S04.E09: The Day After

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

"The Day After" premieres, making the stakes—and terrible consequences—of the Cold War plain. Even with that in mind, will Elizabeth be able to complete the painful process of the Patty operation?

Promo:

 

Edited May 5, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Umbelina]

Oh Elizabeth, I knew that porno video would be the ticking bomb.  I honestly don't get what her play is here though?  Unless she did get photos so someone else (Philip) can blackmail him?  That whole thing was disturbing.

Well, looks like the Pastor and his wife die in Africa after than little "we need to see where we are" to Philip.

Oleg, you really shouldn't be telling your daddy's secrets to spies, come on now buddy, you are smarter than that.

I honestly don't remember watching "The Day After" back then, but it was kind of cool seeing everyone in all their different places watching the same thing.  I do remember, but much later, reading about a few near misses from mistakes that nearly resulted in missile launches though. 

[AimingforYoko]

"I'm gonna miss her." OK, that was almost as hard to watch as the Philip operation with Kimmy. Only Don being an adult made it a little easier. And Philip knew it would actually be hard on Elizabeth inside to betray Young Hee, one of the few friends she's made in her life.

I'm actually old enough to have watched The Day After and it really was that big a deal.

[lulee]

I was so traumatized by The Day After as a child. I was like Paige Jr.

Notable that after all this time and all that's happened, Pastor Tim is still more perceptive (or maybe just not in denial) about Paige's mental state than her parents are.

[Primetimer]

A TV movie event -- remember those? -- has everyone in the greater D.C. area pondering how their choices may affect the world.

View the full article

[Umbelina]

Yeah, that was pretty sad, but I still don't get what this will accomplish, I'm sure we'll find out.

Wow at those previews, I was so shocked by the first one I missed the others, taking it to the spoiler thread if anyone has any information, or I am still not sure, is it OK to discuss them here?

[tennisgurl]

Wow, that scene of the whole cast watching The Day After, all looking varying degrees of horrified, was amazing. I am such a sucker for scenes of multiple people watching TV in different places and having the same experience (my favorite ever scene of Mad Men was when everyone watched the moon landing), and that was just amazing. Both sides equally chilled by what they were seeing. 

I wonder if Oleg is playing Tatiana, or if he is just jumping full on into this relationship with a new person, after Nina? I still do not trust Tatiana at all, especially when Oleg still sounds like he might not be dancing along to party politics 100%. 

Oh Elizabeth. She looked more devastated doing that than by pretty much anything else we have seen her do. 

Good call having Philip be the family driving teacher. Can you imagine Elizabeth teaching a teen how to drive? Oy.

I am glad we haven't seen Martha yet, because that means its more likely she made it to Moscow, but I would like to check on her at some point. Hopefully sipping a nice vodka with her hot new Russian boyfriend.

Funny hearing the Deautland 83 (another early 80s spy show about an undercover Soviet spy) theme song here. Between these two shows, I am really gaining a new appreciation for early 80s pop!  

[JennyMominFL]

That was good. So many things that  I remember. I wondered if they would address the almost nuclear war in Sept of 83.

I was traumatized by the Day After  but even more so by Threads.. The British equivilent.

[benteen]

"There are breaks?"  William rules.

Another excellent episode.  I had always heard about how intense The Day After was and the show really did a great job working a five-minute montage around it.

Poor Young Hee.  Of cours Elizabeth is too hardcore to not go through with it.

Poor Paige looks like she needs a booster seat to drive a car.  The scenes with her and Philip were fun.

[TimWil]

4 minutes ago, JennyMominFL said:

That was good. So many things that  I remember. I wondered if they would address the almost nuclear war in Sept of 83.

I was traumatized by the Day After  but even more so by Threads.. The British equivilent.

Oh God. Threads. Yes. Watched that via YouTube a few years ago and it was BRUTAL. Far more difficult to watch than The Day After. One of the characters in it is listed on imdb as Woman Who Urinates on Herself. Oy.

[Umbelina]

The other thing that I meant to mention is that the new FBI boss, with his uniforms and rules, is obviously behind the strict schedules of surveillance on William's group.  How stupid is that, and yet, how totally bureaucratically believable.  It will make meeting with William very easy from now one.

I like the William and Philip talks.

 

How many others have googled "The Day After?" 

Here it is:

Edited May 12, 2016 by Umbelina
to add video and because "day" isn't "morning"

[Chaos Theory]

Elizabeth blew up the one real friendship she ever had.  

