S03.E01: EST Men

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Tensions simmer between Philip and Elizabeth as they disagree over handling orders from the Centre. When Elizabeth loses key intel, Philip enlists Annelise on a mission with an unexpected outcome. Stan tries a new approach to mending his marriage with Sandra amidst learning tough news about Nina.

[kris4n6]

Ok, why the hell didn't she take the blonde wig off?  I mean, I guess otherwise there would be no fight between her and the FBI, but that made no sense whatsoever.  They never would have stopped her at all without the blonde wig.

[AimingforYoko]

Poor Gaad, doesn't he know he's too old for this shit?

 

I was just thinking Annelise had matured into her role, then she blows her cover and pays the ultimate price. Phillip turned those lemons into lemonade though.

[shura]

I forgot, did they ever explain why Swedish Intelligence would be interested in the CIA-ISI interactions? Or did Annelise never ask herself this question?

 

Stan never stood a chance, did he? Lie, tell the truth - it's all the same to Sandra. 

[Primetimer]

Season 3 of The Americans opens with Elizabeth and Philip on opposite sides of the whole 'recruiting their child to become a spy like them'...thing.

Read the story

[benteen]

Very good episode.  Low-key but very good.  An excellent collection of scenes.

 

Frank Langella is a great addition to his show and I thought his scene with Phillip and Elizabeth was great.  Great, brutal fight scene in the beginning.  Kind of surprised to see Gaad out in the field like that but I guess he learned his lesson.  Nice to see Richard Thomas upgraded to series regular.  Liked the interaction between Oleg and the chief (can never remember his name).  I even liked the Stan and Martha shooting range scene.

 

I take it Sandra has moved in with someone because no way could she afford a house like that.

Edited January 29, 2015 by benteen

[Irlandesa]

Ok, why the hell didn't she take the blonde wig off?  I mean, I guess otherwise there would be no fight between her and the FBI, but that made no sense whatsoever.  They never would have stopped her at all without the blonde wig.

I bet she has a wig cap underneath the wig and it's attached with bobby pins or worse like staples/glue.  I remember Philip taking off his wig last year and it was connected by something heavy duty.  It wasn't as simple as just whipping off the wig and walking around with a wig cap would look even more suspicious. 

 

Plus, we don't know why she was stopped. They didn't really look like they were suspicious of her.  They may have wanted to ask her if they had seen a woman in a red coat with shoulder-length blond hair. 

 

Clark and his wife recreating some tantric sex position was hilarious.  I also loved how Stan's wife pretty much called him out on his BS claim of liking EST. 

 

It was a rather low key episode but the time flew. 

[crgirl412]

I wish we had seen Philip and Elizabeth's reaction to the Brezhnev death announcement in this episode.  Poor Annaliese.  RIP.  Yes, Philip took his sweet old time getting to her!  I think he thought he can move things along faster with Yousef with her out of the picture. 

[Superpole2000]

It feels a little aimless right now. Each of the scenes is well done, but I worry the story arc is getting repetitive...or just isn't very compelling.

[Umbelina]

The red coat was obviously inside once she faced them. 

 

I could almost buy the wig issues, but why not get off the street?  Tons of buildings around there, and she could have called a taxi or someone to pick her up.  Or hotwire a car.  Something.  This show usually doesn't have misses like that. 

 

Nice recap Tara!

[Blakeston]

After Stan heard the other agents talk about finding a woman with a jaw injury, I had a hard time interpreting the look on his face. It looked like he might have been thinking about Elizabeth's jaw injury - or maybe he was still focused entirely on Nina.

 

I bet she has a wig cap underneath the wig and it's attached with bobby pins or worse like staples/glue.  I remember Philip taking off his wig last year and it was connected by something heavy duty.  It wasn't as simple as just whipping off the wig and walking around with a wig cap would look even more suspicious. 

 

Plus, we don't know why she was stopped. They didn't really look like they were suspicious of her.  They may have wanted to ask her if they had seen a woman in a red coat with shoulder-length blond hair. 

 

 

Also, I think the FBI people probably know they're looking for spies who are very good with disguises. I don't think they'd let a different hair color stop them from questioning a woman of that height walking away from the bar. And letting herself be seen without any kind of disguise could be very dangerous. (Especially if Stan was there, or he saw a sketch of the woman they encountered.)

[chocolatine]

So was the CIA woman genuinely going to commit treason and then flip-flopped immediately afterwards, or was the whole thing a setup? I find it hard to believe that she just incriminated herself like that; that would have had *serious* implications for her.

 

I thought Gaad had seen sketches of Elizabeth before with the exact same wig (late S1 maybe?), so letting him live will probably come back to bite her.

 

The Gabriel guy is a previous and now again current handler, yes? I already like him more than Kate, but I still miss Granny. The look on Phillip's face as Elizabeth was telling Gabriel about the sneaky ways she's getting closer to Paige was priceless.

 

The Mujahideen of 30+ years ago seem downright civil with their execution style compared to today's Islamic State. Still, I was surprised by Oleg's outburst that the only solution would be to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan.

 

Annet Mahendru is still in the credits, so I hope the treason verdict is not the last we hear about Nina.

 

Elizabeth listening to tapes of her mother always breaks my heart. "You were so cute when you waited for me to come home from work as a little girl. Oh, and I have terminal leukemia." Damn.

 

Phillip totally let Annaliese die, didn't he? I mean, he could tell that something went wrong, but he chose not to interfere right away.

