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]

A few more short thoughts upon second viewing before I dash off to work:

• It's unclear to me why the shooting of Vlad was in the previouslies. Anybody have any thoughts on what memory or emotion that was intended to jog for us?

• Who thinks Paige is going to notice just how much time her mother is spending pacing nervously and staring out windows?

• I loved how when Martha brought up the murders, Philip immediately turned around because he knew he was at risk for breaking character. Such a great touch.

• The bachelor weekend that Stan's friend wanted to book was from March 12-14--just localizing the date a bit better.

• Oleg is totally flirting with Nina, but Nina's having none of it so far. I think he's coming across as totally slimy, but he's definitely going to be a great foil for her.

• Nina's superior "this is your first posting" stuff was a bit over-the-top, though. I mean, sure, she's more experienced and she's been there longer, but this is her first posting too.

• Any thoughts on why Arkady was talking to the walk-in through the door? Obviously it was procedure for them not to be alone in a room together, but why?

• It's interesting that Emmett never let his agent see him or know his American name, even though they were clearly friends. It's more like Philip with Anneliese or Martha without all the duplicity, then, than it is like Elizabeth and Gregory, where there were probably a whole lot of secrets, but no outright lies. I wonder why Emmett made that choice.

• Emmett's agent let on what the mission was--or at least the bits of it he knew about. I love how that story is unfolding slowly, how they're getting further bits of the bigger picture in each episode.

• I enjoyed watching Martha stand up to Clark when he didn't want her to get a gun. It's good to see her not just being a doormat.

• Any thoughts on the bit from the final scene where Philip says: "It'll be tomorrow if they [the Center] want us to go?" Go where?

-J

[alisonx]

First point: I think that was for when they were listening to the tape of Stan/Gaad about covering up Vlad. And nina said something like "Those bastards".

2nd point: I was half convinced in that promo for 2x02, she was gonna walk past the phone and see a pad full of numbers.

last point: If i had to hazard a guess, it would be Emmett and Leanne's home because there was a promo with them in their house looking at their pictures? Otherwise, I haven't got the faintest.

[apolla_savre]

Yeah, it was totally about Volodya.

I can't believe they put him in a dumpster :(

[jae]

Yes! Those explanations all make sense, thanks. :)

-J

[apolla_savre]

"I think he's coming across as totally slimy, but he's definitely going to be a great foil for her."

I agree. I love it. He's such an apparatchik/son of an apparatchik and it is golden.

[sistermagpie]

• It's unclear to me why the shooting of Vlad was in the previouslies. Anybody have any thoughts on what memory or emotion that was intended to jog for us?

I think just for the convo Gaad and Stan have that's taped and listened to by Arkady and Nina.

Who thinks Paige is going to notice just how much time her mother is spending pacing nervously and staring out windows?

I love how she's so picking up on the emotional current--and Philip and Elizabeth are noticing her too. I felt like she had a special reaction to Elizabeth's "Your home" too, like she felt this was a big moment and didn't know why.

I loved how when Martha brought up the murders, Philip immediately turned around because he knew he was at risk for breaking character. Such a great touch.

Definitely. And also he knew he had to talk about it to see if she knew anything.

It's interesting that Emmett never let his agent see him or know his American name, even though they were clearly friends. It's more like Philip with Anneliese or Martha without all the duplicity, then, than it is like Elizabeth and Gregory, where there were probably a whole lot of secrets, but no outright lies. I wonder why Emmett made that choice.

I noted that Philip said it was for his own protection, which was nice. It seems like it was more in between Gregory and Martha in that Martha thinks Philip is someone else. Fred seemed to know Emmett's situation, he just called him Paul and always saw him in disguise.

I enjoyed watching Martha stand up to Clark when he didn't want her to get a gun. It's good to see her not just being a doormat.

One of the interesting things about their relationship is that Philip's playing a single character here that's made--in true Philip style--to manipulate without seeming to manipulate. So he really can't treat her like a doormat. He never has, and he knows she doesn't like that. Even his putting the kibosh on her career ideas didn't come with any negging on his part. He didn't even subtly tear down her ambitions or make her feel like she was wasting her time. He framed it in terms of her wanting to be where the action was because she was talented.

I suspect that this theme, too, is coming up a lot this season as the characters take a hard look at why they do what they do. I just get the feeling--maybe totally off--that Philip's honing in on people wanting to "make a difference" has a lot of personal significance for him, like maybe he knows all too well the bad situations people can get themselves into with that motivation.

Any thoughts on the bit from the final scene where Philip says: "It'll be tomorrow if they [the Center] want us to go?" Go where?

Maybe wherever they're going next week to check something out?

[georgley]

I thought that at the end Philip must have filled Elizabeth in on the intel he got from Emmett's agent and was talking about whether they will need to go and inspect the propellor or whatever machinery it was.

[jae]

Oh, that's probably it. I was worried that it was something more drastic.

-J

[soupytwist]

Philip turning away KIND OF BROKE MY SOOOOUULLL.

And I love how the plot is slowly revealing too, it is genuinely really interesting and I can't wait to see where it all goes!

[lovingboth]

'Through the door'

Because he doesn't want to give away who is KGB at the embassy. I think that if he went in alone and talked, no-one would bat an eyelid, but it gives the random stranger info about who's important in the embassy and who isn't.

Ah, yes, he deliberately had the mike open when he was shouting and naming the name - ahhh, he wants the walk-in to be 'caught' by the FBI and give them Mosarev's name.

Now, who's Mosarev? :)

[jae]

Oh, of course! Thanks for laying that out--makes total sense.

-J

[treonb]

he wants the walk-in to be 'caught' by the FBI and give them Mosarev's name.

Very cool idea!

[katiac]

• Any thoughts on the bit from the final scene where Philip says: "It'll be tomorrow if they [the Center] want us to go?" Go where?

I assumed it was for the propellers thing that "Fred" frantically told Philip about at the end. He indicated it was time sensitive. At least that was my initial interpretation, but I need to rewatch this weekend.

[quantumreality]

• It's unclear to me why the shooting of Vlad was in the previouslies. Anybody have any thoughts on what memory or emotion that was intended to jog for us?

Nina has been pushing to find out who really killed him, and that was neatly tied off with Nina listening to Gaad's bug with all but certain proof that someone in the FBI (if not Stan himself) killed Vladimir.

Remember how she said "Those bastards"?

• Oleg is totally flirting with Nina, but Nina's having none of it so far. I think he's coming across as totally slimy, but he's definitely going to be a great foil for her.

I got the vibe that he doesn't get that not everybody in the Soviet Union had the advantages he had; Konstantin Simis wrote about a time back in the 1970s about how he encountered not only the spoiled kids of the nomenklatura ("Break a dozen dishes, it doesn't matter. The government pays for it all.") but also the kids of hidden capitalists within the USSR who were champing at the bit to spend the rubles their fathers and mothers had spent their lives piling up in hidey-holes.

In both cases it was clear the kids didn't understand what their parents had to do (kiss-ass the local CPSU boss / make their local area look like it fulfilled the Five-Year Plan, etc) (secretly commandeer factories or warehouses to produce goods "off the books" for resale in the tens of thousands / risk being caught and executed for misappropriating state property for private benefit, etc) to get into a position of power in Soviet society, and only saw the material advantages potentially open to them.

Ironically, not that different from how some children of Western families don't appreciate how their family got to be very fortunate.

Nina smacking down Oleg ties in nicely with Arkady being all like "fuck off, I got shit happening right now" when he kept nagging at Arkady about his science and tech thing. It's clear they don't think much of Oleg's attitude.