Open Side Menu Go to the Top
Register
The Americans Season 3 The Americans Season 3

03-14-2015 , 09:47 PM
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-19-2015 , 01:44 AM
The last two episodes have really restored by faith in this series. I like the storyline with Nina,
Spoiler:
loved the necklacing scene with the S African(s), added some realism,
I'm even opening up to the possibility of them recruiting Paige. she's clearly very impressionable and could be swayed. I don't see the point of the
Spoiler:
Oleg subplot with his father.
What is that adding to the show. In regards to the Martha storyline, I can see some people saying
Spoiler:
'no way accepts Clark after she knows he's not who he says he is.' But love makes people do crazy things. Especially late 30s spinsters. If you look in the annals of espionage you'll find similar situations where people got themselves in a bad spot and then rationalized it away. I doubt she'll take an active role in spying, but she could overlook it.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-19-2015 , 02:48 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by problemeliminator
In regards to the Martha storyline, I can see some people saying 'no way accepts Clark after she knows he's not who he says he is.' But love makes people do crazy things. Especially late 30s spinsters. If you look in the annals of espionage you'll find similar situations where people got themselves in a bad spot and then rationalized it away. I doubt she'll take an active role in spying, but she could overlook it.
Well, what do you think happens to her at this point if she goes to the FBI and says I put the bug in the pen at the behest of my husband, who unbeknownst to me is a Russian spy? The option of staying with the status quo probably sounds better than life in prison.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-19-2015 , 03:19 PM
If she flipped, went to the fbi on her own accord, told the truth and they caught Clark I think she would avoid prison.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-19-2015 , 10:35 PM
haha yeah that's a pretty big gamble to take Keed. She has to get the FBI to believe her, when the far simpler explanation is that they're in cahoots. Who's going to believe they're married but she's been to his apt once and she doens't know where he is 6 nights of the week?
Also they'd have to catch Clark.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-20-2015 , 02:11 AM
I just wanted Clark to come clean and then put a bullet in her head.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-20-2015 , 03:10 AM
I was expecting that. I still am by the end of the season. Or something like that so it'll set up "Clark's" initial downfall into getting busted.

Last edited by DC11GTR; 03-20-2015 at 03:24 AM.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-20-2015 , 04:29 AM
Hey, did anyone notice that when the black dude got out of Philip's car to go off to wherever, Philip's dome light came on? No way a real spy would have missed disabling the dome light. Totally ruined the whole show for me, past and future episodes.

Also, the Prince Valiant wig is awesome.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-20-2015 , 08:13 AM
MASSIVE ANACHRONISM ALERT!!!!

Quote:
The practice appears to have begun in the Cape area of South Africa in the mid-1980s. One incident sometimes cited as the first recorded instance of necklacing took place in Uitenhage on 23 March 1985 when a group of people killed Benjamin Kinikini, a local councillor who was accused of having links to a vigilante group. Kinikini and members of his family were dragged out of their house, stabbed to death, and their bodies set on fire.[1] Two of those judged to be the perpetrators, Wellington Mielies, 26, and Moses Jantjies, 23, were hanged on 1 September 1987.[2] But in this case the victims were killed by stabbing, and not by burning tyres.
SHOW. RUINED.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-20-2015 , 12:13 PM
That was an excellent episode. Hopefully two good ones in a row is a trend and not an aberration. It's no coincidence that's because Kimberly was largely absent again (just dropped in a line of relatively pointless dialog at the end). Are any of you starting to see the light on why that storyline is unnecessary yet?

Martha is still an idiot, and it's clear there's no way she's not going to let the cat out of the bag (this whole thing is eating her alive, which will show at work) or get herself killed somehow. Philip better find the gun and remove the bullets.

Funny to watch the trolls of nittery troll themselves with stupid nittery no one would care about as a "joke". You just don't get the difference between an obvious dumb mistake that should always be caught and fixed and stuff that doesn't matter.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-20-2015 , 12:19 PM
I was so excited to watch this show when it came out. I fought it and tried so hard to like it but the first season was ok and after that it went down hill fast.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-26-2015 , 03:19 AM
In the scene where
Spoiler:
Liz asks phillip how he knows he can trust her I really wanted him to say "when you lay pipe this good bitches dont snitch".
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-26-2015 , 04:26 PM
If you're willing to suspend your disbelief, then that could be considered another good episode. The whole mail robot scene was just incredibly dumb.

1. You're going to tell me that a device designed to securely carry classified information goes off site to an unsecured location for repairs (especially in the midst of a bug being discovered)?

2. What possible purpose would bugging the mail robot have? Classified conversations happen in places designed to protect against spying (Gaad's department even has a "clean" room, though Gaad is looser with sensitive information in his office than he should be). Are people announcing the contents of what they're placing in the mail robot, including reading everything out loud? I don't get it, but if someone wants to explain why this makes sense, I'm willing to dismiss this as an issue.

The whole scene just smacked of giving a reason for Elizabeth's commitment to the cause to be questioned (setting the stage for future defection). Man, that woman she killed was completely living in the past. All of the pictures were almost 40 years old.

