Episode discussion post: "EST Men"
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theamericansAired:
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
While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 11:18 am (UTC)Elizabeth's not in the photos. Don't go down into the bath, stand up :)
The throwing Paige in the deep end memory is a bit of a clunk.
Didn't I mention something at the end of last series about sexism in three letter agencies as one reason not to go for Paige as the new agent?
I wonder who she's calling.
Yeah, I'd be looking at each other at that crap too.
Ah, is she trying to get Elizabeth to stay long enough to be arrested? A significant rumble on the soundtrack there... and a significant look.
I'd have thought she would have switched clothes earlier than that. I wonder why she hasn't done the wig.
Fighting them is a risky thing to do if she's not sure of winning. They've no probable cause for a stop - if they thought she was the one, they wouldn't have been so polite. And that's another... And why not put the critical bit of paper somewhere safer earlier? (And why not have a car close by?)
Oooh, how topical. The Americans are supporting that bunch, of course.
Ha at the put-down of someone we know is right.
Of course, his job as Resident is always at risk too.
Why be visibly hurt in front of Stan?
Stan's looking very thoughtful in the office.
.. now it's Elizabeth's turn.
She's not going ouch when people touch her arm like that or she moves it around though.
Remind me who the Frank Langella character is? Is that a significant ice cream brand?
Stan does not look convinced, does he? No, he's not.
Speaking of not being convinced, I don't like the 'Oh, we recorded her in the safe house, something significant happened, and we didn't bother to tell you dear audience' bit.
Oh, here she is. It'd have been more of a surprise if she wasn't in the 'previously'.
Deliberate cut from one woman quietly crying to another there.
Back to the 'what do you deserve' theme of the end few episodes of the last series.
'Why?' What a good question that - for a FBI agent! - he hadn't expected. Ha at her spotting he was lying.
Ha at the contrast between this sex with Martha and the sex previously.
She's got the ice pack at work - so why hasn't she been going ouch for the previous few scenes? Speaking of ice, that's a cold response to a nice gesture.
Ha, he knows what putting the copier on means when she comes back in, a difficult conversation.
"No, it's ok, I can get to the pavement / sidewalk from here..." I know it's a wide street, but she could be a little closer to the side.
He'd have bugged the room, surely, rather than try to listen through the wall.
Telling him was always going to be a bad idea.
I did wonder if he was wanting to rescue her or blackmail him. He's improvising the latter - it may not have been too late to resuscitate her.
Re: While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 12:49 pm (UTC)The hurt arm and ice-pack thing was badly done continuity.
Philip's sex life must be powered by some extra high testosterone and/or aphrodisiac the way he's able to get an erection at the drop of a hat and maintain it with a person he's not really that interested in.
Re: While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 01:15 pm (UTC)Re: While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 01:37 pm (UTC)(Although, in the car scene there was no particular reason for him to get an erection. It didn't seem pre-meditated for them to have sex at that point. In fact, I got the impression they had stopped doing that some time ago, from what Annelise said.)
With Martha we've definitely seen Clark's "sex face" of focused torture - LOL!
Re: Philip's erections...
Date: 2015-01-29 03:25 pm (UTC)Re: Philip's erections...
Date: 2015-01-29 04:09 pm (UTC)No, don't say.
Oh, say it! I sort of think I've read about it too somewhere a while ago. I am far too curious to stay away from spoilers. (Plus moderating the MRO Twitter account I need to read stuff before tweeting them, so almost impossible to not know stuff.)
Re: Philip's erections...SPOILERS WITHIN
Date: 2015-01-29 05:02 pm (UTC)SPACE...
Not much of a spoiler but KR said that Philip and Elizabeth have a conversation about just this later in the season, where Philip will say some things about his training in male sex work. It seems like part of the reason for the scene--and this is speculation on my part based on vague things she said--is perhaps just this, that Elizabeth feels like as a man Philip must be "really" having sex when she can fake it with lubrication. I don't know what all he explains to her, but it seemed like he might be saying just the sorts of things lovingbob mentioned, about doing this with his mind etc. (And it doesn't have to be completely limited to his sex work either.)
I know the show has done research with sex workers, so presumably whatever Philip says will be accurate on that score.
