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: Paige's "Crazy Life"

[sistermagpie]

I think it's well-established that Paige knows on an intuitive level that something's very wrong in her family--and the fact that her life isn't crazy as I would define it (but that's subjective) I think actually adds to that. When she went to her aunt's I think she was actually really hoping to find something wrong that she could handle. For instance, if it was actually a man that Elizabeth ran off with. That might be hard for her to deal with, but it would really be a relief because she would *know*. She could at least start to cope with it.

Instead I think she's over the years noticed a ton of little things that are now coming together into an actual shape that's impossible to make out but not something she can ignore. But it still seems to me like Paige almost used "crazy life" as a cover for what she wished the problem was--parents who are divorced or use their kids to fight is terrible but you can see it. In Paige's house everything is "normal" besides a brief separation that was actually pretty healthy for the marriage in ways that maybe even Paige can see and her mom taking care of a relative for a while. I think both of those things would be stuff she could handle if not for the other looming threat she can't name.

I honestly feel like Paige's real feelings at this stage isn't that her life is crazy but that she feels like she's going crazy and paranoid, but we know she isn't.

So for me it's like a central contradiction--her life has been stable, but she's got just as much or more legitimate reason than most to feel anxious and fearful because she's picking up on something not being what it seems. Her parents have parts of themselves that she doesn't know that would scare her--but she's not scared of them because they're pretty consistently loving to her.

Re: Paige's "Crazy Life"

[wendelah1]

I honestly feel like Paige's real feelings at this stage isn't that her life is crazy but that she feels like she's going crazy and paranoid, but we know she isn't.

So for me it's like a central contradiction--her life has been stable, but she's got just as much or more legitimate reason than most to feel anxious and fearful because she's picking up on something not being what it seems.

I agree that it's what she can't see that's most threatening. She's being lied to constantly by her parents, the people she needs to be able to trust, and on a deep level she knows this. She knows all is not as it appears. And yeah, I agree, she does think she might be going crazy.