Another excellent episode even though I didn't enjoy it as much as the past three.  I don't know maybe I miss Martha.  I did like seeing Philio and Stan play racketball again.  I dint think we have seen that since season one.  I am also interested in Stans new boss.

i was a little young to watch The Day After.  I was a teenager in the late 80s not the early 80s. I definetly was way too young to watch an intense movie like that.

Loved that Philip could be cool as a cucumber while doing the most dangerous of soy stuff but he was a nervousness father teaching Paige to drive.

Elizabeth hates being a travel agent.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[sistermagpie]

14 minutes ago, lulee said:

Notable that after all this time and all that's happened, Pastor Tim is still more perceptive (or maybe just not in denial) about Paige's mental state than her parents are.

I don't think he's more perceptive, exactly. She's a bad liar. Her parents know what's going on with her and what she's having to do. Of course they don't quite get it since compared to them she's barely doing anything, but they know why she's "burdened." (Though I wanted to point out to him she almost always looks like that.)

Her parents know why she's not having a good time at church anymore. Of course it wouldn't occur to him Paige is being forced to go to church!

I like how Philip tries to make all that seem normal, though. Like when he says, "You should go to that!" about the party as if it would be fun and she wants to go.

26 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

I'm actually old enough to have watched The Day After and it really was that big a deal.

I watched it too. I don't remember anybody being that freaked out by it. I mean, of course I believe people were--no movie like that isn't going to do that. But it never stood out to me as a big deal TV movie except that everyone said it was because it was about nuclear war. Maybe it was just being a disaffected teenager. When Paige said she'd rather go quick I remembered how my friends and I were all pleased that we were in a "fireball" zone where we'd be destroyed immediately. So I wanted to remind Paige she was too, being so close to DC.

[crgirl412]

It was an odd episode.  Darker.  More melancholy.  The sex scene with Oleg and Tatiana was even off- I thought he sounded injured.

Pastor Tim sees Paige as she is but P & E see what they want to.  

[ptuscadero]

Great episode. I actually felt pain for Elizabeth, losing her only friend. I was like, yeah, I'll miss her, too.

Still not clear on what she accomplished with the husband, though. Other than potential blackmail, but she'll probably never see him again, right?

I remember the somber atmosphere of watching The Day After, and how everyone talked about it for weeks. But I found Testament to be much more emotionally wrenching. Since it concentrated on the survival of a small town fairly far away from any blast site, we saw the gradual breakdown of society - and people's bodies - rather than witnessing any real physical damage. It was so depressing watching the characters face certain death with no defense or recourse at all, just trying to move forward with their lives and to create some sense of routine while everything crumbled around them.

[Umbelina]

I did love that Tatiana (that's her name right?) talked about her lack of privacy until all the other families left her family's apartment.

I picture Martha sharing an apartment with other families, or at the very least sharing a kitchen and bathroom with several, and only having a tiny room of her own. 

Tatiana and Oleg had vastly different upbringings, and I'm pretty sure she's going to rat him, AND his daddy out.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Umbelina

[sistermagpie]

6 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

Pastor Tim sees Paige as she is but P & E see what they want to.  

I really don't think that's the issue. Philip, like Paige, is trying desperately to be cheerful and smiley around Pastor Tim. So of course he's all, "She's better! Totally normal teen! What could be making her feel burdened? Have I told you guys how awesome it is being your travel agent? How 'bout that Jesus, amirite?" But he knows the pressure that Paige is under with him, even if he tries to put a happier face on it at home too. I think the point of that wasn't that Pastor Tim was telling Philip something about Paige that Philip was denying, but the far more threatening idea that Pastor Tim was seeing through Paige's "I'm just hanging around with you cause I love it like I always did!" act and therefore wants to sit down with her parents and talk about the fact that they're Russian spies and Tim might have to blow the whistle on them.

He was still sympathetic to Paige so gave her the treat with the car, but that's partly probably him gearing up for the upcoming meeting with Pastor Tim for which Paige will have to be prepped.

[JennyMominFL]

 I just realized that they used Deutschland 83's theme songs, Major Tom (Coming Home)

[gwhh]

Wow, that scene of the whole cast watching The Day After, all looking varying degrees of horrified, was amazing. I am such a sucker for scenes of multiple people watching TV in different places and having the same experience (my favorite ever scene of Mad Men was when everyone watched the moon landing), and that was just amazing. Both sides equally chilled by what they were seeing. 

I wonder if Oleg is playing Tatiana, or if he is just jumping full on into this relationship with a new person, after Nina? I still do not trust Tatiana at all, especially when Oleg still sounds like he might not be dancing along to party politics 100%. 

