|
They haven't officially said how long the show's going to run, but the general feeling is next season will be the last, unless Fields and Weisberg feel they absolutely need another season to wrap everything up. Elizabeth doing that bad Russian accent when talking to Paige at the bowling alley was simultaneously adorable and horrifying. I mean that's an insane status quo to be making jokes about.
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 15:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 13:29 |
|
|
I definitely see the thematic ties between Gabriel's speech and Nina, what with the whole "I did whatever they asked, thinking that would save me" bit. Oleg had better turn after this. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 18:05
|
|
|
Honestly I really loved Nina but her character was long overdue to be killed off I've completely lost the loving thread on what her purpose even was or what he current slight was (it was trying to sneak a a message out for the Russian Jew she was playing right?) I loved Nina's arc in season three but yeah, here in season four she felt completely superfluous and just totally displaced within the plot as written People kept on talking up this episode as THE EPISODE and a TOTAL GAME CHANGER and it was really just slightly disappointing. I still liked it but basically zero stakes changed hands in an episode all about stakes, ostensibly, changing hands. The one character who felt completely stranded within the narrative got killed off, and that...was...it Quite frankly, a Gabriel death would've raised the stakes higher than Nina's, and even that didn't happen
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 21:51
|
|
|
Toxxupation posted:Honestly I really loved Nina but her character was long overdue to be killed off I think an earlier poster hit the nail on the head with Oleg signing her death warrant in his protests to his dad. That, at least, might have an interesting fallout. He's itching to go back to the states, and he'll find out about her death in some way that fills him with anger, kind of like how Nina went postal after Stan killed Vlad.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 21:56
|
|
|
Toxxupation posted:People kept on talking up this episode as THE EPISODE and a TOTAL GAME CHANGER and it was really just slightly disappointing. I still liked it but basically zero stakes changed hands in an episode all about stakes, ostensibly, changing hands. The one character who felt completely stranded within the narrative got killed off, and that...was...it The only thing standing between the Jennings being outed as spies is their ability to convince a pastor and his wife to not blab to the authorities. That is a thin loving thread, and more I think what people mean (or should mean) when they talk about the episode being a "game changer"
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 22:03
|
|
|
Propaganda Machine posted:I think an earlier poster hit the nail on the head with Oleg signing her death warrant in his protests to his dad. That, at least, might have an interesting fallout. He's itching to go back to the states, and he'll find out about her death in some way that fills him with anger, kind of like how Nina went postal after Stan killed Vlad. I guess To be clear, I love episodes of The Americans that have virtually nothing happen (that episode last season where Philip and Elizabeth end up killing off that old lady was probably the best of the season). That's not the problem. The problem is that everything about the previous episode built to this MASSIVE game-changing scenario, with multiple bad situations threatening to explode between Martha being investigated, Philip and Elizabeth stuck away from everyone else for at least a couple of days in the middle of ordering a hit on the pastor and his wife, Gabriel sick with a deadly illness (that Philip and Elizabeth might've contracted), and Paige in the middle of a meltdown from the pressure of knowing her parents' secret. And basically this episode ended up defusing all of the stakes. It did it well, it did it adroitly so I'm not going to call bullshit but at the end of the day the payoff feels vaguely disingenuous from how hard the previous episode and parts of this one (I seriously thought, at one point, this episode would have the balls to kill off Elizabeth) pushed to change the stakes I'm fine with The Americans as this textural thing about the pressures of leading a double life, and I'm fine with it as this plot-over-everything-else tense thriller. This felt kinda neither fish nor fowl, and as a result was vaguely disappointing, killing off a character who had otherwise been in the weeds all season up to this point and pulling back from the cliff everywhere else. Who knows, maybe Stan'll be back to investigating Philip and Elizabeth or Oleg might flip out due to Nina's death and I'll be proven wrong and made to look foolish. As it stands this episode wasn't really what I was promised
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 22:04
|
|
|
howe_sam posted:The only thing standing between the Jennings being outed as spies is their ability to convince a pastor and his wife to not blab to the authorities. That is a thin loving thread, and more I think what people mean (or should mean) when they talk about the episode being a "game changer" From what I've read around the internet the critics are responding to the Nina murder, not the as you mentioned very thin thread. It might be also because it's very hard to see a realistic situation where Philip and Elizabeth get significantly outed outside of the final season, so the idea that the pastor and his wife would suddenly flip isn't very plausible. Because where do you go from there, you've destroyed the underlying premise of the show. There's nowhere else for the show to move once that happens
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 22:06
|
|
|
That and we know there is going to be a season 5. None of these plots feel like they're going anywhere except maybe Martha.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 22:15
|
|
|
CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:Haahahaha Nina Watching the episode, my impression was that Oleg's father was essentially in "I've done what I can mode" and only offered to "help" when it became clear Oleg might otherwise try to make contact with Nina; on that view, the "condition" of staying in Russia was mostly to make the offer seem plausible (and therefore to stop Oleg from doing anything on his own), coming, as it did, so soon after his father was resisting doing anything further to help Nina. Having bought a bit of time, Oleg's father could (and did) then use his connections to basically sign Nina's death warrant. Whether or not all of that ultimately turns out to be correct, I'd assume Oleg will find out, which will conveniently keep him (as a popular character) in the States and on the show.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2016 22:40
|
|
|
Someone earlier called Oleg's potential disillusionment and oh man I hope that's where they're going. Stan's going to be the loving man if he turns Oleg.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 03:08
|
|
|
Yeah, Nina's death looks like it will be the catalyst for a disillusioned Oleg to return to the US and get up to shenanigans. Which is good, it actually gave that whole subplot a reason for existing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 00:45
|
|
|
mr. unhsib posted:Yeah, Nina's death looks like it will be the catalyst for a disillusioned Oleg to return to the US and get up to shenanigans. Which is good, it actually gave that whole subplot a reason for existing. Especially as there's no way he won't suspect his father of hastening or ordering it - and even if he promised to do something, then did nothing, he's 'guilty' of apathy and inaction.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 01:06
|
|
|
I wasn't really expecting them to kill Nina now, mostly because they kept her alive this long for no real good reason. I figured they must have a plan for her but nope
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 03:51
|
|
|
Crusty Nutsack posted:I wasn't really expecting them to kill Nina now, mostly because they kept her alive this long for no real good reason. I figured they must have a plan for her but nope You forget that no one ever truly dies in this show so long as they have dream sequences and flashbacks. And they be lovin' themselves some dream sequences and flashbacks this season.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 04:00
|
|
|
Baronash posted:You'd think that they would have better places to do that. I was wondering about this too but according to the showrunner's research That was just how the Soviets executed people like Nina. They believed telling someone they were going to die in a month and going through the motions of last requests and whatnot was needlessly cruel. Also I now know what's on the top of my reading list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GKNIWM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 20:40
|
|
|
What kind of spoiler warning is that on that article? It says 'nina-dead' right in the article address. I guess you could miss that, but come on, think of a better URL for your article.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 20:51
|
|
|
DarklyDreaming posted:I was wondering about this too but according to the showrunner's research That was just how the Soviets executed people like Nina. They believed telling someone they were going to die in a month and going through the motions of last requests and whatnot was needlessly cruel. This is true. It was touched upon an awful lot in the literature of the time, Tom Clancy et all. I'm kinda surprised they even bothered to tell her she'd been sentenced to death.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 21:44
|
|
|
EricBauman posted:What kind of spoiler warning is that on that article? http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/06/americans-nina-totally-not-dead
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 21:48
|
|
|
The callbacks to Oleg and Stan bonding over helping Nina were probably to set up that Stan is gonna be Oleg's handler when he decides to defect after hearing about Nina. His dad seemed like an uncommonly nice man.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2016 02:48
|
|
|
BIG HEADLINE posted:Especially as there's no way he won't suspect his father of hastening or ordering it - and even if he promised to do something, then did nothing, he's 'guilty' of apathy and inaction.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 02:56
|
|
|
Did Arkady and Gadd share a scene last year? I think I remembered it, but I could also be making it up. The whole Zainada defector storyline last year is really fuzzy for me.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 10:07
|
|
|
Narcissus1916 posted:Did Arkady and Gadd share a scene last year? I think I remembered it, but I could also be making it up. The whole Zainada defector storyline last year is really fuzzy for me. I think they had a scene in a cafe once.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 10:22
|
|
|
I don't know if someone else called this, but Paige is definitely going to kill pastor Tim. Stan snooping around their house drove home her fear of them being discovered and now she knows what she has to do. RIP Pastor Tim. He's going to have a face to face meeting with his boss real soon.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 20:41
|
|
|
Maybe. It would totally break her though.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 20:53
|
|
|
On (Paige) Holly Taylor's twitter a few months ago she posted (possible spoiler) a pic of her practicing with a pistol at a gun range  .
paperchaseguy fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Apr 12, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 20:59
|
|
|
Didn't last season end with Philip being told he has to meet with Kimmie weekly now? Figured we'd see her by now.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 21:20
|
|
|
What happened with that Kimmie subplot again? Did they end up banging?
