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Jun. 2nd, 2016 10:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsTV commentary:
The Americans- Hey, stuff's actually happening. Or at least it seems like it is. I will say the Paige stuff has transitioned from being to annoying to interesting. So when Elizabeth and Paige come back home, Paige is visibly shaken. So they tell Henry they were almost mugged but managed to scare the guys off. Henry is worried, but since his parents say everything is fine, he believes them. Paige obviously needs more reassuring, since she saw a guy get killed in front of her.
Elizabeth and Phillip seem a little more chill about the whole situation than I expected, because I think this is a big deal. Its like yes, the guy who died was a scumbag thief and attempted rapist who prolly has no one who misses him. But the cops are still going to look into it. They might not look into it hard, thinking it was just some random thug who got killed in an altercation with another random thug. But they have the one guy who saw them, and not only that, it was as Elizabeth, not as one of her aliases, and Paige was there.
Like he obviously won't go to the cops since all this happened when he and his friend attempted to rob Elizabeth and Paige, and possibly rape them. But who knows, if he gets picked up, he might think giving up info on some random lady stabbing his friend to death in a parking lot. I mean, I guess he would prolly lay low, and might not think they didn't call the cops and claim self defense. So I suppose he might think the case is closed.
But again, while the cops might not look hard, they'd ask around. That area was near the soup kitchen. So its not unreasonable that Tim and Alice might hear about some guy murdered in that neighborhood. I guess there's nothing pointing to Elizabeth, and they might just chalk it up to a sad occurrence in a bad part of town, but the fact is they have a piece of information. Also, Henry is a kid, he might tell people he knows (particularly Stan!) that his mother and sister were almost mugged. Which is another piece of info. Separately, those pieces of info are innocuous, but its very possible for the pieces to be put together.
I digress. Paige has questions, like where did her mom learn to do all this, why isn't she more freaked, has she done this before. Elizabeth says she was taught to defend herself, and she's had to "defend herself" many times. Her daughter wonders how she could go into a dangerous job, but Elizabeth tells her its because she grew up wanting to be a fighter, who fought to help the helpless. And while I think Paige was disturbed that her mom killed someone, I think she's getting a better picture of who Elizabeth is, and its speaking to her. Like not the killing, but rather being someone who's strong, and wants to use that strength to help and protect those she cares about.
On the other side of the coin though, its funny, because I think Paige is starting to come around to her parents, at least be less defiant, becoming someone they could mold into a second generation spy like the Center wants. But, we know Phillip never wanted that for his kids, and it seems Elizabeth is disturbed by it too, seeing how things have developed. Mainly, Paige, without prompting, telling her about Matthew telling her about Stan. She's like reporting to them now, doing spying of her own accord.
What makes it really funny though, is that Paige does legitimately seem to have a crush on Matt, but her parents are worried she's just getting close to him because Stan is opening up to him, trying to work Matt to get her parents approval. So like they say its okay to be friends with Matt, warning her to be careful about opening up to him. And Paige is all, yeah, she knows the deal. But they're also, she doesn't have to get close to Matt if she doesn't want to, and I think their awkward attempts to be all, "Don't think you have to work Matt for us to get info on his dad!" is lost on her. I think she just likes a boy, but given his dad is an FBI agent, and her parents are KGB spies, its adding a whole new level of complication trying to talk about it.
In the other part of the episode, things are starting to come together. Aderholt chases down the lead about the mailbot, and they do indeed find a recorder. So they tell the boss man about the situation, and he okays them to set up a sting to find the person who'd been switching the tapes. Taub is frustrated though, because he knows how this will go down, they flip the person, it leads them to some person from the embassy, who they end up deporting. They'll stop this particular intrusion, but it'll just happen again and the cycle will repeat.
They actually catch the lady, who apparently had been paid by some guy claiming to be a mobster and wanting to know what the feds had on him and his associates. So, they flip her and are going to watch the drop, to see where it leads. And I have no idea if this would blow back on the Jennings, or if its one of the other random KGB folks who deal with those tapes.
In any case, that whole thing ends up taking second priority. Over at the Residence, Tatiana has apparently been offered a promotion in Nairobi, and she wants Oleg to be her deputy. Oleg has to think about it, and in their conversations, she jokes about hoping she doesn't accidentally kill half the eastern seaboard. I wasn't sure if Oleg knew the full details of what she was doing, but I guess he knows enough, because he actually contacts Stan to warn him. Its interesting, because he says his people have some of the smartest scientists in the world. But, they don't have the funding to take the full precautions they need to do when handling the tech they work on. So, he's worried, he thinks they're about to give a dangerous weapon to people who don't have the proper protections in place to stop it from being released if there was an accident. Better to nip this thing in the bud then let this potential for disaster occur. Oleg doesn't outright say what's happening, but mentions they have a guy in a private lab that works on bio weapons for the US military, who might be doing something big.
So Stan brings it to his boss, and its basically all hands on deck (Matt mentions his dad hasn't been home to Paige, who tells her parents, who don't realize the gravity of this situation). They end up figuring out William is a spy. At the same time, Gabriel and Phillip are having a talk with William, who still doesn't want to do this. He doesn't think either side should have this stuff at all, and if he had his druthers, he'd just destroy it all. Gabriel tries to appeal to his patriotism, says just do this one last job, he can return home a hero. Gabriel thinks he got through to William, but Phillip is not too sure.
In any case, the Feebs have just double their detail on William, and Phillip has just been called to make contact with him. So next week should definitely be a nail biter, with Phillip about to walk into an FBI trap led by Stan.
