Episode discussion post: "The Deal"

[jae]

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

"Next On: The Deal" (Watch on YouTube)

"The Americans: Exclusive Scene from Episode 5" (Watch on YouTube)

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

Comments

Katia's totally impressed thoughts

[katiac]

My absolute favorite episode so far to date this season. Favorite moments:

-The conversation between Philip and Elizabeth on the couch. Everything about that was just perfect from the way she tried to open the "Clark" conversation with a little joke, to the way he refers to "Clark" in the 3rd person (which I see as such a Philip thing to do), to the way she just slipped an arm around him when he lay down to be spooned and then their adorable little conversation about icicles. It was a tiny little scene and yet showed such beautiful intimacy.

-Loved all the little Russian things it brought up and especially that it was Philip they were focused on.

-The scenes between Philip and the Mossad agent were outstanding. Loved the little thing at the end where he said, "That's your wife who delighted in breaking my arm? She must be lovely to have in your bed," or whatever the line was because it was so wonderfully dry and had that great sting of sometimes-truth to it too.

-Arkady and the "we're good at vodka, they're good at cigarettes" or whatever it was. I love how the show pulls in little moments like that that make you kind of look at everything you're viewing in a different way.

-Elizabeth and Brad. That was such a great scene and so beautiful and painful as Elizabeth again revealed more truths to Brad. And it's interesting in one way that she did because she could probably have gotten away with a kiss and a lie that they'd meet again and then just not call without any real consequence. But it almost seemed to me like part of her needed to say it, or maybe that she wanted to get to that more honest place of looking at herself. She doesn't like to do that very often, so when she does, it really resonates.

-Not sure what I think of the new handler. I didn't really leave her scenes feeling much of anything about her, whereas Claudia left much more of an impression even after one episode.

-Liked Oleg more and more in this one. Still not sure I trust him, but I like the character.

The new handler

[georgley]

I agree that was an amazing episode!

The new handler is interesting. She seems like a complete contrast to Claudia given her lack of experience. I didn't get much of a feel from her either. I wonder if at this point they were hoping that The Millers might get cancelled and they could get Margo back!

Clark in the third person

[lovingboth]

.. because he's work. But like Elizabeth with Brad, he brings something of himself into it. For her, it was using the rape, and for him, it's his response to having a partner who wants him in a way that Elizabeth hasn't.

Re: Clark in the third person

[lovingboth]

... and how much would Elizabeth like to have a real partner like Brad? Quite a lot, I suspect.

Elizabeth and Brad

[jae]

I think her younger self would have wanted a Brad (or anyone to be her knight in shining armour and swoop in and rescue her). I think her current-day self is just fine with Philip, though.

-J

Re: Elizabeth and Brad

[lovingboth]

I see that Philip resents not being sexual with her in the way that he would like. Brad does not.

Re: Elizabeth and Brad

[jae]

Wow, really? I do think that was almost certainly true once upon a time, but I don't see any indication that it's still true now (especially in light of the scene Paige walked in on in the season opener). And I even suspect that changed as far back as immediately post-pilot or at latest "In Control" (104). I suspect they have a pretty healthy sex life these days, actually, and that any resentments going on between them at the moment aren't about that facet of their relationship.

-J

Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[lovingboth]

There was indeed a time early on in S1 when they had that, but I don't think they have that now. Elizabeth would not have asked for more details from Martha if they did, and it's one of the reasons I think Philip is resentful - he has lost (temporarily, he hopes) what he wanted and then had.

Re: Elizabeth and Brad

[katiac]

I don't really see that. I think Philip certainly has some resentments in the relationship, but I haven't seen any indication they attach to anything sexual in the present day. Philip is greatly empathetic, and I think as soon as he understood the piece about the rape, and then he and Elizabeth started opening up to each other more, it put what happened in their sexual past in a very different light and it's not really something he's holding on to anger about.

Re: Elizabeth and Brad

[katiac]

I think there are certainly things Philip has fair reason to resent over the years, and some inequalities in their relationship that are still there now, but I think Philip also fundamentally understands Elizabeth and the reasons she had for the things she did that were hurtful over the years. I think he's proven that he's capable of moving forward, or else he wouldn't have been able to forgive her for much bigger hurts committed over the years, and yet we saw he was.

I think it's important to remember Brad isn't entirely real. There are elements of what Elizabeth shared that are real, and there are things she clearly drew from the way he reacted that were probably validating, but I don't think, for example, that she'd be comparing Brad and Philip sexually. Brad actually has a lot of Philip's qualities in terms of caring, being soft in some ways, being genuinely upset and willing to break rules because of being so outraged she was assaulted. But it was made clear she didn't want to be having any sort of sex with Brad in the car scene. Her face completely changed as soon as he couldn't see.

Re: Clark in the third person

[katiac]

I see it differently. I feel like Brad embodies many of the qualities that are what draws her to Philip. He's "soft" and not afraid to have an emotional side. He immediately wanted to come to her defense and aid once he found out about the rape--exactly what Philip did with Timoshev. I think interacting with Brad both had the effect of her for the first time seeing a target as not only a person as opposed to someone she sneers at, but someone who is genuinely a GOOD person. It's not completely unlike how she just decided to close her mind to Philip from the start and then was floored to discover he wasn't what she'd assumed all along. And I think in walking through the steps she did with Brad for the purposes of work, she verbalized and finally came to understand some of the things that had been there all along in her reactions to Philip.

