jae: (theamericansgecko)
Jae ([personal profile] jae) wrote in [community profile] theamericans2014-03-01 07:20 am

Links and media and etc.

The (first?) trailer for "Cardinal" is out, as well as a full scene from the episode. A new trailer for the second season in general is also out.

The ratings for "Comrades" (season two, episode one) are out, and they are mixed, mostly bad, news. Critic Alyssa Rosenberg, who has been a huge champion of the show, was vocally disappointed on Twitter. But others compared it to what happened with Breaking Bad, implying there's reason to be hopeful.

A couple more season two reviews have trickled in: from the New Republic and from The Atlantic.

Crave Online has an interview with Matthew Rhys.

Indiewire on TV's antihero tradition and how The Americans deviates from it with a compelling romance.

Vulture on That Sex Scene from "Comrades."

E Online talks about the most intense moments from some of the premieres of this past week, including The Americans.

And Complex has one more "talking to the cast at the season two premiere" video.
merryghoul: road (oliver 1)

[personal profile] merryghoul 2014-03-01 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I wouldn't worry too much about the ratings for The Americans right now. Pretty sure The Bridge did worse ratings-wise and, to my surprise, still got renewed, so there's that.

[personal profile] katiac 2014-03-01 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
I really enjoyed some of the stuff in the Matthew Rhys interview especially. Finding out more about their training/recruitment, or at least why they were motivated to fall into the roles they did relationship-wise is exactly the sort of stuff I find interesting about the show. Particularly if it focuses on Philip's end, which I feel like it would almost have to.
quantumreality: (collider)

[personal profile] quantumreality 2014-03-01 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Also, the TV show Revolution has a similar tale of ratings woes and yet it's been rolling on through a second season even through several mini-hiatuses.
quantumreality: (americans1)

[personal profile] quantumreality 2014-03-01 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh! I'd love to see what Phillip and Elizabeth think of Gorbachev! :P

[personal profile] georgley 2014-03-01 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, the FX press release about the ratings apparently said they expect the show to be on their schedule for at least five more years. There's hope!
sistermagpie: Classic magpie (Default)

[personal profile] sistermagpie 2014-03-01 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I loved that part too. I was also interested in how he corrected himself on the idea that they chose the job, saying they were chosen for them. Does that mean that they would have just joined the KGB in general and then been picked for the Illegals training without any real desire on their part? I mean, presumably if they really didn't want it at all they would have flunked out of the training, but if they wanted to please their superiors and were good at this...
sistermagpie: Classic magpie (Default)

[personal profile] sistermagpie 2014-03-01 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Some of those things were more my impression--that is, I knew it was considered an awesome job, so I had always assumed that they both wanted it. And I knew from things you'd said that the show had changed things in by even having Elizabeth identify herself as a KGB officer and by having her seeming to be in training that seemed like she was part of the military.

But that made me wonder about that line of MR's. It seems like if he just meant that they were too young to really know what they were getting into he would have said something like that. So I wonder if he means that in this place they were recruited.

If, in reality, they came from other fields...well, actually that's even more fascinating to me because it suggests that they even more have this alternate life they would have had. But how did they pluck people out? Did the program look for signs that someone was good and approach them? Because if something like that happened, even if they were in the KGB, I can see that being translated into saying the job was chosen for them, even if they enthusiastically accepted it.

[personal profile] katiac 2014-03-01 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I know, right? Whatever the answer turns out to be, exploring this subject sounds so great.

Like when I first read it, I thought he was referring to the age thing again--how they made this choice to join the KGB at 17 before they really knew who they were, and then sort of got locked into that path--but you're right it maybe could also be more literal. And really, even if they weren't overtly forced into it, it's easy enough to imagine them in a situation where they don't really have a lot of other options so they're not even looking at it that way like they could opt out.

On the other hand, I would imagine to do that sort of job would almost have to come with some level of desire and the KGB head honchos have to also know that if they pick and train agents who don't really want to do the job 100%, they'll just bolt the moment they get on US soil and trade their secrets for immunity and a cash payout. And the KGB wouldn't want that either.