Re: Philip's erections...SPOILERS WITHIN
Date: 2015-01-29 06:12 pm (UTC)Part of me is slightly surprised we haven't seen one yet, in a subtle 'camera goes past a circular ring / a small leather strap on the bedside table' or 'Philip adjusts himself before going off to see Martha' way.
Erectile issues within the KGB
Date: 2015-01-29 08:20 pm (UTC)Oh, no. I'm now getting some very interesting ideas for a fanfic. Oops.
Philip's erections
Date: 2015-01-29 07:55 pm (UTC)I am deeply amused that we now have several separate threads entitled "Philip's erections".... ;)
-J
Re: Philip's erections
Date: 2015-01-29 08:33 pm (UTC)But it's another interesting parallel, showing that sex doesn't always create intimacy or confidence in the other person.
Throwing Baby!Paige into the pool
Date: 2015-01-29 02:51 pm (UTC)-J
Re: Throwing Baby!Paige into the pool
Date: 2015-02-01 07:10 pm (UTC)Another thing that struck me is the look on E's face as she threw Paige in the pool. I am still on the fence about it. I like to call E the "socially awkward" mother. She sometimes has trouble emotionally expressing and bonding with Paige, which makes her come off as cold and unfeeling. I think cold and feelingless looks different from angry/evil. To me, the look on E's face, in the very moment that she threw Paige, did not communicate cold and feelingless. Rather, E looked angry, almost as if she wanted to PUNISH Paige by throwing her into the pool. When I saw E dump Paige into the pool, I immediately had flashbacks to S1 when Paige acted snippy with E and E said something like, 'Stand up. Stand up, young lady' and voiced an angry diatribe before P entered the kitchen and saved the day.
I know I'm nit-picking but I'm trying to rationalize the angry look on E's face.
At first, I thought E looked angry because it is hard to grab & hold onto little kids while they are squirming around like little Paige. But if E can take out 2 FBI guys with guns, then little Paige should not have been too much of a hassle ;-P
KR explained in an interview that E threw Paige into the water, because that was typical of Soviet moms and she didn't know any other way to teach Paige. Based on KR's premise, I didn't expect E to look like she wanted to punish Paige out of anger. At the same time, I didn't expect E to look warm and fuzzy either. I just expected E to look nonchalant--kind of like, "Oh, no big deal--I'm just dipping Paige's toes into the water."
On the other hand, who knows--were Soviet teachers angry when they taught? I suppose Soviet pedagogy was based on concept of punishment. We pick up on traits from our teachers and subconsciously adopt them when we teach others, so maybe E picked up anger when she was taught to swim?
Ok, I'm rambling...but I don't know...there's something about that scene that just seemed off. It was like that scene showcased "big, bad, evil Russian" dumping innocent child into the pool, but I don't see E in such stereotypical terms.
Re: Throwing Baby!Paige into the pool
Date: 2015-02-01 07:18 pm (UTC)Re: Throwing Baby!Paige into the pool
Date: 2015-02-01 07:32 pm (UTC)I wonder if Elizabeth ever fantasizes about what Paige would have been like if raised in the USSR, and thinks she'll become that if informed about her background. Though that also makes me wonder if she thinks Philip would have been a different parent if he was back home.
Re: While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 03:30 pm (UTC)Gabriel was their longtime handler before Claudia. The ice cream is a very 80s touch--it lasted for five minutes. It was pushed as Swedish, but in fact was made in NY State or something. The name was gibberish. A character eating it major time stamping!
I think the audience always had questions raised about this, though. We were never told for sure if Nina was telling the KGB everything about Stan and several times people would ask if this was an official meeting or not. So at least it's not like we were given to believe Nina was on the up and up and now it's retconned.
I think they would be. They assume anybody *could* be the person, but they'd start off being polite either way.
He's been using that contraption all along that we've seen with A. I could believe they figured it would work just as well. He had some sort of device, after all. He didn't just have a glass to the wall. :-)
Re: While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 04:49 pm (UTC)If they thought Elizabeth was the one they were after, they'd have had their guns out, not an ID card.
Re: While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 05:05 pm (UTC)He definitely got himself more security clearance using his connections at one point, and that gave him access to Nina's files. I can't remember if that was his specific stated reason for it--it might have been.
Re: While watching thoughts
Date: 2015-01-29 06:06 pm (UTC)So it was left nicely open.