 

ETA: I know Elizabeth has always been conflicted about motherhood, and has her own special method of child-rearing, but throwing scared little Paige into the pool was just brutal. I'm sure there was a collective gasp from the other parents.

Edited January 29, 2015 by chocolatine

[Umbelina]

Of course, since it’s 1982, someone else is breathing his last: Leonid I.Brezhnev, the Soviet leader who extinguished so many lights — crushing Prague Spring in 1968; imposing martial law to silence Solidarity in Poland; and authorizing the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. It will be interesting to see how the show handles his successor: Yuri Andropov, a former K.G.B. chief.

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/the-americans-recap-the-problem-with-paige/?_r=0

 

I totally forgot about Andropov.  This could be interesting! 

 

Good point about the wig possibilities, but I still felt like it was clunky.  Luckily, that's a first for me on this show, so I am really looking forward to next week.

 

ETA

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Philip wanted her dead at this point. 

 

I think the CIA woman was genuine, then did have remorse.  I don't remember her from last year, so maybe we just haven't seen Elizabeth develop her?  Or DID we see her before?

Edited January 29, 2015 by Umbelina

[bentley]

I was shocked by the Nina revelation. I totally believed that the events of last season's finale were part of a master plot to play Stan and the FBI somehow, I figured one of this season's themes would be Vengeance: The Return of Nina...  Instead looks like Nina's Russian lover will have to beg Nina's American lover for help in saving her. This could be interesting, I guess, but I liked it better when I thought Nina was in control of her own destiny.

 

I'm fearful of Martha's newfound marksmanship.  

 

Stan has a lot of random observations and clues floating around in his head. If he ever stops to put them all together, Elizabeth and Phillip are in big trouble.

[90PercentGravity]

Poor Phillip. Honey dicking all those women must get exhausting.

 

 

I forgot, did they ever explain why Swedish Intelligence would be interested in the CIA-ISI interactions? Or did Annelise never ask herself this question?

 

Stan never stood a chance, did he? Lie, tell the truth - it's all the same to Sandra. 

I can't figure out why he even wants her back. She's so insufferable.

[VCRTracking]

"Goodnight.... John-Boy!" *pistol whip*.

 

I don't know what's scarier, Martha learning how to shoot properly or her new interest in the Kama Sutra.

 

I said it when I saw the trailer Paige's new hair looks great for a young Christian in the early 80s!

 

RIP Annalise. Another poor pawn in the game.

Edited January 29, 2015 by VCRTracking

[Umbelina]

Stan never stood a chance, did he? Lie, tell the truth - it's all the same to Sandra.

Well, her husband WAS having an affair, and in love with another woman.  She has a point.  He's endlessly lying to her, and they had no connection left, other than a wedding ring and kids.  Nina's gone, so NOW he wants her back?  She may not know the details, but she knows he checked out.

 

Unlike Philip, Stan's infidelity was emotional, not just physical or for the job.

 

Is Stan long for this world?  He's going to see that sketch of Elizabeth soon, and her features, wig or no wig, are pretty distinctive.

 

The quote is from shura, can't fix the tag, sorry. 

Edited January 29, 2015 by Umbelina

[BW Manilowe]

So was the CIA woman genuinely going to commit treason and then flip-flopped immediately afterwards, or was the whole thing a setup? I find it hard to believe that she just incriminated herself like that; that would have had *serious* implications for her.

I thought Gaad had seen sketches of Elizabeth before with the exact same wig (late S1 maybe?), so letting him live will probably come back to bite her.

The Gabriel guy is a previous and now again current handler, yes? I already like him more than Kate, but I still miss Granny. The look on Phillip's face as Elizabeth was telling Gabriel about the sneaky ways she's getting closer to Paige was priceless.

The Mujahideen of 30+ years ago seem downright civil with their execution style compared to today's Islamic State. Still, I was surprised by Oleg's outburst that the only solution would be to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan.

Annet Mahendru is still in the credits, so I hope the treason verdict is not the last we hear about Nina.

Elizabeth listening to tapes of her mother always breaks my heart. "You were so cute when you waited for me to come home from work as a little girl. Oh, and I have terminal leukemia." Damn.

Phillip totally let Annaliese die, didn't he? I mean, he could tell that something went wrong, but he chose not to interfere right away.

ETA: I know Elizabeth has always been conflicted about motherhood, and has her own special method of child-rearing, but throwing scared little Paige into the pool was just brutal. I'm sure there was a collective gasp from the other parents.

Yes, Gabriel is an old handler of Elizabeth & Phillip's who's handling them again. His backstory (that we know from previous seasons) is that he was their 1st handler when they came to the US. At some point, he retired (this happened offscreen) & was replaced by Claudia (aka Granny)--while introducing herself to either Phillip or Phillip & Elizabeth both, Claudia actually said something like, "Think of me as Gabriel, only prettier.", in regards to her position in their lives. But Phillip &/or Elizabeth would still speak of Gabriel periodically in S1 & S2 (I think it was mainly instances of how he would've helped them with/handled certain situations in comparison to Claudia & Kate's methodology), even while Claudia (& I think Kate) was their handler.

Claudia was then replaced (at least briefly) by Kate (when Margo Martindale got a better than recurring role in The Millers on CBS & her availability for the recurring Claudia role here was lessened), & now Kate seems to have been replaced by the newly-unretired Gabriel. So Phillip & Elizabeth have come full circle, for now at least, on their handlers.

