The Americans

[iClaudia]

I caught up on this season over the past week and I, too, found the finale underwhelming. I don't mind the KGB wanting to recruit Paige, it fits with their M.O. and if the Paige/Elizabeth storyline was a little better written, I could kind of buy her seeing recruitment as a way to reconnect with her daughter but Paige has been written such that there is NO way that she is recruitable, NO way and I don't think they've constructed enough depth to Elizabeth's issues with Paige for me to see her as a conflicted but desperate mother who is also a true believer. I will not buy it at all if preacherman starts to sway Paige into pro-Communist, anti-American thinking. If they ended the series with Paige turning her parents in, I'd be all for that because I think that fits with her personality.

They could have gone in a lot of interesting directions with the Larrick story, he was wonderfully ambiguous, and they really blew it. Jared killing his parents was a surprise, sure, but it actually didn't have any shock value. More like, "huh... huh?... ok". Jared was also pretty ambiguous and they could have really worked the, "is he, isn't angle" with both Jared and Larrick. I'm not sure why they felt compelled to tie everything up as they did.

I was relieved that Stan was written in character. There's no way he would have become a traitor, not even for Nina. I've really enjoyed Martha this season and I am glad that she's become more central to the main story. I'm not quite sure where they are going with her but I really hope she's not doomed to be killed off. One reason I'm sticking with this show is that I thoroughly enjoy rooting against the protagonists. Usually you root for a hero or anithero, rooting against an anti-hero is pretty unusual.

[bklynred]

May 23, 2014 17:55:05 GMT -4 Baby Fish Mouth said:

May 23, 2014 17:45:08 GMT -4 scrabblequeen said:

It is just too implausible, the risk of a kid telling someone that their parents are KGB agents is just too great IMHO. Why risk outing established illegals on the idea that emotional, hormonal, American raised teenagers will respond positively to spying against their own motherland? Yeah. No.

I know, right? There are so many terrible things about this idea. And the fact that Elizabeth would even consider it makes me hate her. People are trying to justify her reasoning over at TWoP. Sorry, but turning your kid into a cold-blooded murderer is not justifiable no matter how great the "cause." Now I'm hoping Philip leaves her and takes the kids. Fuck that.

Whenever Elizabeth says or does something irrational, I keep in mind that she "accepted" rape and birthing children with a strange man for the cause. In her mind, anything's OK in the name of mother Russia. She's been totally indoctrinated, so very little is odd to her.

eta: There was some action movie--Tom Cruise?--where someone took 10 minutes to die as well. Jared's scene made me snicker, dude was hemorrhaging from the neck. What amazing fortitude! "And then, when I was 10, and I had a tantrum...cough..."

[dcgal]

I get all the plot holes everyone has mentioned, but I loved this episode even with all of its flaws. Jared having killed his parents was so unexpected as was the request to bring Paige into the program. I think that sets up a great conflict for next season and I can't wait.

I'm worried about Martha too. I feel bad for her -she's treated poorly at work and was so desperate for a husband that she marries a guy who she can't tell anyone about and is mysterious about why he's gone all the time.

[Ladybug]

The AV Club interview with the creators was great, read it if you get a chance. They said that in their research they knew of 3 "Marthas," women who unknowingly married illegals. One refused to believe it, even after she was shown irrefutable proof she was married to a Soviet agent. The other two committed suicide.

In the context of the show, it's hard to believe she's not more suspicious if Clark's actions. I am really interested in where her story goes also.

[scrabblequeen]

Really?? I will have to check out that interview. It seems damn near impossible to come from Russia and establish oneself as an American citizen, I wonder how often it was done. And HOW? How do you shake off every trace of your otherness. It makes me think what a psycho Elizabeth really is, whether or not some of it is inborn and some of it cultivated by her training experiences. I wish her activist friend, forgot his name, wasn't killed last season. She connected with him in a way she does not with Philip. But I guess that is how it goes for these people, no one gets to grow old and enjoy life. They die in a hail of bullets!

I can totally see Elizabeth thinking that having a daughter acting as an illegal would be honorable and a notch on her belt, my problem is that it seems so wildly risky that the Center would not consider the benefits to outweigh the risk of exposure and loss of the huge investment of time that P&E are. They had to be trained, placed, a life created, etc. and they bring in good information. It seems like too much of a leap to endanger an embedded source like that. And I still don't like that the kid killed his family, that was a missed opportunity and is what makes me give the child spy storyline side eye. But I can see how Elizabeth would want to run with this opportunity, for sure.

[celerydunk]

Im also disappointed in the Larrick storyline. I was hoping he would be lurking around a while longer. And how ridiculous is it that he is supposed to be this cold blooded killer, but skinny Elizabeth was able to fight him handcuffed? That coupled with the slow motion bleed out really disappointed me. This show is usually better than this.

I enjoy Nina's storyline, but I wonder how they can have her come back and have it be remotely realistic - especially if the relationship between her and Beaman picks up again.

[scrabblequeen]

So I was thinking about this some more...because that is how much I love this show!...and what if the Center has already started in on Paige, unbeknownst to her parents? Isn't that what they did with Jarrod? There was that girl on the bus who immediately glommed on to Paige and led her into the church. And maybe the pastor was not afraid of Philip when Phillip was threatening him about the donation money because the pastor is actually a combat trained illegal too. HE will be the one to turn Paige. She could be turned and not even made aware that her parents are spies.

[Deleted]

Bumping for season 3. This could go in most disturbing scenes thread but the scene with the suitcase was one of the most twisted things I've ever seen on a tv show (pun intended). And then they follow that with the home dentistry. Although you would think that if the Russians have the resources to get that tail off of Elizabeth, they would have a doctor/dentist on call somewhere.

One issue I think I am going to have with this season is that in the Philip vs. Elizabeth argument over Paige, Elizabeth is so obviously in the wrong that its hard to see her viewpoint at all. Philip is right, Paige is going to either end up stuffing someone in a suitcase or she will end up in the case herself. Considering that half of their work involves having sex with other people, its creepy that Elizabeth is fine with setting her 14 year old daughter on that path. At best she is naive about what would really happen. I hope there is a development in this plot line soon and we don't have to listen to them have the same argument all season.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

I agree with everything you said about Paige. Elizabeth is being willfully blind, but at least I can kind of understand now why she wants this. All parents want their kids to be like them to some degree.

The home dentistry was one of the worst things I've ever seen, but it was also one of the most intimate moments those two have shared. It really showed how much trust Elizabeth has in Philip despite their differences over Paige. But yeah, we already know the KGB has a surgeon on call, so they should also have a dentist. Or at the very least some freakin' painkillers.

[LAX]

Man, I am scared for Martha. There is no way this is going end well for her.