S05.E10: Darkroom

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Paige's snooping leads Philip and Elizabeth to make a choice that could shift the balance of their lives forever. Stan and Aderholt's recruitment of Sofia suddenly bears fruit.

Promo:

 

Edited May 4, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Shriekingeel]

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. I say this as a long time P&E hater. 

If Evgeniya were on the ball, she'd put two and two together and figure out that it was a remarkable coincidence that she heard from the embassy JUST AFTER she poured her heart out to E. 

[AimingforYoko]

Damn, if Elizabeth didn't get a little verklempt. You done good, Phil. And I don't think a lot of acting was going on during that scene, either.

And it looks like Paige is in.

[SeanC]

The sequence of Philip jogging to music initially seemed like a commercial to me, for whatever reason.

I thought it was weird initially when we didn't actually see Paige reading those diary entries that were upsetting her.  That ending had quite a punch.

The wedding ceremony was lovely (though on some level, since Paige knows about all this, I wonder why they didn't bring her).

[Primetimer]

Paige gets her grubby mitts back on Pastor Groovyhair's diary and does not like what she reads, Tuan escalates hostilities toward Pasha, Philip has a weird surprise for his 'wife,' and it all feels like hiking through wet cement.

View the full article

[crgirl412]

21 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Damn, if Elizabeth didn't get a little verklempt. You done good, Phil. And I don't think a lot of acting was going on during that scene, either.

And it looks like Paige is in.

I know!!!  Philip did REAL good!!  I think the love that we saw was real since they are a couple IRL and I now want them to get married.  I loved that the show had Elizabeth look like an in love blushing bride!  She looked so peaceful and relaxed- even enjoying the very, very Christian ceremony- which was gorgeous!  

Edited May 11, 2017 by crgirl412

[Mumbles]

I gotta assume Pastor Groovyhair is a goner....they'll just tell Paige he moved to a farm where he can run around...

[benteen]

The last 20 minutes was good.  Loved the brief flashback and the wedding was indeed beautiful.  But as far as I’m concerned, Season 5 has not gotten going and any plot that they have has slowed to an absolute crawl.  Season 5 of The Americans is reminded me of Season 5 of Justified, which was the weakest of the series.  On the plus side, that means The Americans should have a great final season. 

[Erin9]

OMG. E and P got married for real. With their real names. In Russian. In an orthodox ceremony. And what I think included new rings. I hoped we'd see them marry for real, but I didn't expect it to just happen like that. I admit: I got a bit teary watching the ceremony. Lovely scene. That totally trumps PT's diary at the end for me. 

Personally, I think PT was over the top in his judgement of them, but ouch. No wonder Paige was upset. There are far worse things that could happen to her imo.  I hope this is the end of him. Sending him to a new job would be in everyone's best interests. And I like that Paige saw that for herself. For herself and the family. That was one heck of a scene at the end with Paige watching them do their spy thing while reading tim's thoughts on them. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of her depression, that this lifts some weight off. 

Silence really can say more than words sometimes. P and E's total silence when Claudia told them Deidre and Ben would need to continue for a long time spoke volumes. Totally over it. Even Philip's crack about tai chi did nothing. 

I did like Philip saying that Paige can change and that PT doesn't know who she is, even if he knows her a little bit. Very true. Also the EST scene about people being machines while Philip is making a routine drop was well done. 

Henry may want boarding school now, but honestly he's a kid. Who knows what he'll want in 6 months. But then- I really don't want him to leave home. Too much for him to learn. 

I wondered how they'd open the door to yevghenia going home: Tatiana. Nicely done.  Elizabeth seemed to feel genuine guilt over what's happened to Pasha. 

Edited May 10, 2017 by Erin9

[IndianPaintbrush]

I can't remember what P&E told Groovyhair about what they're doing in this country.  But why hasn't he gone to the police/FBI if he really believes all this?

Loved the wedding. P&E's commitment will be tested.

[crgirl412]

7 minutes ago, Erin9 said:

OMG. E and P got married for real. With their real names. In Russian. In an orthodox ceremony. And what I think included new rings. I hoped we'd see them marry for real, but I didn't expect it to just happen like that. I admit: I got a bit teary watching the ceremony. Lovely scene. That totally trumps PT's diary at the end for me. 