[albaniantv]

Don't think this episode was so low key: Elizabeth was seriously beaten up, Martha is loading for bear, "Scott's" trainee was strangled and someone, maybe even Gaad, could have retrieved the list Elizabeth lost, presumably in the full on fight. If the FBI or CIA does have the list, I assume Elizabeth's prints would be on it?

 

Wonder if Elizabeth will try to sneak home for a visit or barter (Paige) to get her mother out of the USSR to see her. When Elizabeth (or any agent) was younger or untested, the KGB might have kept the mother there as insurance. But now that both Elizabeth and Philip have been so thoroughly tested, maybe the mother could be liberated for an American visit (and treatment?). Otherwise, I don't see why they introduce the drama of the mother being fatally ill?

 

I think Nina will survive this season somehow, perhaps Oleg's father will take pity. But can't quite see a long term future for her --neither side would trust her again.

[scrb]

Wonder what was tougher for Stan.

 

Keep himself from crying when he heard Nina was convicted?

 

Or keep himself from laughing when he saw John Boy's busted-up face from the 5'3" assailant?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

How old was Elizabeth when she started her training? 16? The massive side eye that Phillip was giving Elizabeth when she talked to Gabriel about Paige was epic!

 

Ha, Martha and Clark with the kama sutra book was hilarious.

 

It's hard to me to feel bad for Stan when he was the one having an affair with Nina. I know he would claim it was part of the job, but he got emotionally involved with her. And let's be honest - he really didn't have to start sleeping with her. He wanted to. As much as I loathe all the EST stuff, I can't blame his wife for having an epiphany and leaving him and then getting mad at him in this episode for lying about how great he thought EST was and then telling her it was a bunch of crap. Girl, just be glad that you are rid of this idiot.

 

The good thing about Sandra being out of the picture is that Stan on his own is not going to be throwing big barbeques or parties at his house which means it's much less likely that his boss will run into Elizabeth.

 

I don't think that Phillip deliberately let Anneliese die. I think he was trying to make sure that what he was hearing was more than just sex noises before he busted in and blew her cover. Once he heard the lamp crash, he ran to the door and picked the lock to get in. While I feel bad for her, that was a stupid move on her part.

[Chaos Theory]

Ok, why the hell didn't she take the blonde wig off? I mean, I guess otherwise there would be no fight between her and the FBI, but that made no sense whatsoever. They never would have stopped her at all without the blonde wig.

They've showed previously that the wigs are put in pretty tight and pretty well which is why they don't come off in a fight or during sex or when spending the night at your mistresses/secret wife's house. Taking the wig of is not just a matter of pulling it off and throwing it in the garbage. There are pins and needles and tape and stuff.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[soapfaninnc]

 

 

ETA: I know Elizabeth has always been conflicted about motherhood, and has her own special method of child-rearing, but throwing scared little Paige into the pool was just brutal. I'm sure there was a collective gasp from the other parents.

 

 

I thought it summed up her character perfectly. Unless she shows some more growth, she's all about the most expedient way of doing things. I wonder if its because she's shut down all her personal feelings in her rabid devotion to her 'cause' that she doesn't acknowledge that any one else has feelings. I don't like her. Never have. I mean, she doesn't stop to think their fellow undercover agents were murdered by their own kid when he found out they were spies. Maybe Paige won't take it as well as she thinks and will flip out on her or run away? 

 

Phillip angry is still scary as hell. But his softening when Elizabeth told him about her mother is the reason that I find his character tons more interesting than Elizabeth. 

 

I really hoped Nina would be saved. I thought Oleg was going to kill Stan. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ok, why the hell didn't she take the blonde wig off? I mean, I guess otherwise there would be no fight between her and the FBI, but that made no sense whatsoever. They never would have stopped her at all without the blonde wig.

They've showed previously that the wigs are put in pretty tight and pretty well which is why they don't come off in a fight or during sex or when spending the night at your mistresses/secret wife's house. Taking the wig of is not just a matter of pulling it off and throwing it in the garbage. There are pins and needles and tape and stuff.

I wear wigs to perform and even though I'm sure they're not nearly as secure on my head as they are on Elizabeth's, I use at least ten bobby pins to secure it so that it doesn't go flying off my head. There is no way I could just yank it off my head. Even once I get the bobby pins out and the wig off, there is a wig cap underneath and once I get that off, my hair is in braids or ponytails underneath the wig cap and the braids/ponytails are pinned to my head to make them as flat as possible so that's another ten bobby pins. Elizabeth has pretty long hair so she would definitely have to secure her hair underneath the wig too. You don't just leave your hair all loose (unless you have super short hair) and throw a wig on top without any pins. For me, it's at least a five minute process to get a wig off.

[shura]

Frank Langella! Well, that explains it. I kept wondering why Alan Arkin looks so thin in this role.

 

I can't blame his wife for having an epiphany and leaving him and then getting mad at him in this episode for lying about how great he thought EST was and then telling her it was a bunch of crap.

 

Oh, no argument there. It was just funny how at first Sandra was like "Oh, Stan, wrong answer. If only you were honest...", and when he went for the supposedly better answer, she was all "Ha, nope! Still don't care."

 

Does that Kama Sutra pose really work? I mean, they were basically hopping on one leg while holding the other in the air. That's not easy to do for any extended period of time! And what was with the hands up, palms facing forward? How is that supposed to enhance anything?

