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NFT: The Americans ***Spoilers***

Stu11 : 4/18/2017 1:12 pm
I hate to be "that guy" that always complains when a series goes down hill, but I really usually never do this but man has this series nose dived this year. Really up until this season it has been so good that it is one of the few shows that I almost always watch on its night even though I DVR it. The story arc has dropped a lot. I often watch the show late at night, as i'm a late owl, but I literally have fallen asleep twice this season watching the epi's. Now it appears Frank Langella is leaving which sucks, although Margo Martindale can hold that end down fine. The wheat story is a joke. Does anyone know if they went over a big writers overhaul at some point?

All that having been said, there have been some interesting spots- the Vietnamese kid that is helping them out is interesting, and Liz with Mr. save the world was intriguing last week in that he could tell the difference in her sexual performance now that she clearly admires him more than when she though he was poisoning the wheat. That is interesting to me in that it shows that as good as a faker as Liz is, she is becoming more and more human while performing the job. I am definitely not a hater, I love the characters, and it will be interesting to see what is up with Stan's GF. and I do like the concept of Phil and even now Liz questioning the cause. I am interested to see if they get word to Burov that he is safe from being blackmailed. I just am used to hanging on every second of the show and I find myself really fading more and more this season.
I think the writers are struggling with the end game  
Greg from LI : 4/18/2017 1:16 pm : link
There are some very strong scenes and performances, but the episodes just plod along with little flow to them.
I'm also a little bored with this season.  
BlackLight : 4/18/2017 1:20 pm : link
Hopefully, the downshift is just a necessary evil to the preparation for the stretch run.

I hope we get more of Martha before the show wraps.
There is a lot of character development going on  
Deej : 4/18/2017 1:27 pm : link
I like it. It's a nice twist. Amazing performance by Matthew Rhys this season.
I'm starting to feel pretty strongly that Henry is their downfall  
Greg from LI : 4/18/2017 1:28 pm : link
Henry's not a budding Russkie spy like Paige. He's grown closer to Stan than to his parents (who mostly ignore him), and he'll drop a dime on his parents in a second once he figures out who they really are. Calling it!
Greg I think they are heading towards a Gorbachev narrative  
Stu11 : 4/18/2017 1:34 pm : link
obviously with it being '84 and the show ending next year they won't make it to the late 80's, but already you see Phil and Liz starting to really question the cause a bit. Also the scene last week with Gabriel where he is standing on the steps of the Lincoln monument and looking at the Washington Monument. You wonder if he is thinking "This country really isn' that evil".
How far have we come with Liz btw?  
Stu11 : 4/18/2017 1:37 pm : link
the series opened with her basically pulling a butcher knife on Phil, and now she's really softening. Its subtle, as you still see her anger come out earlier in the season when she is talking to Phil about Mr. super wheat when she though he was poisoning the wheat, or when she is talking about the defector they are working.
Liz is still a true believer  
Greg from LI : 4/18/2017 1:42 pm : link
Look at the way her eyes lit up when she saw Paige reading Marx. She may have grown to love Phillip, and she has grown troubled with her career, but she hasn't rejected Communism. I don't think Phillip was ever truly a believer. A Russian patriot, but not a hardcore Communist.
My prediction  
smshmth8690 : 4/18/2017 2:00 pm : link
Liz will turn on Philip.
It seems like some filler to get in two seasons.  
AnnapolisMike : 4/18/2017 2:00 pm : link
to get 2 seasons in. But I like it so far.

It has been a little hard to follow at times. Following OLEG in Russia is a bit boring and I wonder what it will really add to the show.

They are abviously laying the groundwork for the endgame. Bringing Henry back into the show (OK...who's kid hangs out with the Dad next door?) The wheat storyline is humanizing Phillip more...as are the flashbacks to his life as a child. I don't think we are done with Gabriel yet...I think he has a role to play in Russia. Tonights episode should continue with Paige's development as an agent.


RE: My prediction  
AnnapolisMike : 4/18/2017 2:02 pm : link
In comment 13432777 smshmth8690 said:
Quote:
Liz will turn on Philip.


I think the opposite...I think she is the one who will save him. The choice between Mother Russia and Philip/family will be a major plot line IMO.

Henry hangs out with Stan because his own parents barely notice him  
Greg from LI : 4/18/2017 2:03 pm : link
as they're consumed with handling Paige. On Stan's part, even though he was often an absent father to Matthew, he misses him whenever he's at his mother's house.

And I miss Sandra Beeman quite a bit myself. Milfalicious.
In case it wasn't clear since I wrote it poorly  
Greg from LI : 4/18/2017 2:04 pm : link
Henry is a surrogate son for Stan when Matthew's not around....and maybe even beyond that, since Henry clearly has more respect and admiration for Stan than Matthew does.
What's going on with Stan's Blond GF?  
AnnapolisMike : 4/18/2017 2:05 pm : link
Russian agent? There is more to her character than they have shown so far.
I thought that might be the case  
Greg from LI : 4/18/2017 2:07 pm : link
But, I don't know, the fact that Phillip suggested that might be true makes me think it's a red herring.

