The Americans on FX

And that's in the Constitution? Legally correct, but the reporter's statement is not.

The Speaker and Pro Tem have to resign to become President.

 

I was concurring with you.

 

Well that was interesting.

 

Holy shit.

 

Avoiding substantial spoilers for now ...

I loved the way they led us right onto the obvious twist. It was brilliant to telegraph a twist like that and then spin it all in a different direction entirely. Writers need a lot of confidence in the writing and plotting and pacing to handle that kind of complexity. Moreover, the actual twists were brilliant in both plots. And I enjoyed the kids' plot as a welcome distraction and reminder that there are consequences on a micro level in this game, too, even if the execution was kind of tacky because of bad writing for the guest actor. The emotions carried by the actors and the writing were incredible in the scenes in the aftermath of the big confrontation. This show is something very special right now.

That said, this episode really set up some dramatic plot twists. It changed the entire structure of the show. It felt like a season finale in a lot of ways. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

 

Keri Russell kicking *ss and shouting 'Show them your face!' was season highlight.

I really enjoy this show.

 

Getting your ass kicked by Keri Russell is probably hotter than actually having sex with most women.

As far as the episode? Eh. My standards are getting higher because I think the show is so good, and that was an ordinary episode of a very good show. I'm nitpicking, I know, because I like so much about the episode and the show in general.

The main plot twist was okay, but it was obvious because it had to be. Of course that wasn't really happening.

I could do without the "13-year-old girl in pervy peril" card being played twice in half a season. Maybe I'm just thin-skinned, but I do not enjoy that kind of drama.

If they want to be great and not just really good, they need to slow down a little bit. Some of this stuff would be better on a slow burn. We just got done with Elizabeth's "It never happened for us, but it is happening now" moment. That's enough relationship-changing drama to hold me over for awhile.

Finding out she "betrayed" his doubts to their bosses could have been a much bigger moment, instead of just this week's relationship moment, to be overwritten by next week's, and the week after that's. It wasn't going to find out "Betty finds out Don's fake identity," but it could have been something on the level of Lane getting caught embezzling.

Stan setting up Vasili and protecting Nina was awesome enough to hang the whole episode around. They needed to find something a little less weighty for Elizabeth and Phillip to do and save this moment for later.

 

Nina is still a dead woman walking, and Stan's going to have to deal with that consequence: If we use people with no regard, are we any better than the Soviets?

The hitching element worked because of the parallels drawn. The daughter learned the same lesson the young Keri Russell learned: when people offer to help you they want something. It also showed a parallel between the son's and father's personalities with regard to protective instinct.

 

As someone else mentioned, I thought it was entirely obvious who was behind the taking of Phillip & Elizabeth. But then after it was revealed, how the show dealt with it was simply awesome.

 

I think the general theme of this show will be that we are not better than the Soviets. Each side will have good people, and each side will have bad people.

Everything the Soviets have done so far is to protect their country. The are not aggressively trying to attack America. they are defending themselves from a perceived threat. Sort of like what the Americans seem to be doing.

 

Well, except for the fact the Soviets basically held their entire population and all of Eastern Europe hostage for almost 50 years.

People seem to forget that little point for some reason.

 

So Henry's already showing skills to join the family business. Kid might make a heck of a travel agent.

A lot of people were down on the kids' story, but I thought it worked. It touched on the question of what happens to them if Phillip and Elizabeth get caught and it also served the purpose of adding a little more mystery to the parents' story. It was obvious is wasn't the FBI that had Phillip and Elizabeth and it seemed like it must be a loyalty test, but there was the slight possibility it was a third party, maybe an off-the-books black ops deal.

That made me wonder who the guy in the car was. Maybe he was KGB tasked with watching the kids, maybe he was creep, maybe he was a regular guy or maybe there was some possibility I hadn't thought of.

I thinking maybe Nina survives, but it is when she's extracted and has to be shipped off somewhere that upsets Stan.

I always thought of Keri Russell as pretty, but necessarily sexy. That's changing.