Links and media and etc.

[jae]

Get ready for a ludicrous number of links this time!

First off, there's a great interview with Keri Russell (Elizabeth) and Matthew Rhys (Philip) in Entertainment Weekly that's sadly behind a paywall, but jenningscomrades posted a series of readable screenshots over at Tumblr.

And speaking of Tumblr, the full set of promotional pictures for season two was posted by theamericanstv there too: 1, 2.

In further interviews, writer/showrunner Joe Weisberg was interviewed at the Writers' Guild of America Awards (the bit with Weisberg starts at 8:05), including at least a couple of things he hasn't already said a thousand times. :)

The show's costume designer Jenny Gering was also interviewed in Elle.

Episode 201 hasn't yet aired, of course, but we now have the plot description for episode 202.

According to writer/showrunner Joel Fields on Twitter, the script for the season two finale was finished this week, and the title for episode ten has been released.

And in the vein of "better late than never," the first season of our favourite show starts airing in Finland today on MTV (there's a trailer at the site and also a wonderful promotional campaign there) and in Germany on ProSieben Maxx (here's a trailer--dubbed, as is par for the course in Germany and a review from the Spiegel for those of you who speak German).

Any of you who are in New York or can get there easily can buy raffle tickets to join cast and crew in style at the season premiere (and get to see the first episode two days early!).

Bad news for anyone who was hoping to see The Americans on Netflix someday: Fox (which owns FX) and Amazon have signed a new distribution agreement granting Amazon Prime's Instant Video subscribers exclusive rights to the show.

There have been a few voices in the media that are hyping the season one DVD/Blu-Ray release in the hope of snagging new viewers before season two: The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Rotten Tomatoes (which chose The Americans as their Weekly Binge show last week).

And last but not least, here's a shot of Matthew Rhys checking out the timeline in the writers' room. (16 days!)

Comments

[georgley]

I love these posts because there are always a couple of things that I haven't seen yet!

They really seem to be ramping up the promotion leading in to season 2. It does seem to me like interest in the show is really increasing and a lot of people started watching during the hiatus. Hopefully this translates in higher ratings and an early pick up for season 3.

[jae]

God, I hope so! *fingers crossed*

-J

[katiac]

I REALLY hope so. I would be so sad if the show was ended before they got a chance to fully tell the story they're trying to. Like I would love it if they got a full 5-6 seasons, which would give them time to (if they jumped ahead timewise a little faster) get to the end of the Cold War. You would think with all the great attention it's getting, they could get some more viewers.

[katiac]

"Episode 3 / Production #203 - "The Walk In" (Airs March 12, 10:00 pm e/p) - Philip and Elizabeth complete their next mission - but not without complications - and Philip's fears about Elizabeth's readiness for action deepen. Stan tracks the KGB walk-in which leads to much praise at work and a deepening of his attachment to, and dependence on, Nina. Meanwhile, Paige snoops into her mother's family background and Oleg begins to scrutinize Nina's secret operation. Written by Stuart Zicherman; directed by Constantine Makris."

Love this, especially that Paige will be snooping into Elizabeth's family background! I was really hoping they might explore that a bit since it seems like a great way Paige could get curious and suspicious about something that sort of touches near dangerous topics in P/E's eyes, but in a way that would be completely believable for her based on things that had to have come up over the years. Plus it means we very likely get to find out what Elizabeth's cover story about her family situation is, and perhaps even Philip's!

[sistermagpie]

OMG, wow. That seems great. I wonder if that's the shot of Paige on the bus, trying to track down this great aunt. That seems like a really obvious question for her to have--you suddenly have a great aunt we've never heard about but is important enough that you go away to nurse her for weeks and we can't even visit? Yeah, that's not suspicious. But I'm dying to know what suspicions Paige ends up having. And that's only a short step to thinking it's a big creepy both parents are presumably orphans...

I'm also excited about Elizabeth apparently getting a little jittery on the job.

Also, Stan's screwed. But I'm sure he'll find a way to surprise me and flip it.

[katiac]

I know, right?

I was wondering the same thing about the bus shot. Because that seems random that she would be out in the middle of nowhere. I'm now SO curious to see how they laid out their cover stories, like if they're both orphans (which I think makes the most sense, but who knows) or if they have any estranged relatives far away or whatever. With Elizabeth being suddenly gone for an extended period, like you said, it's the perfect, oh so organic way for Paige to start thinking, "Huh. That's weird that Mom disappeared and we've never even met this lady." And then to have other stuff come up.

I'm wondering if they have heard about her before, but just never met her. Because it seems like P/E are too good at covering their tracks not to have thought of the scenario where one of them might have to go out of town for an extensive period of time, for whatever reason. It would be relatively easy to fake birthday cards coming in the mail and occasionally mention her. If Paige and Henry have never met her before, they wouldn't be particularly interested, but it would also save them from the scenario where Stan tells them about the great aunt's fall down the stairs and they go, "Huh? We don't have a great aunt."

And I LOVE Elizabeth getting the jitters on the job! I actually kind of missed that they didn't touch on that much after they got tortured because I thought that would've had a pretty huge psychological impact. And clearly through the anger and what they later did to hurt each other, that was going on to some extent, but I love the idea of them exploring that even more deeply with Elizabeth, and not just as a one episode thing either. Great material!

[sistermagpie]

I really love the implications here--so very much like the show--that an experience like the one she had would have repercussions on her psychologically. Getting shot is a traumatic event, but not usually on TV. Plus it made it real to her that something could happen to her, and therefore to the kids etc. But she's also Elizabeth so she's going to want to push ahead, leading to Philip having these fears, which would then lead to some conflict between them for sure.

[georgley]

That sounds amazing!

Love Philip being concerned about Elizabeth and how she is coping. Sounds like there are going to be a few threats towards the family popping up early in the season and I am so interested to see how she copes with that. I'm guessing not very well! She is committing to the family in a new way and I'm interested in how that changes her.

Paige wanting to find out more about Elizabeth's family makes so much sense. Given the comments Elizabeth has made about her mother and the great aunt cover story, I can see why Paige would want to know more.

I suspect the Philip and Elizabeth have dropped hints previously about distant relatives (like the great aunt) in case of emergencies (like getting shot!) and to make their histories more believable.

[katiac]

I love the idea of Elizabeth getting more conflicted too, and potentially changing, or at least being forced to confront the reality of the risk they're taking in a more concrete way. I feel like Philip kind of already had gotten to that place before the pilot, but in kind of a similar way to him coming around to romantic feelings before she did, I think she's a little slower to admit they may have to face what they're doing as a threat too. Great stuff!

I think it would be great if Paige's curiosity about Elizabeth's fake mother story leads to Elizabeth giving her some more details about her childhood that were true but not anything that would reveal they're really Russian. Love Elizabeth and Paige moments.

[jae]

It's on the list for next week's post, thanks! :) Although with the way the links are coming fast and furious right now, I might end up doing the next linkspam post sooner rather than later.

Everything about this season sounds SO SO SO GOOD, though. Like, there's nothing that strikes me as at all a throwaway episode yet. How are we even going to wait?

-J

[katiac]

I know, right?? I can't believe that two weeks from now we'll FINALLY have new episodes! I am just so impressed and excited with how promising everything sounds. It's like they took the wish list of everything we might've wanted to see and it's magically in each week's synopsis. So exciting!