S06.E05: The Great Patriotic War

[MisterBluxom]

2 hours ago, BingeyKohan said:

Wow this board has really turned on The Americans! The killings made it difficult to watch but I thought this was the best episode this season so far. If it feels like somewhat of a different show from prior seasons think it’s meant to. I can be bored by Paige, too, but I liked the fire she showed leaving the garage after the sparring session. And I loved Philip’s closing phone call with Kimmie. When he warned her not to go to a Communist country with anyone while traveling I had the same feeling as when he took ‘Clark’s’ wig off for Martha. It struck me that we’ve seen him get close to two marks and in some way reveal himself to them but that has happened zero times with Elizabeth. 

What we need next is a real sense of actual FBI investigation and dot connecting, not just a convo in the sound proof room where that’s all happened off-screen. That I would complain about. (And I do agree they should have established how E knew which apartment window to crawl through.)

Very true. But I am fearful for Kimmie. She still hasn't quite grown up into adulthood and so if and when some character ever approaches her in Europe and asks her, "Hey how would you like to attend a real rocking party at my friend's house in Bulgaria ... ?

I worry the silly child will emerge and will agree to go and that may well be the end of Kimmie. She is just too sweet a person to be done away with in such a seedy fashion. I think that would truly make me cry.

[RedHawk]

5 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Where?  Because I am getting tired of coming here and feeling like I am the only person who still thinks this is one of the best shows on tv.  I almost didn’t post on this episode.

I totally agree with you! Despite sometimes snarking on stuff that bugs, it's an awesome show and I love it. 

An example, one scene that blew me away last night: In the phone booth call to end things with Kimmie, Phillip begins talking to her in the character of Jim, but by the end of the conversation, he is completely Phillip. The camera angle even changes so that we begin seeing him on one side, and then switch to the other. I need to watch it again, but it struck me that he even looked different by the end of the call.

ETA: Kudos to Matthew Rhys and the director.

Edited April 26, 2018 by RedHawk

[SunnyBeBe]

18 minutes ago, jjj said:

The phone booth Philip called from -- reminded me of Martha calling from a phone booth like this right before she went underground.  I think it was a call to her parents? 

OMG!  Hmmm.....That's a great idea!

Did anyone notice a print/painting of a crucifix hanging in Paige's living room? It caught my eye, but, I couldn't make out exactly what it was.  

[RedHawk]

9 hours ago, Umbelina said:

I really liked Tatiana, and she owes Oleg NOTHING, he did fuck up her career. 

Anytime Paige is taken down, I'm happy.

I'm also glad Philip did the right thing with Kimmie.  He's all in now, full out traitor.  Wow.

He did fuck up her career, but remember, she was complicit in helping the Russians getting a horrifying biological weapon. Oleg did the right thing.

[RedHawk]

8 hours ago, jjj said:

When Philip walked up to the door without looking through the peephole, I was amazed -- he lives in the world of paranoia, and at that moment was committed to going abroad and kidnapping/drugging a 20-year-old.  Yet, he breezily opens his door without checking. 

Thank you for noticing that! I have noticed it all 200 times both Phillip and Elizabeth have answered that door and never once, no matter how loud I yell at them, do they take a look! I hope this is part of their eventual downfall.

Seriously, do they not look at the peephole because in Russia peephole looks at YOU?

Edited April 26, 2018 by RedHawk

[jjj]

1 minute ago, RedHawk said:

Thank you for noticing that! I have noticed it all 200 times both Phillip and Elizabeth have answered that door and never once, no matter how loud I yell at them, do they take a look! I hope this is part of their eventual downfall.

Especially in contrast to the earliest season(s), when they were so attentive to things like a truck outdoors, or any disruption in the air outside their house.  Much more on edge then.  I miss the super secret coded phone calls.

[RedHawk]

4 minutes ago, jjj said:

Especially in contrast to the earliest season(s), when they were so attentive to things like a truck outdoors, or any disruption in the air outside their house.  Much more on edge then.  I miss the super secret coded phone calls.

From the very first I have never once seen them use the peephole. It could totally be a land shark and they'd just open the door. 

I miss those calls, too. Wonder how Basement Lady is doing and if Phillip ever drops by for borscht. I also wanted Kimmie to say to Jim, "Why in the one thousand times that I've called you have you never ever ever just answered the phone?"

