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

[jae]

Great observations! The tone is definitely frantic--and understandably so.

I liked that Elizabeth was able to hold it together to meet the other deep cover agent and then seemed to fall apart again afterward.

Yesssss. That says so much about how much cope she has left, and how she doses it out.

It was good to see them giving the kids a reason why Philip will be away overnight more.

I missed this! I will catch it on rewatch.

Last episode we saw Philip needing to spend the night with Martha and this episode he cancelled on her even when she was sick.

Right--last time it was Elizabeth who got the short end of the stick, and this time it was Martha. The message being that someone has to.

I know it's only two episodes in but I can't imagine that both Martha and Nina will survive this season.

Really? They both seem pretty integral to me. I think Nina at least is safe--she's doing great work. And the Martha thing has to end at some point, but as Joe Weisberg has said in lots of interviews, these kinds of things lasted for years in real life. Maybe Clark needs to get a job that forces him to travel frequently? Although if Martha does quit her job, I can't imagine he will stick around.

-J

[katiac]

I think Nina is safer, but I could see them both being killed for the situations to mirror one another. The Martha thing I think is bringing up some interesting issues for now, but it also feels like the angles they're touching on are ones that can only feel fresh and interesting for so long before they need to move on to something else.

[jae]

Yeah, true. And Joe Weisberg continuing to harp on the fact that these kinds of situations could last for years and years could be deliberate misdirection.

-J

[katiac]

Yeah, like I think it would be easier for it to continue indefinitely if that was Philip's only job, as I believe it was in real life. But since he's got another cover to maintain, that complicates things.

With Martha it seems like last season things moved along at a crawl, which was appropriate. Very little changed episode to episode. This season, it feels like they're turning up the pace with Martha quite a bit, which also makes me feel like it's a storyline likely to end by the finale just based on the rate they're pushing it.

[lovingboth]

See my second prediction: the gun Martha is talking about getting is going to be used, quite possibly on Philip, before the end of the series.

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Yeah, this is a classic theatrical device. You can't have a gun on stage and not having it go off at some point.

[katiac]

Possibly. I feel it's more likely to get used on herself, but then I'm wrong about 99% of the time :)

[apolla_savre]

"that was Philip's only job, as I believe it was in real life. But since he's got another cover to maintain, that complicates things"

I agree, when he called her to tell her his flight had been cancelled, I cringed and thought, "This is gonna bite you on the ass if you don't watch it. She's going to start wondering how many of these "accidents" and "cancellations" are real." At best, it would be a divorce. At worst, she'd figure it out.

[katiac]

Yeah, I'm sure that's coming soon. What I'm most curious with Martha is how they're eventually going to get out of it. Because really, it can't last that much longer at the rate they're going.

[georgley]

Yeah, I feel like it could only last for years and years if it was Philip's only marriage and he could be with Martha every night.

[katiac]

Yeah, I feel like watching how it is now, there's just no way. Like Martha might've said she was okay with the way things were, but from the, "You'll be over here a LOT more," that she said in "The Colonel" you know she was really envisioning them being married was going to dramatically change things. Like suddenly he was going to be around all the time and this annoying habit of showing up only a few nights a week was going to disappear once he saw how great it was. The way things are now just aren't sustainable, if only for the stress it's going to put Philip under. They're only human and I don't think he can carry this on indefinitely without it leading to mission mistakes.

[georgley]

Yep. Exactly. I actually want her to raise the idea of children with Clark just to see how he/Philip reacts. I don't actually want her to get pregnant though!

[katiac]

Yes, I feel the same way. I'd love it if the topic was brought up and used to freak both Philip and Elizabeth out. It's the natural next place to go and yet it will make Philip go nuts. And Elizabeth. But I don't want an actual baby to become a reality.

[sistermagpie]

I hope he's just giving himself as much space as possible. As others have said, of course those situations went on for years--they were basically real marriages. This is a double marriage to someone who doesn't exist even to the exist that Philip Jennings does.

[katiac]

Yeah, and like with a fake person in their only marriage, the paperwork would've likely been okay. I have to wonder about how much trouble they went to with "Clark." I would think they would get in trouble with things like trying to pay taxes or what have you. Or did Martha do this with the understanding it was a religious ceremony but not the legal marriage? I somehow doubt it. But wouldn't filing the paperwork get "Clark" into just as much trouble at work?