The Americans on FX

I think she basically said it happens sometimes but in the context of it overly complicates things. I agree she should have been more forthcoming just so Paige doesn't decide to honey pot and gets in over her head.

 

I thought last season was slow because they were waiting for this one but after this week I’m thinking maybe this show is just slow now.

Really hope things kick into gear for the last 6 weeks.

 

Speaking of slow: If Phillip thinks business is slow now . . .

--- Claudia and Elizabeth sure are chummy these days. Seems a long time since . . .

--- Elizabeth may have her hands full taking out someone as big and strong as Gennadi.
--- Warehouse scene was WAY too dark. Closed captioning was the only way I knew a gun was fired. By the way, does anyone have a code for walkie-talkie scratches (I guess an unprecedented seven means "get the hell out of here")

 

Last episode was slow and the warehouse screen was way too dark.
Agreed on both.

And I cannot stand montages with vocal/lyric music in a tv episode. My reaction is immediate anger.
It's bad enough at the end of an episode, but in the middle of it?
I guess there was a time where that was ok, because it was a little different or off-beat.
Now it is complete hack and comes off as filling time.

 

I'm glad it's not just me.

Not going to quit this show, not this close to the end, but I get bored to tears at times.

 

I liked the first three episodes. I thought the pace was good. Nothing like the break-neck pacing of Seasons 1 and 2, but a big improvement over Season 5, which really dragged.
This fourth episode was the first so far this season that has dragged.
Also seems like some illogical plotting elements have been added re: Phillip and the business. If not illogical, at least unearned.

Here's how I'd rewrite the dialogue for the scene as they lay in bed together:
Phillip: Business is failing. I'm not sure why. I cannot get these numbers to add up.
Elizabeth: Have you tried highlighting and circling numbers?
Phillip: Yes, many times. I have highlighted and circled various numbers on many sheets of paper. It does not seem to help.
Phillip: Also, son can no longer attend expensive prep school.
Elizabeth: I must sleep now.

 

Maybe they're trying to get Phillip to be pro-Commy again when he sees his capitalist business go belly up?

I can't fathom for the life of me that he hasn't told Elizabeth about Oleg after 3 weeks.

Also, I'm curious what people make of this Sepinwall graph:

What makes him think Elizabeth would despise Putin? She hates Gorbachev. Everything we've seen of her since season 1 says she's on her home country's side no matter what, basically to the point of rooting for the laundry. Ergo if Putin's Russian, she's Team Putin.What am I missing?

 

I didn't get that, either.

I know she would have despised Yeltsin. Maybe she, like many Russians, would have considered Putin too soft. I'm not kidding. Many Russian hardliners --- and Elizabeth is definitely a hardliner --- consider him too reactive and not at all proactive, not able to make and execute long-term strategic plans. But that's a discussion worthy of more than just a throwaway line by Sepinwall.

Opinion | Why Trump Is Right on Russia

I was thrown by the choice of music. Eddie Rabbit? That's a Season 1 or 2 song (1981-82).

That's an interesting thought. So far he's enjoyed the fruits of America under the safety net of two KGB incomes. This is rough, uncharted territory for him. In the Soviet Union, a child that showed the academic potential of Henry would have been separated from less-intelligent kids at around the 8th or 9th grade (those kids would have been steered toward a vocational career, in a different educational setting). Henry would have had an elite high school and college education, free of charge.

 

I think they needed something that would work with the line dancing scenes. Not sure what kind of boot scooting shit was being played in the late 80s.

 

Unfortunately, I'm no longer finding The Americans as must-watch. Last two have sat on my DVR. untouched.

 

The timeline might be off, but I'm not going to complain about a scene featuring the music of Eddie Rabbit, New Jersey's favorite son.

 

The sad truth is this kind of spy work is typically slow and uninteresting and filled with dead ends. First couple of seasons were action-filled, but hopelessly unrealistic. What are you gonna do?