[RedHawk]

Elizabeth listening to tapes of her mother always breaks my heart. "You were so cute when you waited for me to come home from work as a little girl. Oh, and I have terminal leukemia." Damn.

 

Do you understand Russian or were you seeing subtitles that somehow I didn't get? I was surprised not to have subtitles as Elizabeth listened to the tape and though I understand a little Russian couldn't follow what her mom was saying. 

 

Frank Langella! Well, that explains it. I kept wondering why Alan Arkin looks so thin in this role.

 

 

I thought it was Alan Arkin, too! And wondered if he was ill. 

[SmoothCriminal]

The Americans is one of my favourite shows and I'm so glad it's finally back on!

 

The first 10 minutes of the premiere certainly raised the stakes right from the start. The fight scene was great and now the FBI has a new scetch/description to go on. I would be seriously disapointed if Stan doesn't put the pieces together over the course of this season. From what I've read online though, some viewers think that Elizabeth beating the crap out of 2 guys was unrealistic. I don't think so! She totally got the drop on them, used the element of surprise and took out Gaad right away. When the other guy had her in a choke hold, she smartly used the oncoming motorcycle to her advantage. Overall, I thought the opening sequence was well done.

 

The FBI getting a new defector could be really interesting, too. I think the US-Canada Institute might be where Directorate S agents learn how to speak English and fit into american/canadian society so perfectly. If that's true, the FBI is gonna get some really interesting insights into the KGBs training process.

 

Martha knowing how to use a gun is not gonna end well. For her that is. She is probably gonna point that thing at Clark sooner or later and end up getting herself killed.

 

Who was the guy Elizabeth was teaching countersurveillance? I couldn't place his accent. That scene felt rather random to me and it didn't give us any explanation of what this is even about. I am interested to see the whole recruitment and training process, but I would much rather see it play out with Paige than with some other character.

 

Hopefully we'll get to see Nina next week!

[sistermagpie]

Phillip totally let Annaliese die, didn't he? I mean, he could tell that something went wrong, but he chose not to interfere right away.

 

 

I don't think he let her die at all. Choking didn't sound like anything--the lamp was the danger signal and he responded to that. There was nothing good for him in having a dead body to get rid of. He just improvised getting Yousef back under control using it. He couldn't jump the gun and blow everything if there wasn't a good reason. He's always going to try to hold on to it.

 

Wonder if Elizabeth will try to sneak home for a visit or barter (Paige) to get her mother out of the USSR to see her. When Elizabeth (or any agent) was younger or untested, the KGB might have kept the mother there as insurance. But now that both Elizabeth and Philip have been so thoroughly tested, maybe the mother could be liberated for an American visit (and treatment?). Otherwise, I don't see why they introduce the drama of the mother being fatally ill?

 

 

I think there's plenty of drama without Elizabeth having to get her mother to the US for treatment that probably wouldn't work there either. Her mother dying will make her think about their relationship, which basically ended when she was a few years older than Elizabeth is now. I think it's more about giving her something to react to and a reason to think about her mother as she decides what she should do as a mother. She can't do anything about her mother--it's all in her imagination.

 

I think the US-Canada Institute might be where Directorate S agents learn how to speak English and fit into american/canadian society so perfectly.

 

 

I thought it was a think tank. If it was DS I think they'd do more than just send her a message. There'd be no chance whatsoever of her being "safe" in the US (as Gaad said they were going to make a point of just reminding her). She'd have assassins gunning for her everywhere.

 

Who was the guy Elizabeth was teaching countersurveillance? I couldn't place his accent.

 

 

New recruit. I think South African. Let's see if she does better than the outcome of Lucia! Paige's recruitment is at a totally different stage so we wouldn't see this play out with her, especially now. This guy's already on board and, most importantly, he's basically an adult. I admit that to me Paige currently being trained as a spy would seem just way to YA novel to me: Ordinary girl who's totally helpless against larger forces but incredibly important to the world etc. 

 

Phillip angry is still scary as hell. But his softening when Elizabeth told him about her mother is the reason that I find his character tons more interesting than Elizabeth.

 

 

While I love all the info we get on Elizabeth sometimes I get frustrated that we get a lot of Elizabeth apologia with nothing about Philip. I mean, we've been filled in on a lot of formative experiences in her life, and presumably now we're getting more detail on her relationship with her mother. So whatever Elizabeth's doing we've always got these scenes to explain her thought process in case we would find it off-putting. Even here it's like--Gabriel brings Elizabeth a tape and Philip gets nothing, like there really are special rules for Elizabeth where she gets to keep her mom. Where as Philip just always has to react in the moment to what's immediately happening without any historical context. And yet in many ways he's the more contradictory character.

[attica]

There was a Frusen Gladje (the 'Swedish' ice cream Liz gives to Gabriel) shop near my first grown-up job. I always preferred it to Haagen Daz (its flavors were chip-and-nut-heavy, as opposed to straight ice cream), but it didn't survive as a brand very long. ::sad::

 

Philip sitting down so gingerly in his office chair made me laugh. Chafing's a bitch.

[Boundary]

So much tension! I waited months for this show to return and when I get to watch it I can't stand the tension, the suspense that Philip and Elizabeth could be caught by their daughter, by Stan, by the FBI, by Martha, by any of their targets. Hell, even by their travel agency employees. Maybe they should just get caught, the slow build up is so well done but it's fraying my nerves.

