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The Americans - S4 of the KGB spy drama - Keri Russell & Matthew Rhys - Wed on FX

J

jerry113

Banned
-Pyromaniac- said:
I really hope we see Martha again.....I'm still trying to wrap my head about all that happened. It makes so much sense that Mathew Rhys directed this episode consider how good an understanding he has of it. Really good work. So many great scenes, so much meaning everywhere.
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He has a way of lingering on shots of people shouting that it makes me feel uncomfortable.

edit: this felt like a complete story more so than usual for this show

also: i like the writers had faith in the audience to remember who Gregory is
 
B

berzeli

Banned
I'm not actively watching The Americans (sorry Cornballer), but I figured some of you might get a kick from this:

The Guardian: The day we discovered our parents were Russian spies
For years Donald Heathfield, Tracey Foley and their two children lived the American dream. Then an FBI raid revealed the truth: they were agents of Putin’s Russia. Their sons tell their story
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Not only were their parents indeed Russian spies, they were Russians. The man and woman the boys knew as Mom and Dad really were their parents, but their names were not Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley. Those were Canadians who had died long ago, as children; their identities had been stolen and adopted by the boys’ parents.

Their real names were Andrei Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova. They were both born in the Soviet Union, had undergone training in the KGB and been dispatched abroad as part of a Soviet programme of deep-cover secret agents, known in Russia as the “illegals”. After a slow-burning career building up an ordinary north American background, the pair were now active agents for the SVR, the foreign spy agency of modern Russia and a successor to the KGB. They, along with eight other agents, had been betrayed by a Russian spy who had defected to the Americans.
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D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
jerry113 said:
also: i like the writers had faith in the audience to remember who Gregory is
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And Kimmy. And Phillip's other son. It referenced a lot of people who haven't been highlighted or discussed in quite some time.
 
S

Spectral Glider

Member
Did anyone notice how many doors opened and closed during the last episode? Not sure why, but it stood out to me. Philip, Elizabeth, Paige, Stan even Gabriel, they all had scenes that began with them entering through a door. Not sure if I'm nuts and this was normal, but it seemed to occur more than usual and almost be done intentionally.
 
B

Blader

Member
Finally got around to watching last week's episode, albeit with many interruptions... excellent episode though. This season is firing on all cylinders. Phillip and Elizabeth's sudden outburst toward each other, followed by Elizabeth verbally destroying Paige in the kitchen, were unexpected yet perfectly simmering under the surface for so long that that shit had to come out. Gabriel's final scene with the two of them was a really nice, almost cathartic moment. And of course Phillip and Martha's near-wordless goodbye to each other.

Damn good ep on all fronts, almost felt like a finale. It definitely does feel like they're building toward a final season next though.

Mindlog said:
I still can't say it enough. Teenagers can be annoying as hell, but Paige is that part done correctly. That part had to be so hard to cast, but they got lucky.
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Yeah, I think I had said this in last year's thread, but Paige is the rare version of the Kim Bauers and Dana Brodys of the world done right.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Salon on The Americans and The Path: Sex on TV is easy to find — but good sex isn’t
For Weisberg and Fields, the eroticism of “The Americans” comes from the characters’ fundamental identity-shifting, their wearing of multiple masks. “It really comes down to character exploration,” Fields said. Each sex scene is “different based on who those characters are—not only generally, but in those specific moments.”

“That’s often the case in our sex lives as human beings,” Weisberg said. “They can define us, in terms of our identities, and they are also how we can explore those identities.”

One of the reasons it’s difficult to discuss good sex on TV very much is that doing so requires owning up that you, the viewer, are admitting something turned you on. I asked the showrunners how they felt about the possibility that viewers might be turned on by their sex scenes. They were all a little unsure of how to respond. “We don’t judge,” Fields joked, and Weisberg added, “It depends on depending on what parts of the show they find sexy. We did set someone on fire last year.”
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Weisberg and Fields occasionally will describe the scene in text, but in this season’s long sex scene between Phillip and Elizabeth, set to Queen’s “Under Pressure,” the script had just three words: “They fuck hard.”

