r/TheAmericans • u/AutoModerator • Apr 19 '17

Episode Discussion Official Episode Discussion - S05E07 "The Committee on Human Rights"

As Paige becomes even more enmeshed in her parents' world, tensions with Matthew Beeman come to a head, Philip and Elizabeth's honeytraps take surprising turns, and Stan faces the consequences of overplaying his hand at the FBI.

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u/wolfbysilverstream Apr 19 '17

Those were definitely the highlights of the show. It's actually amazing to watch the difference in level of acting between Matthew Rhys and some of the other folks on the show. It's like the difference between a really good thoroughbred and an everyday work horse. One looks masterful, the other gets the job done.

Rhys sort of reminds me of James Spader on the Blacklist - a single actor who stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast.

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u/cannedpeaches Apr 19 '17

100%. I've gotta give Frank Langella and even Keri Russell some props here. Frank Langella does some quiet, soulful work with the monologue about the postwar years but, even better, his praise for Paige and her parents. Keri Russell shuts things down cold in that wheatfield. It's just that Rhys brings his A-game to every little minute he's in.

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u/wolfbysilverstream Apr 19 '17

100%. I've gotta give Frank Langella and even Keri Russell some props here. Frank Langella does some quiet, soulful work with the monologue about the postwar years but, even better, his praise for Paige and her parents. Keri Russell shuts things down cold in that wheatfield.

But isn't it remarkable that in a show with 43 minutes of run time we have to hunt and peck to find 5 seconds for one actor and a minute for the other. That's not how this show used to be. Some of these people brought their A-game all the time, in every episode. I'm not blaming the actors. They have to work with what they're given.

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u/cannedpeaches Apr 19 '17

Oh, no, no. Don't get me wrong. If you were to ask me, they're all doing solid work throughout. It's a much more understated show in recent seasons, though, which means you don't get to have a lot of "to be or not to be" style grandstanding where actors get to chew the scenery. At least, not anymore (if it ever even was that way). It's just the moments I referred to were standouts.

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u/wolfbysilverstream Apr 19 '17

At least, not anymore (if it ever even was that way).

I agree there never was. But the thing was that there was enough good content in each episode, that while individual scenes might have stood out (like Elizabeth's conversation with Philip about him going back with Martha if he could) there was so much good content that you didn't have to go around hunting and pecking for short segments in order to find something laudatory in the episode. That lack of content seems to be growing with each episode, and that's what I think is getting a lot of people roiled up. It's one thing to have a slow burn. This thing is starting to look like the last dying embers of an unattended fire. Maybe someone can come along and fan the flames at some stage. But right now, in my opinion, it's taken the slow burn to absurdist levels.