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

[katiac]

I loved this episode and felt like it touched on all the notes I've been missing.

-Having Philip and Elizabeth together more even in flashback works. They are the magic of the show.

-Loved them showing Elizabeth's reservations about motherhood. I've always imagined that she didn't really want kids at all, not just that she didn't want them with Philip, and I loved the note of her, despite what other problems she and Philip had with each other, acknowledging he would be a good father.

-...which made it a great touch to see Philip be the heavy in this episode after so many last season where they skirted a dangerous line as painting him as lenient. That scene with him and Paige gave me the chills.

-There was a lot of emotion there... certainly much of it out of fear for Paige... and I'm also wondering if the cover story of his dad dying when he was 6 could be somewhat close to the truth, perhaps not that exact scenario... but it seems like there was more emotion there than I expected, so I feel like that can't be accidental. It was like the Philip hot-button, but a different manifestation of it, if that makes sense.

-Some of the one-liners were great. Loved the bit about what married guy does laundry? And we finally saw Sandra! But where is Matthew? Maybe Paige would stop being so snoopy if she had a cute guy to stare at...

-Loved the detail of her mentioning to Kelly she wondered if one of her parents was having an affair. That'll have to start to come back with Philip being gone all the time, right?

[quantumreality]

I totally ship Paige/Matthew myself. Or Paige/Kelli I suppose! :P

Paige and Matthew

[katiac]

Yeah, I was sorry they kind of left that thread to dangle. Although, maybe they'll pick it up at some future date? It does seem odd we haven't seen Matthew yet, but I guess they've had a lot of story to tell.

Philip's cover story

[georgley]

Yes! I wondered how much of the "my dad died when I was 6" story was real. I know that the cover story of Philip's family could be totally different that Mischa's but given the emotion, it seemed like there was some truth there.

Although I always thought that maybe Mischa's mother had died when he was young. He just placed so much importance on Elizabeth staying with the kids in The Colonel that it seemed like he had some issues there.

Glad to hear you really enjoyed this one!

Re: Philip's cover story

[katiac]

Yeah, and of course there's no way to know for sure (yet.) It would make sense for Philip to be really upset in either case--Paige has completely betrayed their trust and done something really risky in going so far away. Anything could've happened to her.

I think it would still fit if it was the mother who died, or any sort of variation on it. It's always seemed like the hot button was something happening to family, so even if they changed the story to having it be his dad for his cover, it would have the same effect. And I completely agree there was something about how set he seemed on Elizabeth staying because she was their mother that seemed disproportionate to how much he'd just want to save her. Like he would be doing it for selfless reasons too, but then anyone objectively looking at the situation would have a hard time saying Elizabeth was the better overall parent if they could only have one. She loves them dearly but it would be hard if she was going it alone with that unable to connect with them very well piece that pops up at times.

Re: Philip's cover story

[jae]

Yeah, and of course there's no way to know for sure (yet.)

Yes, and I just LOVE that. If this is a thing (and I think it must be) they're going to do a slow reveal on it, and that thrills me no end.

-J

Re: Philip's cover story

[katiac]

Me too! They're so good at letting little bits seep out at a time and then masterfully revealing the whole so that it just all fits. So great to have it done that way.

Re: Philip's cover story

[lovingboth]

I think I have said that my guess is that his father did not die a natural death and he was involved, eg by denouncing him for something.

Re: Philip's cover story

[quantumreality]

Hm! That could explain why in this area he's actually pretty scary-mad about Paige going off the reservation, as it were: she could have unintentionally said or done something to throw suspicion on him and Elizabeth.

Re: Philip's cover story

[alisonx]

Oooh that is interesting!! Although her going to Aunt Helen to check her out does show how suspicious she is and does throw that back onto Philip and Elizabeth anyway. So do the KGB now know that Paige is getting suspicious and will they do anything about it?

Philip's fear

[jae]

I think he was scary-mad because he was actually SCARED. He's afraid of his own child here--she actually poses a huge threat to them if she keeps digging. He needs to get her to stop doing this, and he doesn't know how (it's pretty clear from her reaction that she's not intimidated enough to stop). It's a terrible situation, because she's not a threat that they can just neutralize.

-J

Re: Philip's fear

[soupytwist]

100% this. He was freaking out! She could get herself, or the whole family, killed. (Or arrested. But I think a bloody hotel room is what he was picturing, personally.) And she clearly thought he was just massively over-reacting, and he couldn't explain to her why what she was doing was dangerous.

Re: Philip's cover story

[jae]

I had the same thought! It sounded to me like a "lie within a truth" lie--that the KGB had deliberately made Philip's official backstory match up at least somewhat with something that had happened to a young Misha.

-J

Re: Philip's cover story

[apolla_savre]

"Although I always thought that maybe Mischa's mother had died when he was young. He just placed so much importance on Elizabeth staying with the kids in The Colonel that it seemed like he had some issues there."

Maybe he did lose her too?

Or maybe he figured that because he'd lost his dad young, kids grew up fine without dads but moms were vital? (Sexist, but maybe it's what he thought?)

I bought that line that his dad died when he was six. Elizabeth's dad died in WWII, it's entirely possible that Philip's dad did too - WWII *devastated* the Soviet male population. I want some Philip backstory flashbacks even more now!

[maidenjedi]

That line about Philip making a good father just ripped me up. His face! He so wanted her to want him, for it to be about more than what the Center wanted. And it was a great sentiment for Elizabeth to have, and part of him knew it. Man. Killed me.