S04.E13: Persona Non Grata

[Umbelina]

Quote

Let's talk about the time jump. You've talked about how your stories always take up much less chronological time than you expect them to, plus you're dealing with Henry now being eight feet tall. How necessary was it to take a break, jump forward, and maybe have Henry look like less of an NBA player?

Joel Fields: I think we had long ago given up on trying to control Henry's height. I don't know how they did it on Webster and Diff'rent Strokes. All I can tell you is that Keidrich is a wonderful actor, but his growing is out of control. And we don't even know how he's going to come back for next season. Keidrich broke his ankle early in the season, which actually helped, since he was seated for so much of this season.

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/americans-bosses-on-endgame-we-hope-theyll-still-trust-us-two-years-from-now#PAR69eJqdsQlTJKg.99

OK, I had to put this one in the episode thread, since some never visit the media thread.  Ha!  That's why he was sitting, broken ankle!

I'd bet Irina is dead, but who knows?  I also think Philip would be OK with the making out, but he (probably correctly) assumes Paige is looking for information.  She has no training and could blow them all sky high with one wrong word, or God Forbid she thinks she's in love with Mathew and tells him everything.  Still, the fastest way to throw a 15 year old into someone's arms is to forbid her to see him, and she did have a crush on him first season...more complications?

[gwhh]

What agency did Philip baby mom work for back in the USSR?  

 

In soviet russia we have Pepsi not Coke.   

 

Please God fix Matt hair style. It is awful beyond belief.  Now that I have said that. I can sleep. 

 

I think phillip son in the USSR.  Have fiends in height places because of his real father.  I mean it takes a lot of pull to get one of a commie nut world and back on the street.   Imagine how crazy Phillip would go when he got home and found his son in there.  

Phillip son a chip off the old block. He trying to defect also.  

I don't know how hard it is to get out of the USSR but I am betting it almost mission impossible level of hard. 

Edited June 9, 2016 by gwhh

[Umbelina]

1 minute ago, gwhh said:

What agency did Philip baby mom work for back in the USSR?  

KGB.

[jjj]

Could someone explain what was happening in the opening scene as William and Philip were converging on the park?  I saw the African-American man from last week's park meeting (a lookout, I assumed then), and I saw Hans, both in cars.  But they did not see any surveillance?  Were they signaling to Philip at all?  Why did Philip not hear anything, like the helicopter?  Did William just abort the meeting because he thought he was being followed?  It seemed William was nowhere near Philip.  But why did William veer away from the meeting?  Did he get a signal from Hans or the other man?  What about the woman who took her scarf off as Philip drove by (I think she was another lookout last week)?  Was that a signal for Philip to proceed?  I watched all that twice, and still do not understand all the people's actions or signals. 

[TDT]

Wow loved that time jump..
I'm getting the strange feeling that the last scene of the series finale will be Paige deciding to follow in her parents footsteps and become a spy herself.. spinoff series potential..? LOL

[Umbelina]

7 minutes ago, jjj said:

Could someone explain what was happening in the opening scene as William and Philip were converging on the park?  I saw the African-American man from last week's park meeting (a lookout, I assumed then), and I saw Hans, both in cars.  But they did not see any surveillance?  Were they signaling to Philip at all?  Why did Philip not hear anything, like the helicopter?  Did William just abort the meeting because he thought he was being followed?  It seemed William was nowhere near Philip.  But why did William veer away from the meeting?  Did he get a signal from Hans or the other man?  What about the woman who took her scarf off as Philip drove by (I think she was another lookout last week)?  Was that a signal for Philip to proceed?  I watched all that twice, and still do not understand all the people's actions or signals. 

Philip was in a different park, he was completely unaware of what was going down with William.  William aborted the meet and dashed into a different park because he's been doing this for 30 years, his spidery senses were screaming at him and then the car turned off it's lights.  It's DC, helicopters aren't that unusual.  I think the woman in a scarf was just a woman in a scarf, I love how spy stuff makes us suspect everything and everyone!