Personally, I think PTwas a tad over the top, but ouch. No wonder Paige was upset. I hope this is the end of him. Sending him to a new job would be in everyone's best interests. And I like that Paige saw that for herself. For herself and the family. That was one heck of a scene at the end with Paige watching them do their spy thing while reading tim's thoughts on them. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of her depression, that this lifts some weight off. 

Silence really can say more than words sometimes. P and E's total silence when Claudia told them Deidre and Ben would need to continue for a long time spoke volumes. Totally over it. Even Philip's crack about tai chi did nothing. 

I did like Philip saying that Paige can change and that PT doesn't know who she is, even if he knows her a little bit. Very true. Also the EST scene about people being machines while Philip is making a routine drop was well done. 

Henry may want boarding school now, but honestly he's a kid. Who knows what he'll want in 6 months. But then- I really don't want him to leave home. Too much for him to learn. 

I wondered how they'd open the door to yevghenia going home: Tatiana. Nicely done.  Elizabeth seemed to feel genuine guilt over what's happened to Pasha. 

I thought the opposite and it really bothered me but I believe I saw guilt on Philip's face.

[Umbelina]

20 minutes ago, PreviouslyTV said:

Paige gets her grubby mitts back on Pastor Groovyhair's diary and does not like what she reads, Tuan escalates hostilities toward Pasha, Philip has a weird surprise for his 'wife,' and it all feels like hiking through wet cement.

View the full article

Best recap all year!  Well done, and ITA.

[sistermagpie]

36 minutes ago, SeanC said:

The wedding ceremony was lovely (though on some level, since Paige knows about all this, I wonder why they didn't bring her).

Well, she doesn't know they were never married legally and they don't want to go into that with her. Also, would you really want Paige there asking slooooow deliberate questions during the whole thing?

Btw, I love that Philip must have had rings made. I want to see them close-up to see if they're different!

25 minutes ago, Erin9 said:

Personally, I think PTwas a tad over the top, but ouch. No wonder Paige was upset.

One of the things I love about this show is how it always makes me sympathize with the hardliners.

Because on one hand yes, finding out your life was a lie is a terrible psychological blow that really can damage someone for life. Otoh, if I had to choose between these two lovingly me telling me at 15 that they’re actual Russian spies and I need to keep that secret and...my father raping me throughout childhood? I’d go with this. So yeah, I think it’s a little OTT to act like sexual abuse can’t compare to all this. That also damages trust. (And to some extent P&E even were sexually abused, although not quite because they agreed to the training. The fact remains we know for a fact that teenage Philip was having sex with scores of strangers so that his body would no longer be truly his own and Elizabeth was raped.)

Because yes, what they did was terrible. But they were also people born into pretty bad circumstances who thought this was the right thing to do at the time. Sometimes when people talk about the kids I wonder just where the line is between “innocent” Paige who wants to save the world and is being betrayed and “innocent” Henry who wants to be part of a bigger world and Elizabeth and Philip who once *were* Paige and Henry. If the two of them make these choices now, they’re just joining the same system that created their terrible parents. So when do they cross the line from being victims to the monsters who would be hurting their own kids? They’re just Paige and Henry + time, and having been born into more dire circumstances.

16 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

I thought the opposite and it really bothered me but I believe I saw guilt on Philip's face.

Yeah, I was looking for it and didn't really see it. I didn't think she was enjoying that aspect or anything, but she seemed ready for it and just dealt with it professionally. I loved the scene with Alexei where he talked about missing the human connections in Russia. People sometimes seem surprised when every Russian character doesn't immediately want to live in the US and this is partly why!

I’m still sick of EST. It’s almost like the show taunting me when Philip talks about how EST makes you think about how you don’t have to be who you were when you were a kid. I’d rather see Philip actually working that out for himself with flashbacks, perhaps, rather than listen to EST gobbledygook and just have to imagine how it relates to Philip.

Loved Tuan's melodramatic "I failed my people." And his marveling at how good he is at manipulating stupid bullies.

Edited May 10, 2017 by sistermagpie

[benteen]

The funny thing is according to Wikipedia, EST disbanded in 1984.

