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

est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[jae]

est by Werner Erhard. (You may deduce for yourself whether or not it's bad after reading about it. *g*)

-J

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[apolla_savre]

Well...that's freaky.

Stan! Your wife might be joining a cult!

Interesting that Peter Gabriel is listed as a noted participant

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[wendelah1]

Freaky?

Erhard Seminars Training (est) was not a cult. If that's the impression you were left with after reading that Wikipedia article, I need to correct it. I actually did the training in 1975 in San Jose, California.

I have to say, Sandra doesn't sound like a typical newly minted est graduate to me. I doubt the writers did much research about the organization or the human potential movement itself. Anyway, I don't think her character is very important to them at this point.

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[apolla_savre]

My apologies, but "Over the course of nine days, participants were cajoled, shouted at, and emotionally battered, until they agreed they had finally "got it" - a state akin to a religious conversion. Participants were instructed not to wear watches, not to talk unless permitted by the trainer, not to leave their seats, not to eat, and not to go to the bathroom except during breaks separated by many hours. [4]" sounds scary to me.

Would you be willing to explain it so I understand it better?

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[wendelah1]

This seems a little OT but sure. The training I did took place over two consecutive weekends, not nine days. I was not "shouted at" or "emotionally battered." Anyone who needed a toilet could raise their hand, and they were quietly allowed to leave and return. It was like attending a series of lectures--really long ones--but there were regularly scheduled breaks and meals. It's true--we were not allowed to wear watches. (Oh noes!) Cell phones, of course, weren't a consideration, but pagers were out. That's where I learned I could wake myself up without an alarm clock, a technique which I still use on occasion.

Written by an est graduate, this article from Psychology Today on The 40th Anniversary of the est Training might provide some insight into what the training was about for the people who participated.

Read the article. If you need to know more, my email address is my user name at gmail dot com. What I can tell you briefly is that doing the training changed the course of my life.

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[apolla_savre]

Thank you! I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. It would appear the Wikipedia article needs some rewrites.

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[wendelah1]

Hey, no problem.

My experience of trying to correct misinformation in Wikipedia articles is that it's a waste of time. The person who thinks they own the article will simply change it back again.

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[jae]

I had an aunt who did est back in the day, and my sister did the Landmark Forum. Neither of them acted like a cult member, but they did both (temporarily) lose the ability to relate to the people around them on anything but the respective movements' terms (and more importantly, using the movements' lingo). It's like they were speaking in code. That's what has me going "eek" for Stan.

-J

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[wendelah1]

Stan's in deep waters and was even before the series began. His wife's involvement with est is the least of his problems, wouldn't you say? By his own admission, they barely interact and are essentially leading separate lives. By whatever path she can find, I'm hoping Sandra can find a way out of this mess, for herself and her son.

I'm afraid Stan has about as much insight into his wife as Elizabeth has with what's going on with her daughter.

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[quantumreality]

That being said, he and his wife are already having communication problems in their marriage. Overlaying a cult-lingo paradigm on top of that, in which Sandra starts to lose the ability to communicate except through their specific language - that's a recipe for disaster of some type down the road when it finally all blows up.

Re: est, Werner Erhard, etc.

[wendelah1]

As I've already explained, est was not a cult. There is no evidence that I'm aware of that est graduates in general lose the ability to communicate with their loved ones in ordinary English. I didn't. In fact, my relationships with everyone, friends and family alike, actually improved.

Sandra can't fix the marriage. She can't fix Stan. He's withdrawn and in pain and he won't let anyone in. His response to feeling this pain was to fall into bed with Nina. I don't think we can hold Werner Erhard responsible for that, at least. Sandra's response was seek answers for herself in the human potential movement. I don't know how the writers are going to have it play out but in the Real World, as opposed to TV Land, Sandra's self-exploration could be a very positive thing, for her and for Stan. Certainly I would recommend that over starting an affair--with anyone--let alone a Soviet agent.