ETA: Basement Lady got killed, didn't she? Just remembered. Aw, RIP.

Edited April 26, 2018 by RedHawk

[jjj]

1 minute ago, RedHawk said:

It could totally be a land shark and they'd just open the door. 

I believe you intended to say, "Um, *candygram*".  (RIP, SNL season one!)

[Erin9]

I thought this was a pretty compelling episode from a character POV. I really enjoyed it. 

It is so clear that Paige doesn’t get it. I swear she had a better appreciation of the dangers of being a spy before she formally became one. It’s like letting go of her fear in S5 has led her to a complete and utter lack of getting the seriousness of what she’s doing. She not scared....so no need to take anything seriously with the proper gravitas. It’s a game, a way to feel superior, and bond. Even when Philip says nothing, his facial expression says everything that’s wrong with her. As long as Paige is presenting as wanting to spy/wanting a bond with her mom,  but basically being woefully naive and unprepared, I can like this. I buy it. 

Elizabeth’s total burn down is interesting. It has to be leading up to something. Maybe there’s finally going to be something she won’t do. Her line in the sand. Regardless- the burnout isn’t being shown for nothing. 

Well, when Philip decided to do what he thought was right with Oleg, that just opened the floodgates with him. (Kinda like Oleg. One decision led to more of him following his conscience. Which again- never meant he didn’t care about home, despite how it looks.) This is good stuff. MR must have loved this material. Paige, Elizabeth, Kimmie, Oleg....Philip is finally going all out. This can’t end well though....but it is my favorite part of the show. 

Philip and Paige is so much more interesting than anything with Elizabeth and Claudia. Because Philip is getting real with her. Challenging her. And he’s pretty fed up too. He’s doing her a favor. Too bad she has no real appreciation as of yet. Maybe she had a tiny wake up call when he handled her so easily. She may well have figured out that he’s clearly able to kill easily too. 

ugh....poor Oleg. Tatiana just poured gasoline on him, figuratively speaking. And Philip by extent. I never did care much for her consequences wrt to oleg’s betrayal. It was William I felt for. I feel even less now since she’s obviously a hardliner now too. But it’s made for compelling scenes for sure. 

Oh- and it was nice to see Stan and Philip chatting again. Stan got an ear from his friend again- and Phil get info he probably didn’t really want. Philip was clearly horrified and disgusted. He knew Elizabeth was the killer. 

It thought it was a good, long hour overall. 

[teddysmom]

3 minutes ago, Erin9 said:

Elizabeth’s total burn down is interesting. It has to be leading up to something. Maybe there’s finally going to be something she won’t do. Her line in the sand. Regardless- the burnout isn’t being shown for nothing. 

Spoiler

I don't think there's anything she won't do, I think she's going to have cancer. 

[Bannon]

46 minutes ago, GingerMarie said:

Claudia was not drunk and we know Elizabeth was not.  She prides herself on being in control at all times, even when it means playing her daughter.  Elizabeth admitted that Paige was not cut out for this and Philip just drove the point home .  I am not sure why everyone thinks Paige should act any differently than she is.  She has always been the 'golden child', sensitive and insightful, selfish and always asking 'why me', if I pout long enough I will get my way.  Paige feels she is entitled.  Her parents, Claudia, Grabiel, Pastor Tim and the Centre have all played in to this notion that Paige is the one.  Paige really has nothing vested in the Cause.  Why should she, everything has been given to her.  I am not sure why we expect Paige to suddenly care about anything except Paige.  

Paige is some of what you describe, I think, but "insightful" is not a quality I'd choose for her. Her mother's been on a murder spree for weeks, right in front her nose, and she has no visible reaction.

[benteen]

My pet peeve is when someone snoops around in someone's home and doesn't wear gloves.  Especially if it's somewhere that might potentially be checked by law enforcement.

[GingerMarie]

3 minutes ago, Bannon said:

Paige is some of what you describe, I think, but "insightful" is not a quality I'd choose for her. Her mother's been on a murder spree for weeks, right in front her nose, and she has no visible reaction.

I agree Bannon, I was listing things Paige was not as well as the obvious of being a BRAT.   

[jjj]

3 minutes ago, Bannon said:

Paige is some of what you describe, I think, but "insightful" is not a quality I'd choose for her. Her mother's been on a murder spree for weeks, right in front her nose, and she has no visible reaction.

