The Americans is Delightful.

[The Nth Doctor]

Nearly halfway through the season and I'm beginning to miss the Rezidentura. The Rezidentura's absence was to be expected with both Oleg and Arkady going home, and while the time is filled with Oleg's dealings in Russia, I do miss seeing Tatiana. I was hoping to see more of her after such a heavy focus on her last year.

Pretty sure young Henry is going to want to join the FBI some day.

That would be great parallel to Paige's path heading towards Russia. Combine that with the faltering psyches for both Philip and Elizabeth, I can foresee a family identity crisis being set up for the final season.

Fun fact: Last night's episode "Crossbreed" was directed by Roxann Dawson!

Always good to see her behind the camera. Last week was Noah Emmerich's third directorial episode and next week will be Matthew Rhys' second.

Here's one possibility that occurred to me. Maybe meeting Paige will change Gabriel's mind about leaving, and then it will come out that Philip's son came over and tried to see him...

The thing with Misha suddenly going back to Russia doesn't seem like it's done with. I think next week, after meeting Paige, Gabriel will feel guilty and come clean to Philip that his son came to visit.

I hope you're both right about that. I don't want Gabriel to leave and it feels rather abrupt for him to suddenly leave from creative stand point, especially since there's 17 episodes left in the show. Either way, I would be very surprised if we've seen the last of Mischa.

 

[Shawnster]

It's funny. On IMDB everyone is bitching about Paige and how the actress is just worthless. On here everyone seems to be the opposite. I really love how their taking Paige. Being a teenager is hard enough and quite confusing. Adding a budding romance/sexual awakening increases the confusion. Now, on top of that let's add the realization that her parents are Russian spies, she's really Russian and her parents want her to spy on Pastor Tim and NOT spy on her boyfriend. Typically teenagers go through a rebellious phase but Paige's been handed a nuclear bomb for her rebellious temptations. I think the ones that complain about the character really aren't thinking the situation all the way through.

 

[Captain Shaw]

Wonder if Henry will work it out and report them all to Stan?
Also I'm surprise Stan is still alive after threatening to go public.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Wonder if Henry will work it out and report them all to Stan.

Now that would be one hell of a twist. Henry is clearly more connected with Stan than he is with Philip and Elizabeth. I don't expect that to happen, but it would be an interesting development.

Also I'm surprise Stan is still alive after threatening to go public.

I'm not if it turns out that Renee is in fact a honeypot sent to spy on him.

 

[marillion]

^^ Definitely... They want to keep an eye on him and see if he's got some kind of connection to the Soviets.. Afterall, he's willing to sacrifice himself to save Oleg.. Which, incidentally appears to be working.. Oleg's been stood up a couple times now. lol

 

[Greg Cox]

You know, it would be nicely ironic if, in the end, it's Elizabeth who cracks and not Phillip. Since Day One, Phillip has been portrayed as the one with doubts and qualms of conscience, with Elizabeth being the Good Soldier, so it would be a nice twist if it's Elizabeth who finally turns . . ...

 

[sttngfan1701d]

I'm actually surprised that Oleg went to the meeting place again after being stood up the first time.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm actually surprised that Oleg went to the meeting place again after being stood up the first time.

Just making sure!

 

[Riverside2233]

Wonder if Henry will work it out and report them all to Stan?
Also I'm surprise Stan is still alive after threatening to go public.

I started to think about that after this week's episode! That would be a solid way to have things unravel for them. Right now Henry is oblivious and they would not see that coming if he pieces things together.

 

[E-DUB]

I'd love to see the series end with a "Where are they now?" coda similar to what they did at the end of "Animal House" only serious. Stan left the FBI and wrote a bestseller called "The Spies Next Door". (The publisher insisted on the title because they thought that "The Spies Across the Street" lacked pizzazz.)

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The beginning of this episode is probably the most awkward "Take Your Kid to Work" moment I've seen. I wish the scene last longer, but it was still pretty effective as the cold opening. The closing scene works as a great bookend to the first scene, strengthening the first with the "You were right about Paige. She shouldn't be mixed up in this." That's one hell of a parting gift from Gabriel and I bet that's going to send Philip into a deeper tailspin.

I'm still sorry Gabriel is definitely leaving. Hopefully whoever his replacement is, they have the same kind of charisma as Margo Martindale and Frank Langella (or even Wrenn Schmidt).

