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qbert posted:I like that Elizabeth basically told the spy apprentice, "No thanks dude. My husband pulled my teeth out last night, and it was hotter than any sex you and I could ever have." It really was though
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Feb 12, 2015 12:49
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beanieson posted:It really was though Yeah - also that earlier seen in the bedroom.... So, I didn't catch the end scene on what was said that made it such a big deal?
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Feb 12, 2015 23:11
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TCD posted:Yeah - also that earlier seen in the bedroom....
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Feb 12, 2015 23:30
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More specifically they found out that the teenage girl coming on to the recently divorced Afghan Group member was the daughter of the group head, which gives them multiple avenues of entry to the group via blackmail.
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Feb 12, 2015 23:36
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Viginti posted:More specifically they found out that the teenage girl coming on to the recently divorced Afghan Group member was the daughter of the group head, which gives them multiple avenues of entry to the group via blackmail. Ah thanks
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Feb 12, 2015 23:52
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The show is pretty obtuse with its plots to begin with, but having that whole storyline take place through talking on a quiet crackling radio in the middle of suspense scenes made it pretty hard to follow what was happening, so don't feel bad. I'm sure it will be a bigger deal next week when they decide just what to do with this info. Does anyone else think that the show, as good as it has been, is maybe playing it a little too safe? We're three episodes in and I still don't know what this season is about, we seem to just be spinning out the stories left over from season two rather than starting up anything new. Characters like Stan, Oleg, Martha and Nina seem to be getting scenes just because they were good characters last year but none of them are really doing anything. I don't want a full reset or anything, but I don't want this to become a Showtime drama either. If a character has played their part move past them and shake things up a little lest things start to get stolid.
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Feb 13, 2015 00:11
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Viginti posted:The show is pretty obtuse with its plots to begin with, but having that whole storyline take place through talking on a quiet crackling radio in the middle of suspense scenes made it pretty hard to follow what was happening, so don't feel bad. I'm sure it will be a bigger deal next week when they decide just what to do with this info. The CIA Afghan Group and Paige being recruited have been introduced as what appear to be the major political and family dynamic plotlines. They can't just throw out the major FBI and Rezidentura people immediately; it wouldn't make any sense. No idea about Nina, but they clearly have something planned, and it wouldn't be the first time that we go a long while without a given character showing up.
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Feb 13, 2015 02:18
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Viginti posted:The show is pretty obtuse with its plots to begin with, but having that whole storyline take place through talking on a quiet crackling radio in the middle of suspense scenes made it pretty hard to follow what was happening, so don't feel bad. I'm sure it will be a bigger deal next week when they decide just what to do with this info. I felt like this during the Martha scene tonight. She's a great character and has had some of the funniest scenes on the show but she's such a high-maintenance and high-risk sideline operation for Phil that should have been ended a long time ago that it feels weird whenever a scene with the two of them together pops up every few episodes. Also, it sometimes feels like they over-rely on shoehorning in unnecessary tension/danger where the couple have to survive or escape a situation by the skin of their teeth. Like the whole car thing from the latest just took me out of the episode and made me question why a guy who's supposed to be this vital and protected is allowing anyone off the street to just wander around his home doing whatever they want?
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Feb 13, 2015 02:37
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Am I the only one who thought during the wrench dentistry "Man, they're really making me pay for that Keri Russell butt earlier"?
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Feb 13, 2015 02:43
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annapacketstormaya posted:The CIA Afghan Group and Paige being recruited have been introduced as what appear to be the major political and family dynamic plotlines. Are either of those really satisfying stories at the moment though? While there have still been enough wonderful scenes for me to love the episodes, looking at this season as a single entity I have some issues. Those 'new' storylines haven't really had any hook to them yet -no-one is on the edge of their seat waiting to see what happens with the Afghan group like they might have been with the family massacre, etc. - and there has been no progression in the 'old' series long storylines that justifies this as a simple continuation. Paige is no closer to recruitment, nor her parents any closer to a decision on her and worst of all, given her central status she has had very little to do. These three episodes could easily not exist and the story would make as much sense opening with episode four and that seems sort of wasteful to me, given that the show doesn't have the luxury of infinite time. As for the government agencies, they don't need to throw them out so much as stop bringing them up without an actual story reason. When Stan stumbles onto a relevant case or the Rezidentura starts applying direct pressure about Paige then they should have scenes, but their constant inclusion sucks up time that should maybe be spent with the family or fleshing out the targets. The execution is still excellent I just wonder if they're applying it in the right places.