I know.  Last week's warehouse killings had to be frontpage news for days, and Paige knew her mother was in the warehouse alone.  But she and we are supposed to pretend it did not happen?  What was the point of it, except to provide Elizabeth with her weekly quota?  And there was something very primitive about the way she killed Gannady and Sofia -- straddling both of them like an animal devouring its prey.  Very different from shooting someone and walking away.  Or dropping a car on them. 

[BingeyKohan]

45 minutes ago, Erin9 said:

I wouldn’t mind seeing Claudia meet a bad end. But I’d like it come with a sense of failure. Total failure. Not like she is dying FOR anything.

There’s definitely a feeling of foreboding surrounding the Jennings, Oleg and to a lesser extent Claudia. 

Oddly I feel more strongly we will see Claudia's death than I do that we'll see Elizabeth's (maybe because the likeliest person to kill Claudia IS Elizabeth; I still wish they'd revisit the dynamic between them that led E to beat the crap out of Claudia that time) Maybe someone will kill Claudia at the safe house only because they want to lie in wait for Elizabeth? I could see her dying that way. 

[Bannon]

2 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

This shouldn't be all that surprising.  It isn't as though the writers are concerned about any future seasons.  There aren't any.  It really does seem like they are mailing it in at this point.

I'd appreciate just a modicum of professionalism. When it gets to the point that an FBI "safehouse" is an urban apartment with an unguarded fire escape, on which the assassin can magically discern the correct window (who knows? Maybe the KGB intercepted the junk mail, addressed "FBI safehouse"), and thus slip in to butcher people like steers in a slaughterhouse, except without getting any blood on her, I'd say the writers aren't even putting a stamp on the envelope, much less mailing it in.

[RedHawk]

38 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

I have figured out the garage mystery!!

The houses/garages are L shaped, and zero lot lines. 

The garage on the right of the screen belongs to the home next to theirs. 

Ah yes, the home of the Neighbors We Never Knew. I agree with your description as their house puzzled me for ages and that's also what I finally decided. It still doesn't seem to work with the interiors at times, but eh. One of these days I hope to see an actual floorplan that proves the layout actually did not make sense.

[calpurnia99]

No one used the term "wingman" in the 80's in this way, to mean a friend helping you to land a member of the opposite sex. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by calpurnia99

[shura]

9 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

(Luckily the Kimmy plan was about Mexico City so maybe Elizabeth can't just report it.)

She said that, didn't she? I don't understand why it was about Mexico City. The Kimmy operation had been running well before that, they were getting information that would be useful if not crucial for the summit. Why not report it like that and say that they need help in Greece? It didn't have to be Philip any more than it had to be anyone Gaad knew to approach him in Thailand. Just get some young Bulgarian guys to strike up something with Kimmy and her friends if that's how you want to do it. Of course, it would make way, way more sense to just have Philip convince her not to go.

Speaking of Philip and Kimmy, how weird is it to talk to someone you know and hear them say "Hey, when you are in Greece next month, and someone tries to convince you to go to a Communist country, don't do it!"?  I'd be like, "Dude, are you... from the future?"

[Bannon]

7 minutes ago, jjj said:

I know.  Last week's warehouse killings had to be frontpage news for days, and Paige knew her mother was in the warehouse alone.  But she and we are supposed to pretend it did not happen?  What was the point of it, except to provide Elizabeth with her weekly quota?  And there was something very primitive about the way she killed Gannady and Sofia -- straddling both of them like an animal devouring its prey.  Very different from shooting someone and walking away.  Or dropping a car on them. 

The idea that a small woman can just assume she'll be able to quickly kill a world class hockey player with a knife is also ridiculous. The way it was staged made it semi believable, but the point is an intelligent assassin of Liz's physical stature would not assume that everything would go right. A .22 with a silencer would be used. For some reason the writers wanted her to be doing a Hannibal Lecter bit.

4 minutes ago, calpurnia99 said:

No one used the term "wingman" in the 80's in this way. to mean a friend helping you to land a member of the opposite sex. 

Nope. 

