Episode discussion post: "Baggage"

[jae]

Aired:
4 February 2015 in the U.S. and Canada

This is a discussion post for episode 302 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 two.)

Original promo trailer

"The Americans 3x02 Promo "Baggage" / This Season on The Americans" (Watch on YouTube)

Episode recaps

From Hitfix
From The AV Club
From The Atlantic
From the LA Times
From Slant Magazine
From IGN
From TV.com
From Sound on Sight
From Geeks of Doom
From TVEquals
From examiner.com
From TV Ate My Wardrobe
From the International Business Times
From Uproxx
From MovieNewsGuide
From MStarz
From Starpulse
From Romance at Random
From SpoilerTV

Comments

Re: Philip's mysterious background

[treonb]

By this point, I'd rather they just leave it murky.

Re: Philip's mysterious background

[sistermagpie]

You know, I've thought about that possibility, basically keeping Philip as the ultimate spy whose real origins are never really known? But I think ultimately it would wind up making him seem like less of a character.

For instance without the context of his real background, he just sounds like a guy who doesn't have her upbringing and could be Stan Beeman. Like Elizabeth has her opinions because of her very specific (harsh) background while Philip's aren't. Like he might as well just be reflecting back the culture he's in or something.

Re: Philip's mysterious background

[treonb]

I kind of like the background fandom made up for him :-)

We did get some background, with Irina and all that (which I prefer ignoring), and he does give us stories every now and then (which I'm not sure we can trust).

Re: Philip's mysterious background

[sistermagpie]

I'm really shocked at how little background the Irina stuff gave us. Basically all it told us was that he went out with her. (Leaving aside all the other stuff about it.) The main scene between them seemed to almost be more about her than him!

I consider Philip to have given us two true things about his past/childhood: that "they" used to have swordfights with icicles, and the story about the gangs in Tobolsk that jumped him on the way back with milk.

Re: Philip's mysterious background

[jae]

Yeah, that's my read, too--those are the things he's told us directly, at least.

-J