The Americans 2.04
Feb. 19th, 2015 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which Paige turns out to have inherited the parental talent for set-ups after all.
You know, in the midst of some heavy angst in all plot lines, it amuses the hell out of me that Stan continues to go to the EST meetings with Philipp in order to win back Sandra, despite regarding EST as rubbish. Btw, Stan, if/when the inevitable day comes you find out the truth about Philip, I hope you remember this. True friendship means going to EST meetings with your pal, even when he tries to shove the "standing up in front of everyone and baring your soul" gig over to you. (Philip's expression when Stan tried that one was priceless. Fat chance, Stan. I mean, he could fake it of course, since that's his job, but I don't think Philip is going to ever do that type of soul striptease for real.)
As for the non-comic relief rest of the episode. "What are you ready to do?" is an ongoing question to all the characters. Nina in Russia gets told she might get a lighter sentence if she spies on her cellmate (btw: neat reversal of expectations re: the "sympathetic cellmate is a plant" trope), and while she has good reason to be sceptical of this - trying to redeem herself in the eyes of the KGB didn't work out the last time -, she still goes through with this. Which, if you think about it, makes sense. Short of a death sentence, things couldn't get any worse for Nina, and Evi is a stranger. Of course she's going to do it. But because the female KGB agents on this show tend to be method actors, when the lie about a husband doesn't work on Evi, Nina resorts to the truth about her backstory and has that long delayed cry. Which is and isn't sincere - using real feelings as a tool - and that's why it works on Evi. (Who btw isn't just a harmless student, either, or at least not stupid; the way she reacted to Nina's first "I have a husband who doesn't come, and btw, tell me all about your boyfriend" approach was pretty telling.)
Philip does have scruples regarding using Kimberly - "We've never used someone this young before" (which is true; all the other people we've seen P & E seduce go from mid 20s to 50s and 60s in their age range) - and for squick levels, the teenage girl parallels to Paige aren't lost on him. But he goes through (so far, at least) with Operation Kimberley anyway, and, a pragmatist to the core, even uses the insight into the female teenage mind he gets from Kimberley re: music she likes to get Paige a present that impresses the hell out of her. (And in case we miss the disturbing for Philip and the audience overlap between professional and private, he gets to listen to the album twice, once with Paige and with Kimberley at the end.)
(Speaking of disturbing, I take it that advertisment Philip watches on tv actually was used in the 80s? Good lord.)
This also becomes part of something of a parental competition, since Elizabeth sees the present as something excluding her and Philip immediately parallels it with her going to church with Paige as a way to get closer (and asses) and excluding him, leading to Elizabeth's brewing-for-several episodes outburst "this is happening, with or without you". But that certainty blows up in her face big time when it turns out Paige cunningly arranged the birthday dinner with Pastor Tim & wife in order to set both her parents up so they don't have a choice but to agree to her being baptized in Paster Tim's church. You get the impression this is the first time it dawns to both Elizabeth and Philip that the question with Paige isn't so much "to KGB or not to KGB?" but the fact that Paige's idea of what her life will was was never less likely to include any spying, full stop.
Mind you, that awkward dinner was also black comedy, because as divided as they are about Paige, you could feel the Paster Tim loathing from both Elizabeth and Philip painting the walls practically. And their maximum unimpressedness for his anti Vietnam demonstration at age 20.
Other continuing plot lines: Stan suspects Zinaida of being a double and tries to prove it, but so far with no luck. (Though why he thought there might still be something in the toilet hours after that dinner closed is anyone's gess. If Zinaida left a message there, it would be picked up shortly afterwards, surely?) (For what it's worth, I think Stan is right, because of the absolute lack of interest in Zinaida our resident Russians have displayed, in stark contrast to how they responded to Anton Baklanov or the Polish dissident in seasons past.) He also makes his belated confession about Nina to Sandra, which I thought was a touching and raw scene, both because he included the fact he loved Nina, and because Sandra didn't respond with a forgiving hug but walked back into her house majorly upset, which contributed to how real it felt.
