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

[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.