Oh Elizabeth. She looked more devastated doing that than by pretty much anything else we have seen her do. 

Good call having Philip be the family driving teacher. Can you imagine Elizabeth teaching a teen how to drive? Oy.

I am glad we haven't seen Martha yet, because that means its more likely she made it to Moscow, but I would like to check on her at some point. Hopefully sipping a nice vodka with her hot new Russian boyfriend.

Funny hearing the Deautland 83 (another early 80s spy show about an undercover Soviet spy) theme song here. Between these two shows, I am really gaining a new appreciation for early 80s pop!  

Elizabeth would take road rage to a whole new level.

[gwhh]

That was good. So many things that  I remember. I wondered if they would address the almost nuclear war in Sept of 83.

I was traumatized by the Day After  but even more so by Threads.. The British equivilent.

Threads was just brutal compared to the day after.

[Darrenbrett]

Another fantastic episode. 

While Elizabeth went through with her "mission", she obviously had grave misgivings about it. Once again, a little more ice came off the queen. Those damn things called "emotions" are creating all sorts of conflict in her.

I was pretty young when The Day After aired, but I do remember it. And I do remember a somber mood in our culture around it. I can also remember being a young teenager and feeling like nuclear war was a very real possibility - and with it the knowledge that it would not be small. If it happened it would be a civilization-changing event - because both sides had enough nukes to annihilate everyone a thousand times over - and both sides so gravely mistrusted the other.

Remember Sting's "Russians"? That's what we were left with: A hope that common humanity and love for family would save us from the oblivion knocking on the door. 

Edited May 12, 2016 by Darrenbrett

[gwhh]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

I did love that Tatiana (that's her name right?) talked about her lack of privacy until all the other families left her family's apartment.

I picture Martha sharing an apartment with other families, or at the very least sharing a kitchen and bathroom with several, and only having a tiny room of her own. 

Tatiana and Oleg had vastly different upbringings, and I'm pretty sure she's going to rat him, AND his daddy out.

 

Everyone hates the 1% of there own nation!!

 

Nice job Oleg.  Nailing the boss from work way to go that very Americans  

 

martha would be given a large apartment like all defectors was given with no others families. Heck, even Lee Harvey Osward was given a huge apartment(by commie standards) with no other families. 

 

Also the cordless phone Korean guy talks on at home. Is from the WRONG time period. All cordless phones of that area had metal antenna that could pull in and out. NOT the more modern looking antenna he had!  

Edited May 12, 2016 by gwhh

[Conan Troutman]

46 minutes ago, JennyMominFL said:

 I just realized that they used Deutschland 83's theme songs, Major Tom (Coming Home)

I guess I should watch that show, being from Germany and all. Of course no one's streaming it here. Useless fact of the day, just for you: "Coming Home" is totally nonsensical, the original line "schwerelos" (weightless) was translated to something that had the long, stretchable "O" vocal in it. 

"I'm gonna miss her." Elizabeth is starting to crack. She doesn't know it yet, but she knows it. 

[Bama]

Man, I really, really was just flat out disgusted with Elizabeth tonight.

I hope Don just flat out tells her to "fuck off" and won't give in to her blackmail.  Would serve her right for that whole disgusting episode to have been for naught.

William is awesome - "We get BREAKS????".

[AlliMo]

I was 12 when "The Day After" aired and though not an especially sensitive child, I remember finding it fairly traumatizing. I do remember growing up in that time period and that the prospect of nuclear war was a very real, very constant concern for us then.

I'm still sometimes a bit amazed at how explicit they get away with being on this show.

[La Tortuga]

I know Elizabeth is going to miss Young Hee, but I wonder if perhaps she's also going to miss who she was when she was with Young Hee. I think I will. She got to be a good person, a nice, fun person, for a little while.

[izabella]

I remember "The Day After," and it was an event.  It was heavily advertised and teachers told us to watch it.    But we had just read "Hiroshima" in school, and that had far more impact on me.  That was real - we really did drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so those stories were of real people, and the images still stick with me.  I couldn't really tell you what happened in  "The Day After."  

I noticed Elizabeth was quick to point out that the US was the only one to drop atomic bombs so far, so maybe they weren't all that is good and holy, unlike Pastor Tim.  I was surprised Philip didn't tell Pastor Tim that Paige was sad about The Day After movie.

