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

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: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[jae]

No spoilers, but...let's see if you still think that next week. ;)

-J

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[lovingboth]

I am always delighted to be proved wrong in good ways about this show :)

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[sistermagpie]

Why wouldn't she have asked for more details if they had a healthy sex life? To me it seemed like she was just curious and a little jealous of how Clark and Martha's sex life would have developed differently than hers and Philip's, but him not being the same kind of lover didn't to me mean that he was resenting Elizabeth for not being the same. Clark doesn't particularly like sex with Martha but I think he does like it with Elizabeth--not because of the sex as the person.

It's like in an early season of MM where a character tells her therapist, regarding her sex life, that sometimes he'll do something that she feels like is what someone else likes.

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[jae]

That was my read too. She was jealous, and in her, that jealousy led to the curiosity rather than prevented it. And that wouldn't happen in a woman who isn't really all that interested in having sex with Philip.

-J

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[sistermagpie]

Honestly, in a way it was probably like finding a great bottle of red wine in the fridge when you previously only bought white. Maybe it's good--and now you have an option you didn't know you had before.

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[katiac]

Right, this. Like their mutually-wanted sexual relationship is still so new. They started off in a very fragile state, and went through rough patches as they gradually grew closer, and with the timing in the show, they've been okay for literally weeks at a time before things blew up over the various lies of their past. And then there was the separation, and Elizabeth has been home for what, a few weeks at most in season two? Probably less than that. This is really their first opportunity where they've been through hell, finally fully committed to each other, and are in a stable place. It's kind of a natural moment for more comfort and openness with exploration to start happening.

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[andy73]

That was my read too. She was jealous, and in her, that jealousy led to the curiosity rather than prevented it. And that wouldn't happen in a woman who isn't really all that interested in having sex with Philip

That was my read too.
I think you are right

Re: Philip and Elizabeth's sexual relationship

[katiac]

I think their relationship in general has weathered some hard times, but they've emerged from those difficult times stronger than ever, and having proven themselves to each other in the deepest way. Just about every scene they've had together this season has shown an easy intimacy, a happiness together and even the scene in the pilot was beautiful in that it showed equality and two giving partners who were very comfortable with one another.

There would certainly still be issues in their sexual relationship to navigate. This is true of most anyone who has experienced trauma, and Elizabeth is not alone in that category. They're both essentially sex workers. It's complicated. But they're both fully in now, and since things are committed, they're in a place they can do that.

With Martha, I don't ever imagine Philip enjoying it. They were quite clear in all four sex scenes they showed on screen to have the camera focus on Philip's expression when Martha wasn't looking, and every time he consistently looked unhappy about what he was doing in various ways. So I don't think he's doing it thinking, "Yeah, finally having the wild sex I've wanted," but rather that he's trying to tailor this act to what will work on Martha. He's constantly working as Clark. This doesn't mean that some of the same things he tries aren't also things Philip might enjoy with Elizabeth because I think we often see them take things from their own personal experience as "what would work" in whatever situation they have to pull off. But I don't think that necessarily translates to Philip feeling anything with Martha during sex or even enjoying that he's getting to try *whatever* with this other woman who is more willing. My personal belief is that he completely goes into "Clark's" head and just leaves everything he does as him filed away in his head until he needs to access it again. I don't think he gets any happiness from hearing "I love yous" from Martha because it's never directed at the real him. Nor would he enjoy animal sex with her because it's not really him, not with a woman he cares about at all, and not what he would ever choose to do if not for work. If Philip just wanted wild sex, he certainly has the skills to go pick up a random girl in a bar, not for work. It's clearly not what serves as the main draw, but rather the emotional piece of it really being *him* when he's with Elizabeth.

Re: Elizabeth and Brad

[sistermagpie]

Yeah, I really took Elizabeth's curiosity as healthy rather than indicating any problem with him or her. Up until now I don't think she's wanted anybody to maker her his, but Philip behaving that way in bed she finds intriguing and she would probably try it because she trusts him enough to role play (and honestly, why not tap into that given how good they both are at it, as long as there are groundrules?

I wonder too, though, if this is another area where Elizabeth seems to be the one with the issue when Philip actually has the same issue, only doesn't make it as clear. The two of them have both had, it seems, one relationship that was just normal and for themselves, and it was when they were younger. Elizabeth had hers longer, but it was still very controlled. Philip, too, has spent most of his adult life having sex that was all about the other person, either because they were a source or because he didn't feel like Elizabeth wanted him enough to put up with too many wrong moves. So both of them at this point might be a little flummoxed at someone asking how they like it for themselves. They've I think started that sort of thing back in the pilot, but now they're considering branching out into other areas of their personalities since that's worked well so far.

Re: Elizabeth and Brad

[katiac]

Up until now I don't think she's wanted anybody to make her his

Agree. That seems to go against everything we've seen of Elizabeth.

I think the fact that trust is now so high between Philip and Elizabeth is a huge part of it. And that's a pretty recent development. They knew they both had feelings from the time of the pilot, but there was a lot of back and forth, and a lot of hurt as lies from the past came to light. They had to deal with all that, then a separation, and although we saw some happy times, they didn't seem to last more than a few weeks at a time during season one. Now they've been through a painful separation, gotten past the lies, and despite everything that happened, they have proven so many times over they're committed to each other through all of it and before anyone else. There's a huge element of trust and security that's just now coming into place that wasn't there fully before, but sort of an untested version.

And so I could see that being true in their sexual relationship too. Philip might finally be at a place where he could safely ask for things in bed and not be afraid Elizabeth would push him away if he asked for something she didn't like. Elizabeth is in a place of truly being intimate with and trusting a sexual partner, so she might finally be in a place where she could consider whether some things she earlier would've dismissed might be nice to bring into the bedroom.

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.