 

I still can't stand Clark and Martha scenes. Funny enough, I like her other scenes, so I don't want the character to go.

 

After Stan heard the other agents talk about finding a woman with a jaw injury, I had a hard time interpreting the look on his face. It looked like he might have been thinking about Elizabeth's jaw injury - or maybe he was still focused entirely on Nina.

 

He had Nina on his mind. I remember thinking at the time how much Nina has helped Philip and Elizabeth, just by scrambling Stan's mind. If he wasn't so focussed on her so much he might start to notice his suspicious neighbours.

 

Speaking of Nina, I actually thought the CIA intelligence about her was just misinformation to protect their cover story, until Arkady confirmed it. But how the hell is she going to come back?

Edited January 29, 2015 by Boundary

[Mozelle]

Does that Kama Sutra pose really work? I mean, they were basically hopping on one leg while holding the other in the air. That's not easy to do for any extended period of time! And what was with the hands up, palms facing forward? How is that supposed to enhance anything?

 

I couldn't stop giggling once that scene started. It was mainly because I thought, Of course Martha would want to try Kama Sutra. Of course. As for whether the pose works, having not tried it myself, I have to think that maybe standing up facing each other allows for more direct clitoral stimulation for Martha? I dunno. I have no theories about the palm situation that was happening, though. 

 

Watching the range of emotions pass over Philip's face as he listened to Elizabeth boast about how she was slowly grooming Paige for a role in "the struggle" was amazing. As someone above noted, Philip is scary as hell. Elizabeth is a bad ass, but there's always something simmering just beneath the surface with Philip that makes him more dangerous to me. 

 

 

 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

There was a Frusen Gladje (the 'Swedish' ice cream Liz gives to Gabriel) shop near my first grown-up job. I always preferred it to Haagen Daz (its flavors were chip-and-nut-heavy, as opposed to straight ice cream), but it didn't survive as a brand very long. ::sad::

Mr. EB started waxing nostalgic about Frusen Gladje after spotting it in this episode too. He then wondered if maybe it was still available outside of where we live. I love some of those smaller references on this show.

[SmoothCriminal]

New recruit. I think South African. Let's see if she does better than the outcome of Lucia! Paige's recruitment is at a totally different stage so we wouldn't see this play out with her, especially now. This guy's already on board and, most importantly, he's basically an adult. I admit that to me Paige currently being trained as a spy would seem just way to YA novel to me: Ordinary girl who's totally helpless against larger forces but incredibly important to the world etc.

 

 

 

 

The new guy sure is on board, the question is for what exactly? With Paige, I've gotten the impression that she is supposed to join a government agency and spy for the Soviet Union by copying files, spilling the beans on secret meetings or influencing policies and such. That would be a different job discription than a Directorate S officer. It means no honey trapping, going on super secret dangerous missions with the potential of getting caught or even killing people. Maybe that's how Elizabeth justifies wanting to recruit Paige. For a government job, she would need a good education and a pristine record, what Elizabeth wants for her daughter anyhow. With the added benefit that she potentially gets to indoctrinate Paige with the same ideals that she was indoctrinated with herself. It's the ideological part that I am interested in. The way I see it, it's a form of brain washing. How exactly do you get somebody so dedicated to a cause, they would betray the country they were born in for it? The show has hinted at this before, I just think it would be interesting to see the whole process in detail.

 

 

 

Phillip angry is still scary as hell. But his softening when Elizabeth told him about her mother is the reason that I find his character tons more interesting than Elizabeth.

While I love all the info we get on Elizabeth sometimes I get frustrated that we get a lot of Elizabeth apologia with nothing about Philip. I mean, we've been filled in on a lot of formative experiences in her life, and presumably now we're getting more detail on her relationship with her mother. So whatever Elizabeth's doing we've always got these scenes to explain her thought process in case we would find it off-putting. Even here it's like--Gabriel brings Elizabeth a tape and Philip gets nothing, like there really are special rules for Elizabeth where she gets to keep her mom. Where as Philip just always has to react in the moment to what's immediately happening without any historical context. And yet in many ways he's the more contradictory character.

 

 

Phillip is an extremely fascinating character and I'm frustrated at how little background information we get on him. I get the sense that, he is an orphan who grew up dirt poor. It would explain why his "family comes first" and why he loves that in the US "food is pretty great" and "electricity works all the time". Also, I am wondering if he has actual memories of the war. I am guessing he is a few years older than Elizabeth, who was born around 1940/1941. I really hope we get more flashbacks of Mischa this season. Or even some great little moments like the one in "The Deal", when Phillip and Elizabeth talked about icicles and winter in Russia.

 

 

[sistermagpie]

The new guy sure is on board, the question is for what exactly? With Paige, I've gotten the impression that she is supposed to join a government agency and spy for the Soviet Union by copying files, spilling the beans on secret meetings or influencing policies and such.

 

 

That's my impression as well. She'd still, I think, be trained in the basics of spywork but she wouldn't be like Elizabeth. She'd be more like Fred, probably. In some ways better than Elizabeth's life, but in other ways harder because she's betraying her country. It's a lonely life, either way. Elizabeth can probably rationalize that part of it because in her mind a) Paige is really Russian and b) loyalty to Russia is just loyalty to the right ideas of Communism. But if you look at it another way, who really wants their kid to grow up to be Kim Philby?

