WTEngel

The Checkov Gun of the episode is the satellite phone that the American placed in SJ’s handbag - the one with the note (paraphrasing) call me if you need anything... I suspect part of the redemption plot might be for SJ to help get Hannah and June out of Gilead. She might be playing 3 dimensional chess - just a guess. The satellite phone will come into play again, and I suspect it will be a big deal.

It is still possible that Naomi may be abusing the baby. If she was giving the baby something that made her sick, she would be unable to do so in the closely monitored hospital setting. The baby would seemingly get better, be discharged, and the cycle continues. we see this sometimes with Munchausen by proxy patients-the parents are able to make them sick at home, and when they get into the supervised hospital setting, they are unable to do so any longer. The parents are savvy, and do things that are undetectable or unlikely to be tested for by physicians (altering their story in such a way that lowers suspicion for certain things we might normally evaluate.) Not to get into the semantics of it, but Naomi is more likely guilty of abuse and neglect, not Munchausen by proxy. Munchausen by proxy is by definition inducing or fabricating a state of illness generally in an attempt to garner attention or leverage sympathy from others (people setting up fraudulent go fund me drives, defining themselves by their child’s mystery illness, etc.) Naomi is so unwilling to admit she might need help or support-whereas Munchausen by proxy parents generally cultivate and abuse all the help and support they can get...often exhausting their welcome. anyway, just wanted to drop in and say, I definitely still think there is an element of abuse going on in the Ofwarren household!

Oh, and my predictions for this season. The cyanide pill is for the terminally ill wife (Chekhov gun, obviously) Paige will either get caught or very close to getting caught, likely as a result of her being unable to go through with a plan involving more sexual activity than she is comfortable with (this is being forecast pretty heavily ATM) Stan will discover that his neighbor and best friend Philip is an illegal, run home devastated and tell Renee, who will then ask if he has told anyone else, and when he replies no, reveal that she is an illegal, and move to take him out - only to be rescued by Philip. Philip will be killed, either by Stan or Renee during this rescue. Paige becomes scarred when her mother belittles her for not being successful in her mission. Elizabeth lives on, cut off from the Centre after the collapse of the USSR, realizing that he life’s work has all been for naught. She will likely end up in Cuba (wild guess...) much if this is just me musing...I’ll be surprised if 10% of it happens! Haha

I have to respectfully disagree with the feeling that Stan is too dense or his social awkwardness doesn’t fit with his character. I think it’s very likely that after years of having to act like someone you aren’t, you lose your identity to a certain degree, and when you are left in a situation where their aren’t “instructions” for how to act (i.e. you aren’t undercover anymore) then you might not really be that good at “being yourself” anymore. Consider that over the years of his undercover work, the penalty for him acting like himself might have been death, he probably has not been himself for a long time and a large part of Stan’s story is him learning to be himself again. Thisis why his marriage strained and broke. This is why he suppresses feelings of suspicion regarding those around him. This may be why when he finds out that HE is living across from illegal spies and much of his “normal” social life is a lie, he will be broken.

I am wondering if they will scan the mail robot for bugs, find a device, and then use it to set up a false trap for whoever is listening on the other end. So they think a bug is in the mail robot. Have a conversation about the big op they are running next week next to it, go to the site of the fake operation and then wait to see who shows up. To add some spice to this, what if Stan innocuously blabs to his Phillip about how he is running a tight operation and the thinks he is finally going to catch the people that killed his former boss. The Russians don't show up, and there is renewed suspicion that a mole still exists in the department. Aderholdt picks up on this, gets suspicious about Stan's neighbors and his relationship with Oleg (who he has been refusing to turn so far) and now Stan is a fall guy for the the inside man. Also, Stan did wear that device into the computer lab to look for the stealth technology a few seasons back. He has been close enough to defecting that I am sure if they dug around they might be able to find enough to glue together some sort of story that makes sense enough to at least make his life hell. One last thing I will add is that the new boss (who replaced Gaad) is being described as extremely professionally motivated and highly upward mobile. You think he will hesitate for a second to rush an investigation that serves to throw someone, anyone, under the bus, as fast as possible, for all the shenanigans that have been occurring in that department? The faster he throws someone under the bus, the faster he gets his promotion, the faster it is someone else's problem... This is just some random speculation though, obviously.

