Episode discussion post: "The Walk In"

[jae]

Aired:
12 March 2014 in the U.S. and Canada
16 March 2014 in Israel
29 March 2014 in the UK

This is a discussion post for episode 203 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 even if you're coming in late--and feel free to start a new thread if it seems too daunting to read through what's already been posted first. If you're reading this at a point where you've already seen subsequent episodes, though, please take care to keep comments spoiler-free of anything that comes after season two, episode three.)

Original promo trailers

"Next On: The Walk In" (Watch on YouTube)

"The Americans: Exclusive Scene from Episode 3" (Watch on YouTube)

Episode recaps

From the Washington Post
From Vulture
From Hitfix
From the AV Club
From the Huffington Post
From IGN
From Collider
From Television Without Pity
From Sound on Sight
From tv.com
From TV Ate My Wardrobe
From the Houston Chronicle
From spoilertv.com
From showratings.tv
From The Cloture Club

More to come once they're available!

Comments

Re: Elizabeth's response to Jared's letter, and thoughts on Nina/Stan

[jae]

For me it comes back to the fact that she started having sex with him back before she had to. There were always HUGE consent issues involved, and to my mind this has never been a healthy thing for her, but it's not like he pushed something on her that she didn't want. It's only when Stan killed her friend that she even became clear in her own head about where her loyalties really lay. So now she's playing him, but she's what she's using to do that so easily and so well is their earlier, real connection that she actually did feel.

-J

Re: Elizabeth's response to Jared's letter, and thoughts on Nina/Stan

[soupytwist]

Yeah, that makes sense - and she'd have to have something to build it upon for Stan to believe it, for one thing. He would definitely smell a rat if one day she obviously hated him and the next day she was getting in his pants.

I do think though that even their earlier connection is deeply, deeply dubious. (Not that I think you see it as anything other than that! This is me clarifying my thoughts, rather than thinking you see Nina/Stan as sweetness and light. :) ) But for me I think it boils down to "when she had to" being such a difficult thing to determine in that situation. Yeah, he didn't say "I want you to sleep with me or I will sell you out", but he didn't really have to. He had already sorta-of-but-in-a-way-he-could-deny-even-to-himself ordered her to use sex to get information. It wouldn't take even a particularly paranoid person to read that as a very clear sign pointing down a deeply unpleasant road.

And then, of course, Stan kills Vlad, and that adds a whole extra layer of messed up to the whole thing. For me, that final level, while fundamentally important, is also more a clarifer, a final straw, rather than completely seperate from all that other stuff. Not that Nina, like, thought Stan was repulsive or anything back in the beginning, but I think there's a definite argument about how much was real and how much was the situation and how much was people in said situation trying to convince themselves it was okay.

Thoughts on Nina/Stan

[jae]

Yeah, that all makes sense to me. I particularly like Vlad's murder as a clarifier and final straw rather than something that caused her to do a complete 180--that is completely consistent with what we see on the screen.

And now I want you to tell me a story about Nina! :)

-J

Re: Thoughts on Nina/Stan

[soupytwist]

OMG if I thought I had the slightest chance of doing Nina justice, I would be all on that!