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: Leanne and Elizabeth

[maidenjedi]

Leanne gives off a sense, to me, of someone who is very comfortable in her surroundings and the life she adopted, if she's a bit nostalgic for home. I think Elizabeth responds to the nostalgia, and is in awe of the confidence. Elizabeth clearly didn't have that, especially that early on. She had no idea what "Revolver" was - she has no sense for the culture or anything, and there's Leanne very much a part of the world they've been sent to as much as anything else. I think their friendship was also illicit, in the sense that they were supposed to work together, but not go deeper. Leanne hints about their past lives a little too strongly - in Philip, Elizabeth didn't tolerate that at all (until she fell for him, anyway). I find this whole thing very fascinating.

Re: Leanne and Elizabeth

[jae]

Yeah, this works for me--Leanne as a sort of mentor to her--and I find it fascinating too. That suggests even more strongly that Leanne must have been very ideologically rooted, for all of her ease with U.S. culture, because that is the only sort of person Elizabeth would have trusted. Judging from the conversation they had in "Comrades," it sounds like they didn't see each other very often, either, so when they did spend time together it must have felt all the more precious.

Still, I do think it's bizarre that even if Elizabeth wasn't going to protest and bring up how this was against the rules, Leanne herself didn't introduce the subject that way. And Philip didn't bring that up later. That part of it just feels like an oversight on the part of the writers.

-J