And I remember learning to drive in my dad's Chrysler.  It was huge!  We're not far from the time when Japanese cars make a big mark on the US market.  My dad bought a Toyota in the mid-80's and that was much easier to maneuver into the garage.

[Conan Troutman]

25 minutes ago, La Tortuga said:

I know Elizabeth is going to miss Young Hee, but I wonder if perhaps she's also going to miss who she was when she was with Young Hee. I think I will. She got to be a good person, a nice, fun person, for a little while.

Quoted the wrong post. Totally agree with you. She doesn't miss Young Hee. She misses fun!Elizabeth. 

Edited May 12, 2016 by Conan Troutman

[VCRTracking]

I never saw The Day After when it aired when I was around six, so I avoided the trauma. My nuclear nightmares cafe after seeing Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome on TV a few years later.  I did watch the 1987 miniseries Amerika when I was 10 where Russians took over the United States. It didn't make much of an impact on me but I loved seeing later a rerun of SNL that parodied it with "Amerida" where Canada were our new rulers!

"Sunlight reflected off of clouds". I first heard that story years ago of that Russian controller who made the right call. We came this close to it all ending if not for that guy.

When Elizabeth phoned Young Hee's husband I thought "Oh nonononononononooo god no! Please don't let this go where I think it's going!"

It would have been better to threaten him and his wife with death than Cosbying him.

Once again the song choices on this show are awesome.

Damn, that sex scene with Oleg and Tatiana made me paraphrase When Harry Met Sally "I'll have what HE'S having!"

Edited May 12, 2016 by VCRTracking

[Bannon]

Hey, Elizabeth didn't think twice about kicking out a car jack, dropping the car on the head of some poor schmuck whose offense was having a job with a defense contractor that Elizabeth wanted to see somebody  elsehave. She's always been pretty revolting.

I'm glad they are having our two protagonists having fits of guilt, because I've grown tired of watching them hurt people.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Bannon

[TheodoraK]

i'm with Bama. i was totally disgusted by what elizabeth did to her one friend on earth. i agree with what was said about how she's going to miss who she was with Young Hee. she was actually sweet and fun and kind. i hope this is some kind of turning point for her because i won't be rooting for her on any level from now on. that was beyond evil. i could barely watch it. worse than the horrible disease episode. i know i'm being really dramatic. i'm glad that others are confused by where this is going. that's a big part of it for me. can someone please clue me in to what the payoff is for this? i'm assuming that the husband works at some defense company or something. this better be leading to something really huge.

of course all this horrible stuff made it an excellent episode. i do remember the Day After playing but nothing about what it felt like. i love paige and philip together without elizabeth. he's a real person with her and vice versa. i do feel badly for E on this level. she doesn't have a clue how to be a mother. do we ever see her with her son? we only see him when he's next door.

is the new dread disease Ebola? sounds like it. agree about william. such a great actor, such great lines and such great affect.

as much as i'm hating Elizabeth tonight one of the weird things about this show, for me, is that no one ever comments on how freaking gorgeous she is. even in her hideous disguises. on Felicity they mostly talked about her hair but it was acknowledged that she is stunning.

i'm dreading next week. they're going to kill the wife off too, right?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, La Tortuga said:

I know Elizabeth is going to miss Young Hee, but I wonder if perhaps she's also going to miss who she was when she was with Young Hee. I think I will. She got to be a good person, a nice, fun person, for a little while.

I think it wasn't just being fun and nice that she'll miss, but being normal and like everyone else. Elizabeth is usually playing a character when she deals with her marks but with Young Hee, she got to relax and be a normal person with a normal friend. I mean, yes, she still had an agenda but most of the time that she actually spent with Young Hee she wasn't actively spying, just hanging out to cultivate the friendship. Because Young Hee was a fun person, Elizabeth got to be fun for a little while too. Not only that, but most of their friendship was during the time when she and Philip were on a break from the rest of their usual missions so I think that Young Hee represents a brief moment in time where Elizabeth wasn't constantly stressed out because of her spy responsibilities. She got to have a friend during a time when she was mostly not doing missions so she got to experience what it was like to have a normal life with a normal friend, and despite her commitment to the mission, I think that's what she's going to miss. She's definitely going to miss Young Hee too because duh, she's awesome.

Heh, I wonder if the description for Oleg and Tatiana's sex scene just said, "Oleg has loud sex," in the script. Imagine the director: "Louder! No, even louder! Make as much noise as you can!"

