The Americans

[Ladybug]

Also, did the kids notice that part of the house was wrecked due to the fight Elizabeth had with her kidnappers? Or that there was a bunch smelly raw onions left out on the counter? I know those are nitpicky points, but they are details that stand out to me when I'm watching.

[Martini Girl]

I found a lot of plot holes in last night's episode. All revolving around the Jennings family life. The kids seemed clueless and the parents didn't seem to care what happened to the kids or how they might explain themselves.

Also, it's been my understanding that the KGB was very structured. I can't imagine Elizabeth being able to get away with beating the crap out of her superior without repercussions. And the FBI is coming off like the police in General Hospital. Completely stupid and clueless.

[waytoocheerful]

Someone else pointed out that the writing is making the FBI look like a bunch of Wile E Coyotes, when in reality, they just aren't. That is typical Hollywood, on any show that isn't focused on the FBI, like Criminal Minds, FBI agents are always intimidated by local PD officers like Horatio Caine, or they run around in circles like dogs chasing their tails.

I realize the writers want us to pull for Elizabeth and Phillip, but it is so obvious they want me to do so, that it is making me do the opposite. I was watching through my fingers, but at the same time I was actually hoping the creepy guy was really KGB and the kids were going to be in danger. I didn't want anything to happen to the children but I wanted Elizabeth and Phillip to really know it could happen at the hands of their beloved KGB comrades.

Yeah the kids either used to shit turning crazy at home without warning, they are really unobservant, or the KGB has maid service on speed dial.

Maybe the KGB did send the creepy guy because otherwise how did they know the kids wouldn't show up and realize something was up with their parents being nowhere to be found and the house being a mess?

[bklynred]

I got the impression the kids are used to the neglect. Mom in particular seems a bit removed, they're probably used to dad being more doting, concerned. I'm less invested in the FBI end of things so I haven't been noticing plot holes there.

[celerydunk]

Mar 7, 2013 12:42:07 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

Also, did the kids notice that part of the house was wrecked due to the fight Elizabeth had with her kidnappers? Or that there was a bunch smelly raw onions left out on the counter? I know those are nitpicky points, but they are details that stand out to me when I'm watching.

I figured they would have someone come in and clean up to keep the kids from getting scared and calling the cops. We all know those kids are used to coming home to an empty house and would not think anything was up with that. Speaking of the kids, I can't believe they never sat them down and said "if we don't show up call so and so".

I wonder if they are writing Elizabeth as the unattached parent on purpose. It fits her character, seeing that she clearly puts her work above everything else.

[bklynred]

celerydunk, I thought of that too (being stranded at school), but then I wondered (as a nonparent) if that was something that was done in the early 80s? I mean, it's standard now, but would families have a secondary plan like that back then? I also thought it fishy that a teacher wouldn't at least come out like, "Oh my God, where's your mother the Bad Parent?" And the hitchhiker thing seemed really...odd. I thought there would be a twist as the creepy driver thing is such a trope. I figured, "Oh, he's weird but he'll actually get them home after this strange moment at the lake..."

[waytoocheerful]

I thought the kids were at the mall when Elizabeth didn't show to pick them up. I was a little younger than Paige and Henry are but I knew who to call in an emergency, but to my knowledge my parents also weren't spies. If my parents had been no shows to pick me up, I would have freaked out. I never would have thought about hitchhiking. My parents had me so scared of strangers, I would hide if I was outside playing and saw a car I didn't recognize turn onto my street. I can still remember my parents telling me not to ever hitchhike when we passed some guy trying to hitch because a stranger might take me in their car and never let me come home again. I wasn't having any of that.

[celerydunk]

I am maybe a year or two younger than Henry. I was a latchkey child at his age and I had a stay at home mom neighbor that was my go to in case of trouble. (In those days the concern was more about me somehow injuring myself or setting the house on fire.) Since they are spies and anything can happen at any moment, it would seem they would have given their children some idea of what to do if they don't show up. But they are sneaking out at all hours of the night, so maybe they figure the kids will be fine til the next mortgage payment comes due.

[CarolinaGirl]

My uncle was in the FBI so the way the FBI has been portrayed has gotten on my nerves.

He had every child in the family so scared of stranger danger that there wasn't a chance in hell we would have hitched a ride. One Thanksgiving all of the cousins (at 6 I was the baby) were out playing in the yard, and a car pulled up to ask if we knew where somebody lived. All 10 of us, including the teens at the time, took off running, crying, and screaming back to the house that someone was trying to kidnap us. And yes that story is told every year at Thanksgiving.

My parents never picked up hitchhikers and warned us early on about not giving strangers a ride home or getting in the car with a stranger.

The actress who plays Mrs. Stan was just signed as a series regular for season 2.

[waytoocheerful]

I love that this preview includes a, "Still to come this season." It gets me excited for Wednesday. We're halfway through with season 1 and know we're getting a season 2.