Stan and Oleg's plan is also stupid, but whatever, it didn't harm the overall enjoyment of the episode.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-26-2015 , 11:07 PM
I would not surprise me at all if number 1 was true. Things get better, but government agencies still do shockingly silly things with sensitive information. I could totally see some FBI agents not using a 'clean room' just out of laziness or convenience. If you've read about the history of espionage it's striking just how many spies are caught, not because they're betrayed or the great skills of the opposition, but just because they got lazy/sloppy with tradecraft.

I don't quite get Oleg/Stan's plan. But I assume that Oleg is playing Stan. Hence his talk about this being Nina's only chance. I guess it's possible he's unaware of her current situation, but it's just as likely he's not.

So yeah, I considered it a good episode. Hilarious that they haven't even mentioned the 15 y/o though. Obviously the less said there the better, but you can't just drop something that you've spent several episodes building to. I especially liked the SA student killing that other guy. Was very sloppy, and I'm curious as how he gets away with it (was he using a bb gun?), but a good demonstration of his youthful impulsiveness and his commitment to Communism/Liz.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-26-2015 , 11:25 PM
I can see (1) being true, too, but (2) just makes no sense other than as a MacGuffin.

I agree that Oleg is playing Stan, and that the woman is not a spy defector. Oleg thinks he can make the trade for Nina for the defector. I think he's wrong and it will probably lead to bad endings for both Oleg and Nina, especially since Oleg is being openly insubordinate to his father despite being told to both move on and come home.

The killing scene was very interestingly done (very ugly). I don't know what that gun was, but it was probably something smaller than a .22. Sad thing for the guy that it's not gonna changes Elizabeth's mind.

I'm wondering why they dropped the 15yo storyline so quickly. They actually said it was going to amp up in the episode right before they dropped it. I think maybe they thought all of it would play okay, but once they started getting into the editing, they realized it was worse than they thought, or the channel just told them to drop it. There aren't really more explanations than that. The show is so much better without it anyway.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-26-2015 , 11:36 PM
If you ever look in places like the Americans subreddit (which are usually positive echo chambers, one of the reasons I like 2+2 more) even the people who tried to defend that storyline (or even the people ITT) aren't clamoring for it's return. Could they really just edit it out? the episodes since dont seem to have any huge gaps and the runtime has been normal.

I thought maybe it was one of those cheap disposable guns that spies used to get, but that was more of a WWII thing.

If we analyze 2 closely I guess it is weak. if that robot moves around the office instead of just sitting in the hallway your concerns are moot though.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-27-2015 , 12:10 AM
It roves around the office, but people aren't going to be talking about classified stuff right next to it. That would be pure idiocy. I'm not even going to bring up all the issues with tape, which would be bad for the show if I started dissecting them.

They could have edited out the 15yo storyline, or largely gotten rid of it. It was only the big episode that caused problems. There were so many issues with it (the delinquency aspect in addition to the predator aspect) that might have gotten it canned (I can only hope).

It did look like a really old gun, by the way, like it could have been WWII era.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-27-2015 , 12:27 AM
Quote:
It roves around the office, but people aren't going to be talking about classified stuff right next to it. That would be pure idiocy.
I don't think they're any less likely to discuss classified information within earshot of the mail robot than they are anywhere else. People aren't as security conscious as they should be, especially when it inconveniences them.

The kid should have used a revolver. Wouldn't have jammed, job would have been over in seconds.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
03-27-2015 , 12:32 AM
I just can't buy that everyone will be effing around in the middle of a huge thing where a bug was just uncovered. I know it's the FBI, but there's only so far I'm willing to suspend my disbelief.

My newest theory (barely considering it right now) is that Gaad is being framed, as there have been a series of events that have happened in the season that could make it look like he's the mole/spy.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
04-02-2015 , 03:46 AM
Wow, no attention for the biggest bombshell on the show thus far. Great episode.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
04-02-2015 , 04:10 AM
It was good. I was very worried when they mentioned the teen that they would go for max discomfort, but it seems they decided to include as little of that as possible.

The last scene was great. the way Paige looked at her parents and twitchface, realizing just how deep the deception went.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
04-02-2015 , 04:27 AM
Actress playing Paige was great. Always a risk having a child actor shoulder so much of the show - and by always a risk, I mean it almost always goes sideways - but she really did well.

Ending scene when Stan came over was A++
The Americans Season 3 Quote
04-02-2015 , 04:29 AM
I did wonder about the reveal, though. Couldn't they have eased her in, said something like they were from a satellite country, but can't say anything because they'd be arrested/questioned/discriminated against? It seems like that would have been enough truth to placate Paige without tossing her into the deep end of the Black Sea.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
04-02-2015 , 06:24 AM
Imagine if the actress playing the daughter were switched with Dana from Homeland.
The Americans Season 3 Quote
04-02-2015 , 05:17 PM
Especially chilling how Elizabeth was rattling sharp knives while Paige was staring at Stan.

Show has been really slow for a few episodes. Could be building to something huge. Looking forward to Paige offing pastor Tim with a crucifix after she confides in him and he immediately tries to call the Feds.
The Americans Season 3 Quote

      
m