You know, in the midst of some heavy angst in all plot lines, it amuses the hell out of me that Stan continues to go to the EST meetings with Philipp in order to win back Sandra, despite regarding EST as rubbish. Btw, Stan, if/when the inevitable day comes you find out the truth about Philip, I hope you remember this. True friendship means going to EST meetings with your pal, even when he tries to shove the "standing up in front of everyone and baring your soul" gig over to you. (Philip's expression when Stan tried that one was priceless. Fat chance, Stan. I mean, he could fake it of course, since that's his job, but I don't think Philip is going to ever do that type of soul striptease for real.)
As for the non-comic relief rest of the episode. "What are you ready to do?" is an ongoing question to all the characters. Nina in Russia gets told she might get a lighter sentence if she spies on her cellmate (btw: neat reversal of expectations re: the "sympathetic cellmate is a plant" trope), and while she has good reason to be sceptical of this - trying to redeem herself in the eyes of the KGB didn't work out the last time -, she still goes through with this. Which, if you think about it, makes sense. Short of a death sentence, things couldn't get any worse for Nina, and Evi is a stranger. Of course she's going to do it. But because the female KGB agents on this show tend to be method actors, when the lie about a husband doesn't work on Evi, Nina resorts to the truth about her backstory and has that long delayed cry. Which is and isn't sincere - using real feelings as a tool - and that's why it works on Evi. (Who btw isn't just a harmless student, either, or at least not stupid; the way she reacted to Nina's first "I have a husband who doesn't come, and btw, tell me all about your boyfriend" approach was pretty telling.)
Philip does have scruples regarding using Kimberly - "We've never used someone this young before" (which is true; all the other people we've seen P & E seduce go from mid 20s to 50s and 60s in their age range) - and for squick levels, the teenage girl parallels to Paige aren't lost on him. But he goes through (so far, at least) with Operation Kimberley anyway, and, a pragmatist to the core, even uses the insight into the female teenage mind he gets from Kimberley re: music she likes to get Paige a present that impresses the hell out of her. (And in case we miss the disturbing for Philip and the audience overlap between professional and private, he gets to listen to the album twice, once with Paige and with Kimberley at the end.)
(Speaking of disturbing, I take it that advertisment Philip watches on tv actually was used in the 80s? Good lord.)
This also becomes part of something of a parental competition, since Elizabeth sees the present as something excluding her and Philip immediately parallels it with her going to church with Paige as a way to get closer (and asses) and excluding him, leading to Elizabeth's brewing-for-several episodes outburst "this is happening, with or without you". But that certainty blows up in her face big time when it turns out Paige cunningly arranged the birthday dinner with Pastor Tim & wife in order to set both her parents up so they don't have a choice but to agree to her being baptized in Paster Tim's church. You get the impression this is the first time it dawns to both Elizabeth and Philip that the question with Paige isn't so much "to KGB or not to KGB?" but the fact that Paige's idea of what her life will was was never less likely to include any spying, full stop.
Mind you, that awkward dinner was also black comedy, because as divided as they are about Paige, you could feel the Paster Tim loathing from both Elizabeth and Philip painting the walls practically. And their maximum unimpressedness for his anti Vietnam demonstration at age 20.
Other continuing plot lines: Stan suspects Zinaida of being a double and tries to prove it, but so far with no luck. (Though why he thought there might still be something in the toilet hours after that dinner closed is anyone's gess. If Zinaida left a message there, it would be picked up shortly afterwards, surely?) (For what it's worth, I think Stan is right, because of the absolute lack of interest in Zinaida our resident Russians have displayed, in stark contrast to how they responded to Anton Baklanov or the Polish dissident in seasons past.) He also makes his belated confession about Nina to Sandra, which I thought was a touching and raw scene, both because he included the fact he loved Nina, and because Sandra didn't respond with a forgiving hug but walked back into her house majorly upset, which contributed to how real it felt.