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Feb 13, 2015 03:15
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I think the Martha plotline with her wanting to adopt might come around as a way for Philip to try to give the Center what they want without involving Paige.
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Feb 13, 2015 03:55
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THF13 posted:I think the Martha plotline with her wanting to adopt might come around as a way for Philip to try to give the Center what they want without involving Paige. I doubt it, but I do think it's signaling the end of that particular arc. Between the foster parent talk and the writers making a point of showing that she's being hit on at work, I think Philip is going to realize that he won't be able to keep this a secret much longer. All it would take is a picture of him on her desk, and he and Elizabeth would be blown. e: Of course, I'm pretty sure I said the same thing last season. 
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Feb 13, 2015 04:03
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Viginti posted:Are either of those really satisfying stories at the moment though? While there have still been enough wonderful scenes for me to love the episodes, looking at this season as a single entity I have some issues. Those 'new' storylines haven't really had any hook to them yet -no-one is on the edge of their seat waiting to see what happens with the Afghan group like they might have been with the family massacre, etc. - and there has been no progression in the 'old' series long storylines that justifies this as a simple continuation. Paige is no closer to recruitment, nor her parents any closer to a decision on her and worst of all, given her central status she has had very little to do. These three episodes could easily not exist and the story would make as much sense opening with episode four and that seems sort of wasteful to me, given that the show doesn't have the luxury of infinite time. For me, yes. The Afghan War/post-Brezhnev Soviet era is a known historical backdrop; we already know a lot of what's going to happen and the show doesn't need make a grand presentation of it because the material is already there and we don't need to be beaten over the head with it to establish existing history. The show doesn't have infinite time, no, but it doesn't have to move at breakneck pace every episode and hasn't in previous seasons either.
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Feb 13, 2015 04:31
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JohnSherman posted:I doubt it, but I do think it's signaling the end of that particular arc. Between the foster parent talk and the writers making a point of showing that she's being hit on at work, I think Philip is going to realize that he won't be able to keep this a secret much longer. All it would take is a picture of him on her desk, and he and Elizabeth would be blown.
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Feb 13, 2015 05:14
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annapacketstormaya posted:For me, yes. The Afghan War/post-Brezhnev Soviet era is a known historical backdrop; we already know a lot of what's going to happen and the show doesn't need make a grand presentation of it because the material is already there and we don't need to be beaten over the head with it to establish existing history. The show doesn't have infinite time, no, but it doesn't have to move at breakneck pace every episode and hasn't in previous seasons either. I was thinking Brezhnev died in '83, but I've just noticed his death, and therefore the show's timeline, is/was in 1982. That's a bit of a shame because I was looking forward to seeing how the show handled Able Archer 83 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83), the NATO exercise that was misinterpreted by the USSR and brought us very close to an all-out war.
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Feb 13, 2015 06:01
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I'm enjoying this season, but there are a few things that give me pause. As great as the tooth pulling was, wouldn't Russia have a basically trained Doctor who could do that? I love the glimpses we get of the network assisting our spies, like tonight with the russian agent who threw Elizabeth the radio.
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Feb 13, 2015 09:06
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I see what everybody's saying, but I have to disagree. These episodes have been very slow, but there's a lot of setup. -The FBI more or less knows who Phil and Liz are. This is the first time in the series that they have been in very real and very personal danger. It's only a matter of time until it hits Stan like a sack of bricks; if I had to guess, I'd predict that that happens in the lead-up to the finale, or in the finale itself. -Whenever that happens, the whole Martha thing explodes. -They're totally telling Paige who they are sometime this season, or else somebody else is going to do it for them. No matter how that turns out, it's gonna be fun. She's still pretty immature, so it's entirely possible that she'll lose it and blab and Ruin Everything. -Look, you just know they're setting up something ridiculous with the Rezidentura. Why else would they have added them to the opening credits? Oleg kind of seems like Vlad 2.0, except he's a stronger character with the whole nepotism thing. I'm 50/50 on whether Stan will return to any sort of relevance with Nina. I don't mind the slow burn. This has still been insanely fun to watch and I'd rather they set up the pieces as nicely as they can. One can kind of sense how everything connects and how epic the finale shitshow is going to be.