[Sarah 103]

57 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Damn, if Elizabeth didn't get a little verklempt. You done good, Phil. And I don't think a lot of acting was going on during that scene, either.

And it looks like Paige is in.

For some reason the wedding scene reminded me of Romeo and Juliet and I have no idea why. 

Paige is in what? I don't know what you're talking about.

I'm not sure what to make of the scene at the Burov dinner table. Was Igor trying to prove what a good provider he was? Was he trying to send a subtle (or not so subtle) message that Oleg needed to eat more? 

[Shriekingeel]

P&E dearly want to kill the pastor but they would have to bump off the wife too and that could get messy. Looks like they get to take their homicidal urges out on Nazi Lady next week. 

[PinkRibbons]

It's over right now in Russia, but Happy VE Day anyway!!!

That wedding. I squeed. There was squeeing. All the squeeing.

*sigh* In the end I'm always defeated by the shipper in me.

Incidentally I suspect the Russian Rings are rose gold, and that might make them stand out a bit (not to mention they wear them on the right hand as opposed to the left. I thought for years that was a Jewish thing because I'm not all that observant, but actually turns out it's a Russian thing). Rose gold has become very popular in America in the past few years but I don't remember seeing much of it in my childhood unless it came directly from Russia, like my parents' wedding rings and some bits of gold jewelry my family took out with them.  My grandmother made a point of buying yellow gold jewelry once she got here because she was so sick of rose gold.

[TimWil]

I have a feeling we won't see those rings again until the last scene of the series finale.

[Addlepated]

Of all the Bauhaus songs they could have chosen for that ending scene (and I love that they played Bauhaus at all!), this was an amazing one.

[VagueDisclaimer]

1 hour ago, Sarah 103 said:

For some reason the wedding scene reminded me of Romeo and Juliet and I have no idea why. 

Paige is in what? I don't know what you're talking about.

I can see the feeling of R&J. The secretive and solemn nature of it, though there was an overall tone of innocence and love, as well.

"Paige is in", I think the poster means that Paige is onboard with spy family business. That she gets it now, better than she did before. 

[NitneLiun]

29 minutes ago, VagueDisclaimer said:

I can see the feeling of R&J. The secretive and solemn nature of it, though there was an overall tone of innocence and love, as well.

"Paige is in", I think the poster means that Paige is onboard with spy family business. That she gets it now, better than she did before. 

Yeah, you could tell Paige completely bought in when she was describing the heroic actions of her parents in stopping the evil USA from causing a famine in the Soviet Union and lamenting that know one knows about it.

Lenin hit the nail on the head when he described Western liberals as "useful idiots". He must have had Paige in mind.

[MisterBluxom]

The priest spoke of Isaac & Rebecca.

I don't recall ever hearing of any Rebecca. Who is Rebecca?

 

P.S. Elizabeth looked amazingly gorgeous in two scenes tonight. It was primarily due to her wardrobe. The top she wore in the opening scene with Tuan was beautiful. Same goes for the top she wore in the first scene with Paige. I have never seen her wear any clothes before that made her look so beautiful. I'd love to know the brand name of those tops. They were just amazing.

Edited May 10, 2017 by MissBluxom

[solea]

Paige is all, "Ship 'em out. He's pissing me off."  Paige is cold. Heh heh. 

Is Isaac & Rebecca a biblical reference?

[alvajon]

I, too, enjoyed the marriage ceremony, but couldn’t help recalling that if Philip and Martha legally married, with marriage license, ceremony, etc., wouldn't that make Philip a bigamist now? Does anyone recall if the documents for the marriage to Martha fake? 

Edited May 10, 2017 by alvajon

[Doyounot]

Is it just me or is the americans the only show that can do these long "uninteresting" scenes of regular stuff like this weeks real time wedding or the 13 minutes of digging a hole weeks ago and keep me totally enjoying myself? The only one i found my thoughts start to wonder at was the dinner in russia scene tonight and maybe there were others in previous episodes but i dont remember them so they cannot be that bad.

3 minutes ago, alvajon said:

I, too, enjoyed the marriage ceremony, but couldn’t help recalling that if Philip and Martha legally married, with marriage license, ceremony, etc., wouldn't that make Philip a bigamist now? Does anyone recall if the documents for the marriage to Martha fake? 