But, Weisberg added, “We spent a lot of time talking about those three words.”

Which, of course, can lead to its own troubles. “We’ll sometimes be in the strange position of talking about specifics you wouldn’t otherwise talk about,” Fields said, recalling a much-discussed episode of “The Americans” where Phillip and Elizabeth’s teenage daughter walks in on them giving each other oral sex at the same time, better known as “sixty-nining.”

“There was a lot of discussion as to what that act might be, but then when we got down to what that act might be—look, there are a lot of variations of that act,” Fields said. The question at hand, as posed by episode director Thomas Schlamme: “Whose ass are we going to see, here?”

What works on-screen in any context is going to be different from viewer to viewer; there’s probably nothing harder to define, though, than a great sex scene. And that’s because sex is, more or less, everything—the meeting point of self, intimacy, biological drive, and desire. Even when it is consensual and enthusiastic, it can still contain multitudes: Sex can be routine or eventful; it can be easy or challenging. It can be harmful and healing; it can be good, bad, or just “meh.”

But there are some guidelines. When asked about what makes a great sex scene, all three showrunners pointed to the emotional state of the characters. For Weisberg and Fields’ spies, it’s about the complicated and not always gratifying quest for closeness. The characters “claw through” their multilayered identities “towards the intimacy,” Fields said. “That allows you to feel the importance of intimacy, that people will fight their way through that.”
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More via the link.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Good podcasts this week if you have the time to give them a listen:

Cornballer said:
- Slate Podcast: Matthew Rhys on Starring In and Directing Last Night’s Huge Turning Point on The Americans
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Rhys is a light interview in that he jokes around a lot, but there's some good info here on the process of directing an episode, how he dealt with being given the 'most difficult' episode of the season, the David Copperfield illusion, and they also talk to Alison Wright about her last scene.
Cornballer said:
- Lots of discussion of The Americans at the tail end of this week's Maureen Ryan / Ryan McGee podcast
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Excellent discussion between Matthew Ryan and Ryan McGee about The Americans. They get into what makes the show great, why more people aren't watching, and a few other things.
 
W

winjet81

Member
Been thinking about this lately, but what are the chances that Young Hee is a North Korean spy? Or is it clear that she is just a mark?
 
B

Bluth54

Member
I finally finished marathoning all of the Americans and I'm finally caught up. Last episode was so great as well.

scabro said:
how was that not the season finale

still almost half the season to go what the hell
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I have to give credit to this show for putting things in random episodes that feel like they would be season finales as well. They did the same thing last season with the reveal to Paige, during the first two seasons I figured they would make that moment the cliffhanger for a season finale.
 
G

-griffy-

Banned
Preview talk:

I think it's interesting that a lot of the preview for tomorrow's episode is old footage. Makes me think some storylines have big movement to the extent that they can't even show out of context snippets.
 
N

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
Finally got a chance to watch last week's. This show is just so goddamn good. I don't think I have much to say that probably hasn't been said already, but phenomenal acting all around. Loved how much they managed to convey in silence, just through blinking, expressions, and gestures. Really did feel like a season finale, which makes me wonder how awesome the rest of the season will be.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Funky Papa said:
Mild preview talk:
I'm thrilled The Day After is going to be featured in this episode. That movie haunted me as a kid.
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My parents didn't let me watch it when I was young. They were genuinely disturbed by it and brought it up a lot over the years. Whenever I'd mention that I wanted to watch a horror movie, my dad would say something along the lines of "Oh, if you want a horror movie, check out The Day After."
 
I

IronRinn

Member
Spoiler joke about tonight's episode description:

The Painful Patty Operation is the title of my noisecore band's sophomore album.
 
I

IronRinn

Member
Nice bit of story development with Oleg and Tatiana there. Always interesting to see how Philip and Elizabeth come to completely different conclusions about things.
 
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