BlackberryJam

You might be my spirit animal. I don't mind the Chiefs, but I'd like to see someone else win this year. The Commanders as an FU to Dan Snyder, the Eagles because why not and the Bills to finally screw over the Cigarette Smoking Man.

I still despise Tony Romo. Can someone shove a sock in his mouth?

He also dressed Melissa McCarthy. Not my favorite, but she clearly loved it and it's very flattering and provided her the coverage that makes her comfortable. She looks good. She looks happy. I would have gone full mob-wife hair though. And Jessica Gunning. Again, not my favorite look of the night, but the color is gorgeous. It does look like she has a giant scrunchie around her shoulders, but it frames her face beautifully. Like Melissa, she looked happy, comfortable and confident. You can put someone in a beautiful dress, but if they don't feel comfortable or good about themselves, you can tell. Christian has a reputation for creating great outfits for those of non-standard size.

Paige is soulful? What? A Russian soul? Seriously. WTF? Talk about a bad take. Paige's behavior is clearly shown to be very American entitled teen. In S1, she wants more leg warmers even though she has 37 pair. She's constantly all up in her feelings when we see young Elizabeth and young Philip just trying to survive, taking care of their sick mother (Elizabeth), suffering beatings and bullying (Philip) and both with serious food insecurity. And Paige thinks her life is the worst ever. I mean, I absolutely agree that Elizabeth and Philip are psychologically damaging their children. The lies, the fakeness of their marriage, the parentification of Paige, and the fact that they are never there. So much bad parenting. But, we hear from Reuben in Divestment about how he beats his children. There are different standards and expectations for parenting around the world and it's always evolving. Paige's expectations of parenting from Philip and Elizabeth are completely and utterly American. I am glad I wasn't participating in fandom back then and hearing that nonsense. How could the showrunners NOT think people would get a creeper vibe from the relationship of an adult male and a teen girl? I mean, come on. They have Philip scrambling and doing everything he can to not have sex with Kimmy because the relationship between an adult male and a teen girl is weird and skeevy. [I'm thinking about Millie Bobby Brown and Drake right now.] There is a scene in the Ethiopia episode where Paige goes to the church and meets with Alice. She and Alice hug as Paige is clearly upset. Alice ends up breaking down and crying Paige's arms and the look on Paige's face is like, "WTF, WHY IS SHE EXPECTING ME TO COMFORT HER, I'M JUST A CONFUSED TEEN AND IT SHOULD ALL BE ABOUT ME!" I'm not sure Alice, at the time they left, saw Paige as any sort of rival for Tim's affections, but college-age sexually-active Paige would certainly be different. @ZellaNow all I can see in Paige's face is her eyebrows!!! I have watched some Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys interviews from back in the day. I love his accent and I love the way they interact. So much amazing on-screen chemistry that did not fall off when they became a real life couple.

I like Christian and I'm happy for his success. However, none of this looks remarkable to me. The end table is interesting, but no one is going to sit on that brown bench seat. I paint (abstract, and only for my home) and the stuff on the walls looks like it comes from At Home. There is absolutely nothing wrong with art from At Home. I have a great metal sculpture from there. But I'm sure Christian's collection has a much higher price point. This looks like the living room of someone who did a sad beige nursery.

@sistermagpieHeh! I got the year from The Americans wiki. I acknowledge my wrongness and bow to your superior information!! :) RE: Holly Taylor. It is absolutely a testament to the writing and the acting of KR and MR that this show is so awesome despite how bad HT is. @sistermagpieis right, Paige spends her off screen time in a prop closet. There is nothing going on behind the words she’s saying. @Zella We see so little of Arkady yet Lev Gorn makes him a real character. I know Arkady is busy off screen. He has a full life. I think Kelly AuCoin did a good job being Pastor Tim, but …the character always felt too close to a creeper. Initially, I thought Tim might be grooming Paige. I think there is a line Elizabeth says at one point to Paige about how Paster Tim and Alice love her, and I remember thinking, “Why? Why would two adults love a random teenage girl? And why charmless, annoying Paige?” It felt weird. Paige wasn’t doing anything to endear herself to those adults. At least HT wasn’t conveying that she did. Paige got involved with the Reed Street Church based on the girl she met on the bus to Aunt Helen’s. I initially thought that girl (Kelly) was someone from the Centre, keeping an eye on Paige, and starting the recruitment process. But we never see Kelly again. So…the church, the protests, etc. I don’t know if there are any liberal churches anymore. At least locally, I don’t know of any. The church led protests I see are Westboro Baptist and the less said about that “church” the better. I do remember my middle school and high school years, things like Hands Across America, listing to the song “Sun City” even though it was hard to find, and…the song “Russians” by Sting. I know that song is sappy and a bit too on point, but I really, really wanted the show to have used it somewhere, at least the music if not the lyrics. As I type this, I’m recognizing that part of my love of this show is nostalgia, and my naïveté about changing the world. Ah…to be that young, innocent and hopeful again. Hans. Imperfect but dedicated newbie, yes. I think about Paige walking down the street and doing the surveillance in S6 and was like, Hans was so much better. The US was definitely on the wrong side regarding South Africa. The show used so many great Peter Gabriel songs, but I wanted the beat of “Biko”. (Again, nostalgia.)

