shura

I think it's all of the above, actually. Even if Clark and his job are 100 percent real, it can't possibly be legal to bug the FBI office, can it? Clark and Martha are breaking the law, his patriotic and honest intentions to keep the good guys good notwithstanding. I don't know if that's treason, but it's something jail-worthy for sure. Which, I think, is the only reason that can keep Martha from spilling the beans. I think that, being an honest and patriotic person, Martha would totally reveal how she planted the bug and helped Clark (again, all this is still assuming that she believes Clark has been telling her the truth, just for the sake of argument), even it means the end of her FBI career. She can always find a job somewhere else, it's not the end of her life - unless there is jail involved.

This makes sense, however, there is also Gabriel's statement that this will be used to stick it to Reagan somehow. I'm waiting to see how they can do that.

I didn't think he was upset, it looked to me like he was processing his emotions, in a "so that's what it feels like!" kind of way. I don't think he saw Elizabeth kill the lady anyway. Ha, now there's an idea! Stan has actually tried (and failed) with pretty much every female character save for Elizabeth, he should totally go for Martha. Maybe he can buy some Milky Ways and get Zinaida for a threesome, too.

No kidding, that guy is sharp! Question, why did Stan specifically refer to him as "a black guy" when he was talking to Philip? What does that have to do with anything? Casual racism? It worked though, didn't it? I was actually thinking that if Philip ever needed to be in drag, he could totally pull it off. I loved the South African operation. Fast-paced, perfect music (unexpectedly), the way everybody was on the same page, including the ANC guy who shoved the student into the van. The fact that the South African operative was prepared for anything (btw, did the woman Elizabeth shot have an accent? Was she not a random bystander but the South African guy's support?). And Hans! Hans was terrific there, the actor was great, perfectly conveying the feelings of a newbie on his first real operation. Not sure how I feel about the pineapple-anchovies-pickles combo (that didn't actually seem to be on the pizza), I should try that. Loved the "You are not a part of this discourse, Paige" line and everybody's reaction to it.

But where is the crime? The banker guy says he has reason to believe I came in to rob the bank. Where's his proof? Where is any evidence that any of this is true? OK, suppose the bank records all their incoming calls. All we have is someone, not me, calling to say that I will rob the bank. It's like freaking Minority Report! What did I actually do other than come in looking angry, for which I actually do have an explanation? I think a good lawyer should be able to generate reasonable doubt there.

So you are saying that if I walk into a bank and someone hands me the key for whatever reason, it's pretty much enough to convict me for attempted robbery? Online banking it is then! The guy doesn't have to prove his innocence though, does he? It's the prosecution who have to prove he is guilty. And what do they have? Only that he was at the bank. There is no evidence that he was actually trying to rob the bank, other than the banker's word, and who knows why he thought what he thought? And why would the guy who had just opened a club (or a gym, or whatever it was he was promoting on Facebook) decide to walk in and rob a bank in full view of the cameras?

I'm pretty sure Red has lied to Lizzie, at least by omission. He never said anything about his own interests in Uzbekistan, for example, just made it sound like there is a valid case for the FBI to go in (I think, I don't remember anymore). The most we can possibly say is that we haven't seen him lie to her - that's hardly evidence that he doesn't. The very example of him telling her he is not her father may very well be a lie we don't know about.

How did anybody ever believe the PoI's framings? I don't see how the guy framed in the bank can get convicted if he gets a half-decent lawyer. He says he came to the bank because someone called him and told to come. The bank guy says someone called him and said the accused is coming in, give him the keys to the vault. Phone records show that both calls were made from the same number. The accused himself never said anything about robbing the bank - if the banker's memory is not clear on that, there's the security cameras footage where you can see the accused's body language, at least. Good luck with that, prosecutors. Same with the PoI's final plan. I'm gonna kill myself, gunpowder residue, pictures on the walls that Morris apparently put up in the last couple of days after having been released from prison. Never mind that there is a message from the brother (that the brother never sent) telling Morris to go to the botanical garden. And the clincher - Harold, just say that he did it, okay? And what if Harold says no, what happens then?

I think you also have to consider whether this physical characteristic actually hurts your well-being. If you dislike someone for something that has no bearing on your happiness, then yes, definitely, it's prejudice. If Hayley's voice register actually hurts Blair's ears? I'm not so sure.

Ah yes, it does make more sense. So is there a reason he was telling the nurse that Beth is real? I just don't know how delirium works, do people say things that are really in their subconscious and are important to them, or is it generally random and meaningless? If it's not random things and Andy is really talking to Haley and trying to convince her that Beth is real, what does it mean? If he is into Haley, why is he talking about Beth? And if he is not into Haley, why does he care to convince her about Beth?

What is Madeleine's story again? I couldn't remember who she was, only a vague recollection of Red telling her about the fire (if that was her, which I'm not 100% sure). Does anybody know if Neo-Nazis really can walk around in Germany with SS symbols tattooed in visible places? I thought something like that was a much bigger no-no in Germany than anywhere else. I didn't quite understand the economics of Red's bounty either. I thought the guy said the bounty was 14 million, and yet he bid 18 million. I suppose he hates Red so much he can cover the difference out of his own pocket. Maybe she is angling for more material things out of him than just an apartment.

The Beth Israel thing made no sense. Andy thinks his insurance requires him to get treatment on the East Coast?