[Chaos Theory]

Paige doesn’t get it.  But I think that might sort of be the point.  She still sees this as a fun bonding adventure she is having with her mother and doesn’t understand why her mother blows up at her after she beats up a couple of frat boys in a bar or might find a source who can get her some information.  That being said I did enjoy the little “fight” she had with Philip.  He proved his point without rubbing it in.  She might be able to take on a couple of civilians even male civilians but someone with real training is still out of her league.  Honestly I wouldn’t have minded another season one where Paige went away to school like Henry but Paige’s school was a spy training school.  If anything is a dumb plot hole that makes no sense it’s Elizabeth training Paige herself.  Elizabeth gives her peices of information and Paige seems to be happy with that which I do admit is weird but it is in character with who Paige is.  Still I do find the storyline fascinating.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[Ina123]

13 minutes ago, Bannon said:

I'd appreciate just a modicum of professionalism. When it gets to the point that an FBI "safehouse" is an urban apartment with an unguarded fire escape, on which the assassin can magically discern the correct window (who knows? Maybe the KGB intercepted the junk mail, addressed "FBI safehouse"), and thus slip in to butcher people like steers in a slaughterhouse, except without getting any blood on her, I'd say the writers aren't even putting a stamp on the envelope, much less mailing it in.

Maybe one of the underlings that was following Stan scoped it out, determined which apartment and a means to enter, or E went by and checked the alley and decided her route inside. I just really don't need to know every tiny detail. We have so little time to the end, just show me the important stuff.

[benteen]

The lack of investigation over there murders to me is the real sign of sloppy writing.  That I find bothersome.

Should Elizabeth have used a gun with a silencer to kill Gennadi?  Without question...it's easier and quicker.  It won't leave a mess on her.  They went with someone more personal and dramatic.  Slitting the throat is personal and sends a message.  Elizabeth is,, as always, a fanatic so she'd want to go with something more personal.  Plus, she's getting completely sloppy and flailing out everywhere.  I'm just not going to get crazy over that and every other little thing.

Edited April 26, 2018 by benteen

[SunnyBeBe]

41 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

  Reveal hidden contents

I don't think there's anything she won't do, I think she's going to have cancer. 

OMG. Great insight. That would explain a lot of things. 

22 minutes ago, shura said:

She said that, didn't she? I don't understand why it was about Mexico City. The Kimmy operation had been running well before that, they were getting information that would be useful if not crucial for the summit. Why not report it like that and say that they need help in Greece? It didn't have to be Philip any more than it had to be anyone Gaad knew to approach him in Thailand. Just get some young Bulgarian guys to strike up something with Kimmy and her friends if that's how you want to do it. Of course, it would make way, way more sense to just have Philip convince her not to go.

Speaking of Philip and Kimmy, how weird is it to talk to someone you know and hear them say "Hey, when you are in Greece next month, and someone tries to convince you to go to a Communist country, don't do it!"?  I'd be like, "Dude, are you... from the future?"

Yeah, wouldn't giving her something to make her sick for a few days, thus preventing air travel, be more practical?

Edited April 26, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[jjj]

25 minutes ago, calpurnia99 said:

No one used the term "wingman" in the 80's in this way, to mean a friend helping you to land a member of the opposite sex. 

 

Thank you.  I was around in the 1980s, and just assumed that I had not heard the term being used then.  I only recall hearing it in movies starting around 20 years ago.

ETA:  Just remembered when I first heard it, and had to look it up then!   Someone telling Harrison Ford he would be an "awesome wingman".

Edited April 26, 2018 by jjj

[RedHawk]

3 hours ago, Ina123 said:

The big irony would be that Renee gets a job at the FBI and sees the sketches of Phillip and Elizabeth (in disguise) on a bulletin board or on some wall and tells Stan, "Hey, that looks like P and E." Stan takes a long stare and then a light bulb appears over his head.

I kept waiting for Martha to see them and recognize "Clark".

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I did like the bar scene with Paige beating the crap out of the drunk frat boys.  I didn’t really understand Elizabeth’s reaction.  She was more upset that Paige would blow her supposed cover then get hurt.  But I did really enjoy both scenes of what came after.  Both the “fight” scene with her father and the drinking scene with her mother and Claudia.

Another example that Paige isn't really being trained well. She hasn't learned simple things like how to de-escalate rather than fight. Elizabeth was right that she could have just yelled or got a bartender's attention. We were also meant to see that Paige was ready to lash out, though, and that she overestimates her abilities.

57 minutes ago, MissBluxom said:

Very true. But I am fearful for Kimmie. She still hasn't quite grown up into adulthood and so if and when some character ever approaches her in Europe and asks her, "Hey how would you like to attend a real rocking party at my friend's house in Bulgaria ... ?

