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

[thesquawk]

Things I really find weird...:

- Aunt Helen got Paige's name wrong. What am I missing here? How did that get resolved? Did they pass it off as her mistaking Paige for her daughter, only now with red hair? And, did Helen actually just not recognize Paige (who did she think she was?)
- I'm always boggled by how they don't leave a trail. Elizabeth scared that warehouse guy and that whole scene seemed uncharacteristically unsubtle from her. What's to stop him from reporting them?
- And what's to stop Jared's current foster parents from mentioning 'the last person they sent' the next time someone from the Child Advocacy Centre comes along? Or, if nobody does (i.e. the Centre was made up itself) what's to stop them from trying to call and then finding out it doesn't exist?

[sistermagpie]

I think she always intended to appear to be confused because that was part of what to do if somebody came by.

The thing with the warehouse guy definitely seemed risky to me. I guess they thought the threats to his kid and the disguises would have to be enough.

I think they'd trust to good old bureaucracy for the last one. Different agencies or different departments checking in for different reasons etc.

[thesquawk]

okay yeah that would have been my second guess, haha. So basically, pretend to be dementia patient, then inform the relevant people of the story.

Elizabeth's threats

[georgley]

Weirdly I thought the fact that Elizabeth threatened Warehouse Guy's kid was a sign of how she's grown as a character. Where in season 1 I think she would have been more likely to kill him, with the current perceived threat against Paige and Henry, I think she understands how powerful a threat against someone's children could be.