[BW Manilowe]

1 hour ago, TheodoraK said:

i'm with Bama. i was totally disgusted by what elizabeth did to her one friend on earth. i agree with what was said about how she's going to miss who she was with Young Hee. she was actually sweet and fun and kind. i hope this is some kind of turning point for her because i won't be rooting for her on any level from now on. that was beyond evil. i could barely watch it. worse than the horrible disease episode. i know i'm being really dramatic. i'm glad that others are confused by where this is going. that's a big part of it for me. can someone please clue me in to what the payoff is for this? i'm assuming that the husband works at some defense company or something. this better be leading to something really huge.

of course all this horrible stuff made it an excellent episode. i do remember the Day After playing but nothing about what it felt like. i love paige and philip together without elizabeth. he's a real person with her and vice versa. i do feel badly for E on this level. she doesn't have a clue how to be a mother. do we ever see her with her son? we only see him when he's next door.

is the new dread disease Ebola? sounds like it. agree about william. such a great actor, such great lines and such great affect.

as much as i'm hating Elizabeth tonight one of the weird things about this show, for me, is that no one ever comments on how freaking gorgeous she is. even in her hideous disguises. on Felicity they mostly talked about her hair but it was acknowledged that she is stunning.

i'm dreading next week. they're going to kill the wife off too, right?

The new, dread, disease is Lassa fever. It's not unlike Ebola, named for the area in Nigeria in which it was first discovered in the 1970's, & is mainly transmitted by human exposure to the bodily fluids/waste of infected rats. Oddly enough, a doctor from my hometown was among the first to discover it/treat (attempt to treat) patients with it as a medical missionary in Nigeria back in the day.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassa_fever

[albaniantv]

Was so surprised to hear the Deutschland 83 themesong on this show--I have tried so hard to get people interested in that fabulous 8 episode dramedy about the spy life in East and West Germany during Reagan. As soon as I say it is comedic, people seem to lose interest but I was so impressed. It doesn't make me love The Americans any less, but was fascinating seeing it from another and equally compelling point of view. I'm guessing someone on The Americans production staff does too or why include the music?

[AliShibaz]

8 hours ago, Umbelina said:

How many others have googled "The Day After?"

I remember watching "The Day After" very well. It was a very scary scenario. But what was even more scary was some review by someone apparently knowledgeable about the effects of nuclear explosion. They said they only had one criticism of the movie. They said it wasn't nearly realistic. They said the damage would be much, much worse if that ever happened in real life.

I agree with Paige. If it ever does happen, I'd like to be as close as possible to the "kill zone". I don't want to try and scrounge out a life in all that rubble while dealing with radiation sickness and the fact that everyone else left alive would be looking to kill me and eat me. Just too much to bear.

[AliShibaz]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I think it wasn't just being fun and nice that she'll miss, but being normal and like everyone else. Elizabeth is usually playing a character when she deals with her marks but with Young Hee, she got to relax and be a normal person with a normal friend. I mean, yes, she still had an agenda but most of the time that she actually spent with Young Hee she wasn't actively spying, just hanging out to cultivate the friendship. Because Young Hee was a fun person, Elizabeth got to be fun for a little while too. Not only that, but most of their friendship was during the time when she and Philip were on a break from the rest of their usual missions so I think that Young Hee represents a brief moment in time where Elizabeth wasn't constantly stressed out because of her spy responsibilities. She got to have a friend during a time when she was mostly not doing missions so she got to experience what it was like to have a normal life with a normal friend, and despite her commitment to the mission, I think that's what she's going to miss. She's definitely going to miss Young Hee too because duh, she's awesome.

Heh, I wonder if the description for Oleg and Tatiana's sex scene just said, "Oleg has loud sex," in the script. Imagine the director: "Louder! No, even louder! Make as much noise as you can!"

Young Hee was a real original. Not only had Elizabeth never met anyone like her before. But I doubt that anyone has ever met anyone like her before. She had the most amazing sense of humor. Everyone would want to have a friend like Young Hee and I think E just doesn't reallize how unique YH is. Since E has almost no friends and never had any, she likely things that having a friend means something like what she experienced with YH. She has no clue just how unique and special her friendship with YH was.

I agree with someone upthread who was talking about how beautiful E is. When she took off her top and we saw her naked back, I got very excited, thinking, "Oh boy! Now we get to see some naked Keri Russell breasts. I should have known better. No beautiful breasts. But she is def one extremely beautiful lady.

[SunnyBeBe]

Oh yes, I can't wait to see how Elizabeth will use the staged event to play Don.  I mean, maybe, she took photos when we weren't watching.  How would that be explained? Odd. I mean, she didn't really have sex with Don, so what would she photograph? What if he denied it? Is he too honorable for that?

