Jae (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jae) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
theamericans2015-01-28 07:45 pm
jae) wrote in theamericans2015-01-28 07:45 pm
Entry tags:
Episode discussion post: "EST Men"
Aired:
28 January 2015 in the U.S. and Canada
This is a discussion post for episode 301 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 three, episode one.)
Original promo trailer
Episode recaps (including some early-season generalities)
From Grantland
From Vox 1 and 2
From Vulture
From Hitfix
From the Washington Post
From TIME
From the New York Times
From Slate
From Hollywood Reporter
From Slant
From Salon
From the Washington Post
From the New Republic
From Yahoo 1 and 2
From the AV Club
From the Atlantic
From the Boston Globe
From Entertainment Weekly
From TV Guide
From Spoiler TV
From theworkprint.com
From IndieWire 1 and 2
From Slant
From Variety
From thedailynews.com
From Geeks of Doom
From Starpulse
From TV Equals
From Screenrant
From We Got This Covered
28 January 2015 in the U.S. and Canada
This is a discussion post for episode 301 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 three, episode one.)
Original promo trailer
Episode recaps (including some early-season generalities)
From Grantland
From Vox 1 and 2
From Vulture
From Hitfix
From the Washington Post
From TIME
From the New York Times
From Slate
From Hollywood Reporter
From Slant
From Salon
From the Washington Post
From the New Republic
From Yahoo 1 and 2
From the AV Club
From the Atlantic
From the Boston Globe
From Entertainment Weekly
From TV Guide
From Spoiler TV
From theworkprint.com
From IndieWire 1 and 2
From Slant
From Variety
From thedailynews.com
From Geeks of Doom
From Starpulse
From TV Equals
From Screenrant
From We Got This Covered
no subject
Intense first episode, just like the two previous seasons, as well as leaving off on a little cliff hanger. Good television!
Some details:
-less incidental music than before, which I liked, because it left everything much rawer and realer somehow.
-there was a Patagonia poster behind Philip at the travel agent office! (Some of you may know that Matthew has travelled extensively there and also written a book about it, not to mention starred in a film with the same name. A bit of meta!)
-intro music was slightly different
-was the other agent that got beat up not American? At first I thought he sounded British.
-"Frusen glädje" was an actual thing, I read somewhere. I had no idea and it was a fun detail for a Swedish person to see.
At the very beginning, are we to believe that Elizabeth pushed Paige into the water at the bath house? I do get the symbolism of the scene, but was it imagined or real, do you think?
As always, this show brings up the position of women and their changing roles during this time period in so many excellent ways. First with the alcoholic CIA agent retelling how she was ignored when doing a better job than her male colleague. Then Sandra's whole storyline about breaking free from a failed marriage and becoming her own person. Elizabeth dual personality as a "domestic goddess" and mother, while also being a lethal fighting machine. (Gabriel's comment about her being a good American housewife...)
Martha, simultaneously being her own person with a job and her own home, but wanting a family and a man in her life.
I like that even we as an audience don't know what Nina's true feelings are. She obviously has two men who love her in their own way, but I don't feel we have (yet) learned whether her feelings for either of them are genuine or calculated. Maybe she loves both?
Underlying theme of the whole episode was HONESTY, in my opinion. Stan lying to Sandra, Annelise telling the truth to Yousaf, Clark saying "yes" to Martha after the Kama Sutra session, Scott telling Annelise it's ok, Elizabeth telling Gabriel what he/The Centre wants to hear about Paige.
Things ahead: It will be interesting to see what the Gabriel character will bring to this season. We are led to understand he is like a father figure to E and P. But how is he going to use that trust? And of course, Martha's got a gun!
no subject
no subject
I think it was supposed to be real - Elizabeth does not currently think of Paige as a little girl, yet it's Paige as a little girl who was thrown into the pool.
no subject
ETA: Actually, more accurately, I think the name was not gibberish, but there was a mistake in it. Perhaps one of the accents, I think. So it looks like Swedish but by people who in no way speak Swedish.
I thought that was really fascinating because we've so often *seen* Philip and Elizabeth doing dishes together, or even just Philip washing one. They don't have a completely progressive marriage or anything but especially last season they seemed to use the kitchen showing them doing that chore together. I'd wondered if taking care of the kids on his own just made Philip much more used to doing housework. So Gabriel saying that to Elizabeth was really a comedown from her real domestic life, and not really accurate about "American housewives" either--but it was probably meant to inspire her anti-US feeling just a bit.
no subject
no subject
I love that there are people here from all over! Do you have any thoughts on Philip's Swedish spy name being Scott?
no subject
Scott is not a Swedish name at all. Annelise is a very old-fashioned name, more likely to be something her mother or even grandmother would be called. It would have made more sense to call him Lars/Kennet/Hans and her Ann-Kristin/Charlotte/Susanne. I was a little bit unimpressed by the lack of research there. It would have been so easy to just check online what baby names were popular during the 40/50s in Sweden.
Scott the Swede
-J
Re: Scott the Swede
Sweden has always been this neutral zone that both the US and the former USSR had interests in, but mostly to keep as a buffer between each other.
Sidetrack: one of our most famous spies for the USSR, Stig Bergling, died the other day. He was convicted in 1979, escaped prison in 1987 and fled to the USSR with his then wife, only to return a few years later.
Re: Scott the Swede
Because it's just so weird and blatant that they haven't tried in the least to actually pass off this character as Swedish.
Nina and frusen glädje
I agree with you that it's fun not knowing what Nina's true feelings are, but man, does that ever make the idea of writing fanfiction or meta about her particularly difficult. No one in the fandom has written a single story about her yet, and I think that's a lot of why.
-J
P.S. Fun to see you here after I've gotten to know you a bit better on Twitter! *waves*
Re: Nina and frusen glädje
I must admit I feel most compelled to write slashfic about Philip and Stan at the moment. o_0
And yey, helloo! Sorry for confusing usernames. Long story. :-)
Philip/Stan slash
-J
Re: Philip/Stan slash
Re: Philip/Stan slash
Re: Philip/Stan slash
Ok, published it now. It's called Love Me Tender and I would probably like to go over it and edit. Written in 2013...
Re: Philip/Stan slash
-J