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: Philip and his memories

[jae]

I think my read is that this episode is about Philip feeling like he's losing his identity, and Elizabeth is his grounding anchor.

This is very much along the lines of my read. I do think it's different from saying that "he's Americanized" because that suggests that there's a core self, Misha, who has taken on American characteristics. I don't think that accurately describes what's happened to Philip at all. I do think that there's a core self in there somewhere and that self is both Soviet and Russian, but because of his chameleon-like nature, it's buried under so many other characters and he doesn't find it at all easy to access.

Elizabeth as his grounding anchor is crucial to this (and I find this simultaneously sweet and sad). There was an interview with Matthew Rhys once where he talked about how when he's with Elizabeth, "that's as close as he ever gets to the actual man." To me, that's what that last scene was about--her pulling him back, not all the way to that core self, but as close to it as he's able to get given circumstances. All of the little Russian things that he brought out in the first season (the vodka, the caviar, etc.) were for her benefit, but he needs that too. Maybe even more than she does.

-J

Re: Philip and his memories

[sistermagpie]

Yes, what I really didn't like about her read, at least as it came across to me (I barely remember the actual words at this point!) is it seemed to completely avoid Philip's identity fragmentation/crisis or whatever entirely and say look, he's perfectly integrated and whole, he's just at odds with his job. Which makes the problem external: he's not an American guy, or at least he believes in the American position, but he has to stick with the KGB because of his wife. And so his problem in large part is being forced to do things that are against who he is.

Which seems like one of the traps of a character like Philip. He so easily slips into whatever pov he's adopting that it seems like it's the real one, or it's easy to understand him through the lens of what you think is most logical. But that's the danger of defining this guy through what he appears to be at any given moment, because he himself actually can have trouble in that area. He will always adapt to the circumstances and internalize them.

Re: Philip and his memories

[jae]

Yeah, I don't buy the "he's just American" argument either. I mean, I don't think he's not American--I don't think someone like him could ever live in a country for fifteen years without becoming a part of it--but "he hates his job and really just wants to embrace the American way of life completely and it's only his Russian wife who's preventing him from doing so" is way, way too simplistic.

-J