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theamericans2014-03-26 07:45 pm
jae) wrote in theamericans2014-03-26 07:45 pm
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Episode discussion post: "The Deal"
Aired:
26 March 2014 in the U.S. and Canada
30 March 2014 in Israel
12 April 2014 in the UK
This is a discussion post for episode 205 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 you should also 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 five.)
Original promo trailers
Episode recaps
From Grantland
From The New York Times
From Time
From Vulture
From The Washington Post
From Rolling Stone
From The AV Club
From Hitfix
From the Huffington Post
From Collider
From Sound on Sight
From IGN
From Television Without Pity
From TV Ate My Wardrobe
From Geekbinge
From showratings.tv
From screenrant.com
From GAMbIT Magazine
From Crave Online
From spoilertv.com
From tv.com
From Unreality Primetime
From Newsmanone
26 March 2014 in the U.S. and Canada
30 March 2014 in Israel
12 April 2014 in the UK
This is a discussion post for episode 205 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 you should also 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 five.)
Original promo trailers
Episode recaps
From Grantland
From The New York Times
From Time
From Vulture
From The Washington Post
From Rolling Stone
From The AV Club
From Hitfix
From the Huffington Post
From Collider
From Sound on Sight
From IGN
From Television Without Pity
From TV Ate My Wardrobe
From Geekbinge
From showratings.tv
From screenrant.com
From GAMbIT Magazine
From Crave Online
From spoilertv.com
From tv.com
From Unreality Primetime
From Newsmanone
Re: Philip and his memories
I think my read is that this episode is about Philip feeling like he's losing his identity, and Elizabeth is his grounding anchor. It must be a real struggle when it becomes hard to reconcile your past self with your present, feeling like your memories of something you love is fading. I think Gen saw this as a continuation of the Pilot-idea that Philip has become so ingrained in America that he's forgotten what he's fighting for and while I think that's kinda true, my take from his actual episode is just that he misses it and wants to remember and wants to hold on to the part of his life that was actually truly real.
I love this episode so much because all the Philip scenes to me were so cohesive in this one escalation of an idea - whether same or different to the one I had.(from 'you miss it' to 'i like the cold' to 'i hide what i do not who i am' to 'are your children your children' to 'they took your humanity you may as well be dead' to 'i remember')
Re: Philip and his memories
And what I love about it is that this isn't where he wants to escape some shameful past but he has to reconcile it. It's more that there are parts of that life and his home that he genuinely loves and loved them. Elizabeth has that living connection with her mother, but we don't know the forms it takes with Philip. But I'm really glad that there's somebody who seems to be representing just love of the place because foreign countries really are different!
Re: Philip and his memories
This is very much along the lines of my read. I do think it's different from saying that "he's Americanized" because that suggests that there's a core self, Misha, who has taken on American characteristics. I don't think that accurately describes what's happened to Philip at all. I do think that there's a core self in there somewhere and that self is both Soviet and Russian, but because of his chameleon-like nature, it's buried under so many other characters and he doesn't find it at all easy to access.
Elizabeth as his grounding anchor is crucial to this (and I find this simultaneously sweet and sad). There was an interview with Matthew Rhys once where he talked about how when he's with Elizabeth, "that's as close as he ever gets to the actual man." To me, that's what that last scene was about--her pulling him back, not all the way to that core self, but as close to it as he's able to get given circumstances. All of the little Russian things that he brought out in the first season (the vodka, the caviar, etc.) were for her benefit, but he needs that too. Maybe even more than she does.
-J
Re: Philip and his memories
Which seems like one of the traps of a character like Philip. He so easily slips into whatever pov he's adopting that it seems like it's the real one, or it's easy to understand him through the lens of what you think is most logical. But that's the danger of defining this guy through what he appears to be at any given moment, because he himself actually can have trouble in that area. He will always adapt to the circumstances and internalize them.
Re: Philip and his memories
-J