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: Sistermagpie's Thoughts on Rewatch: The Deal part 1

[wendelah1]

* I know next to nothing about the stuff Sandra's doing--EST is just something I think of as a 70s thing and soul retrieval sounds, well, like soul retrieval. But I really love that she's doing this stuff. She's stopped trying to remake the relationship she used to have with Stan and is working on herself independently, no matter how she's doing it. It's like Paige later says to Elizabeth--it's not just him, it's for her.

* I like that she specifically says she's finding the parts of herself that she's lost, like when she became Mrs. Beeman and that became central to her identity.

I think that's the only way forward for her. And for Paige.