By the way, Sepinwall agrees with you. 

Quote

* The one part of the finale that wasn't entirely satisfying (other than the utter lack of Mail Robot) was the opening sequence with William, Philip, and Stan all heading towards the same location, mainly because we never got a clear enough sense of how big the park was, and thus how close Stan ever came to seeing his best friend cosplaying as Mike Ditka. There was still tension because of William's imminent capture, but the added layer of Philip's presence wasn't as effective as intended.

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-the-americans-just-closed-its-best-darkest-season-yet#epUTOi0cYt8lmIpO.99

Edited June 9, 2016 by Umbelina

[izabella]

I felt terrible for William.  What a sad, lonely life, and the only people who know him don't even know what happened to him or that he's dead. 

I hope P&E realize that could easily be them one day.

If the Jennings take off, Pastor Tim and his wife will miss having Paige available to baby-sit.  She seemed enchanted with their baby.

Edited June 9, 2016 by izabella

[Umbelina]

Quote

In it are various passports and currencies (Soviet, German and Canadian)

Yay!  The WSJ caught the type of Passports he had. 

[jjj]

4 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Philip was in a different park, he was completely unaware of what was going down with William.  William aborted the meet and dashed into a different park because he's been doing this for 30 years, his spidery senses were screaming at him and then the car turned off it's lights.  It's DC, helicopters aren't that unusual.  I think the woman in a scarf was just a woman in a scarf, I love how spy stuff makes us suspect everything and everyone!

Thanks! 

The woman with the scarf was definitely signaling to Philip that it was all right to proceed.  He was sitting parked, and watched as the African-American man drove past (second time we saw him tonight), and he did not signal, so Philip stayed put.  Philip went on alert when he saw the woman come down the street on the other side, watched her, then got out of the car after she removed her scarf.  Just watched it for a third time!

[kokapetl]

At racquetball on Tuesday, Stan Beeman will crow about getting the Soviet cultural attaché kicked out, and let it slip about this soviet agent who's guts liquified or something. 

[gwhh]

4 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Yay!  The WSJ caught the type of Passports he had. 

Was that an east or west Germany passport?  Remember at this time there was 2 of them. 

[Conan Troutman]

9 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

I'd bet Irina is dead, but who knows?  I also think Philip would be OK with the making out, but he (probably correctly) assumes Paige is looking for information.  She has no training and could blow them all sky high with one wrong word, or God Forbid she thinks she's in love with Mathew and tells him everything.  Still, the fastest way to throw a 15 year old into someone's arms is to forbid her to see him, and she did have a crush on him first season...more complications?

Yeah, Paige is already a ticking time bomb, but that makes everything even worse. She already blabbed about suspecting Philip to have an affair with his secretary, which will probably not be that crucial right away (Stan would have to suspect them in the first place to make the connection), but just shows how dangerous that liaison could potentially be. At least it gave us Stan's hilariously inappropriate reaction to finding out. What the hell was he expecting from Philip, a high five?

William really did shit the bed there (it's harder not to make puns on this one I guess...) with mentioning a married couple with kids. Stan's face will be so glorious when he finally finds out. 

I did expect a bit more of a fallout, at least as the central characters were concerned. However, most of the actual changes happened in the Rezidentura. I did not expect Arkady to get booted off like that, but that was a great scene. Tatiana sure wasn't pleased, either. By the way, I never noticed before how tall Oleg is. Maybe he should've played in that Super Bowl? Maybe Washington would've had a chance after all...

Overall, I didn't expect a relatively quiet episode, but it sure didn't disappoint. Worthy finale for a great season.

[Umbelina]

8 minutes ago, jjj said:

Thanks! 

The woman with the scarf was definitely signaling to Philip that it was all right to proceed.  He was sitting parked, and watched as the African-American man drove past (second time we saw him tonight), and he did not signal, so Philip stayed put.  Philip went on alert when he saw the woman come down the street on the other side, watched her, then got out of the car after she removed her scarf.  Just watched it for a third time!