I do think that P & E are aware of Paige's struggle to keep up appearances, but there's only so much they can do.  Paige has always been a tortured soul.  Recall back before she knew anything about her parent's spy job? She was a malcontent then.  Let's hope the Camaro will help ease her burden. lol

Yes, I was suspicious of Titana when Oleg spilled some sensitive info.  Is her job to see just how much he will reveal?  AND I felt the same way about William.  Did he throw the concept of not turning over the virus info as a test by The Center to see what P & E would do?  Recall how when Philip informed him in the subsequent meeting that they WOULD report it, Philip asked him pointblank why William even told him in the first place.  William thought fast and said, it was a big decision and he didn't want to make it on his own.  Really?  

PLUS, there was the strange thing about Gabriel not being kept in the loop.  Is he okay?  What's up with that?

Edited May 12, 2016 by SunnyBeBe

[JennyMominFL]

7 hours ago, Conan Troutman said:

I guess I should watch that show, being from Germany and all. Of course no one's streaming it here. Useless fact of the day, just for you: "Coming Home" is totally nonsensical, the original line "schwerelos" (weightless) was translated to something that had the long, stretchable "O" vocal in it. 

"I'm gonna miss her." Elizabeth is starting to crack. She doesn't know it yet, but she knows it. 

 

I think hulu has it

[topanga]

9 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Elizabeth blew up the one real friendship she ever had.  

Another excellent episode even though I didn't enjoy it as much as the past three.  I don't know maybe I miss Martha.  I did like seeing Philio and Stan play racketball again.  I dint think we have seen that since season one.  I am also j retested in Stans new boss.

i was a little young to watch The Day After.  I was a teenager in the late 80s not the early 80s. I definetly was way too young to watch an intense movie like that.

Loved that Philip could be cool as a cucumber while doing the most dangerous of soy stuff but he was a nervousness father teaching Paige to drive.

Elizabeth hates being a travel agent.

--And Elizabeth felt horrible about blowing up that friendship. As others have said, she genuinely liked Young Hee, and she liked who she was with her. I think she also felt bad about deceiving Don because--he's a loyal man who wouldn't have cheated on Young Hee. I felt really bad when he apologized to Elizabeth while he was scurrying from her apartment. As if he'd somehow taken advantage of her.

--So Don works at the same place William does, correct? And how would getting Don fired guarantee that William will be promoted to Level 4 clearance? I guess we'll find out.

I enjoyed the episode, but it was sadder and darker than some of the previous episodes. Everyone seemed to be in a somber mood: Paige, Elizabeth, Stan, Oleg, and everyone who watched The Day After. And yes, I missed Martha. 

Watching Stand and Philip play racquetball reminded me that Philip and Elizabeth have to stay in excellent shape to do all of the ass-kicking they do, even though they can't be muscle-bound--they have to look like "typical" Americans. So when do they work out and train? Maybe they slip away from the travel agency during the day for their Krav Maga training (or whatever kind of martial arts they practice). When Stan asked Philip if he'd been working out, my first thought was, "Dude, Philip could kick your ass so bad. You have no idea."

I was young when The Day After premiered (11? 12?) but my family still watched it together. I was probably too young. I couldn't sleep for weeks. I wish we knew how Henry felt about the movie, but we only hear him talk when he's playing video games or hanging out at Stan's house. 

And I think Elizabeth is usually very good at playing the pleasant American Travel agent. But on that particular day--it seemed like a Monday--she'd been up all weekend at Young Hee's house, trying to find dirt on Don. 

[Bannon]

My best guess s that Don works at Ft. Dietrich, and has evel 4 acess. E was hoping that Don had his access code written down, and thus the search, but Don's a smart guy and has just memorized it,hence the blak mail plan. Now, here is where the writng gets tricky. Blackmail is always dangerous to the blackmailer, becuse some people just are very, very, poor blackmail targets. Don's smart. Once he fully gets his head clear, especially after E makes a blackmail threat, he might easily conclude that he as drugged, and E is KGB. He just gives E a fake code, and then calls the FBI. This means that E, if she's smart, too, knows she has to kill Don. Except she doesn't know if the code is real, and believe me, when someone with hypersenstive access dies in an unusual fashion, all the codes get changed. Frankly, the response by the FBI to Gene's death was pretty stupid; it's always been the weakness in the writing to this show, how dumb the FBI/CIA/Americans have been.