So excited to see where they go with this! And I like that even though we've only seen the one episode, already there seems to be more of an equal focus. Last season it was mostly Elizabeth a lot of the time. Here Philip played a much more critical role from the start of the episode to the finish, with both of them being highlighted at different points for the emotional strain they were going through. I would say they even focused more heavily on Philip a little, because when I read reviews saying Elizabeth was showing the stress of her injury and being back too soon, I was like huh? and hadn't really even picked up on that so much as Philip's pain at different events throughout, which were zoomed in on much more strongly.

[personal profile] katiac 2014-03-01 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
But that made me wonder about that line of MR's. It seems like if he just meant that they were too young to really know what they were getting into he would have said something like that. So I wonder if he means that in this place they were recruited.

Ha, now that I can read this (site has been a little glitchy for me today) yes, that's what I was wondering. He's said something like that before.

If, in reality, they came from other fields...well, actually that's even more fascinating to me because it suggests that they even more have this alternate life they would have had. But how did they pluck people out? Did the program look for signs that someone was good and approach them? Because if something like that happened, even if they were in the KGB, I can see that being translated into saying the job was chosen for them, even if they enthusiastically accepted it.

This is kind of what I was wondering about Philip and played around with in one flashback chapter of my fic, if he might've been like studying at a university or school somewhere and then gotten plucked out because one of his teachers/supervisors noticed he was especially talented with languages and had potential. It's kind of hard to know how they'd do it on the show though, because the factual accounts you read are so very different from what's on the show (and that works for me for dramatic purposes) that it's hard to know what they'll decide to make their reality.

And yes, I'd agree that could also mean the job was "chosen" for them, particularly given the lack of other opportunities they might've had. Matthew Rhys has said over and over again how Philip grew up in this impoverished environment. It's hard to know if he's saying that because it's been in a future episode, because Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg told him so, or because he researched the time period and just about everyone was, but it would be easy to see for someone who came from very little, why they'd jump at the chance to survive, and in fact have the potential to flourish, even if it came with some drawbacks. When you're in that situation, you're thinking short term survival rather than "would this bother me 20 years from now?"

[personal profile] katiac 2014-03-01 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I was so relieved when I read that because I was a bit freaked out by the numbers...

I could be happy with five years. I would prefer 25 but that's probably not realistic :)
sistermagpie: Classic magpie (Default)

[personal profile] sistermagpie 2014-03-01 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
See, that to me actually makes a lot of sense. More sense than most things. And it also fits with stuff I've read about spy making in general. Because while there are some families where they work in, say, the NSA for generations because they know their background etc., a lot of what I've read really stresses how spies are kind of born not made. Of if they're made it's by life experience. You can't just sign up for spying and be like Philip and Elizabeth are. It's so obviously a long psychological slog that they'd be crazy not to watch people for very specific things, just as a baseball scout would watch people playing baseball.

I'm really hoping that's what they're getting at given MR's quote. Because I can certainly see both of them having qualities that they might flag as possibilities for this program. Elizabeth, as we know, has that fear of surrender that they really seem to value in this universe. And the kinds of skills that Philip has that make him good at the job would doubtless have shown up in his life elsewhere too.

[personal profile] katiac 2014-03-01 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I know! I want to see what Elizabeth thinks when Gorbachev starts coming to power. (And I'll say it now, I want some sort of happy ending for her and Philip. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I will be sad if one of them ends up dead.)

[personal profile] katiac 2014-03-01 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I mean, I think merely the fact that they're starting to talk about it is a good sign. In other interviews he'll flat out say, "We haven't filmed anything like that, so I don't know," and he for instance said there's not much Philip/Stan stuff right now :(, and it seems like whatever direction the show is heading kind of informs the answers, both because that's a good way to get the audience thinking in the right direction and also because that would be on your mind if it's the major push in what you're character is doing day after day.

[personal profile] georgley 2014-03-01 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm nervous for this weeks ratings. Hopefully they hold at around the same level.

[personal profile] georgley 2014-03-01 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Me too! I really want them both to survive.

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