Pre-episode 5 links

[jae]

Interviews! First with showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields.

Then there's one with Keri Russell, two with Matthew Rhys (Spoiler TV and Hollywood Reporter), one with Holly Taylor (Paige), one with Annet Mahendru (Nina), and one with Alison Wright (Martha).

Here's the casting spoiler many of you have been waiting for...

A piece dealing with how TV made Christianity radical again talks about recent storylines on The Americans.

Aaaand some more bad news about ratings.

Comments

I'm mostly just thinking aloud

[wendelah1]

I don't watch much television either, not compared to most people in fandom anyway, who are apparently watching several hours a night during the work week, and even more on the weekends. I don't find the show's pace too slow but after watching the premiere episodes of two new hit series, Empire and How to Get Away With Murder, I can see why people are complaining. Empire went through as many story lines in the pilot as most shows used to go through in several seasons. At the end of its first episode, I thought--what the hell is left for them to do? But it's a huge hit and while the subject matter--the music industry and origins of hip hop--is a big part of that, the pacing is exactly what viewers in the target age group want to see. It's what they expect to see. The shows are constructed like those big budget action movies, right? All verbal explosions and violence, big moments plus "plot twists" that anyone with half a brain can see coming a mile away.

On the other hand, The Americans is much more like a big Russian novel. It's all about the characters and the world-building. There're underlying themes, and the characters, plot, music, settings and so on, are all constructed to support each other. There is careful thought and planning behind each season. Just like War and Peace, there is an enormous cast of characters, many whom have names that are hard to pronounce if you're monolingual like me, and they're all unique and unforgettable. These aren't stock characters and they aren't in stock situations. These episodes aren't for the casual viewer, that's for sure. It's too much work.

Most people just want to read the titles that are on the best sellers lists and see movies about superheroes. They're fun and easy. If the media they consume lets people feel good about themselves because they can check off "diversity" or "feminism" or "social justice" on their to-do list, so much the better. But it's still mind-candy. I like a little junk food television now and again, more along the lines of Project Runway than Scandal.

My problem with The Americans isn't that it's too much work. My problem is that I think they're heading in a Breaking Bad type of direction with their characters, and I'm just not up for watching that level of misery and depravity. It's not enjoyable, it doesn't fit with who I thought these characters were from watching the first two seasons, and frankly I'm starting to resent the writers for making me care about the fates of characters that they look to be hell bent on destroying. It's not what I thought I'd signed on for.

That's why I think they're losing their audience, despite the critical accolades. Maybe Fargo and, I don't know, House of Cards have the audience for this kind of show already sewn up?

Re: I'm mostly just thinking aloud

[jae]

This is some smart analysis.

I totally get the people (including you) who have decided the show isn't really for them. It's clearly not for everyone, and I've known that from the start. What I find baffling are the people--many of them smart, critical viewers--who seem to be missing everything that the show is about. Like, I have a friend who watched every episode of seasons one and two and still wasn't sure which one was Stan and which one was Gaad. And there's a critic who does a podcast with Andy Greenwald who's constantly saying that every episode is the same as the last one, and nothing ever really happens in them. I'd love to talk about that at some point and see if we can crack what all that's about, because it just seems so strange to me. I've been trying to phrase it into a "question of the week" for a while, but the right wording hasn't struck me yet.

-J

Re: I'm mostly just thinking aloud

[wendelah1]

Like, I have a friend who watched every episode of seasons one and two and still wasn't sure which one was Stan and which one was Gaad.

That is strange. Are they face-blind? Because other than both being white and middle-aged, those two guys look nothing alike. Gaad is played by the actor who was John-Boy, for pete's sake!

And there's a critic who does a podcast with Andy Greenwald who's constantly saying that every episode is the same as the last one, and nothing ever really happens in them.

I think that's just a lazy way of saying the pacing is too slow, there isn't enough violence and/or there isn't enough sex and nudity. He probably loves Scandal. Just because someone is a television critic doesn't mean they have taste, let alone critical judgment.

The Americans is like a slow-burn romantic novel. Every look and every touch, metaphorically speaking, is meant to be savored and analyzed. It's a very out-of-fashion way of telling a story--plus the plot line is there to reveal things about the characters and the world they're trying to build. They aren't putting in a certain quota of explosions and plot twists per episode, like How to Get Away With Murder and the comic book spin-offs and they aren't following a formula, like a police procedural.

I really do love how this show is being created. I just wish it wasn't making me feel sick at heart.

Re: I'm mostly just thinking aloud

[treonb]

I'm not excited about the show's direction either. I don't expect the show to be light fare, and I realize that the parts I like, such as the chase, are limited by the story.

But sometimes they go overboard. It might be true to the chars, but it's difficult to watch. This season I think they're actually doing better on that front, though they still have scenes here or there that go for misery and depravity. But last season they focused on Philip's guilt, which built up throughout the season, and was very, very depressing.

Re: I'm mostly just thinking aloud

[wendelah1]

But last season they focused on Philip's guilt, which built up throughout the season, and was very, very depressing.

You don't think they're still focusing on that with the parallel story lines about Paige and the underage girl he's trying to work? I just keep thinking back to what he did to the creep who was hitting on Paige in the pilot. Philip literally put a gigantic fork into the guy and told him he was done. I can't reconcile that man with this season's Philip.

Re: I'm mostly just thinking aloud

[treonb]

I don't see a major problem reconciling the two.
1. The pilot is different in various ways from the rest of the show.
2. Philip was protecting Paige. I don't expect him to give other people the same consideration he gives his children. He also reacted differently when he killed a kid and when he found the Connors dead. Those were people that he knew, not his targets.
3. Kimmie is very different from Paige. She is actively trying to entice older men, even when they reject her. That's very different from Paige who was just going shopping with her father, and who was 12 at the time.