I'll watch again too.  The reason I don't think Philip or scarf lady knew anything is because Gabe didn't even know, just suspected since he could not reach William.

3 minutes ago, gwhh said:

Was that an east or west Germany passport?  Remember at this time there was 2 of them. 

Good question!  What good would and East German passport do?  I'd guess West, but who knows.  That's all the WSJ mentioned.  We still need a screen cap!

2 minutes ago, Conan Troutman said:

Yeah, Paige is already a ticking time bomb, but that makes everything even worse. She already blabbed about suspecting Philip to have an affair with his secretary, which will probably not be that crucial right away (Stan would have to suspect them in the first place to make the connection), but just shows how dangerous that liaison could potentially be. At least it gave us Stan's hilariously inappropriate reaction to finding out. What the hell was he expecting from Philip, a high five?

William really did shit the bed there (it's harder not to make puns on this one I guess...) with mentioning a married couple with kids. Stan's face will be so glorious when he finally finds out. 

I did expect a bit more of a fallout, at least as the central characters were concerned. However, most of the actual changes happened in the Rezidentura. I did not expect Arkady to get booted off like that, but that was a great scene. Tatiana sure wasn't pleased, either. By the way, I never noticed before how tall Oleg is. Maybe he should've played in that Super Bowl? Maybe Washington would've had a chance after all...

Overall, I didn't expect a relatively quiet episode, but it sure didn't disappoint. Worthy finale for a great season.

Yeah, I think William had entered delirium or he would have never said that about the Jennings.

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

Anyone get a close look at those passports?  What was the green one?  We need a screen shot!

The green one was West Germany, the blue one was Canada, and the red one was USSR. I don't know how to do screenshots from my TV, but I read both Russian and German, so you can take my word for it. :)

Can someone jog my memory about Irina? The only thing I remember of her is when she and Philip met up in Montreal, at which point she was still a KGB agent. What did she do to get the KGB to bring her back to Russia and arrest her? I thought she'd left Misha Jr. for her parents to raise and wasn't part of his life.

And to whoever said the communal apartments no longer existed in 1984, yes, they absolutely did. My grandfather and his wife lived in one until they got a normal apartment in 1988 (they'd been on a waitlist for years). Theirs wasn't quite as rundown, but the scene of women from multiple families cooking dinner in the same kitchen totally rang true for me.

[Umbelina]

4 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

The green one was West Germany, the blue one was Canada, and the red one was USSR. I don't know how to do screenshots from my TV, but I read both Russian and German, so you can take my word for it. :)

Can someone jog my memory about Irina? The only thing I remember of her is when she and Philip met up in Montreal, at which point she was still a KGB agent. What did she do to get the KGB to bring her back to Russia and arrest her? I thought she'd left Misha Jr. for her parents to raise and wasn't part of his life.

And to whoever said the communal apartments no longer existed in 1984, yes, they absolutely did. My grandfather and his wife lived in one until they got a normal apartment in 1988 (they'd been on a waitlist for years). Theirs wasn't quite as rundown, but the scene of women from multiple families cooking dinner in the same kitchen totally rang true for me.

Thank you!  I guessed West Germany, but it's nice to have confirmation!  I guess we know his route of escape, through Germany somehow.

Irina and Philip met, I believe, when they were both in training to be embedded agents.  She was over it when she came to visit Philip and asked him to run with her, and also told him he had a son, Misha.  She was apparently caught and is now probably dead or in a Gulag.

Thank you about the apartments too, I thought so as well, but didn't know for sure. 

Edited June 9, 2016 by Umbelina

[gwhh]

Does Phillip Russian son even have a photo of his dad from any age?  

[Conan Troutman]

Well, I guess it should've been West Germany, but it says "Bunderserepublik Deutschland" instead of "Bundesrepublik". So he shouldn't try to use that poorly faked thing either way...