So….I never connected with Virtue and Moir. I never saw the supposed chemistry. It always felt like high school play quality acting. But I acknowledge their skill. I thought the Moulin Rouge routine was technically great, but emotionally hilariously bad. I never “got” Pasha Grishuk, and that routine where she skidded her toe pick and there was no penalty? Ugh. And there was all that drama with Usova/Zhulin and Grishuk/Platov. Is there a documentary or fictionalized account of all that? There should be. I loved the Duchesnays.

I had drafted a very long response but somehow never posted it and it got lost in the ether. DRAT. So I'm trying to recreate. MR also dances in the pilot, while at the mall, totally humiliating Paige. It so reminded me of my own dad who used to sing and dance in public all the time. Paige was born in '68 and I was born in '70, so I was experiencing the world through the same aged lens. Which is why I find Holly Taylor just...not good. Anyway, I think joy is harder to convey than tragedy, which is why either MR was having a great time dancing or he's a better actor than I thought. I think those hardliners never truly went away. I mean, look at Russia now. I remember "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall," even though I was never a Reagan fan. That was a moment, but it was also full of so much uncertainty. Could the Soviets be trusted? Should they be? Philip and Elizabeth had worked in the shadows to win the Cold War, when in the end, it just sort of fizzled away. Does that make them heroes? Or soldiers having committed atrocities in a war that never had a winner? Would they be celebrated? Shunted away to make way for a new way of looking at things? Arkady didn't even trust his own agents. I know thinking post-canon is just an exercise in frustration, but I've always been one to do it. I know Paige was supposed to be a college student at the end, but I struggled seeing her older than 17. As a character, she never matured for me. I get what you're saying about living as her authentic self as her ending. I just struggled so hard with the character. She never had an authentic self for me. Henry. I generally enjoyed Henry, but the final scene of him sitting in the bleachers with Stan involved some serious terrible acting on Keidrich Sellati's part. I didn't buy that Stan had just told him that his parents were Russian spies who fled the country without him. His reaction read more like, "Oh no, one of my five hamsters ran way, how could it do that to me?" YES. I could feel the devastation. And his scene with Oleg's wife. Both of them, it's just a gut punch. So much better than Stan's scene with Henry. I've been mulling over Hans and the anti-apartheid movement as well as Soviet-Afghan War. So much political legacy that makes this show all the more fascinating.

There are a lot of TV cop shows with male detectives who only mention their children once or twice a season and are never seen with them, so I'm not sure it should be different for Tosh.