If im recalling correctly the guy officiating wasnt planted by Philip and i think the fbi looked up the records since i remember the line they married my assistant! But it doesnt matter his name isnt Clarke just by that it would make the documents fake.

[IrishPirate]

38 minutes ago, MissBluxom said:

The priest spoke of Isaac & Rebecca.

I don't recall ever hearing of any Rebecca. Who is Rebecca?

 

P.S. Elizabeth looked amazingly gorgeous in two scenes tonight. It was primarily due to her wardrobe. The top she wore in the opening scene with Tuan was beautiful. Same goes for the top she wore in the first scene with Paige. I have never seen her wear any clothes before that made her look so beautiful. I'd love to know the brand name of those tops. They were just amazing.

Well, Isaac was the son of Abraham. His father almost killed him but an angel intervened. Rebecca was his wife, discovered at a well where she offered water to Abraham's servant who was on a hunt for Isaac's bride. (Gen. 24)

Isaac and Rebecca were parents of twins Jacob and Esau, and Jacob fathered the 12 sons who became the beginnings of the 12 tribes of Israel. (They also had a sister, Dinah, but she doesn't get much ink in the story.)

[PinkRibbons]

43 minutes ago, MissBluxom said:

The priest spoke of Isaac & Rebecca.

I don't recall ever hearing of any Rebecca. Who is Rebecca?

 

21 minutes ago, solea said:

Is Isaac & Rebecca a biblical reference?

Isaac and Rebecca were the parents of Jacob and Esau. You may know Rebecca better as Rivka.

[chocolatine]

Pastor Groovyhair's notes about Paige were over the top, but on the other hand she's the one who blabbed P&E's secret to him and told him repeatedly how much it ruined her life. Whatever, he's never been compelling to me, so if that gets him off the show, so much the better.

I thought the wedding ceremony was beautiful. I've never actually seen a Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony before, so I don't know how accurate it was, but I loved the way the priest intoned the vows, it's how I image people spoke pre-revolution. I also noticed that Matthew Rhys's Russian pronunciation has improved quite a bit since the last time he had to speak Russian on the show. Keri Russell's, not so much.

Alexei has done quite a 180 since the beginning of the season. I guess even in America life isn't that great when your wife and son hate you.

2 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I'm not sure what to make of the scene at the Burov dinner table. Was Igor trying to prove what a good provider he was? Was he trying to send a subtle (or not so subtle) message that Oleg needed to eat more? 

The scene read very strange to me too. Piling more food on someone's plate without asking is something a gregarious Russian host might do at a dinner party (thought it's an over-the-top gesture even for Russians), but it would be accompanied by lively conversation, jokes, banter, etc. The way the Burovs were just sitting there without talking, Oleg struggling to eat even one bite, and Igor reacting by piling on more food almost read as a punishment, like "you're not getting up from this table until you've finished everything on your plate, young man".

[Bannon]

I think the writers are trying to mock me, for saying that if they kept on their current path, finishing this show through next season was going to be a hard slog. Ugh, this is going to be like Napoleon's retreat from Moscow.

Watching scenes where Paige has a lot of dialogue is almost as bad as doing so when Stan stumbles around. 

[smorbie]

OMG. There's a reason I quit watching this show, and a reason I couldn't make it through the review (the first one I've read all season). This show has drug on toooooo long. They had an interesting, tight little story going, and then decided to add another year to stretch it out rather than end it this year.

Edited May 10, 2017 by smorbie

[Ina123]

7 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I’m still sick of EST. It’s almost like the show taunting me when Philip talks about how EST makes you think about how you don’t have to be who you were when you were a kid. I’d rather see Philip actually working that out for himself with flashbacks, perhaps, rather than listen to EST gobbledygook and just have to imagine how it relates to Philip.

Most boring episode ever. I wasn't impressed with the wedding. Hate every EST scene. Yes, "gobbledygook" and poppycock.

The only thing important was them figuring out a way to get Pastor Tim out of their lives.

C'mon. Move the show along. I'm falling asleep. Let's catch these guys already. Damn. Do something.

