The Americans on FX

I agree with all this. Stan really turned it up a notch this week, too. His eyes after blowing that chicken sandwich out of the guy's mouth were glowering and wonderful.

 

There were some flaws. I noticed the AV Club harping on one that bothered me early in the episode: The FBI is not going to plan out the execution of a high-ranking KGB agent with diplomatic immunity at a public party at someone's house.

But the good parts were so good, I didn't care. They do a great job of setting up what seems like obvious plot points, but then not following through on them. Like the AVClub review said, sometimes life doesn't work out that way. I was sure Amador would recognize Elizabeth for who she was, and I was sure Nina's death would cause Stan to put on his serious face.

 

I got the sense that the operation maybe wasn't official business as much as something some FBI leaders wanted to do sort of off the record. But I'm not sure. I think the point was that tensions were high and everyone was acting impetuously. That's what I liked about it.

As far as Amador not recognizing Elizabeth, honestly, those disguises are fucking great. The first time we saw Clark, I didn't even recognize that it was Phillip until midway through the scene.

 

I got that, but a public party with lots of civilians around?

 

I guess Phillip's wig doesn't come off when he's entangled with Martha. Risky to sleep over, though.

 

It's a pretty magical wig.

 

That was my thought. He was reticent to sleep over, too, and I'm sure that went through his mind.

 

So now I see that there's some debate over whether Amador was just being a dickhead ex or if he was suspicious because of what he had seen with the cabinet last week.

I hadn't thought of the latter explanation, but knowing this show, they intentionally made it ambiguous.

 

Dickhead ex.

And while we are hand jobbing Noah... Did anyone notice the facial tick he did at his desk when he knew Amador was missing?

 

I was expecting Stan to give the Russian an enchilada before killing him. One of the things I like about this show is you really have to watch it. Dig the soundtrack, saw Pablo Cruise a couple years back, they still tour during the summer.

 

And watch the encore immediately after. You pick up things like the facial tick or the fact it was a chicken sandwich only then. (Or with DVR, which I do not own)

 

That's probably the best idea, if you have the patience to do it. No doubt you'd pick up a lot of the nuances that slip by on first viewing.