• This is the second time we've seen a character on a toilet in this show (and both were in a suboptimal situation)! I feel like this should be a trivia question on a game show at some point: "which two characters on The Americans were seen during the biological process of excretion?"
• I loved the line "Paige, don't worry, your dad is not having an affair." He just has another wife--and it's fine with me, honest. Most of the time, anyway.
• I was shocked when Philip-as-Scott actually came right out and told Yousaf that he was KGB-affiliated. He must have done a quick calculation and figured he had a better chance of getting what he needed out of Yousaf if he told the truth on that front? I'm still not sure exactly where Philip is planning on going with this surprise new agent of his, but something tells me it's going to be an interesting ride.
• As a couple of others noted, the notion of coming to the U.S. in a box is pretty hardcore. I wonder how accurate that is--is that something Joe Weisberg dreamed up, or something that actually happened?
• I was spoiled in advance that the hardest-to-stomach part about the suitcase scene would be the sounds, and let me just say that I'm so glad I was. It helped me stay with the characters more rather than just getting grossed out and distancing myself.
• So exciting to see Katja Herbers--my favourite thing about my second-favourite currently airing show--on my very favourite show! I loved her thicker accent (she actually has almost no trace of a Dutch accent in English in real life) and the Belgian particulars she added. I kind of want to hear her character speak Dutch now, though. :)
• A number of things in this episode suggest that Elizabeth is really struggling with how Philip is reacting to the Paige thing, and really feels that it's driving them apart rather than just a spat they're having. First, the fact that she doesn't tell him about the memory she had of her mother referring to her father as a deserter. Second, the fact that she tells Gabriel that the two of them were different from the last time he saw them, rather than are. And then the fact that in the final scene, she broaches the subject with him while at the office, like it's something she wants to fix but doesn't know how to.
• This isn't about the show directly, but it felt like the very definition of irony when a Canadian Forces ad aired during this episode, which dealt so heavily with the fallout from the Soviet war in Afghanistan....
• The Stan and Oleg scene was so fantastic. Terrific acting all around. And I too got a little "aww!" at Stan's answering maching message--he was just so at a loss what to say, but he had to say something ("and Arthur, I guess"). And later, seeing him crying, with Sandra--it's all really touching. At the same time, though, I have to cheer Sandra on for making him work for it a bit.
• I think we've talked before on this comm about the fact that the real-life illegals actually were sent back to the Soviet Union sometimes, but it was good to get confirmation that this is considered out of the ordinary in this show's version of real-life events. I actually really like that tweak: it's far more poignant if they never see the motherland again until their time in the field is up.
• Any thoughts on why Stan didn't tell the defector that they had in fact personally dealt with another defector who'd gotten killed on U.S. soil? Is that confidential, or was he trying not to scare her?
Jae's thoughts on second watch
• This is the second time we've seen a character on a toilet in this show (and both were in a suboptimal situation)! I feel like this should be a trivia question on a game show at some point: "which two characters on The Americans were seen during the biological process of excretion?"
• I loved the line "Paige, don't worry, your dad is not having an affair." He just has another wife--and it's fine with me, honest. Most of the time, anyway.
• I was shocked when Philip-as-Scott actually came right out and told Yousaf that he was KGB-affiliated. He must have done a quick calculation and figured he had a better chance of getting what he needed out of Yousaf if he told the truth on that front? I'm still not sure exactly where Philip is planning on going with this surprise new agent of his, but something tells me it's going to be an interesting ride.
• As a couple of others noted, the notion of coming to the U.S. in a box is pretty hardcore. I wonder how accurate that is--is that something Joe Weisberg dreamed up, or something that actually happened?
• I was spoiled in advance that the hardest-to-stomach part about the suitcase scene would be the sounds, and let me just say that I'm so glad I was. It helped me stay with the characters more rather than just getting grossed out and distancing myself.
• So exciting to see Katja Herbers--my favourite thing about my second-favourite currently airing show--on my very favourite show! I loved her thicker accent (she actually has almost no trace of a Dutch accent in English in real life) and the Belgian particulars she added. I kind of want to hear her character speak Dutch now, though. :)
• A number of things in this episode suggest that Elizabeth is really struggling with how Philip is reacting to the Paige thing, and really feels that it's driving them apart rather than just a spat they're having. First, the fact that she doesn't tell him about the memory she had of her mother referring to her father as a deserter. Second, the fact that she tells Gabriel that the two of them were different from the last time he saw them, rather than are. And then the fact that in the final scene, she broaches the subject with him while at the office, like it's something she wants to fix but doesn't know how to.
• This isn't about the show directly, but it felt like the very definition of irony when a Canadian Forces ad aired during this episode, which dealt so heavily with the fallout from the Soviet war in Afghanistan....
• The Stan and Oleg scene was so fantastic. Terrific acting all around. And I too got a little "aww!" at Stan's answering maching message--he was just so at a loss what to say, but he had to say something ("and Arthur, I guess"). And later, seeing him crying, with Sandra--it's all really touching. At the same time, though, I have to cheer Sandra on for making him work for it a bit.
• I think we've talked before on this comm about the fact that the real-life illegals actually were sent back to the Soviet Union sometimes, but it was good to get confirmation that this is considered out of the ordinary in this show's version of real-life events. I actually really like that tweak: it's far more poignant if they never see the motherland again until their time in the field is up.
• Any thoughts on why Stan didn't tell the defector that they had in fact personally dealt with another defector who'd gotten killed on U.S. soil? Is that confidential, or was he trying not to scare her?