[sugarbaker design]

Wow, is this the first time Elizabeth has felt any kind of guilt or remorse?  She felt fine after forcing Lois Smith to overdose on her heart meds.  Is the stone cold killer finally getting a conscience?  All this and Yaz's Winter Kills in one episode?

[stagmania]

10 hours ago, benteen said:

Poor Young Hee.  Of cours Elizabeth is too hardcore to not go through with it.

I think the timing of them watching The Day After hardened Elizabeth's resolve to go through with the plan she very obviously did not want to execute. It reaffirmed for Elizabeth exactly what it is that they're trying to prevent, and she still believes in her mission enough to decide it's for the greater good. Even still, she looked devastated to be doing this to Young Hee and her family. Her cracks are becoming craters. 

I'm definitely a little confused myself as to exactly what she accomplished with Don and how it will get them the access William needs, but I imagine that will become clear in future episodes. 

[shura]

30 minutes ago, Bannon said:

My best guess s that Don works at Ft. Dietrich, and has evel 4 acess. E was hoping that Don had his access code written down, and thus the search, but Don's a smart guy and has just memorized it,hence the blak mail plan. Now, here is where the writng gets tricky. Blackmail is always dangerous to the blackmailer, becuse some people just are very, very, poor blackmail targets. Don's smart. Once he fully gets his head clear, especially after E makes a blackmail threat, he might easily conclude that he as drugged, and E is KGB. He just gives E a fake code, and then calls the FBI. This means that E, if she's smart, too, knows she has to kill Don. Except she doesn't know if the code is real, and believe me, when someone with hypersenstive access dies in an unusual fashion, all the codes get changed. Frankly, the response by the FBI to Gene's death was pretty stupid; it's always been the weakness in the writing to this show, how dumb the FBI/CIA/Americans have been.

So we are actually talking about a number combination? I was assuming for some reason that by "level 4 access" they meant actual authorization for William to work on certain projects, not just a code he would need to punch into a keypad to sneak into the dark Level 4 lab after hours.

[AliShibaz]

As far as "Elizabeth hates being a travel agent goes", that may be true. My impression was that she was very tired after staying up all night searching for something she could use and very annoyed after coming up empty. I thought they wanted to show the audience that mental state. But maybe the truth is that they wanted to show us that she hates being a travel agent. I'm no longer certain.

[AliShibaz]

My guess would be that Don is a very nerdy-type guy who perhaps works as a scientist and has Level 4 access.

One other possibility is that he is the administrative head of the security department and can be blackmailed into forging documents or giving up security codes so that William could go visit that department and photograph info the KGB wants to see. But like most other people, I can't see how E will be able to leverage him into giving up any info. If he doesn't remember completing the sex act with E, how will he feel pressured to co-operate? Remember that creme E seemed to squirt into her hands and then rub onto his private parts? I'm thinking the purpose was to make him think he really did engage in a sex act with E. But men can easily tell if they have recently engaged in the sex act. Unlike women, there is a physical pressure when the sack that stores the fluid has not been emptied in a few days. The feeling is quite pronounced and so men can tell if they ejaculated yesterday or not. It's very clear to men whether they ejaculated yesterday or not. I'm almost always wrong about these kinds of things, but I would guess this screenplay was written by a female. Please feel free to shoot me for saying that. It happens all the time and I know that I deserve it. I apologize to all females in advance. But I'm telling the truth as best as I know it.

[TAG42481]

I think we might be done with Don and Young Hee.  The goal of the operation was to figure out if Don had any secrets, and it appears that he didn't.  Once Elizabeth realized that, she needed a way to end the friendship.  She can't just randomly stop hanging out with Young Hee.  So she "has an affair" with Don as the reason that she won't be over at the house again.

From a narrative perspective, I think it will be less important that they didn't find anything out about Don, but more important that Elizabeth had the arc of having a "friend" which she's now lost.  At least Philip has Stan as a "friend."  Elizabeth has now had the taste of having a friend and has now lost that.  It will weigh on her that much more.

[sistermagpie]

4 hours ago, albaniantv said:

I'm guessing someone on The Americans production staff does too or why include the music?

Well, it was a song from the time. They probably don't want to be specifically calling out the other show, but it is fun how the two shows intersect. Like it starts with the same Reagan speech that ended Season 3.

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

PLUS, there was the strange thing about Gabriel not being kept in the loop.  Is he okay?  What's up with that?

He's supposed to be in the loop, I think. William was supposed to go through him on everything but naturally he wouldn't run "I'm thinking of sitting on this important info" by him. Philip's the obvious person.