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Feb 13, 2015 09:13
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Paige wont be the spy itll end up being the son who will then flip Stans wife because he wants to bang her
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Feb 13, 2015 10:33
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zVxTeflon posted:Paige wont be the spy itll end up being the son who will then flip Stans wife because he wants to bang her Haha, also was it a icture of her in her underwear? WHere did he get it from? Starting to think that Henry is the way better to choice to convert to a spy, already learnt how to break in to a house at a young age and now undercover photography. Clearly runs in the family!
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Feb 13, 2015 15:57
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Just a quick one: how did the CIA get onto them? Was it just being suspicious of the couple who viewed the house? They and the FBI seemed pretty sure they were people of interest. Good episode.
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Feb 13, 2015 16:11
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I'm surprised no one's said anything about it yet, but I think I saw "Clark" have a "lightbulb" moment when Martha was talking about foster kids. Why sacrifice your own kids when you could use kids who have every reason to hate the system they've been abandoned by, who are already naturalized citizens with clean backgrounds? Their 'secret marriage' would never pass muster during the background check, though. So chalk the whole thing up to it being one more thing she talks about that keeps inching that needle up towards the "Martha's finally gonna die" mark on the gauge. Also,  - http://www.avclub.com/article/margo-martindale-will-return-americans-215137If I had my way, we'd have an offshoot series on FXX that focused on Claudia's past. Slitting Nazi and collaborator throats in Stalingrad, getting trained, etc. Junkenstein posted:Just a quick one: how did the CIA get onto them? Was it just being suspicious of the couple who viewed the house? They and the FBI seemed pretty sure they were people of interest. They knew the KGB were interested in the Afghan group, so they put a ridiculous amount of alternating tails on every single one whenever and wherever they moved. So many that Liz didn't really realize they were zeroed until it was too late and they were already compromised. The only thing that probably kept them from being taken completely by surprise is that the car Liz finally spotted as being a tail stayed on them too long before cycling out. ...when it's allowed to operate on US soil, the CIA really goes above and beyond overkill. Mostly to show off their resources to the FBI (whose cooperation they need to make it legal) and make them jealous. BIG HEADLINE fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Feb 13, 2015 |
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Feb 13, 2015 16:26
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Propaganda Machine posted:-The FBI more or less knows who Phil and Liz are. This is the first time in the series that they have been in very real and very personal danger. It's only a matter of time until it hits Stan like a sack of bricks; if I had to guess, I'd predict that that happens in the lead-up to the finale, or in the finale itself. They already knew about as much since S1, when they had a hot car chase and even wounded Liz. I don't know how the whole poor Martha operation is still going on. Like how much time can Philip spend with her while working 9-5, for the KGB, and being a family man without raising suspicion while not being completely ridiculous to Martha? One day per week? Month? BIG HEADLINE posted:They knew the KGB were interested in the Afghan group, so they put a ridiculous amount of alternating tails on every single one whenever and wherever they moved. So many that Liz didn't really realize they were zeroed until it was too late and they were already compromised. The only thing that probably kept them from being taken completely by surprise is that the car Liz finally spotted as being a tail stayed on them too long before cycling out. Ok so that's what I figured too. But either they've been following them from the house, or shortly thereafter, and in any case they should know that they were the couple inside the house. Yet, they didn't check everything for bugs or missing items? Did they just figure it was all a coincidence and they were innocent? Also the blackmail material that they got, if I understood it correctly, is kind of weak sauce. We're gonna tell your boss you're dating his daughter, is that it? It's bad, but not "commit treason" bad.
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Feb 13, 2015 23:57
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mobby_6kl posted:Also the blackmail material that they got, if I understood it correctly, is kind of weak sauce. We're gonna tell your boss you're dating his daughter, is that it? It's bad, but not "commit treason" bad. If I heard the conversation correctly, the guy they had bugged was rebuffing the (underage) girl's advances. I'm pretty sure the takeaway from that scene is that they know where the head of the program lives, not that they are planning to blackmail the first guy.