 

Also, I am wondering if he has actual memories of the war. I am guessing he is a few years older than Elizabeth, who was born around 1940/1941. I really hope we get more flashbacks of Mischa this season. Or even some great little moments like the one in "The Deal", when Phillip and Elizabeth talked about icicles and winter in Russia.

 

 

I think he and Elizabeth are supposed to be the same age. He's from Tobolsk so if he remembered the war it would be very different from her experience in Smolensk (maybe she would have been evacuated closer to him in that time, actually--not that I have much information on this AT ALL). I love that icicles scene--it's like the first moment we seem to really see the guy buried underneath all that. And he starts to tell that great story about getting jumped in the streets but gets interrupted and never finishes!

 

It's very hard not to think of him as an orphan because it really does seem to fit his personality--he's very family oriented, yet also seems very isolated (and chose to leave everyone he knew behind). Seems to constantly be reading other people for how he should act to fit in. Gets no tapes from Russia when Elizabeth does. 

[Chaos Theory]

Paige's job would be much different then Elizabeth's. She would most definitely need a clean record. Go to a good school. Marry the "right" guy and then turn him. Maybe even get a good job herself. It is still the 80s but Elizabeth can think Paige can a job in or near the CIA for the Centre and the Party.

[Constantinople]

As an Americans newbie, this was the first episode I've watched, there were a couple of items that seemed unusual to me.

 

That's not to say they were historically incorrect, just a little odd.

 

est:  It was still around in '82, but it seems a bit dated, though that might be the point given the location of the show and the characters involved.  It would be something I'd use to date a show in the 70s, but I may be a bit biased since I lived on the West Coast at the time.

 

Paige (the name): It's not unheard of for a 14 year old in 1982 to be named Paige, but I think of it more as a 90s name, and a quick check of the name's popularity confirmed this.  I would have thought spies would have given their daughter a more nondescript name, but perhaps it was a way to assert their individuality.

 

I apologize if these issues have been discussed ad nauseam in past seasons.

[attica]

One other thing: we can thank Frusen Gladje for introducing Oreo cookies into ice cream. Nobody did it before them; everybody jumped on the bandwagon after.

[sistermagpie]

Paige (the name): It's not unheard of for a 14 year old in 1982 to be named Paige, but I think of it more as a 90s name, and a quick check of the name's popularity confirmed this.  I would have thought spies would have given their daughter a more nondescript name, but perhaps it was a way to assert their individuality.

 

 

I would guess that as long as the name isn't Russian they'd feel free to name her whatever they wanted. It's not a new name--I knew people Paige's age who were named Paige. They probably wouldn't be expected to go completely trendy on names, since naming is very individual in the US. It is, imo, a pretty nondescript name, it's just classic rather than trendy. 

 

And then that's an interesting point anyway: where did they get it? It's not like Elizabeth would have been eagerly looking up every English name she could find, so she may have discovered it somewhere and vetted it because she liked it into something Elizabeth Jennings would name her daughter. So she wouldn't be just another Jennifer in the class.

[chocolatine]

Do you understand Russian or were you seeing subtitles that somehow I didn't get?

 

 

Russian's my first language, so I don't need subtitles. I read them at first, but became frustrated with the inaccuracies and stopped reading them. I did notice that there were no subtitles when Elizabeth listened to her mother's tape.

 

Phillip is an extremely fascinating character and I'm frustrated at how little background information we get on him. I get the sense that, he is an orphan who grew up dirt poor. It would explain why his "family comes first" and why he loves that in the US "food is pretty great" and "electricity works all the time".

 

 

It's very hard not to think of him as an orphan because it really does seem to fit his personality--he's very family oriented, yet also seems very isolated (and chose to leave everyone he knew behind). Seems to constantly be reading other people for how he should act to fit in. Gets no tapes from Russia when Elizabeth does.

 

 

I thought he was an orphan too. I seem to remember that he mentioned it when he and Elizabeth first started telling each other about their past lives. I can't imagine how horrific it must have been to grow up in a Russian orphanage during and right after the war. Those places are still horrific now.

 

BW Manilowe, thank you for jogging my memory about Gabriel!

Edited January 29, 2015 by chocolatine

[Ellaria]

I still can't stand Clark and Martha scenes. Funny enough, I like her other scenes, so I don't want the character to go.

 

He had Nina on his mind. I remember thinking at the time how much Nina has helped Philip and Elizabeth, just by scrambling Stan's mind. If he wasn't so focussed on her so much he might start to notice his suspicious neighbours.

 

Speaking of Nina, I actually thought the CIA intelligence about her was just misinformation to protect their cover story, until Arkady confirmed it. But how the hell is she going to come back?

 

I've been binge-watching the past two seasons and am now finally caught up.

 

I, too, can't stand the Clark/Martha scenes (especially sex scenes) but I don't dislike Martha. Her inability (or unwillingness) to see that Clark is playing her makes me want to scream. Of course, The Gun in the Drawer will come back into play. I hope that she uses it to get some measure of revenge on Clark.

 

The new sketch of Elizabeth will hopefully jog something in Stan's brain. I need more scenes of him snooping around the Jennings' garage. He has become a conflicted sad sack; he needs his motivation restored.

 

No idea how Nina comes back into the show. It seemed that Oleg's father was unwilling or unable to help.

[sistermagpie]

I thought he was an orphan too. I seem to remember that he mentioned it when he and Elizabeth first started telling each other about their past lives. I can't imagine how horrific it must have been to grow up in a Russian orphanage during and right after the war.