[gwhh]

4 minutes ago, Conan Troutman said:

Well, I guess it should've been West Germany, but it says "Bunderserepublik Deutschland" instead of "Bundesrepublik". So he shouldn't try to use that poorly faked thing either way...

Is that just a simple miss spelling or do those two German words mean something totally different?  

[dramachick]

Stan still sucks.

No father on this earth gets any amusement from his 15-year-old daughter fooling around with an 18-year-old boy.  Correction, a father never wants to hear that about his daughter at any age. Especially Philip because he's afraid Paige is trying to be some kind of high-school-Mata-Hari honeypot.

In other news, Philip really does have a son!  I'm intrigued by this story line and look forward to seeing how the tenacious Mischa tracks down his KGB travel agent dad.

I don't want Arkady and Oleg to both go home to Moscow!  Yeah, Arkady messed up with the Gaad operation, and Oleg is burned out and tired of the spy game, but that's no reason for them to leave the show.  Damn.

Poor William.  He had a crap life, but he was loyal to the end and went out like a patriot.

[hellmouse]

5 minutes ago, gwhh said:

Does Phillip Russian son even have a photo of his dad from any age?  

I didn't see any photos in that packet, so I'm guessing no. I don't think he even knows his name. 

[Conan Troutman]

1 minute ago, gwhh said:

Is that just a simple miss spelling or do those two German words mean something totally different?  

Just a spelling error. But a rather glaring one. I wonder whether that's intentional or if the prop department just had no idea?

[jjj]

9 minutes ago, Conan Troutman said:

Well, I guess it should've been West Germany, but it says "Bunderserepublik Deutschland" instead of "Bundesrepublik". So he shouldn't try to use that poorly faked thing either way...

Yes, it looks like production just was careless with the spelling (this is a real passport):

Edited June 9, 2016 by jjj

[chocolatine]

13 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Irina and Philip met, I believe, when they were both in training to be embedded agents.  She was over it when she came to visit Philip and asked him to run with her, and also told him he had a son, Misha.  She was apparently caught and is now probably dead or in a Gulag. 

Ah, thanks for that! I remembered that they met in KGB school and thought they'd be partnered up but then were suddenly separated, and didn't see each other for 20-odd years until they met up again in Montreal, but I forgot that Irina subsequently tried to defect and was caught. I think it's a bit of a long shot that she was able to get the fake passports and pay a visit to her father under the circumstances, but whatever.

 

9 minutes ago, Conan Troutman said:

Well, I guess it should've been West Germany, but it says "Bunderserepublik Deutschland" instead of "Bundesrepublik". So he shouldn't try to use that poorly faked thing either way...

Wow, I didn't even notice that. It was a brief shot, and I focused on "Deutschland".

Edited June 9, 2016 by chocolatine

[dramachick]

10 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Check your recorder if you are taping this finale, apparently there is a different 20 minute show in the middle of the early morning and some recorders are skipping tonight's show for that one.

Thanks for the explanation!  I usually DVR but just happened to be home in time to see it tonight and wondered why the DVR wasn't recording.

[Umbelina]

1 minute ago, hellmouse said:

I didn't see any photos in that packet, so I'm guessing no. I don't think he even knows his name. 

Yeah, she did leave him a trail though, West Germany to Canada to the USA, so maybe there are other clues buried in that money?

Anyway, that now gives Philip even more reasons not to go back to Russia.  Two kids who will in no way or universe either want to go or be happy there, and a son who will be killed if he returns. 

I agree, the KGB wouldn't have gotten him out of there, but Gabe or Claudia may have other government connections that owe them a favor.

[VCRTracking]

I didn't realize the guy was Phillip's son until he went to his grandpa's and then it clicked.

[Umbelina]

2 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Ah, thanks for that! I remembered that they met in KGB school and thought they'd be partnered up but then were suddenly separated, and didn't see each other for 20-odd years until they met up again in Montreal, but I forgot that Irina subsequently tried to defect and was caught. I think it's a bit of a long shot that she was able to get the fake passports and pay a visit to her father under the circumstances, but whatever.