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 22:16
|
|
|
mr. unhsib posted:What happened with that Kimmie subplot again? Did they end up banging? They were gonna but Jesus saved Phillip 
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 22:40
|
|
|
mr. unhsib posted:What happened with that Kimmie subplot again? Did they end up banging? Apparently no. The producers have said in interviews that it was just kind of a subplot that served its purpose adding to Philip's character development but that there wasn't really some big narrative goal with it. They basically said it wasn't really meant to go anywhere and she may or may not show up again if they have some idea.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 22:43
|
|
|
paperchaseguy posted:On (Paige) Holly Anderson's twitter a few months ago she posted (possible spoiler) a pic of her practicing with a pistol at a gun range Pretty sure you mean Holly Taylor.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 22:48
|
|
|
EricBauman posted:I don't know if someone else called this, but Paige is definitely going to kill pastor Tim. I was thinking Pastor Tim might be headed for a close encounter with the bottle of pathogens that's been the hot potato recently, but the writers do seem to be telegraphing a possible altercation with Paige. Could be more misdirection, though, and I'm not sure, given Paige's character development, that it's likely to escalate as far as actual murder.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 02:10
|
|
|
qbert posted:Apparently no. I think it's more like they're now ignoring that plotline because they decided that last season was going too dark and it(along with some other elements from last season) was leading up to Phil reaching a game/series changing breaking point that they've now retroactively dismissed to retain the status quo wheel spinning that this season's Phil & Liz plots feel like so far. It feels like a cop out to me as last season(which I think was The Americans' best so far) had no real resolution to any of it's major plots, but with Phil's descent into despair n darkness, and Liz's obliviousness towards it, felt like it was leading to a major evolution in the show's whole dynamic and central relationship. So far this season it feels like they hit a reset button on all that development and the characters have amnesia about most of it happening
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 04:04
|
|
|
Sheikh Djibouti posted:I was thinking Pastor Tim might be headed for a close encounter with the bottle of pathogens that's been the hot potato recently, but the writers do seem to be telegraphing a possible altercation with Paige. Could be more misdirection, though, and I'm not sure, given Paige's character development, that it's likely to escalate as far as actual murder. Dylan Baker's character cooked the vial. Doesn't mean he can't provide something else to off them, but I've a feeling Phil and Liz are *done* with bioweapons.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 09:09
|
|
|
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and call that Paige is gonna die this season or early next season. It just seems like it's that kind of show, and losing Paige would be a way to catalyze either Phil and Liz actually defecting or figuring out some way to "retire" to Switzerland or Canada. e: On Dylan Baker, I love that they gave him just enough lines to let you know that he's a "true believer", and how lovely that is for him. Also  "My skin has no natural lubricants" give this man an Emmy
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 19:11
|
|
|
precision posted:I'm gonna go out on a limb here and call that Paige is gonna die this season or early next season. It just seems like it's that kind of show, and losing Paige would be a way to catalyze either Phil and Liz actually defecting or figuring out some way to "retire" to Switzerland or Canada. I'm not sure I see that happening - but I do see her being part of the wedge that further shatters their world. She's not carrying their secret well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 19:56
|
|
|
EricBauman posted:I don't know if someone else called this, but Paige is definitely going to kill pastor Tim. With any other show I'd roll my eyes at something like that but I think this show could pull it off. drunkill posted:Maybe. It would totally break her though. Yeah it would definitely be a super dark turn.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 20:10
|
|
|
smg77 posted:With any other show I'd roll my eyes at something like that but I think this show could pull it off. Evidently people are forgetting the Paige that stabbed that prick who was about to assault her with Henry watching, then walked like 10 miles home. Letting Jesus into her heart weakened her inner Communist Super-Atheist persona.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 20:37
|
|
|
BIG HEADLINE posted:Evidently people are forgetting the Paige that stabbed that prick who was about to assault her with Henry watching, then walked like 10 miles home. Letting Jesus into her heart weakened her inner Communist Super-Atheist persona. And she was gonna gently caress up that Lita Ford wannabe girl who was her rival for Stan's son's affections if Stan's son didn't disappear from the show
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 20:55
|
|
|
BIG HEADLINE posted:Evidently people are forgetting the Paige that stabbed that prick who was about to assault her with Henry watching, then walked like 10 miles home. Letting Jesus into her heart weakened her inner Communist Super-Atheist persona. Wasn't Henry the one who smashed a bottle over that guy's head?
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 22:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 13:29 |
|
|
Baronash posted:Wasn't Henry the one who smashed a bottle over that guy's head? I think so - and then Paige stabbed him.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2016 23:02
|
|