Re: Clark in the third person

[lovingboth]

Yes.

Re: Clark in the third person

[jae]

That's actually not quite my read. I think Philip actually thinks of his characters as people separate from him on some level. Like, he knows that they're not literally that, but it's his own spin on compartmentalizing (which is quite different from the way Elizabeth does it).

-J

Re: Clark in the third person

[sistermagpie]

Yeah, to me it was more like when Elizabeth says "Maybe stronger" on the tape in the first ep. Philip has to do what the source likes in bed. If he was just doing what he liked he'd be revealing himself instead of manipulating her. He does things that he likes if they happen to coincide.

Re: Clark in the third person

[lovingboth]

Clearly there is an element of that, but Elizabeth has never wanted him in the way that Martha does. Even the reproductive sex he had with Elizabeth was work sex, and I wonder if the oral sex earlier in the series was done for Paige's benefit rather than her walking in on them genuinely doing it.

We've seen Philip and Elizabeth be 'them' sexual... once? After killing her rapist?

Philip and Elizabeth's sex life

[jae]

Yeah, I'm just not seeing this at all. I mean, you're missing at least one crucial time (you need to rewatch episode 104! I suspect you'll get a different view after that). And there's just no indication that there's been no sex apart from that. And as for having sex for Paige's benefit--those reaction shots were not the faces of spies that had successfully put one over on their daughter, that was annoyance at being interrupted and annoyance that she'd done something forbidden.

I mean, I could buy that they stopped having sex for a while when things started to go south between them and they had all those trust issues, but now that they're back together for real, I'm sure there's plenty of hanky panky going on. ;)

-J

Re: Clark in the third person

[sistermagpie]

Clearly there is an element of that, but Elizabeth has never wanted him in the way that Martha does. Even the reproductive sex he had with Elizabeth was work sex, and I wonder if the oral sex earlier in the series was done for Paige's benefit rather than her walking in on them genuinely doing it.

You mean the oral sex was chosen by the producers to tone down what Paige saw?

I think they've kind of gone on record as saying that particular position was to indicate a sort of trust and equality--but for Paige was was probably worse than just sex because she clearly got what was going on there!

In terms of them being together, I'd also add the time they spent in the hotel room in In Control. I think the idea is that Elizabeth has openly wanted him in the way that Martha does since the pilot. Philip just doesn't approach with the same tone.

Re: Clark in the third person

[treonb]

How does Elizabeth do it?

Because seeing characters as different, separate people seems quite natural to me.

How does Elizabeth do it

[lovingboth]

Differently just after an example of her using her past like this, I suspect.

She would, I think, been fine about (or even happy about) sleeping with Brad, but she knows that doing so and then dumping him would have been more painful for him than not sleeping with him.

Re: How does Elizabeth do it

[katiac]

I'm not sure I imagine she would've been happy about sleeping with Brad. It seemed in the car like she was feeling pretty unhappy about even having to go as far as she did. I agree the dumping of him them seemed to be a move of genuine kindness.

Re: Clark in the third person

[jae]

My read is that possibly because Elizabeth has trouble seeing things from entirely different perspectives from her own, she uses various facets of herself in the characters she plays. She's still good at compartentalization, though--it's just that for her it's about being different aspects of herself with her kids, with her husband, at the travel agency.

-J

Re: Clark in the third person

[treonb]

Hm... those two don't have to contradict. Back when I was into roleplaying, my characters had a lot of me in them, but they still weren't 'me'.

Re: Clark in the third person

[katiac]

I don't really see it that way with "Clark." I see the acts Philip puts on as other men, the way he gets into other heads, as something he purposefully tailors to each mark. So him being wild with Martha isn't something where Philip is feeling wanted and sexually fulfilled--she's never really wanting *Philip* but rather, Clark. I think that's one reason he and Elizabeth are so strongly drawn together and one reason nothing else feels real--it simply isn't. They are bonded by a realness and get emotional comfort from it really being about *them* at the most basic level possible. Even if Martha says, "I love you, Clark," it's nothing to Philip. She doesn't love the man Philip really is, the KGB spy using her, she loves the act. And so I don't think Philip gets anything out of it emotionally, or as we're discussing here, sexually.

So I think the wildness in bed is tailored to what Martha responds to. I think the lack of wildness with Elizabeth would be a combination of them both feeling out what the other wants, it being a loaded topic, it having a lot of difficult history, there being actual tenderness there instead of fake feelings, and also that I don't think either would enjoy an interaction that feels like they're putting on a show like they do for their work-sex. As they become more comfortable with each other? I think boundaries would adjust, as maybe they will now. But at first, I can understand why they're gently feeling things out.

Re: Katia's totally impressed thoughts

[endeni]

/It was a tiny little scene and yet showed such beautiful intimacy./ - OMG, totally! It was so good seeing Elizabeth and Philip being intimate/comfy/comforting each other on the couch... ♥

Re: Katia's totally impressed thoughts

[katiac]

I know! They've focused so much on the spy end of things that I've missed those little moments and it's great to see confirmation that sort of intimacy/coziness is definitely in place now, and they've just been crazy busy. Can't wait to rewatch after work today!