Episode discussion post: "Cardinal"

[jae]

Aired:
5 March 2014 in the U.S. and Canada
9 March 2014 in Israel
22 March 2014 in the UK

This is a discussion post for episode 202 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 if you're reading this later and have already seen subsequent episodes, but please take care to keep comments spoiler-free of anything that comes after season two, episode two.)

Original promo trailers

"Next On: Cardinal" (Watch on YouTube)

"The Americans: Exclusive Scene from Episode 2" (Watch on YouTube)

Episode recaps

From Vulture
From Hitfix
From The AV Club
From The Huffington Post
From IGN
From Think Progress
From SpoilerTV
From Zap2it
From Television Without Pity
From TV Ate My Wardrobe
From Filmthrasher
From showratings.tv
From Newsmanone
From Screenrant
From the LA Times
From Geekbinge
From tvrage.com
From Unreality TV (UK)

Comments

[apolla_savre]

1. I still don't trust Emmett. The level of intimacy with Fred just kept poking my suspicions.

2. I don't really know why Arkady's going to all the lengths to get a code name and stuff for Bruce Dameran, considering Nina told Stan about it. They *know* there's observation on the Rezidentura. Surely they've figured out that by telling Stan about the walk-in, they're giving up this guy. Unless this is the sacrificial piece of information they're going to give him and keep Oleg's stuff to themselves?

3. I still really like Oleg, so I looked into his name: Oleg means "holy, blessed", Igorievich comes from Igor, meaning "warrior", and "Burov" means "drills". I'm not sure they plan for it to mean anything or if they're looking in a different direction for meaning. I'm eager for his role to be expanded, but I'm also kind of worried he's just going to be a red herring.

4. "You'd rather play a game than see Raiders of the Lost Ark? Are you insane?" Tell me about it, Henry!

5. Nina's report. I'd probably hand it back and say, "Too much information." I kind of wonder what's going through her head. She says there's evidence that Stan's relationship to her is deepening, but what about on her side?

6. I loved that Stan showed up with his friends and the exchange about Montreal or the Dude Ranch. Philip's face was just perfect as she talked about European Montreal. You could just read the, "WTF? No. This is a guy getaway to celebrate the end of being single. Sportsmanship!"

7. Oh, Martha, Martha, Martha. I'm almost 67% sure she's not going to get a gun. Philip didn't seem to like it, so he'll probably try to talk her out of it. Maybe he'll suggest self defense classes? I don't think he likes guns, I think he'd prefer not to have them where he sleeps, but he still has one because he needs it.

8. I wonder what Paige thinks her parents are up to? There's no way she thinks they're spies, right?

[soupytwist]

I think Philip's going to try to persuade Martha against the self-defence stuff too, but I think that's looking like a sticking point where Martha's not going to listen to him. My theory has always been basically that Martha is a secret ninja who will kick ass and take names once she's given the right opportunity, and I'm thinking this might be that opportunity. She was definitely not backing down on stuff this episode, at least!

[jae]

The level of intimacy with Fred just kept poking my suspicions.

I don't know, Elizabeth got even MORE intimate with her agent, and we trust her. ;)

She says there's evidence that Stan's relationship to her is deepening, but what about on her side?

I think she has feelings too, if only because acting things out can make them feel real. But she's also very, very angry with him about him murdering her friend, and that anger had been very recently reignited. It must be terribly confusing.

I wonder what Paige thinks her parents are up to? There's no way she thinks they're spies, right?

My theory early on was that the show wouldn't have her go to the spy place, but wouldn't have her thinking something that's completely wrong, either. But I guess we'll see.

-J

-J

[sistermagpie]

If Paige is smart--as she seems to be--she'll just be gathering information at this point. It's really intelligent of her to just follow down leads without a set idea in mind. If she's really come to think that something's going on with her parents, then this is real and it's serious, and it's no time for her to be imagining what these two adult strangers could be up to with her 14-year-old mind and trying to look for evidence of it. Much better at this point to just examine anything she can for weaknesses.

And that's what she's done: she's got the bedroom door which she's checked twice that we know of. Once she got a (sexy!) dead end, once she got mom in the laundry room folding at 3AM. Hmmm.

Then she's got her mom's suitcase. Obviously the 2 months away with no visitation has pinged her as another odd thing, so she's poking at the weak spots of that. She doesn't have much evidence of Elizabeth's time away, but what she's got she checks: the luggage (clean), the address staring up at her with the card. Easy as pie to check that out--as easy as opening the door instead of just trusting that whatever's on the other side is okay.

It's really in a way better for her to just be living under the same kind of free-floating paranoia as her parents are because she has no idea.

[apolla_savre]

I don't always trust Elizabeth, though. At least, I don't trust her judgment at times (the "nuclear football") but largely I don't trust Emmett because if his target was under that heavy surveillance and he couldn't make the drop, why would he ask an older, single, childless man to go through an amusement park where he doesn't look like he's there for the rides or the games, to connect with a man wearing a baseball cap holding the hand of an 11 year old boy? He deliberately involved Henry, he knew that was how old Henry was, he knew Henry and Philip would be there, he knew Philip would most likely agree to do the assignment. He risked exposing a child - his friend's child - when it was too risky for a guy who had trained and agreed to the risks. Uh-uh, no way.

Or maybe it's not that I don't trust him, I just don't like him? And nothing's convincing me yet that I should? I don't know. He just feels odd to me.

[wendelah1]

I don't trust Emmett because if his target was under that heavy surveillance and he couldn't make the drop, why would he ask an older, single, childless man to go through an amusement park where he doesn't look like he's there for the rides or the games, to connect with a man wearing a baseball cap holding the hand of an 11 year old boy? He deliberately involved Henry, he knew that was how old Henry was, he knew Henry and Philip would be there, he knew Philip would most likely agree to do the assignment. He risked exposing a child - his friend's child - when it was too risky for a guy who had trained and agreed to the risks. Uh-uh, no way.

I thought the entire operation--the location, the way the guy was dressed (a jacket and tie in an amusement park? The guys tailing him stuck out like sore thumbs too), doing this when the guy is under surveillance--it all defied credibility so I'm blaming the writers rather than the character.

[lovingboth]

5. Yes and no. She is setting out a) what she's doing to get the info and b) recording what could be used to blackmail Stan later.

7. Stan is fine with guns, provided that he's the one with one.

8. An affair.

[quantumreality]

5. Nina's report. I'd probably hand it back and say, "Too much information." I kind of wonder what's going through her head. She says there's evidence that Stan's relationship to her is deepening, but what about on her side?

I liked that montage. She definitely didn't seem blasé about it, and I have to wonder if she thinks these reports are kind of like confessionals, now that she knows she's sleeping with Vladimir's killer.

[treonb]

5. Nina's report. I'd probably hand it back and say, "Too much information."

Definitely :-)

8. I wonder what Paige thinks her parents are up to? There's no way she thinks they're spies, right?

I don't think she'll jump to that conclusion first. I hope she never gets to the truth.

[quantumreality]

I wonder what will happen if she does, though. Her parents would have to confront the possibility that the KGB will regard her as a "loose end".

And then there's the ideological question. Will Paige decide ideology trumps family? Or will she keep quiet, knowing what the risks are?