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: 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.