 

Wow, I didn't even notice that. It was a brief shot, and I focused on "Deutschland".

True, but she probably left that packet before she ran.  Those passports are more valuable than the money she left him. 

[gwhh]

OK, we need to get all the details on Philip son mother Irnia

 

http://theamericans.wikia.com/wiki/Irina

What are all the FACTS we know about her and Phillip and there love child son. 

[PinkRibbons]

Goddam that was some good television. William talking about the Jennings' reminded me a bit of the pilot when Stan said if he was the one kidnapping Timoshev he'd take him home. The FBI came to the conclusion that that meant it would be basically impossible to recover Timoshev. Really all William did was confirm was Stan has suspected -- that there is a(nother, remember they know about Emmet and Leanne) couple of Directorate S agents working together. The kids part is maybe a little more helpful but in the end how many people have two kids? At best William's information can maybe give the FBI a general age range to look for in searching out Philip and Elizabeth.

I almost expected Philip to thank Paige because her ~activities~ because there would have been no other way to check Stan's knowledge. I don't care how good an actor he could be, if Stan had just gotten earth-shattering news about his best friend he wouldn't be goofing off. But then I actually loved Philip getting so vehement about Paige not walking down her parents' path.

Is it just me, or was Matthew Rhys looking foxy tonight? Like, moreso? And for all the hilarious props they've had Keri use I will definitely rank this as one of the best-concealed pregnancies I have seen on tv. They used a lot more optical illusion with her coats than blocking the bump; it's appreciated.

I want to show my mother the communal apartment scene but there are only two reactions I could possibly get: either she'll laugh her ass off at the inaccuracy or it'll send her into a possibly horrifying flashback. You never know. I got that story about her attacking a guy after she watched a street flash by as we drove around (free) Vilnius.

[chocolatine]

1 minute ago, Umbelina said:

True, but she probably left that packet before she ran.  Those passports are more valuable than the money she left him. 

Right, but I thought she tried to run in/from Canada, where she'd been working as KGB. It doesn't make sense that she would return to Russia and then try to run from there, does it? Am I missing something?

[Conan Troutman]

3 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Those passports are more valuable than the money she left him. 

Well, if that error was intentional, probably not...

[Umbelina]

3 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Right, but I thought she tried to run in/from Canada, where she'd been working as KGB. It doesn't make sense that she would return to Russia and then try to run from there, does it? Am I missing something?

Well, didn't the grandfather say she got the packet to him?  She may have friends, or have had a furlough for some reason.  Maybe seeing a glimpse of home is what convinced her to run?

1 minute ago, Conan Troutman said:

Well, if that error was intentional, probably not...

Ha!  I hope it was just a show error, but yeah, discount passports won't help him.

[Conan Troutman]

1 minute ago, Umbelina said:

 

Ha!  I hope it was just a show error, but yeah, discount passports won't help him.

I'm still not entirely sure if it was a show error. Don't they just use old passports for stuff like that? It's just the cover anyway they needed for the shot, so they shouldn't be hard to come by. It sure would explain why Irina got caught.

[chocolatine]

8 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Maybe seeing a glimpse of home is what convinced her to run?

Yup, must have been it. "I gave up so much to fight for the cause, and my dad is still living in this shitty 'komunalka'?! Fuck this shit, I'm defecting."

[kokapetl]

1 minute ago, chocolatine said:

Yup, must have been it. "I gave up so much to fight for the cause, and my dad is still living in this shitty 'komunalka'?! Fuck this shit, I'm defecting."

That place had the dirtiest doors and doorknobs ever seen. 

[Umbelina]

Watching again.  The grandfather says that his daughter SENT the package to him, not that she brought it.

[VCRTracking]

I laughed the same time William did when Aderholt asked him if he wanted a Coke.

Thank god Stan came home and interrupted Paige and Matthew before anything really happened. I was like "She's still a baby!"