[Chaos Theory]

It is weird how much I am siding with the hardline Russians and was rather offended for them even though Pastor Tim might not have been wrong.  P&E have found a reasonable way to get rid of Pastor Tim without killing him and have gotten Paige's permission to do it and at the same time bringing her further in the world.  Now that is a long con.  

Pastor Tim's diary was a little hard line.  If he really feels like that then I really do wonder why he hasn't turned in the Jennings.  Unless he is as conflicted as everyone on the show and the diary is just his way of working his shit out.  

[Ellaria]

This isn’t going to be a popular opinion but this season has been a disappointment for me. As always, there are great character moments - like tonight’s wedding scene - but I’m not invested in seeing some of these story lines move forward.

Tuan is a creep. Yes, he has a sad history but so does nearly every character in the show. I’m disturbed that P&E are going along with the bullying of Pasha. I like Oleg but enough of the hushed conversations in cars, darkened streets, etc. Importantly, we now know Stan and Aderholt rent a swanky apartment in the same building as Sofia.

We get another double date with Stan and Renee that serves little purpose other than to tease viewers - and Phillip - with the “is she or isn’t she a spy” question. At this point, I no longer care. And the wheat plot will be returning. Thanks, Claudia!

In the past, the show maintained a balance between family drama and spy drama. This season, not so much. I don’t need James Bond type of action. I need a little more intrigue. I need less talking and fewer worried glances between characters. That isn’t a substitute for tension. And, most of all, I need a lot less of Paige. Perhaps they can send her off to boarding school with Henry. 

For me, Matthew Rhys is the heart of this show and he never disappoints. It is fascinating to watch the battle he is facing within himself. 

Edited May 11, 2017 by Ellaria Sand

[MisterBluxom]

IrishPirate and PinkRibbons - thank you very much for that info.

[txhorns79]

Quote

Pastor Tim's diary was a little hard line.  If he really feels like that then I really do wonder why he hasn't turned in the Jennings.  Unless he is as conflicted as everyone on the show and the diary is just his way of working his shit out.  

That was my thought.  He's using the diary to vent, and is actually extremely conflicted on how to deal with this situation.  Honestly, given his wife's freak out last season when Pastor Tim went missing in Africa, I presume both he and she are terrified as to what would happen if they gave any outward sign of being less than supportive of Paige. 

[benteen]

1 hour ago, Ellaria Sand said:

This isn’t going to be a popular opinion but this season has been a disappointment for me. As always, there are great character moments - like tonight’s wedding scene - but I’m not invested in seeing some of these story lines move forward.

Unfortunately, I'm in agreement.  I don't think the season has been bad but it hasn't been great at all.  It's been way too much of a slow burn and Philip and Elizabeth's assignments have been rather dull.  There should be more of a feeling of dread as the end nears and there isn't.  The acting is as great as ever of course but still....this is Justified Season 5 for me in terms of this being the weakest season of The Americans to date.

Edited May 10, 2017 by benteen

[Janc]

So the 'rock' with the message that Philip threw while he was jogging:  we were meant to think that the note gave a heads-up to Tatiana to approach Pasha's mother about going back to Russia.  But why wouldn't Elizabeth tell Claudia to tell the Center to do this, as part of the plan on this file?  On a related note, how did Philip contact the priest to set up the wedding?  That's what I actually think was in the note, asking the Centre to have the priest get in contact with him re the wedding. The priest isn't working with Claudia, and P would have no other way to reach the priest. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Apparently, I had the opposite reaction to the marriage scene as most of you.  I was in shock and then thought it a little funny.  All the talk about God, the Holy Spirit, etc.  That is just not E at all.  In fact, I was shocked that she would go for such a thing with a straight face.  Yes, she certainly loves P and she wanted to be married, but, all that religious talk......it really seemed like something that was NOT a P & E thing.  As long as they are happy......

I kept trying to imagine how enraged Paige would have been if someone had sneaked into her room and read her diary.  OMG.....she would have blown a gasket.  In fact, didn't that happen?  Did E read something that she had in her room some time ago?  I may have that mixed up with another similar teen.  She's so upset with Pastor Tim, but, she's the snoop.  I'll be glad to see Pastor Tim go, but, that girl needs to go to acting classes or something.