 

 

Nope, he actually didn't. Philip has the ability to leave people with the impression that he's shared something of himself when he's said absolutely nothing. It'd be interesting to see how many scenes there are where somebody makes a speech and Philip just listens in silence. 

 

But he does seem like an orphan, I agree. Even in the Gabriel scene he's more hesitant than Elizabeth, I think. He always needs Gabriel to draw him out rather than seeming at all confident about showing affection and having it returned--and Gabriel seems a lot like a father figure.

 

. I read them at first, but became frustrated with the inaccuracies and stopped reading them.

 

 

I get the impression that the subtitles are written first, and then given to a translator who then has some leeway to translate it into Russian. Which I think is a good thing--that way the person can write the scene as it would play out in Russian, adding little things that aren't strictly sticking to the English lines. I think it probably makes the scenes in Russian play much more organically and the language much more alive than someone trying to stick to exactly the way it was originally written. 

[Marianne]

 

est:  It was still around in '82, but it seems a bit dated, though that might be the point given the location of the show and the characters involved.  It would be something I'd use to date a show in the 70s, but I may be a bit biased since I lived on the West Coast at the time

FWIW, in 1980 I lived in the midwest and I knew a guy, a professional, who along with his wife had just discovered EST and who thought it was transforming.  He's the only person I ever knew who was into EST.

[chocolatine]

No idea how Nina comes back into the show. It seemed that Oleg's father was unwilling or unable to help.

 

 

Definitely unwilling. Oleg said he'd begged his father, but the father told him that political connections shouldn't be used for personal gains. Which is hilarious given that the Soviet Union had one of the most corrupt governments in history.

 

Nope, he actually didn't. Philip has the ability to leave people with the impression that he's shared something of himself when he's said absolutely nothing. It'd be interesting to see how many scenes there are where somebody makes a speech and Philip just listens in silence.

 

 

You're right, now that I think about it. Though I still think that if he'd had a family growing up, he'd have made at least a passing reference to them.

 

I get the impression that the subtitles are written first, and then given to a translator who then has some leeway to translate it into Russian. Which I think is a good thing--that way the person can write the scene as it would play out in Russian, adding little things that aren't strictly sticking to the English lines. I think it probably makes the scenes in Russian play much more organically and the language much more alive than someone trying to stick to exactly the way it was originally written.

 

 

That makes sense. I do think that the Russian dialogue is always superbly written.

[crgirl412]

Claudia (Granny) is back too at some point so I wonder if Gabriel goes back to the USSR or dies or they have two handlers. 

 

I thought the guy that Elizabeth was training sounded British but South African could work too. 

 

Very curious about Charlotte as well!!  Isn't she going to be in jail for passing info to the USSR given that she told on herself?  When was she developed by Elizabeth?  Did I miss something here??  I wish they would stick with fleshing out people/story lines before starting so many new ones.  I really want to see Elizabeth's friendship with the lady from AA who works for FBI/CIA/?? before I see a new storyline with her and another female friend.  

 

If the Center were smart they would bring in a teenage boy who was "all in" and have him develop Paige.  We women can do crazy things for love!  Jared would've been a good choice since he was "all in" but perhaps he was only because Kate "honey-potted" him.  Or did she?  He was a teenager and she an adult so did Leeann and husband lay the ground work and she sealed the deal?  Maybe we don't know.     

 

I'm musing aloud on here at this point. :)     

[Mrs peel]

Ok, why the hell didn't she take the blonde wig off?  I mean, I guess otherwise there would be no fight between her and the FBI, but that made no sense whatsoever.  They never would have stopped her at all without the blonde wig.

Others have answered the wig question, but my complaint about that scene was, unless they were already watching the CIA woman, how did they get to the restaurant so fast?  She calls CIA, they get in touch with the FBI - this all takes time.  Never mind that I wonder if the CIA would call the FBI at all, v. going there themselves (and yes, I know the CIA is not supposed to take action within the US).

I take it Sandra has moved in with someone because no way could she afford a house like that.

She said last season she was moving in the guy she met in EST.  Didn’t EST start on the west coast?  I can see conservative DC being slow to embrace it.

With the added benefit that she potentially gets to indoctrinate Paige with the same ideals that she was indoctrinated with herself. It's the ideological part that I am interested in. The way I see it, it's a form of brain washing. How exactly do you get somebody so dedicated to a cause, they would betray the country they were born in for it? The show has hinted at this before, I just think it would be interesting to see the whole process in detail.

I can see where they are going with the “leftist” church, which Elizabeth hated so much in the beginning.  Add more about the Contras, the Iran Contra scandal coming up (at a crucial time for Paige as she’ll likely be in college), and if she’s anti-government she might take the bait if she knows her parents are actually Russian.  Many of the British spies of the 1960’s were recruited in the 1930/40’s, when the Nazis were taking power and before the worst of Stalin’s reign was known.  The British were starting to lose control of their third world colonies as people wanted the freedom offered in Britain itself.  I don’t know if the comparison to Vietnam, Iran Contra and other US activities (the Shah of Iran, I forget his name but the Phillipines dictator, etc) is strong enough, but it’s there to be made.  Stan is the other side of that though, he had a number of reasons to turn over the information (save his job in the immediate future, save Nina), but he wouldn’t turn traitor.

 

My problem with the grooming of Paige is that for any job requiring a high security clearance, I question how she would pass it.  Paige Jennings is who she is, actual US birth certificate, etc.  But her parents’ documents are fake, we know they aren’t even really married, obviously any relatives are fake.  Wouldn’t a serious investigation of her background bring this up?