[Gella]

  2 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Anyone get a close look at those passports?  What was the green one?  We need a screen shot!

The green one was West Germany, the blue one was Canada, and the red one was USSR. I don't know how to do screenshots from my TV, but I read both Russian and German, so you can take my word for it. :)

Can someone jog my memory about Irina? The only thing I remember of her is when she and Philip met up in Montreal, at which point she was still a KGB agent. What did she do to get the KGB to bring her back to Russia and arrest her? I thought she'd left Misha Jr. for her parents to raise and wasn't part of his life.

And to whoever said the communal apartments no longer existed in 1984, yes, they absolutely did. My grandfather and his wife lived in one until they got a normal apartment in 1988 (they'd been on a waitlist for years). Theirs wasn't quite as rundown, but the scene of women from multiple families cooking dinner in the same kitchen totally rang true for me.

The whole stated point of the ugly "Khruschev's buildings" was to get each moscovite family their own apartment. Families who were moving into the city shared apartments, but by the eighties at least in Moscow (which is what they showed) it was pretty rare. They certainly didn't look like they did during my mother's childhood.
So for me that whole scene didn't not work. Especially given that this is a show that tries to get its time-relevant details meticulously accurate, and that there is a plethora of Soviet movies from that era to use as a reference point.
I was under the impression that Irina was also in KGB and they met during training.
I never understood why an ambitious KGB officer would get pregnant, have a baby out of wedlock and then abandon that baby with her parents. That seems like a bad career decision.

[Umbelina]

We don't know if they were in Moscow though.

[chocolatine]

5 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Watching again.  The grandfather says that his daughter SENT the package to him, not that she brought it.

OK, that makes more sense. I don't pay close attention to the captions, and what he actually says is just "your mother asked me to safeguard it", which is why I thought she had been to see him in person.

[Bannon]

2 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Is Aderholt really that stupid, that he would think it was appropriate to offer William a Coke, at that moment?

Everbody not named Elizabeth, Phillip,or Gabriel tends to be a moron on this show. Stan's such a dope that he doesn't grasp that you can't count on a father of a younger minor daughter not getting angry, upon hearing of Stan's older teenage son making out with said daughter. The way the character of Stan has been so poorly drawn has been a very consistent weakness of the show.

The season was the best the writers have done, in my view, and then it all kind of went bad the last 3 episodes.

[Darrenbrett]

Fantastic episode. Only one complaint: the scene where Gabe tells Philiabeth that it's time for them to go home -- and then quickly adds "but it's your decision", pats them both on the shoulder and leaves. To me it would have felt more realistic, and would have been more dramatic, had Philip said something like - "So the Centre is ordering us home?", followed by Gabe, somewhat slowly replying - with an emphasis on the weight of the situation and present unknowns, "No. But I'm saying it's the best course. The risks now are too great, and there's too much we don't know. But... (long pause), I leave it to you. Ultimately, it's your decision, and I'll support whatever you decide."

I mean, this is a HEAVY moment. I wanted it milked just a little more. 

Edited June 9, 2016 by Darrenbrett

[Darrenbrett]

By the way, one thing I've been surprised by in the commentary on this forum is the distrust of Gabriel. I've always felt he is trustworthy - and serves an interesting (humanizing) role because he softens the blunt-end directives coming from Moscow. To me he comes across like a grandfatherly figure - and I would gladly play Scrabble with him any time. 

[Umbelina]

Paige's relationship with Mathew will probably continue, and may even be valuable.  I really think Philip's son is going to be key in the end though, although how on earth he would ever find his dad is beyond me, even more complicated in it's way than escaping Russia.  People did, after all, and he has a boat load of money and passports. 

How could Philip really ever drag his kids, and abandon another kid, to go back to Russia.  I still think one parent will die and one will live. 

Someone asked how many travel agents there were in the 80's.  Plenty!  Every strip mall had them, they were everywhere.  You could get ticketed without hassle, and internet booking and airport security didn't exist.  Well, we had security, but not much.