So...still rewatching episodes. Philip's sex with Kimmy is some of the least sexy sex that ever sexed. He looks completely miserable. The scene in the show where Philip is happiest is the line dancing bit at the beginning of S6. Matthew Rhys moves well. You can see he was just having a great time in that one. And compared to Elizabeth, he just looks so relaxed and healthy. MR and KR are so damn good in those roles. I am repeatedly just floored by how well music was used in this show, and I love the fact that the music rights were paid all the way through syndication (I'm looking at YOU, Northern Exposure, but I suppose Joshua Brand learned his lesson.) The finale episode with Dire Straits, U2 and then Tchaikovsky is just perfect. There is an scene in season 5 when Elizabeth and Philip are fighting over training Paige and she says to him, something like, "I'm going ahead with this, with or without you." And on rewatch, that "With Or Without You" just so stood out, knowing how Paige walked away to that song. In fact, I can't hear "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" without thinking about Elizabeth looking at her shoes. I also appreciate Igor Burov so much more on rewatch. Boris Krutonog does so much with his face in his final scene, looking at Oleg's wife and the baby. I have tried to process the evidence of espionage when it comes to Oleg. All they have him doing is picking up a coded message. They have zero proof about what the message says. And if it says, "Hey Oleg, tell your people that some of our people are after Gorbachev," then I don't know how that leads to an espionage conviction. That's not classified information about the US or US national defense. A key element of the crime is specific intent to harm the United States. I think the FBI has a bunch of speculation about Burov but no actual proof that that he did anything. So in my head, after 8 months or so of the US attorney dicking around and trying to put pressure on him, Oleg is released and deported. Of course, what is he going back to? I mean, what did Philip and Elizabeth return to? Arkady, in sending Oleg, was acting outside Directorate S, because he was unsure of who he could trust in his own organization. How much cover did he have? The plot against Gorbachev obviously failed, but it's not like the old guard and the Claudias just vanished. Elizabeth killed Tatiana and foiled that assassination attempt and she told Claudia that. Of course, it likely didn't make any official report. Speaking of post-canon, I've often thought that Paige ended up running to Pastor Tim. She has the passport and money. Why go back to the apartment? I'm not sure why I have this show on repeat right now, except that it is engaging and satisfying, while also being comforting.

Hahhaha. Preach. I was born in 1970, so I am of an age with Paige. Her hair needed more frizz and AquaNet. But yeah, neither actor was bringing it. But but but, NINA LOVED HIM and she was PLAYING BUROV! No way could Nina not have been totally in love with the awesomeness that is Stan Beeman. It’s all Oleg’s fault! Stan lives in such a delusional state. Re: The transactional nature of Clark and Martha. Every time we see Philip with her, he’s either fucking her, manipulating her or managing her emotions so he can get what he wants from her. He’s not being his true self or even trying to share his thoughts and feelings with her. She’s pleasant enough for him and he doesn’t hate the interaction but he is always working her. Martha makes it easier for Philip by being emotionally open and clear about what she wants and needs from him. He never has to guess about what’s going to make her happy. Philip is trying to unpack the fuckedupness of his life. When he tells Elizabeth about beating the kid to death with a rock, Elizabeth’s response is “good, they deserved it,” which is not what Philip needs at all. I think of that scene where Philip keeps opening the door during his training and there’s a new person he has to fuck on the other side. Elizabeth being raped was horrific, but there were definite consent lines there. What Philip (and Elizabeth) went through with the sex training is a whole different kind of mindfuck. I always felt it implied that the next person after than man that Philip would have to screw would be a child, and either they weren’t showing that to us, or Philip had blocked it out. I mean, 15 year old Kimmy was the next step, right?

Matthew was just around to make Stan feel bad about himself and further the Paige storyline. Otherwise, they left him has a blank slate. I also don’t think the actor was bringing a lot to the table. There is a scene where Aderholt asks Stan out for a beer, saying he wants to talk about Stan working undercover with the white supremacists. Stan says yes to the beer but says he’s not going to discuss the undercover work. Initially, Stan is so uncomfortable with a black colleague until Dennis does exactly what Renee does, make the relationship easy for Stan. Even Sandra makes the breakup easy for Stan. When he keeps coming to her to tell her things, elicit sympathy, clear his conscience, she just acknowledges what he says and walks away. Stan is the most emotionally lazy and coddled man. Typical 80s white dude. There is a scene of Philip and Kimmy sitting on some steps outside. She’s wearing a perfect 80s pink sweater. He’s in a heavy coat. At one point she complains about being cold, Philip keeps rolling a joint. She mentions being cold at least twice more I think before Philip offers to cuddle with her. He’s so reluctant to touch her even in what should be a platonic way. I don’t think Martha is the person who gets Philip thinking. He’s always working her. I particularly remember when he plays the edited tape for her of the guys in Gaad’s office basically calling her unfuckable. Afterwards, she clearly needs him to boost her ego with sex and he says he can’t. The way he undermines her confidence is so calculated. I think Philip liked Martha and eventually felt like crap for destroying her life, but it’s just the job with her. Sure, he can compare her with his marriage to Elizabeth, but she doesn’t make him all introspective. You’re right. That is Kimmy. With Kimmy, he can’t escape how sleazy working her makes him feel. When he looks at Kimmy, he also sees Paige. Kimmy has serious Daddy issues and way too little parental oversight. I think his relationship with Kimmy is what gets Philip to the point of accepting Paige’s turn towards religion. I mean, at least she’s not meeting skeezy old dudes and getting high with them. Couple that with Elizabeth’s jealousy of Kimmy, which is a carryover of her jealousy of Martha. But Philip keeps saying to Elizabeth, “do you really think I’m sexually attracted to a girl our daughter’s age?” But Elizabeth isn’t listening. Philip and Elizabeth might have the most complicated TV marriage ever.