Gabriel debunked Renee as a Soviet spy, which makes me think it's all the more likely she's a spy for the CIA or some other American agency. And now Stan is on thin ice: He could be transferred sometime in the foreseeable future if and when his current operation comes to an end. I wonder if that'll push him to do something extreme, or rather, more extreme than blackmailing his boss' boss about him killing a Russian agent for Oleg's sake.

Speaking of Oleg, why is he looking at a file on his mother?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I really enjoyed this episode.

Gabriel debunked Renee as a Soviet spy

He cast a great deal of doubt on it, but he explicitly didn't debunk it: he said that he would have to have been kept in the dark about it for it to be so.

Renee goofed in her recounting during Breaking Away of her trip to Indiana. It's not generically "the U of I," rather it's "IU," as anyone who was actually in contact with students there would know. This doesn't mean she's necessarily anything, except that it would cast even more doubt on the idea that she's for real, assuming that the writers didn't goof themselves.

Next question: who's the woman that the wheat expert met at the bar?

Oh, and: will Paige stay broken up with Matthew?

Speaking of Oleg, why is he looking at a file on his mother?

Another great question.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

He cast a great deal of doubt on it, but he explicitly didn't debunk it: he said that he would have to have been kept in the dark about it for it to be so.

True, but I'm not entirely convinced on that count. Granted I'm projecting my own theory about her (i.e. she's an American spying on Stan), but I'm not certain the Centre is that distrusting of Philip at this point.

Good catch on IU. I guess I wasn't paying attention to that conversation because I should've caught it, too, considering I went to Earlham College, which is also in Indiana.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, I'm starting to lean towards the idea that Renee is CIA, in part because the Jennings were so wrong about the grain. It's in keeping with the idea that things are "opposite" of the way they suspect they are. And, as people have stated, it really does make sense that Stan would be checked out by the Americans. But I'm really not sure; the truth could be anything, I think.

 

[Greg Cox]

A recurring theme this season seems to be our characters being forced to confront the darker side of the Soviet Union: Phillip discovering this his father worked in a prison camp, Oleg discovering that his mom spent time in a prison camp, Elizabeth assigned to dig up dirt on a dissident human-rights group, etc.

Meanwhile,I see that Mom and Dad are still letting Paige think that the USA is out to sabotage Russia's food supply. I wonder if Phillip will tell her truth in order to keep her from becoming a spy?

And as for the wheat expert cheating on Elizabeth: that's gotta to be a confusing situation to process, emotionally. "Hey, the guy I seduced in order to spy on him is cheating on the woman I'm pretending to be!"

 

[E-DUB]

Digging up dirt (and sometimes manufacturing it) on dissident groups is one of the things that they did. Our own FBI did a lot of stuff regarding domestic dissent that went way beyond simple recon work.

 

[1001001]

I'm thinking Paige is going to have to kill Matthew at some point. Or use him for some nefarious purpose. Or kill Pastor Tim. Kill someone anyway.

Elizabeth certainly did respond, momentarily anyway, with jealousy when she saw Wheat Boy with another woman. Weird stuff.

Every time I watch this show, I wonder when they sleep. They have so many different things going on.

I'll miss Gabriel. I really liked his character.

So was that one shot of Martha in the grocery store it? Are we not going to see any more of her? I'd certainly like to know how her life is going.

 

[Greg Cox]

So was that one shot of Martha in the grocery store it? Are we not going to see any more of her? I'd certainly like to know how her life is going.

I'm sure we're going to be seeing Martha again. I doubt that they would have teased us with that shot unless they were planning to revisit her at some point. I took that shot as the show saying, "Don't worry. We haven't forgotten about Martha."

 

[1001001]

I hope you're right.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm thinking Paige is going to have to kill Matthew at some point. Or use him for some nefarious purpose. Or kill Pastor Tim. Kill someone anyway.

Yeah. It's worth remembering that the only reason that the Soviets didn't kill Pastor Tim and wife in the first place was not to upset Paige. If she gets on board with the idea, then they're as good as toast.

Maybe Phillip and Elizabeth will decide to let Paige stay out of it, but Paige will decide to stick with Mom and Dad and do something on her own initiative to commit to the cause. Like, as you suggest, kill someone.

I believe that Paige still harbors doubts, such as because of the way she avoided eye contact with Gabriel when he whipped out Marx on her, but breaking up with Matthew shows she's preparing for possible commitment, I think.

That would be really intense if Matthew discovered something, and Paige had to make a choice!