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Feb 14, 2015 00:03
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I couldn't hear and/or understand half of the poo poo from the radio so you're probably right. However, didn't their handler already ID the bald CIA guy as being clean? How does knowing where he live helps them then? It just seems that if the head guy was so important, they could've gone after him directly, knowing he's CIA and having his license plate, at the very least.
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Feb 14, 2015 01:07
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mobby_6kl posted:I couldn't hear and/or understand half of the poo poo from the radio so you're probably right. However, didn't their handler already ID the bald CIA guy as being clean? How does knowing where he live helps them then? It just seems that if the head guy was so important, they could've gone after him directly, knowing he's CIA and having his license plate, at the very least. Maybe the importance is knowing that the teen babysitter is the CIA Afghan honcho's daughter and they'll try working her "gently caress you Dad" instincts with the help of Paige.
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Feb 14, 2015 01:25
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savinhill posted:they'll try working her "gently caress you Dad" instincts Pretty sure this is it. It's gonna be an awkward Philip spy romance with the girl his daughters age  This will be super conflicting for him because he's willijng to use this teenage girl for the good of his country but not willing to let Paige take part.
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Feb 14, 2015 02:37
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Anyone mind writing down the 'muffled radio' bits? I didn't catch them at all.
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Feb 14, 2015 02:49
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mobby_6kl posted:
loving your bosses daughter is prob a different level of bad when that dad is a CIA guy who can disappear anyone he wants and blame it on the Russians with no effort
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Feb 14, 2015 06:42
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JohnSherman posted:That was a great scene, but this definitely was one of those instances where the number of fully backstopped Soviet agents stretches the limits of plausibility. Zero One posted:They dont have any trusted doctors/dentists for just such an occasion? This season is warming up though, two close calls in the past two episodes. You can tell the show got a bump in their budget too, with these last two episodes having quite a bit of city driving, lots of other period cars and night shoots to make it all work. I'm glad they've gotten more to work with.
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Feb 16, 2015 07:22
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ShakeZula posted:He's beginning to suspect that the defector isn't being genuine, that she is (as Stan told the other FBI agent when talking about going undercover) simply telling them what they want to hear over and over again. Being interviewed by a dude who's made a career off of it, no less.
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Feb 16, 2015 11:45
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ShakeZula posted:He's beginning to suspect that the defector isn't being genuine, that she is (as Stan told the other FBI agent when talking about going undercover) simply telling them what they want to hear over and over again. Good catch. I missed that connection.
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Feb 18, 2015 03:34
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I am a bit bummed that they let the Boris Korczak incident slip past on the timeline. They tried to assassinate him with a ricin pellet in a grocery store in Vienna, VA in 1981. Phil and Liz likely would've been tapped for the attempt since it's practically right next door to them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Korczak#Assassination_Attempt
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Feb 18, 2015 22:59
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Is it entirely plausible that the line in the teaser about "you think she's going to assassinate the president" is referring to the defector?
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Feb 18, 2015 23:43
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Baloogan posted:Anyone mind writing down the 'muffled radio' bits? I didn't catch them at all. quote:[male laughter] Basically they're tuned to Jailbait FM, the fuzz is the only thing to lend much air of subtlety to it. I do love this show though so I trust they'll do well with it.
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Feb 19, 2015 03:10
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I love these EST sessions. Edit: as a parent of a teenage daughter this is giving me the creeps. tomapot fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Feb 19, 2015 |
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Feb 19, 2015 04:15
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tomapot posted:Edit: as a parent of a teenage daughter this is giving me the creeps. As a young man with only the most distant dreams of family one day this is skeeving me right the gently caress out.
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Feb 19, 2015 04:20
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tomapot posted:
Those glasses are just 100% creeper.
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Feb 19, 2015 04:32
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DarklyDreaming posted:As a young man with only the most distant dreams of family one day this is skeeving me right the gently caress out. I'm about to call her into the room to watch this and say "don't do this, this is how you wind up in the trunk of a car."
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Feb 19, 2015 04:34
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You want a ringing endorsement or you want to know how the burgers are? 
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Feb 19, 2015 04:38
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Hahaha, Phillip making the best use of his espionage skills.
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Feb 19, 2015 04:41
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