was a kind of mirror upholding re: who she had become in general, Paige's "no wonder Dad can't stand being in the same room with you" works as one re: "who have I become as a wife", though, again, not for the reason Paige gives.

Right. It's not that Paige is right, but Paige is giving an accurate representation of what she--and Henry, although Elizabeth doesn't know it--are seeing. Though Henry doesn't interpret it in the spiteful way Paige is here, he and Paige both saw Philip try to not stay in the kitchen when he came in from his run and they both knew it was because of the tension between him and Elizabeth.