I meant to comment on this and forgot. Matthew was a missed costuming opportunity. They could have had him in a series of band t-shirts, REM, U2, Violent Femmes, the Smiths, New Order. And Stan could have asked awkward questions about each one. Amador was a total dick. I get that was his role, but he was such an asshole that I found him distracting. Aderholt was a definite upgrade. He had enough personality to be a defined character, but I never wanted to shove him off the screen. There was also opportunity for Stan’s 1980’s racism to come through, but Stan’s such a Teflon character. None of his bad deeds really stick to him. So…Kimmy. Julia Garner is great in the role. And I looked it up, she was 20/21. The disguise for Philip was so perfect. He looked just like a skeezy dude hanging around with a young girl. The way Gabriel kept pushing Philip to work her plays differently to me know knowing how Langella behaved on the Usher set. I don’t think that was “new” behavior. Amador led with his penis in every interaction.

I appreciate Gaad more on rewatch when I can pay attention to his little digs and comments. I also wanted to punch Gaad in the face for being so oblivious to Amador’s blatant sexism and borderline harassment of Martha. I mean, it never occurred to the FBI even once that Amador was being a fucking creeper and that maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and no one went after him with an intent to kill. Yes, I wanted to punch Chris Amador in the face multiple times. The scene of Arkady and Gaad in the snow is great. Arkady is clearly saying, “your Chris Amador was a target of value, a full-fledged counterintelligence agent who could have disclosed valuable information, while Vlad was a boy.” Gaad is unwilling to give an inch, even though he likely knows that Vlad and Amador were in no way equivalent targets. Arkady is also letting Gaad know that he’s personally vulnerable, which is so interesting considering how Gaad eventually died. Stan is just such a shit to people. He’s horrible to Sandra and Nina, he doesn’t listen to anything Tori is telling him. He falls for Renee because she’s designed to be his perfect woman and he never has to go beneath the surface. I think if anyone at the FBI had treated Martha with respect, if they listened to her and let her do more than order supplies and retrieve files, she never would have been turned.

Arkady with his shirt sleeves rolled up, spray painting cars, did things for me. I own it. The conversation with Arkady and Oleg in Moscow about Philip and Elizabeth, how Philip is different. So much to unpack there. And then Arkady played chauffeur to Philip and Elizabeth at the end. Loved it. I have often wondered, when Philip and Elizabeth were crossing the border, what they said to the guard and who he called. I would have loved a silent scene of Arkady picking up the phone, giving the go ahead and then him closing a file, standing and grabbing his coat, making the choice to meet them himself rather than send a lackey. Ahhh…Arkady Ivanovich. He was so far superior to Gaad as a character. I despised Matthew’s hair but loved it when he said to Stan, “it’s a drag show, every one wears makeup, doesn’t mean I’m gay.” Matthew just knows how to read his father. Stan did draw in Henry as an easy to handle replacement son. I always got the feeling that Mrs. Gaad got no visitors because she was Vietnamese. Like she’d have something the FBI guys would see as weird, foreign grief that must be avoided. Thinking about it, we saw so many female KGB operatives and pretty much no women other than secretaries at the FBI. Elizabeth, Kate, Leanne, Claudia, Irina, Annalise, Nina, Aunt Helen, Tatiana, Lucia (although she was a Sandinista), Marilyn, the blonde woman at the call center who makes borscht and let’s not forget Renee. No wonder the FBI kept getting fooled by women.