I worry the silly child will emerge and will agree to go and that may well be the end of Kimmie. She is just too sweet a person to be done away with in such a seedy fashion. I think that would truly make me cry.

Nah, that would be Paige. Remember when she accepted the ride from the sketchy guy and Henry quickly figured out it was a bad idea to go with him?

Kimmie, who has hung out with a drink and drug crowd and has had lots of unsupervised evenings, probably by senior year was going to shows at the 9:30 Club and D.C. Space. Paige would have said to her pals who suggested such an outing, "Oh, you mean go somewhere in scary DC? No way!" 

The contrast between Kimmie and Paige is interesting, not just from the perspective of Phillip seeing the type of young woman his daughter should have been allowed to blossom into, but how much more mature Kimmie is.

[BingeyKohan]

24 minutes ago, calpurnia99 said:

No one used the term "wingman" in the 80's in this way, to mean a friend helping you to land a member of the opposite sex. 

I had the idea that Top Gun sort of popularized it. No?

[Bannon]

8 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I agree with you, but this wouldn't be the first series where the writing went sour in the final season. 

What bothers me most is that all of the deaths are stacking up like cord wood and no one seems to give a shit.  We don't see any investigations anywhere, and all I do get to see is that stupid smirk on Stan's face.  Where is the push back from the American side of things?  That could be easily shown if the writers would dump the useless Paige bullshit.

Somebody should have sent a memo to the writer's meetings that this is supposed to be heavily serialized television drama, where events in one episode, especially significant events like a major character murdering people,  has consequences in subsequent episodes. Instead, they have written this like a homicidal Hart to Hart. Are Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers available for special guest appearances?

[teddysmom]

4 minutes ago, jjj said:

No one used the term "wingman" in the 80's in this way, to mean a friend helping you to land a member of the opposite sex. 

 

Isn't that why it was used in Top Gun, which came out in 1986? 

[calpurnia99]

Y

2 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

Isn't that why it was used in Top Gun, which came out in 1986? 

Yes it was used in the movie but was not a popular term to refer to your friend in the bar until early 2000's.

[Bannon]

21 minutes ago, Ina123 said:

Maybe one of the underlings that was following Stan scoped it out, determined which apartment and a means to enter, or E went by and checked the alley and decided her route inside. I just really don't need to know every tiny detail. We have so little time to the end, just show me the important stuff.

Then we have to think about why Stan is such a dolt as to allow himself to be followed to a "safehouse", in the midst of a espionage related killing spree, along with the fact nobody at the FBI has enough brains to grasp that urban apartment buildings with fire escapes make for really shitty "safehouses".

By the show's finale, there won't be a single character left with an IQ that surpasses a mollusk's.

[jjj]

12 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

Isn't that why it was used in Top Gun, which came out in 1986? 

Not originally my quote, but what Calpurnia99 said -- came into use much later as a dating term.

[Bannon]

One of the few things I liked about the final seasons of Mad Men was that they were willing to give cancer to a major character who smoked like a chimney. Not enough time, unfortunately, to do a decent arc of Liz with cancer.

[BingeyKohan]

5 minutes ago, Bannon said:

One of the few things I liked about the final seasons of Mad Men was that they were willing to give cancer to a major character who smoked like a chimney. Not enough time, unfortunately, to do a decent arc of Liz with cancer.

Wasn't that development introduced in like the next to last episode of Mad Men?

[teddysmom]

5 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

Wasn't that development introduced in like the next to last episode of Mad Men?

Yeah we only knew about it the last 3 or so episodes. She fell down at college, went to the doctor, the doctor told Henry, Sally came home, I think the last episode or next to last Don called her and they said goodbye.  Her final scene she's in the kitchen sitting at the table smoking and Sally is washing dishes. It wasn't that many episodes. 

Spoiler

I think she'll have it and sacrifice herself. That's why she's sitting with the artist/patient, seeing how excrutiating it is. 

[Bannon]

7 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

Wasn't that development introduced in like the next to last episode of Mad Men?

You may be right! They solved the compression problem, if memory serves, by having Betty exhibit obvious symptoms for a while, before going to the doctor, resulting in a stage IV diagnosis, and then having her believably decline treatment, given the way her character has been developed since the beginning of the show.