Did they reveal what P dropped on the ground when he was out on his run? 

Did you catch when Stan's girlfriend said that she wasn't available the following week, because she had to go home? What home? I thought she lived locally?  I wonder if she will be followed to this so called home.

Edited May 10, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[SWLinPHX]

Quote

Did they reveal what P dropped on the ground when he was out on his run? 

I replayed it a few times to see what it was, and it was a rock.  Of course it didn't make sense to me why he'd throw a rock out of his pocket until they showed officials at the Rezidentura delivering the fake rock to Tatiana.  She opened it and found Philip's note inside.

[stagmania]

I loved this episode. The wedding ceremony and the looming end of Pastor Tim as a thorn in their sides are wonderful developments. 

9 hours ago, SeanC said:

The wedding ceremony was lovely (though on some level, since Paige knows about all this, I wonder why they didn't bring her).

This was something very private just for them. I don't see why they'd want her and her million questions there.

9 hours ago, Erin9 said:

Personally, I think PT was over the top in his judgement of them, but ouch. No wonder Paige was upset. 

Yeah he's pretty melodramatic, isn't he? If I were P&E, I'd probably be reconsidering my decision not to eliminate him more permanently.

8 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

For some reason the wedding scene reminded me of Romeo and Juliet and I have no idea why. 

It was very evocative of the R&J wedding. Secret ceremony, forbidden love (because this was Mikhail and Nadezhda getting married, which was never the intent of the Centre), rushing back to real life and having to conceal it. I hope Philip and Elizabeth aren't as doomed as Romeo and Juliet, but the foreshadowing here is hard to miss.

6 hours ago, NitneLiun said:

Yeah, you could tell Paige completely bought in when she was describing the heroic actions of her parents in stopping the evil USA from causing a famine in the Soviet Union and lamenting that know one knows about it.

Lenin hit the nail on the head when he described Western liberals as "useful idiots". He must have had Paige in mind.

Paige is a child who wants to believe her parents are good people and heroes. I don't think that makes her stupid.

6 hours ago, alvajon said:

I, too, enjoyed the marriage ceremony, but couldn’t help recalling that if Philip and Martha legally married, with marriage license, ceremony, etc., wouldn't that make Philip a bigamist now? Does anyone recall if the documents for the marriage to Martha fake? 

The marriage to Martha was never legal. Clarke is not a real person (neither is Philip for that matter). That's why this ceremony was so special; they're finally married to each other for real.

1 hour ago, Ellaria Sand said:

This isn’t going to be a popular opinion but this season has been a disappointment for me.

Not sure why you would frame this as unpopular when almost the entire thread agrees with you. To be honest, this forum is becoming a real drag for me as someone who is still enjoying the show quite thoroughly. 

[SWLinPHX]

Even the long, meticulous scenes with little dialogue are entertaining and I like all the story lines, but I need them to resolve or advance on some issues at this point!

• Oleg being re-recruited by the FBI

• Stan getting wiser to something going on (and whether his new squeeze is sincere or a spy or what)

• Paige getting some inkling that what her parents really do is definitely monstrous (instant killings of innocents, U.S. not guilty of wheat contamination plan and the overall nature of the dark side of their work as spies)

• Henry finding out about his parents (and that Paige knows) -- or at least some advancement there

• Philip learning of his son Mischa and how he is now faring back in the USSR

• The USSR slowly failing and Philip & Elizabeth realizing they have been often misled via propaganda

• New developments with Martha in USSR or maybe coming back to the USA to face the music

Resolve some of the open-ended story lines before constantly introducing new ones, dammit!

[Chaos Theory]

I think this is by far the least interesting season but I also think it is building to something that needs to happen.  Then again The Americans is also one of my favorite and in my opinion one of the best written and acted shows so even the least best is still better then a lot  of other shows.   Still I do think this season is leading up to a big shoe dropping for next season.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[kokapetl]

This episode was hurt by having scenes for each of the ten or so ongoing but mostly going nowhere plots. It just jumped all over the place. 

Brad and Dee actually parenting Tuan is interesting. 