WTF was that phone call? How is it at all what people in Tom and Lizzie's situation would do? Lizzie is really dense. All that psychobabble she laid on Red may very well apply to him, but he was not telling her that he doesn't want her to try to help him again. He was telling her not to risk getting herself killed. You can't really derive "you are damaged and cannot accept help from other people" from that. My absolute favorite moment of the episode: Lizzie punching random numbers into the lock on Red's cell and being really surprised that the lock is not opening. And demanding from Red "What is the combination?"

Maybe it was general knowledge, I'm picturing the old KGB grapevine and such. Seriously though, if she did run, I assume there might have been some investigation and someone (Claudia?) might have told Philip about her escape and asked him whether he knew anything. Maybe that's why he is not in trouble for knowing, Gabriel just doesn't know that Philip knew about it in advance. And if Irina did, in fact, tell Philip the truth about her plans, maybe she told him the truth about the son too, after all.

I'm sure the KGB got Irina to tell them about her talk with Philip, that's how Gabriel knows that Philip knew of her plans.

I think that the plan is to expose the CIA as the entity planning a terrorist attack in order to discredit the anti-apartheid movement, which is pretty bad from any possible angle. "Breaking" Reagan is probably more a figure of speech, of course, I don't think Gabriel is hoping to remove him from power over this, but this can seriously damage Reagan's standing in the eyes of the world and within the US as well. Tons! There's been a major development this week - the classified files have been removed from the mailbot (or whatever that thing is called). Next week, Aberholt will optimize indoor plant watering schedule. My guess is, they are hoping to use the info to disrupt the material assistance the CIA is providing to the mujaheddin. If the KGB learns concrete info about supply routes, for example, or even individual weapons shipments, they could do something about that. So Paige is going to start proselytizing now? That's going to be annoying. I wonder why she hasn't tried to convert Henry at all yet, or peak his interest in God or anything like that.

I've got to remember this trick - if you have to explain something away, it's very useful to include "and some other stuff" in the list of reasons because it can be turned into absolutely anything later on when you've had time to think what this "other stuff" can be. Philip didn't even know his long lost son was real and certainly didn't think of him when he used the "and some other stuff" line on Kimmie! Fantastic job by Julia Garner, the actress who plays Kimmie, in that scene and throughout the season so far. This show really knows how to get amazing actors.

I don't know. The Salang tunnel fire happened on Nov 3, Brezhnev died on Nov 10, and this episode takes place at least a few days after Brezhnev's death. I thought at first that maybe the fire was not discovered and reported on in the West until a few weeks after it had happened (that is, until the time of this episode), but no, apparently it was reported as early as Nov 9. (The article is a very interesting read, btw.) It has to be that what Philip is listening to on BBC and watching on TV are not the first instances he is hearing about it then. I was wondering where the video footage of the fire came from, the one that is playing on TV when Philip and Kimmie are stoned at her house. Could it have come from a Western reporter on the scene? I would think (and the NY Times article states so, too) that reporters would not be allowed to send it out, even if they happened to be able to film it in the first place. Stock footage of some unrelated fire?

No, me too. Possibly because I have no firsthand experience with FitBIt, but my thought process would have been "So, I won a glorified step-counter? yay..."

Wait, was it a year's worth of food or a year's worth of deliveries (of groceries you have to pay for)? If it's the former, then I'd start working on my (new) weekly grocery list: "lobster, champagne, truffles, Kobe beef... caviar..."

Or Martha catches Philip with Kimmie, shoots her, goes to jail for that - and Philip is free! Well, free-er.

Nope, this was it. Why would she need a whole episode to turn into a professor? What, like it's hard. She's a PROFILER! It took her two seconds, right after the guy said "Action!" And her qualifications are not logic-based, apparently. I laughed and laughed when Red suggested that perhaps, just maybe, the Deer Hunter is a woman, and Lizzie offered a brilliant and convincing rebuttal consisting of nothing more than "I disagree!" Disagree with what, that it cannot be ruled out that it's a woman? Disagree just because some serial killers with similar MO have been men? Those students are in good hands.

Or he is not into urgency of any kind. He seems just that kind of a guy - biding his time, not rushing to do even things he knows he needs or wants. I know, it's awesome! She clearly bugs him for some reason, and he barely hides it. And she is definitely smart enough to pick up on that. This is going to be entertaining. I watched both episodes today, and I am surprised to say that this is working for me so far. Everybody is likable, challenges are fun enough, the blind date teams are really just running the race and not really trying to form a romantic bond as I feared they would. I don't even mind Phil asking them about love and stuff - I know he doesn't mean it, so I choose to think he is simply ribbing them.

If one decides to kill an FBI agent after knocking her out with a shovel, shouldn't there be a better way than hauling the unconscious body away, hoisting her up and making a mess of one's own basement? I mean, the shovel is still in your hand, why not use it again right then and there? Not as creepy, but efficient. I like the detective investigating the harbor master murder, he seemed like a normal, three-dimensional person.

You know, I really think I would love to see something like that. There is sort of a real life precedent, a story of a US pilot shot down over Yugoslavia and how he tracks down and becomes friends with the Serb officer who shot him down. This could really be done well. Depends on whether Elizabeth is in it for the ideology or for the Motherland. You are probably right, she is more of an ideologue than a patriot. It is funny, Philip and Elizabeth got sent to the US in what, the early 60s, and they (or, at least, Elizabeth) still think that way, conserved in time, if you will. In the 80s, most people in the Soviet Union could not care less about the ideology and the promises of this great future anymore. You can kind of see it in the rezidentura - those people, having come from the USSR recently enough, are just doing a job, not necessarily believing. But Elizabeth is thinking like it's still 1953.