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: Bury me under a tombstone that says "Killed by Fictional KGB Show"

[quantumreality]

3) I see why the Centre decided they would have children. (Yes, I'm talking about the bathroom scene). I spent most of this scene yelling at Philip, "IT'S A TRICK! HE'S GONNA TRY SOMETHING!"

Oh, man. I felt so bad for Philip in that scene. He's all "Christ, I gotta practically babysit this guy? The things I do for The Center."

4) "Is President Reagan personally scaling our walls in his cowboy hat?" Put that on a t-shirt, folks, because that was gold.

Oh my god how did I forget that one! XD Arkady, I love your smartassery. Please, moar smart-ass Arkady, writers!

5) Oleg was right. The FBI would notice those two spots. I'm really hoping Arkady put Oleg as bait, though.

It almost seemed to me like Oleg was running that mission at least somewhat off-book, though. Certainly he probably was a decoy, but I don't think he was intended to speak to Stan.

7) "Your brother's a gentleman but not in bed" - EW! Drunk or not, who says that to someone's sister?"

*snerk!* Well, Martha must've been reaaaaallly tipsy.

8) "You're a monster! You're not even a man!" God, that scene was difficult and so great. I wonder how much of it really got to Philip. I almost expected him to cry when he got on the couch with Elizabeth at the end.

Yeah, that scene. Ouch! The only reaction Philip seemed to have was right at the end, when he blinked just a little more than usual while driving the car.

*sets up gravestone: "Here lies Apolla Savre, who had ALL THE FEELS for a TV series"* :P

Bait

[apolla_savre]

I meant I hoped that Arkady set it up so that the FBI would follow Oleg. When Nina told Stan about the little spat, I kind of freaked because they gave Stan tips at the beginning to keep his faith in Nina, but now that Oleg has clearance and is on the missions, he's going to have to be updated and involved, otherwise they might lose him and whatever he worked on. They have to be careful.

I don't know how much of his chat with Stan was allowed by the Rezidentura, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't ok'd.

Thanks for the tombstone :)