1 minute ago, Darrenbrett said:

By the way, one thing I've been surprised by in the commentary on this forum is the distrust of Gabriel. I've always felt he is trustworthy - and serves an interesting (humanizing) role because he softens the blunt-end directives coming from Moscow. To me he comes across like a grandfatherly figure - and I would gladly play Scrabble with him any time. 

Yeah, spy stuff mostly.  I don't trust any spies, theirs or ours.  However, so far, he's proven truthful if manipulative.  There is also that little story he told about watching his friend die, or killing him, whatever it was.  The man would not hesitate.

[jjj]

18 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Someone asked how many travel agents there were in the 80's.  Plenty!  Every strip mall had them, they were everywhere.  You could get ticketed without hassle, and internet booking and airport security didn't exist.  Well, we had security, but not much.

My goodness, yes!  It was rare to call an airline directly to reserve tickets; travel agents did all that (and had access to flight times and fares), and there was no charge (they got some percentage from the airlines).  They really were everywhere. 

Did the Jennings have an answering machine?  They existed, but were not common in the early 1980s.  She said that Pastor Tim "left a message" that the baby had been born; and I was trying to think if we had ever seen an answering machine in the house?

And that reminds me -- I'm surprised no one is using pagers.  Those were all the rage in the 1980s, with teenagers wanting pagers so their friends could contact them, and parents associating pagers with drug dealers!   

Edited June 9, 2016 by jjj

[Umbelina]

I always had an answering machine, so I think they were pretty common by 1984. 

[chocolatine]

3 minutes ago, Darrenbrett said:

By the way, one thing I've been surprised by in the commentary on this forum is the distrust of Gabriel. I've always felt he is trustworthy - and serves an interesting (humanizing) role because he softens the blunt-end directives coming from Moscow. To me he comes across like a grandfatherly figure - and I would gladly play Scrabble with him any time. 

I think it's symbolic of the overarching paranoia in the Soviet Union at the time. Nobody trusted anyone. You had to make nice with your neighbors and coworkers, but at the back of your mind you knew that any one of them could tattle on you at any moment and your life would be over whether you did anything wrong or not.

[jjj]

2 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

I always had an answering machine, so I think they were pretty common by 1984. 

I know some people had them -- but have we ever seen one in the Jennings' house?  Just seems to be a phone on the wall, no answering machine nearby.

[Darrenbrett]

2 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I think it's symbolic of the overarching paranoia in the Soviet Union at the time. Nobody trusted anyone. You had to make nice with your neighbors and coworkers, but at the back of your mind you knew that any one of them could tattle on you at any moment and your life would be over whether you did anything wrong or not.

Right. But I'm actually referring to viewers who've expressed distrust of Gabriel - not characters in the show. And that's surprised me because I've always felt that he plays a humanizing role; one that softens the directives coming from the Centre. In other words, it's the showrunners' way of lending some humanity to the Soviet side of the drama.

[Umbelina]

8 minutes ago, Darrenbrett said:

Right. But I'm actually referring to viewers who've expressed distrust of Gabriel - not characters in the show. And that's surprised me because I've always felt that he plays a humanizing role; one that softens the directives coming from the Centre. In other words, it's the showrunners' way of lending some humanity to the Soviet side of the drama.

Well, I'm probably one of the ones who never trusted Gabe, or anything he said.  Obviously, I've been proven wrong about the whole son thing.  As far as being grandfatherly? It's a technique, much like Philip is fatherly with Kim, and Elizabeth became friends with Young Hee.  He's trained to get other people to do what Center wants, and that works the best with Elizabeth. 

As I said, I don't trust spies.  They are very good at reading people and saying what needs to be said.  Stan was promising Nina all kinds of stuff too, and he couldn't deliver it.  Philip made Martha believe him for quite a while, then knew when to shift to more truthful to keep her in line.  Deception is a huge part of the job.