[misstwpherecool]

The FBI has yet to find out about multiple killings at a sensitive defense contractor with classified items and personnel with security clearances? Was the warehouse in the same region as the Jennings reside? The FBI or police haven't figured out the general's suicide involved a scuffle? Or that a murdered Navy officer that worked security isn't suspicious?

Then where does super spy mom get her energy to work a night job,  plan and prep for secondary missions. Then still have enough left to things like physically spar/workout, climb multiple stories into an apartment and kill a larger ex athlete in hand to hand combat then drink alcohol in the morning hours later.  It would be ironic if E was all coked up relying on a decadent western practice of recreational drugs. Although she's already smoking cigarettes.

Then 'safehouse' security??? I think they attempted to show lax security when the agent got mad at him for walking out unaccompanied saying he was on a break or something. I also think we were to assume the agents let the teacups have alone time because they were trying to get them back together.

Just speculating but I think they added the final scenes because they have a lot of footage and want to set up some  up coming epis. And perhaps they didn't want to leave the audience with the FBI getting it's butt kicked in such a depressing fashion.

[FormerMod-a1]

Top Gun did popularize the term "wingman".  I was a teen at the time the movie came out and remember people using that term after (along with saying "I feel the need for speed" and singing You Lost That Loving Feeling).

[BingeyKohan]

1 minute ago, Bannon said:

You may be right! They solved the compression problem, if memory serves, by having Betty exhibit obvious symptoms for a while, before going to the doctor, resulting in a stage IV diagnosis, and then having her believably decline treatment, given the way her character has been developed since the beginning of the show.

We're going to get in trouble for talking too much about mad men. To bring it back to The Americans, i can't decide if I want the last episode to feature any kind of montage showing where characters end up, set to some apt period song. Those are so fan-servicey. And yet...I do feel serviced by them. (especially if it would show Martha taking her daughter to the Moscow McDonald's for a fried apple pie)

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's Previously.TV's EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP of the episode!

The Americans Crash The Party At Mr. And Mrs. Teacup's

Witness relocation is the least of Gennadi and Sofia's problems in our latest EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP!

[Sarah 103]

I don't understand what Elizabeth thougth she had accomplished with Paige after telling her about WWII. To Paige, WWII was almost ancient history. 

What Paige did at the bar looked like basic-self defense to me. I didn't see anything especially Soviet/Russian about it. If someone asked her she could claim she took a self-defense class. Weren't self-defense classes for women a big deal in the 1970s through part of the 1980s? I loved the confrontation between Philip and Paige in her apartment. He looked off the minute he walked in, like something ready to explode. 

When Stan walked into the house I thought for sure he was close to figuring it all out. I'm hoping Philip realized it was a form of interrogation and did everything he needed to keep his cover.

Here's the part I don't understand about the Kimmie story. Why does Kimmie have to be home for him to change the tapes? I know it's easier that way, but in an absolute dire emergency/time-sensitive situation like this one, wouldn't it be easier to find a night when her father isn't home, break-in, and change the tapes that way? I understand that would not work on a regular basis, but it seems easier as a one time thing than a kidnapping/ransom plot. 

[SusanSunflower]

Y'might think that the stabbing in the neck m.o. at this point might ring a few bells ... since it's probably not a first choice technique used by "amateurs" although it may become recognized as superior (at least to trying to get a knife through layers of clothing and fat) after The Americans.

A few episodes ago, one could imagine (and care) how Paige would react, but in fact, after her very quick recovery to the blood and guts in the park (and apparently lack of interest sufficient to read the newspapers), she become less interesting and very hard to care just how devastated she would be learn her sainted mother's killer instincts.  It may be -- for the story's purposes -- the the USG has put a lid on most reporting, such as labeling the general's death a suicide publicly to end speculation. 

When will Philip realize that Paige knows nothing about the killing part of the job description and take corrective action?  I've given up P&E realizing and acknowledging that the job is mostly , irl, assassinations and honeypots ... honeypots usually to get some low-level shmoe (male or female) )to betray his values and do somthing that ruins his/her life .... lonely single eager for a vivacious caring friend. 