New recruit. I think South African. Let's see if she does better than the outcome of Lucia!

Elizabeth didn’t recruit Lucia, she came in to help when Lucia ran into difficulty with the cocaine using boyfriend.  I’m struggling to understand why a radical left-wing white South African would be in the US with the KGB.   Maybe he’s just an American.  But also, why would Elizabeth be involved at all?  Her existence is supposed to be highly secret; it seemed odd she would be training him.

 

I thought the Afganistan scene in the Soviet Embassy was going to reveal that Oleg’s brother (the army captain) had died there. It would explain his attitude, though presumably he is also gaining information from daddy.

[sistermagpie]

He was a teenager and she an adult so did Leeann and husband lay the ground work and she sealed the deal?  Maybe we don't know.

 

 

Emmett and Leanne said no to the program. I think we can safely say Kate definitely honeypotted him. 

 

My problem with the grooming of Paige is that for any job requiring a high security clearance, I question how she would pass it.  Paige Jennings is who she is, actual US birth certificate, etc.  But her parents’ documents are fake, we know they aren’t even really married, obviously any relatives are fake.  Wouldn’t a serious investigation of her background bring this up?

 

 

According to some people who have had jobs with security clearance, yes she would probably pass. They wouldn't be searching into her parents' life. They'd just have records of her parents being responsible business owners for decades and her own life. 

 

Elizabeth didn’t recruit Lucia, she came in to help when Lucia ran into difficulty with the cocaine using boyfriend.

 

 

 

Yes, I know she didn't recruit her. I meant just that she was mentoring her.

[PinkRibbons]

Russian is my passive language and I don't get a lot of medical vocabulary, but I did get the general idea of what Nadia's Mother was saying -- first she reminisced about her daughter waiting for her to come home from work, then she said she wasn't feeling well, mentioned blood and a doctor (I had my mother listen to it just now and she said "cancer of the blood"), and that whatever she was diagnosed with had spread throughout her body. The doctor says that nothing can be done except to wait for the end.

 

My issue? In Russia they never gave people the real diagnosis if it was hopelessly fatal. Nadia's mother would have been told she had anemia or something and been spared the truth. I've checked with my parents; her being told she was dying at that time is on the edge of an impossible happening. I suspect the writers knew this (if they didn't their translators and consultants should definitely have informed them) and deliberately ignored it for Drama, which I can live with. In real life poor Elizabeth would just receive the very sudden news that her mother had died, sadly.

 

As for Philip, I have always subscribed to the theory that he is an orphan. There's one detail that contradicts it -- that he was sent to buy milk; an orphanage would have their milk delivered. I suspect he may have been orphaned or even abandoned when he was slightly older...all it would take was one care-giver with a serious drinking problem (who either drank themselves to death or wandered off), and goodness knows that wasn't exactly rare in the USSR. Or, (assuming his parents were alive after the war, when he perhaps would have been a little younger than Henry now) he could have been orphaned by a soldier who made it home after the war but not for long, he could have lost his mother to an illegal abortion, a new stepfather might have thrown him out of his house. He could have been raised partially by grandparents who died when he was small, etc. The list of ways a kid ended up in a Soviet orphanage is disturbingly long.

[crgirl412]

 

I can see where they are going with the “leftist” church, which Elizabeth hated so much in the beginning.  Add more about the Contras, the Iran Contra scandal coming up (at a crucial time for Paige as she’ll likely be in college), and if she’s anti-government she might take the bait if she knows her parents are actually Russian.

True.  But the problem is that it is not apples to apples in comparison at all- back then or now too.  Paige would really have no idea what she's really fighting for unless she was sent over for training which she won't be.  The long lines for food, the corruption, the brutality that regular citizens endure, are not what she thinks her parents are fighting for but in reality, they are as you take the good with the bad.  She thinks that she'll be fighting for social justice and anti-nukes in solidarity with the people over there who are living fairly similar lives. Hardly!  Yes, her parents will tell her about the poverty (USA's fault) but until she sees it then figures out that ordinary citizens don't really care about the Cold War, they just want to feed their kids and live better lives without so much hardship, she might not be so eager to be part of it.  Even today, the most uber liberal, socially justice minded, pro-socialism/pro-communism people are not living in poverty by any stretch and give their views from lovely studios/universities/homes to others who live the same way. 

 

They should send Paige to the real Motherland to live among the people then see what she thinks. 

[attica]

est:  It was still around in '82, but it seems a bit dated

 

I worked for a bunch of hard-core esties who wanted to recruit all their employees in '82. I didn't work for them past '82, but there were certainly lots of seminars to attend that year. (Coincidentally, the office was right around the corner from the Frusen Gladje store I mentioned above!) Not only were they esties, but also into rolfing and blood-type diets. And for all the focus on alternative health, every last one of 'em loved them some cocaine. Oh, the crackpottery was strong in that joint, lemme tell you.

Edited January 29, 2015 by attica

[Umbelina]

Philip plays the nicer one, the heart on his sleeve guy, more emotional, so less "character" development is needed for him.  Elizabeth is guarded, so we get these little tidbits to understand her a bit.  I think.

 

I think the Elizabeth mom story is because she IS now a mom, and facing similar choices.  Both had daughters about the same age with the KGB looming.

 

THANKS for the translation of the mom's tape you guys!