Won't be sad to see the end of Pastor Tim and his fright wig. 

[MisterBluxom]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I kept trying to imagine how enraged Paige would have been if someone had sneaked into her room and read her diary.  OMG.....she would have blown a gasket.  In fact, didn't that happen?  Did E read something that she had in her room some time ago?  I may have that mixed up with another similar teen.  She's so upset with Pastor Tim, but, she's the snoop.  I'll be glad to see Pastor Tim go, but, that girl needs to go to acting classes or something.

I admire you.

It takes a superior intellect to be able to look at more than one side of an issue. Specifically - to look at how Paige reacts after reading PT's diary. Then, to consider how she would react if someone were to do the same thing to her. Finally, to be able to modify our "kneejerk" reactions so that we don't just react to a single side of the issue but to consider both sides and in that light, to examine just what kind of an idea it would be to act on our first impulses. Often, it can be a terrible idea to react to our first (or "kneejerk") reaction because it usually turns out to be a very bad thing to do - to act on an impulse without thinking very much at all about it.  Often foolish and often a distortion of our real opinions.  If we just think things over for a bit (just count to ten as it were), we might decide on a very different reaction.

In particular, I think Paige should draw two conclusions. First, she should realize that what he writes in his diary must be heavily discounted. I know that what I often write in my diary or what I post on this forum in quick reaction to something that someone has written that made me angry can often get me into trouble or just make me look like a fool. Second, she should realize that if she wants to keep a diary, she must make it much more secure so that no one can open it and read it. The most important lesson may be that what we write in our diaries can often be a distorted view and can easily get us into big trouble. In fact, it may be true that keeping a diary might just be a very dangerous thing to do.

I have found that some very important insights can be gained when I have tried to do similar exercises - especially when something bothers me very much. By looking at both sides, I find that I'm often able to realize just how foolish I have behaved and that has stopped me from doing some really terrible actions.

I wish you were here so I could give you a big smile. As I said, I give you much respect for being able to do that. It takes a superior being to do that and so few people ever seem willing to try.  I applaud you. I would give you a "like" except that I've come to believe that big corporations use the information recorded in "likes" to profit themselves by selling that info to other corporations who use it to target advertising to the people who "like" things. But I don't want to go off topic here.

Let me just say that I wish they had 3 levels of like - for example - "like a little bit" - "like a medium amount" - "like a whole lot".  Then I could give you a high rating. But as it stands, all I can say is: "SUNNYBEBE - Well Done!"

Edited May 10, 2017 by MissBluxom

[SunnyBeBe]

49 minutes ago, SWLinPHX said:

Even the long, meticulous scenes with little dialogue are entertaining and I like all the story lines, but I need them to resolve or advance on some issues at this point!

• Oleg being re-recruited by the FBI

• Stan getting wiser to something going on (and whether his new squeeze is sincere or a spy or what)

• Paige getting some inkling that what her parents really do is definitely monstrous (instant killings of innocents, U.S. not guilty of wheat contamination plan and the overall nature of the dark side of their work as spies)

• Henry finding out about his parents (and that Paige knows) -- or at least some advancement there

• Philip learning of his son Mischa and how he is now faring back in the USSR

• The USSR slowly failing and Philip & Elizabeth realizing they have been often misled via propaganda

• New developments with Martha in USSR or maybe coming back to the USA to face the music

Resolve some of the open-ended story lines before constantly introducing new ones, dammit!

I like this season too.  I'm not bothered by a slow pace.  It suits me fine.  Just so things add up and make sense.  It's things that don't add up or that contradict other things that bother me.  

I am the most intent on seeing the things above in boldface.  (Actually, in the first one, I'm more intrigued with what the KGB has on Oleg and why they are hounding him.  Under such scrutiny, I'm not sure how the CIA would use him.  It seems like a poor plan to me.  Why would the CIA think that a man under intense investigation by the KGB, who is being watched, searched, and intimidated, would be in a position to get them secret info and stay off the radar? I thought that they would want someone who is off the radar of the KGB.)

Edited May 10, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[teddysmom]

I'm all for letting a story unfold but Jesus H Christ this is ridiculous. It's like FX gave them three extra episodes when they'd only written for ten. "Do we have B roll of Phillip driving around DC?" "How about Paige mopping the floor? Can we stretch that an extra 30 seconds?" "Let's have Elizabeth get highlights in real time, that'll take at least two hours".