Hard to believe Stan would EVER share details with Philip or anyone else ... particularly of a failure beyond -- we blew it (It unspecified) I feel bad.  Yes, even if the Teacups had survived or Elizabeth intercepted, the attempt, the fact that their site was identified and breeched is a major failure. Yes, the DC office should have already been on full alert and the Teacups unceremoniously moved to a safehouse far from DC, summit, Elizabeth. A spa vacation in the Canadian Rockies. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by SusanSunflower

[jjj]

Zooming past the Mad Men references because I have not seen all seasons yet. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Let me preface this by saying that I detest cancer and have the upmost empathy for those who fight it.  But, I wonder why they keep insisting that the cancer patient insist that E draw while she yells out in pain.  I mean, the nurse is supposed to help the patient, but, this lady refuses aid and just keeps saying to keep drawing. I mean, how can one draw with someone suffering so right behind them?  Maybe, this is designed to put more stress on E. 

[teddysmom]

17 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

We're going to get in trouble for talking too much about mad men. To bring it back to The Americans, i

Anyhoo, I have to say, Matthew Rhys crushed it last night. Going to Paige to fight her and show her it's not that easy when it isn't two drunk college kids, but a man actually trying to kill you, calling Kimmy, realizing what Elizabeth did to the couple.  Knowing she's trying to stop Glasnost. Give this show some Emmy love for crissakes! 

I did look up the Russian death toll from WW II.  I understand Russia not liking the US taking credit for ending the war, but can't we all just get along?  Weren't we all fighting the same enemy? And excuse me Claudia, but your boy Stalin killed a lot of your friends, too.  You & Elizabeth and your romanticizing about the good ol' USSR is getting tiresome. 

Real easy to criticize the US while you're sitting in your cozy apartment drinking olive oil and talking about sex.  Go home and starve and see how much you like it. 

13 minutes ago, Tara Ariano said:

n case you missed it, here's Previously.TV's EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP of the episode!

Do people seriously not realize someone else is in the room when they're 3 feet away?  That's some mad ninja skills. 

Old school recaps!! Yippee!!  I miss those! 

Edited April 26, 2018 by teddysmom

[txhorns79]

Quote

Paige doesn’t get it.  

I agree.  They gave us a decent picture of the kind of training Phillip and Elizabeth went through before they were ever allowed to go to the United States.  It looked brutal and took years.  I doubt Paige has had a quarter of the training her mother received, and Elizabeth is in no way preparing her for the reality of being a spy. 

[TimWil]

Well, at least Sofia got to enjoy her new teeth for a few years.

[SusanSunflower]

As others have said, avoidance and deescalation are first principle of self-defense in real life, unlike when shadow boxing and demonstrating awesome martial-arts-likes moves in the garage ... and yes, even a girl can be blamed for escalating and throwing the first punch (rather than asking yelling "let go of  me asshole!!!" in this case).  That sort of aggressive impulsiveness gets folks killed in bar fights, not even always the people who started it, you never know who's got Goodfella dreams and a knife. 

It also occurs to me that the papers declaring the General's suicide a closed case could easily be a tip-off that in fact it was being treated as a national security issue ... given the evidence of at least one other party at the scene. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by SusanSunflower

[SunnyBeBe]

The thing with Paige and self defense.  It might have been a good idea for her to have actually taken a self-defense class, so she could explain where she got her skills.  She could claim she took one, but, if she can't say where, who the instructor was, receipt, etc.  some confirmation, it'll be obvious she was lying. And that looks suspicious. 

[Bannon]

10 minutes ago, SusanSunflower said:

As others have said, avoidance and deescalation are first principle of self-defense in real life, unlike when shadow boxing and demonstrating awesome martial-arts-likes moves in the garage ... and yes, even a girl can be blamed for escalating and throwing the first punch (rather than asking yelling "let go of  me asshole!!!" in this case).  That sort of aggressive impulsiveness gets folks killed in bar fights, not even always the people who started it, you never know who's got Goodfella dreams and a knife. 

It also occurs to me that the papers declaring the General's suicide a closed case could easily be a tip-off that in fact it was being treated as a national security issue ... given the evidence of at least one other party at the scene. 

 

If the General's death is being investigated by someone more intelligent than my dog, they wouldn't be telling the public it was a suicide, in order to keep things quiet, for purposes of national security. They would be, for national security purposes, trying to identify the killer, which would mean publicly announcing it was homicide, and issuing a public appeal to anyone who was around the park that evening to contact the FBI, in order to give an account of anything they saw or heard.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Bannon