I think Paige will end up on the run with Pastor Tim before this season is over. I get the feeling he is presenting the front of trying to be conciliatory between her and her parents, all the while driving a wedge between them to drive them further apart. In the end, this will cause them to separate enough for her to be convinced that running off is the best option. Wouldn't that be one heck of a loose end to try and run down... Ultimately, all of this is so beyond belief to me...I mean with the way the second generation Illegals program went with the first trial (remember, that boy who who KILLED HIS WHOLE F'ING FAMILY?!?!??) I can not imagine why they would try it again!!!

Just a few things to add... So far, there has been no question about who has been killed and who hasn't, with one exception, Simone. Even with Constance (hair dresser in Hotel with Hanzee) we eventually got the confirmation that she was in fact killed. We now have only 1 Gerhardt (Charlie) possibly 2 (Simone) left. These loose ends will be tied up somehow. I know Charlie has a limp and hand problems, but maybe he gets cured and becomes Malvo? It is a huge long shot, but hey, stranger things have happened. Can anyone recall any female characters from Season 1 that may have been an adult Simone or Charlie? I am just tossing ideas around about what the fate of these two could be... Also, Season 3 is supposed to take place after the events of Season 1, so post 2006. It is possible that we may see one or both of these characters next year. As for the UFO situation...we don't know who makes it out of next week. Lou was being choked out and for all he knows, he just saw some bright lights as he was about to pass out. He may consider himself an unreliable narrator. The only person who actually confirmed that they were seeing a UFO was the "actualized" Peggy. Everyone else was dumbfounded for sure, and didn't have any idea what to make of it. Hanzee has seen lights similar to that before in a previous episode, and we don't know if he makes it out of this season alive...so the only character who we know for sure makes it out of Season 2 alive and saw the UFO (even though he was near the point of passing out) is Lou. None of the other characters confirmed that they were seeing a UFO. Also, when Ed was looking off the balcony and said "Honey are you seeing this?" I can't remember for sure, but it looked like he may have been looking down. I will need to re watch. If he was looking down, for all we know, he could have been looking at the fight between Lou and Bear... Just some disruptive theories to throw into the mix...

So we have Martin Freeman returning to narrate...I wonder (and desperately hope) we also get a return of Billy Bob Thornton and/or his backstory...that would be a treat.

So when Peggy spaced out while she was watching that movie, was that by chance the movie that Regan was talking about in "Gift of the Magi" (ep 5) while he was taking a leak next to Lou? I am not sure how it fits in quite yet, but there is a reason she spaced out to that movie in particular. It is some foreshadowing or call-back possibly, or both. Anyway, I will need to go back and re-watch ep 5 to see if there is anything to this...

I am wondering if the person who kept calling the Gerhardt house, claiming to have information about Dodd, was Ed, not Hanzee. The guy from Buffalo who kept telling Bear about the phone call never specified, and it was only at the end when he told Floyd that he said Hanzee was on the phone with information on Dodd. I am not sure how this would play into the plot, other than to show that Ed was trying to deal with the Gerhardt's before he dealt with Kansas City, simply because Bear never picked up the phone. I am also in the camp that Simone is still alive, or at least was not killed in the forest. No body, no gunshot, no confirmation. It is kind of like a Chekov Gun. The writer's are very deliberate in what they do and do not show. I do not know what the utility of leaving her alive in the forest was, or how that will play into the future of the season. Lastly, wasn't Billy Bob Thornton supposed to be making an appearance this season? He may be the person Kansas City sends in to finally deal with this mess once and for all. As for the UFO stuff, I remember last season that they dabbled a little bit in the "Billy Bob Thornton may actually be the devil" line of thinking...so it isn't surprising for them to push the envelope with the paranormal thread this season. In the end, I think it will be left to he viewer's interpretation again, as it was last season.