The Americans- Hey, stuff's actually happening. Or at least it seems like it is. I will say the Paige stuff has transitioned from being to annoying to interesting. So when Elizabeth and Paige come back home, Paige is visibly shaken. So they tell Henry they were almost mugged but managed to scare the guys off. Henry is worried, but since his parents say everything is fine, he believes them. Paige obviously needs more reassuring, since she saw a guy get killed in front of her.
Elizabeth and Phillip seem a little more chill about the whole situation than I expected, because I think this is a big deal. Its like yes, the guy who died was a scumbag thief and attempted rapist who prolly has no one who misses him. But the cops are still going to look into it. They might not look into it hard, thinking it was just some random thug who got killed in an altercation with another random thug. But they have the one guy who saw them, and not only that, it was as Elizabeth, not as one of her aliases, and Paige was there.
Like he obviously won't go to the cops since all this happened when he and his friend attempted to rob Elizabeth and Paige, and possibly rape them. But who knows, if he gets picked up, he might think giving up info on some random lady stabbing his friend to death in a parking lot. I mean, I guess he would prolly lay low, and might not think they didn't call the cops and claim self defense. So I suppose he might think the case is closed.
But again, while the cops might not look hard, they'd ask around. That area was near the soup kitchen. So its not unreasonable that Tim and Alice might hear about some guy murdered in that neighborhood. I guess there's nothing pointing to Elizabeth, and they might just chalk it up to a sad occurrence in a bad part of town, but the fact is they have a piece of information. Also, Henry is a kid, he might tell people he knows (particularly Stan!) that his mother and sister were almost mugged. Which is another piece of info. Separately, those pieces of info are innocuous, but its very possible for the pieces to be put together.
I digress. Paige has questions, like where did her mom learn to do all this, why isn't she more freaked, has she done this before. Elizabeth says she was taught to defend herself, and she's had to "defend herself" many times. Her daughter wonders how she could go into a dangerous job, but Elizabeth tells her its because she grew up wanting to be a fighter, who fought to help the helpless. And while I think Paige was disturbed that her mom killed someone, I think she's getting a better picture of who Elizabeth is, and its speaking to her. Like not the killing, but rather being someone who's strong, and wants to use that strength to help and protect those she cares about.
On the other side of the coin though, its funny, because I think Paige is starting to come around to her parents, at least be less defiant, becoming someone they could mold into a second generation spy like the Center wants. But, we know Phillip never wanted that for his kids, and it seems Elizabeth is disturbed by it too, seeing how things have developed. Mainly, Paige, without prompting, telling her about Matthew telling her about Stan. She's like reporting to them now, doing spying of her own accord.
What makes it really funny though, is that Paige does legitimately seem to have a crush on Matt, but her parents are worried she's just getting close to him because Stan is opening up to him, trying to work Matt to get her parents approval. So like they say its okay to be friends with Matt, warning her to be careful about opening up to him. And Paige is all, yeah, she knows the deal. But they're also, she doesn't have to get close to Matt if she doesn't want to, and I think their awkward attempts to be all, "Don't think you have to work Matt for us to get info on his dad!" is lost on her. I think she just likes a boy, but given his dad is an FBI agent, and her parents are KGB spies, its adding a whole new level of complication trying to talk about it.
In the other part of the episode, things are starting to come together. Aderholt chases down the lead about the mailbot, and they do indeed find a recorder. So they tell the boss man about the situation, and he okays them to set up a sting to find the person who'd been switching the tapes. Taub is frustrated though, because he knows how this will go down, they flip the person, it leads them to some person from the embassy, who they end up deporting. They'll stop this particular intrusion, but it'll just happen again and the cycle will repeat.
They actually catch the lady, who apparently had been paid by some guy claiming to be a mobster and wanting to know what the feds had on him and his associates. So, they flip her and are going to watch the drop, to see where it leads. And I have no idea if this would blow back on the Jennings, or if its one of the other random KGB folks who deal with those tapes.
In any case, that whole thing ends up taking second priority. Over at the Residence, Tatiana has apparently been offered a promotion in Nairobi, and she wants Oleg to be her deputy. Oleg has to think about it, and in their conversations, she jokes about hoping she doesn't accidentally kill half the eastern seaboard. I wasn't sure if Oleg knew the full details of what she was doing, but I guess he knows enough, because he actually contacts Stan to warn him. Its interesting, because he says his people have some of the smartest scientists in the world. But, they don't have the funding to take the full precautions they need to do when handling the tech they work on. So, he's worried, he thinks they're about to give a dangerous weapon to people who don't have the proper protections in place to stop it from being released if there was an accident. Better to nip this thing in the bud then let this potential for disaster occur. Oleg doesn't outright say what's happening, but mentions they have a guy in a private lab that works on bio weapons for the US military, who might be doing something big.
So Stan brings it to his boss, and its basically all hands on deck (Matt mentions his dad hasn't been home to Paige, who tells her parents, who don't realize the gravity of this situation). They end up figuring out William is a spy. At the same time, Gabriel and Phillip are having a talk with William, who still doesn't want to do this. He doesn't think either side should have this stuff at all, and if he had his druthers, he'd just destroy it all. Gabriel tries to appeal to his patriotism, says just do this one last job, he can return home a hero. Gabriel thinks he got through to William, but Phillip is not too sure.
In any case, the Feebs have just double their detail on William, and Phillip has just been called to make contact with him. So next week should definitely be a nail biter, with Phillip about to walk into an FBI trap led by Stan.