[Ellaria]

48 minutes ago, stagmania said:

Not sure why you would frame this as unpopular when almost the entire thread agrees with you. To be honest, this forum is becoming a real drag for me as someone who is still enjoying the show quite thoroughly. 

I framed it that way because I perceive it as a minority opinion. Not sure why you are taking offense to that statement. I'm trying not to impose my opinions on others who are enjoying this season. Its unfortunate that the forum is a "drag" for you. I welcome the discussion and the varied opinions. Please don't direct your unhappiness with this forum at me. I tried to state my comments as just that...my comments, my opinions. I had no intention of "framing" those comments as a general perspective of this show.

[SunnyBeBe]

Thanks MissBluxom!  I think I thought that about Paige, because she has always been incensed by perceived slights done to her and she has a huge sense of fairness and privacy.  So,......just saying.   I suppose the ends justify the means in this case, but, it should have been expected that Pastor Tim was going to be more than a little problem some time ago.  I say get him that job and good riddance. 

I've never been a Paige fan, but, she was smart enough to recognize that Henry would be better off at boarding school.  Yay.

Edited May 10, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[MisterBluxom]

5 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

I'm all for letting a story unfold but Jesus H Christ this is ridiculous. It's like FX gave them three extra episodes when they'd only written for ten. "Do we have B roll of Phillip driving around DC?" "How about Paige mopping the floor? Can we stretch that an extra 30 seconds?" "Let's have Elizabeth get highlights in real time, that'll take at least two hours".

I can certainly appreciate your sentiments. But I'm not so sure the events this season have been poorly planned.  After all, it may turn out in future episodes that events that seem foolish or a waste of time can take on some important meaning in the future. The odds are slim. But you just never know.

Also, I'm willing to take a charitable POV. This show has given me so much enjoyment over the years that I am willing to be patient and let the showrunners take their time. With any luck, they may well arrange to have something happen that will make me happy later on.

I may be expressing a foolish POV here, but there is just something wonderful about the love that P & E share. Even though they have done very terrible things and have murdered innocent people. They have also shown me an awful lot about the value of love and marriage and the value of sticking a marriage out. I've never been married. But I get a definite feeling from this show that people who are willing to give a marriage a chance and don't rush into divorce as soon as things may seem to go badly ...  Well, those people can be rewarded in the future as they grow old. A loving marriage can pay off with a great deal of happiness in later years. At least, I hope that may be true and I hope there may be a chance for me down the road to find someone and to fall in love and get married. As hokey as that may sound, I still believe in the concept and I hope it may happen for me. I'm willing to sit by and wait and hope for the best.

In the meantime, I think I'll just go and have a good cry.

[whiporee]

I'm glad I'm not the only one perturbed by the pace this season. We're watching grain grow. 

Claudia is really, really, really bad at running these two. She told a) and obvious lie about the grain b) an obvious lie about the disease and c) she didn't read the room at ALL in regards to telling them to keep fucking their grain-related marks. 

The stuff in Moscow has to be going somewhere, but I can't at all figure how it merges into the overall story arc. It's deep and meaningful and all that, but we really didn't need to see two minutes of Oleg's family eating in silence. We don't know enough about any of them -- including Oleg -- to care that much. Seeing the rezidentura last night just reminds me how much a hole Oleg going to Moscow has left in the show. Not just because of him, but we used to have two levels of intrigue going on. Now we've got none. 

On an over-reaching point, I think the runners have forgotten the central question of this show -- will these two wacky spies get caught? It's been a long time since we've had any real threat of that -- Groovyhair was the last real exposure threat P&E faced. We've had other sources of drama, but I think the farther the show gets from its central premise, the less urgency it has and therefore it becomes less compelling. The internal dynamics of P&E are interesting, but not compelling. What's compelling is these two people who are in a foreign land and trying to survive and undermine American influence, and how that all intersects with basic human decency and danger. We're just not seeing a lot of that this season, and it'd be nice to get back to it. 

Edited May 10, 2017 by whiporee