Filed in Articles & Interviews The Americans

‘Walter Taffet’ TV Recaps

As we cross the halfway marker in this season of The Americans, the show puts a few of its storylines on hold to spend some time with a few plot threads it has left largely unattended thus far: namely, Martha, and the student that trainee Hans has been suspicious of. But mostly Martha.

The man who this week’s episode of The Americans is named after is barely in it. In fact, if you’re not listening closely (The Americans is not kind about this—it demands that you always listen closely) you might even miss his name entirely. But Walter Taffet’s presence tugs at the thread named Martha, and it could potentially put the Jennings one step closer to being caught.

The trouble starts with Agent Dennis Aderholt. Stan doesn’t like him—over beer and pizza with Phillip, Stan says it might be that he asks too many questions, like he’s trying to show off or something. So when he spots Aderholt in Gaad’s office the next day, he comes up with a bullshit excuse (grabbing a random paper that he says needs Gaad’s signature) to get inside and see what they’re talking about. However, the pen that Gaad uses is out of ink, and after a good shake the cap falls off—with a much heavier thud than a pen cap should have. Continue reading ‘Walter Taffet’ TV Recaps

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Curtis Sittenfeld: Here’s why you should be watching The Americans

Whenever I’m evangelizing for The Americans (which is often), I say the following: As with other complex shows, you have to start with the first season of FX’s drama about ’80s Soviet spies embedded in suburban Virginia, and watch every episode in order. Even then, you probably won’t get hooked immediately. The show is more violent than what I usually go for, and during an early episode in which a mother and baby were clearly in danger, I declared to my husband that if they were dead by the end of the hour, then The Americans and I were parting ways.

Slight spoiler alert:One of them died and one didn’t. Thus, I persevered, and by the next episode, the show had gotten into my bloodstream. It was so suspenseful and smart, so magnificently detailed without showing off its details, so expertly controlled in its pacing, that I found myself thinking about it while 
 I wasn’t watching. Even though there’s a lot of good TV these days, it had been a while since I’d been truly obsessed.

Another thing I say when evangelizing is that if you’re married, it’s a really fun show to watch with your spouse. This is because it’s about both spycraft and marriage: KGB agents Philip and Elizabeth Jennings are posing as an ordinary American couple, and they’re the parents of a teenage daughter and younger son. After living and working together in America since the ’60s, often while sleeping with their targets or informants in the line of duty, Philip and Elizabeth have only recently fallen in love with each other—which makes their relationship complex in ways both steamy and thought-provoking. Continue reading Curtis Sittenfeld: Here’s why you should be watching The Americans

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3×11 – One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov Press Release

Philip and Elizabeth’s home and work lives collide in new and dangerous ways. Nina struggles to figure out her next steps. Arkady assigns Oleg and Tatiana to an operation with uncertain potential.

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Filed in Articles & Interviews The Americans

‘Born Again’ Tv Recaps

It starts with a baptism.

Television shows, even good ones, often struggle when it comes to incorporating Christianity into their stories (hi there, Friday Night Lights season 2) because Christianity is deliberately constructed in a way that’s in direct contrast to the way we traditionally build narratives. The sources of tension and conflict are all very different and don’t always sync up. It’s also all too easy for individual characters to lose their unique voice once they take the plunge.

But using Christianity as yet another lens with which we can examine Phillip and Elizabeth, while still being wholly genuine about Paige’s investment in her faith? The Americans is having its cake and eating it, too. In the final moments of the cold open, which takes place during Paige’s baptism, the camera focuses on her parents, trying their best to look pleased. Phillip seems to be having the hardest time of it—which is ironic, given that faith is going to take him some interesting places in this hour.

In fact, the entire episode revolves around characters taking some sort of stand or another, making for one of the most cohesive episodes in the season. In a Moscow prison cell, Nina has made her decision to betray her cellmate, feigning vulnerability and opening up to her so she would admit to being an accomplice to her treasonous boyfriend. Stan decides to try and commit to honesty, admitting to Tori that he still considers Sandra his wife after a dinner at the Jennings home. Since this is in perfect alignment with the radical honesty of EST, Tori is appreciative, and the two sleep together. Continue reading ‘Born Again’ Tv Recaps

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3×10 – Stingers Press Release

Philip and Elizabeth deploy a plan for the C.I.A.’s Mujahideen visitors. Tensions at the Jennings’ home escalate.

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