1 hour ago, topanga said:

And how would getting Don fired guarantee that William will be promoted to Level 4 clearance? I guess we'll find out.

Who says he's getting fired? Sleeping with Patty wouldn't get him fired.

36 minutes ago, AliShibaz said:

As far as "Elizabeth hates being a travel agent goes", that may be true. My impression was that she was very tired after staying up all night searching for something she could use and very annoyed after coming up empty. I thought they wanted to show the audience that mental state. But maybe the truth is that they wanted to show us that she hates being a travel agent. I'm no longer certain.

I think she was just tired and taking out her frustrations on this petty frustration--now she was going to have to go through with the harder plan. Though I still love the time Stan brings in his buddies for a trip and Elizabeth's suggestion is completely tone deaf and then Philip steps in. I don't think she is a good travel agent. I mean, she's probably fine at doing all the stuff but she's not good at coming up with good vacations for people who are not her. She thinks everybody should go to Europe.

10 minutes ago, TAG42481 said:

She can't just randomly stop hanging out with Young Hee.  So she "has an affair" with Don as the reason that she won't be over at the house again.

Sure she could. That'd be loads easier than drugging her husband, making him think they had sex and then hoping they'll be a blow up with Young Hee about it. 

8 hours ago, Conan Troutman said:

Quoted the wrong post. Totally agree with you. She doesn't miss Young Hee. She misses fun!Elizabeth. 

I think she actually will miss Young Hee. And this again reflects the argument she and Philip had last week. She's able to admit that she'll miss Young Hee, but the real trauma comes from knowing you did a horrible thing to hurt not just a person who'd been good to you and brought you joy, but their whole family who did the same. 

[Bannon]

34 minutes ago, shura said:

So we are actually talking about a number combination? I was assuming for some reason that by "level 4 access" they meant actual authorization for William to work on certain projects, not just a code he would need to punch into a keypad to sneak into the dark Level 4 lab after hours.

You may be right, and if you are, I fear the writers will be returning to the worst element of this show, which is how they have portrayed it as being very easy for E & P to murder their way to success. If they have E killing Don and Young Hee, staging it as a murder suicide, based in sexual jealousy, so William can take Don's spot in level 4 work, I think I'm done with this show. That will be a real disappointment, because I think this has been the best season by a wide margin, in large part because they have spent less time portraying our protagonists as Jimmy and Janey Bond, killin'  and karate choppin' their way through life, and more time dealing with the psychological toll inherent in living one's life as a massive lie. 

I hope these writers haven't blown it. 

[lucindabelle]

14 minutes ago, TAG42481 said:

I think we might be done with Don and Young Hee.  The goal of the operation was to figure out if Don had any secrets, and it appears that he didn't.  Once Elizabeth realized that, she needed a way to end the friendship.  She can't just randomly stop hanging out with Young Hee.  So she "has an affair" with Don as the reason that she won't be over at the house again.

From a narrative perspective, I think it will be less important that they didn't find anything out about Don, but more important that Elizabeth had the arc of having a "friend" which she's now lost.  At least Philip has Stan as a "friend."  Elizabeth has now had the taste of having a friend and has now lost that.  It will weigh on her that much more.

This seems to me to be entirely wrong. All Elizabeth had to do to end the friendship was disappear. What do you make of the lines "get inside?" Don didn't have secrets to exploit. He does have access. The whole point of the friendship was to get to Don. She didn't want to resort to this tactic but felt she had to. She didn't blow up the family just to stop hanging out with Young Hee.

[stagmania]

4 minutes ago, Bannon said:

You may be right, and if you are, I fear the writers will be returning to the worst element of this show, which is how they have portrayed it as being very easy for E & P to murder their way to success. If they have E killing Don and Young Hee, staging it as a murder suicide, based in sexual jealousy, so William can take Don's spot in level 4 work, I think I'm done with this show. That will be a real disappointment, because I think this has been the best season by a wide margin, in large part because they have spent less time portraying our protagonists as Jimmy and Janey Bond, killin'  and karate choppin' their way through life, and more time dealing with the psychological toll inherent in living one's life as a massive lie. 

I hope these writers haven't blown it. 

This theory seems highly unlikely to me. There has been nothing to suggest that the end goal of this is to get Don fired; quite the contrary-they want his access, which necessitates him staying in his job. And even if the goal was to get him fired, faking Elizabeth having sex with him so that they can stage a murder suicide between him and his wife is a very convoluted and bizarre way to get there.