Given the way Stan's going rogue at work, I think it might be more likely that she's CIA and keeping tabs on him.
yea Greg I agree with you on her being CIA  
Stu11 : 4/18/2017 2:26 pm : link
Unlike the US where all the departments-CIA/FBI/NSA almost act as adversaries a lot, the Soviets were insanely centralized. No way the Center would send her in there that close to Phil and Liz with no hint whatsoever. I really echo what a lot of said here over the years- it really is comical how paranoid the Soviets were. That we would actually poison their wheat? Tons of projection going on there. Interesting theories on the end. I'll throw my hat in there. I think in the end Paige flips on them. yea they are slowly moving her along the conversion trail, but she never seems to truly embrace it, and in the end I think she flips on them.
I knew they had the wheat thing wrong, and it was fun to see it play  
Greg from LI : 4/18/2017 2:30 pm : link
out.

Well, except for the guy getting murdered.

I mean, think of it - they think a top-secret bio-war project was being conducted in a random greenhouse in the middle of nowhere, protected by nothing more than a padlock??
RE: I thought that might be the case  
AnnapolisMike : 4/18/2017 2:41 pm : link
In comment 13432798 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
But, I don't know, the fact that Phillip suggested that might be true makes me think it's a red herring.

Given the way Stan's going rogue at work, I think it might be more likely that she's CIA and keeping tabs on him.


Thought CIA was possible as well...but it makes some sense that the Russians could be keeping on eye on Philip thru Stan. If Philip was going to flip....He's going to see Stan. The Center does not trust Philip. Elizabeth vouching for him has likely saved his ass.
Best show on TV  
well...bye TC : 4/18/2017 3:15 pm : link
Fact.
If she is Russia  
Deej : 4/18/2017 3:33 pm : link
then they're plainly setting things up for a confluence of reasons P and E would want to quit. In addition to that, the handler they like is retiring, the Paige recruitment issue, Crandall's disaffection/death. P and E are both getting fed up with the trail of broken lives they're leaving behind (Crandall, the guy in the lab this year, Hans, Young Hee, Martha, and setting up for the guy E is banging now etc.) -- these things are obviously taking their toll. P's daddy issues. If P learns they turned his kid around he could lose it.
RE: I knew they had the wheat thing wrong, and it was fun to see it play  
Mike From Brielle : 4/18/2017 6:18 pm : link
In comment 13432867 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
out.

Well, except for the guy getting murdered.

I mean, think of it - they think a top-secret bio-war project was being conducted in a random greenhouse in the middle of nowhere, protected by nothing more than a padlock??


Did Phillip and Elizabeth leave the body in the Green House when they left or did they put it in the trunk of the Car they rented then get rid of it? In any case eventually someone is going to have to investigate that and since it was a federal facility (and employee or a contracted worker) I'm pretty sure that's going to be the FBI. I wonder if that would have the potential compromise Elizabeth eventually?
RE: If she is Russia  
Mike From Brielle : 4/18/2017 6:24 pm : link
In comment 13433016 Deej said:
Quote:
then they're plainly setting things up for a confluence of reasons P and E would want to quit. In addition to that, the handler they like is retiring, the Paige recruitment issue, Crandall's disaffection/death. P and E are both getting fed up with the trail of broken lives they're leaving behind (Crandall, the guy in the lab this year, Hans, Young Hee, Martha, and setting up for the guy E is banging now etc.) -- these things are obviously taking their toll. P's daddy issues. If P learns they turned his kid around he could lose it.


Didn't we see Martha in the store that Oleg was investigating? Small world or is there something there? The Soviet Union his heading for the big breakup and I wonder if there is going to be some kind of confluence of circumstances that occurs with the breakup?
We obviously dont know re Martha  
Deej : 4/18/2017 7:05 pm : link
I want to think it was them just showing you that she isnt living some luxurious hero life. She's a regular person struggling to get by in an unfamiliar land. I sort of hope that is the last they tell us about Martha.
RE: We obviously dont know re Martha  
Mike From Brielle : 4/18/2017 8:12 pm : link
In comment 13433341 Deej said:
Quote:
I want to think it was them just showing you that she isnt living some luxurious hero life. She's a regular person struggling to get by in an unfamiliar land. I sort of hope that is the last they tell us about Martha.


I think in the old Soviet Union (SU) that store was the "luxurious hero life" which I think is why Oleg was investigating the place because it was a little too luxurious.
There's no reason to show us Martha  
BlackLight : 4/18/2017 8:20 pm : link
unless they're prepping her character for one last plotline.

I felt sad seeing her in that market. She was destined to wind up as a spinster, living alone with her cats. That'd be a significant step up from where she ended. And all because she wanted to believe she had something with Clark.
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