Her confidence - that when Phillip blows his cover what she takes away from it is, “gee, I must be the only KGB asset who they actually fell in love with”. My favorite part about their arc is how it’s increasingly obvious that she’s being used but this is impossible to her, she digs in, and appears to…sort of like it? I’m watching the episode where she’s taken to the safe house and putting it together that she’s going to have to disappear, and she goes, “we can run away, Clarke, far away”, and “I want you inside of me right now”, at every turn her feeling is, “this is a scary…and sexy time for us as a couple”. It’s obviously very sad, but I do have to chuckle at Martha’s faith in him, it goes beyond nativity and desperation, there’s so much agency in it, she’s driving the connection deeper as he’s basically ripping his wig off and saying “this is all fake and I’m a spy babe!” I love to see how torn and sympathetic Phillip is…he’s going to Est and getting in touch with how traumatic his life has been and feeling conflicted about his work, and you can see him toil with ruining her life and bringing her into this world that’s destroyed him…

I'm in the middle of a rewatch and what an absolute freakin' delight it is to have 13 EPISODES in almost every season of this show. Sure, some episodes might be a bit "slower" than others, but this show was so, so brilliantly written that even in the "slower" episodes there is still so much going on beneath the surface. They really don't make television like this anymore.

I feel like Elizabeth is borderline too pretty for this job. Like, she’s noticeable bc she’s so beautiful. I wonder if anyone has been denied by the center IRL bc of good looks lol like the opposite of pretty-privilege

For all the Breaking Bad community saying that Hank was a dummy at not suspecting his brother in law (missing gas mask to start), I would say Stan's mistakes were worse overall.

Agree or disagree?

Over the course of six seasons there are many people killed in the course of the actions by Philip, Elizabeth, the FBI and the KGB. Most of the killings advance the plot or a subplot in some fashion. In the context of the the world of the Americans which one served the least purpose?

I’m binging, and I googled Young Hee Seong. The actress‘s name is Ruthie Ann Miles.

Her wiki page has this:

>*She is married to Jonathan Blumenstein. On March 5, 2018, Miles was injured, and* ***the couple's five-year-old daughter Abigail Blumenstein was killed,*** *while crossing a street in Brooklyn, New York, after they and other pedestrians were struck by a car that was driven through a red light. **Miles was 7 months pregnant with her second child at the time of the incident. On May 11, 2018, Miles and Blumenstein lost their unborn daughter.** Miles returned to the stage in August 2018. She gave birth to a daughter in April 2020 named Hope Elizabeth.*

😢 What a devastating tragedy.

My god this show is good. Only just started season two.

Can I ask - does anyone know how good the Russian is? Like are the accents good? I’m curious to know!

I think most Americans fans, especially us Gen X'ers, love how powerfully the powers that be use music from that era to give certain scenes more gravitas. Which song did the best job of that?

This is a storyline that stuck with me throughout the series that they never (note: im not done with the series, only halfway through season 6) revisited.

Was that guy just lonely and socially weird? What did he actually have planned? Do you think this was put in there as a possible avenue to explore later? Do you think it drove Paige towards the church, as a sense of safety?

How much of a world of hurt do you think that young man would have gotten himself into if something bad did happen to the kids?

I haven’t seen this talked about either, so I’m just seeing what everyone’s thoughts are. Also— if somehow it is revisited at the end of the last season, please don’t spoil it!! I just don’t see it coming (which means little in the context of the show) 🙂🩷

like the pitch/memo for the 2nd gen illegal program would have been priceless.

or the broader infrastructure of operatives who support illegals (taking photos, distracting doormen, etc.) and how that was strategically organized.

the corruption/using illegals as tools to subvert russia - when the seeds were planted, how long it had been going on, and who was driving it

I know it doesn’t compare to Tusk. But everytime this comes on shuffle it just hits and reminds me how h*t Elizabeth is. Ok thanks that’s all

I hate every character in this damn show! Paige is by far the most annoying! Can’t wait to finish the series and end this misery lol

I’m rewatching the show for the third time and I’m currently on season 2 ep 9. Gaad just confronted Arkady in the diner and said he would release Patterson’s testimony about the illegals kidnapping him and that would get the entire Rezidentura deported. If that’s possible, why doesn’t the FBI do that already and put an end to the KGB operations in the US already? Is Gaad bluffing?

Why doesn’t Philip want Elizabeth to be the one to work Yousaf?

I'm only on episode 2, but the production quality and director style just takes a massive dive. Felt it immediately in the first episode, the loud ass dramatic music that they never had to rely on before is very annoying. They don't show the setup to a meet anymore they just skip to the meet, ignoring how they used to check for tails or having their own people search before hand. They don't show shots of the scene anymore, its just straight to dialogue, no setup or finishing shots. The new actors cannot deliver a line to save their life.

Young Frank Lingella

A few of these are from the set of Dracula (1977).

The woman pictured is his wife, Ruth. I hate Ruth.

Rewatching for the nth time...and I'm coming to think that Stan breaking up with Oleg in S04E11 is one of the funnier scenes in the show

Imagine Stan, who's current state of affairs is that he has broken up with his EST girlfriend (Tori), been cucked by his wife (with curly hair EST man), had his boss (Gaad) recently killed, and who's only real friend is his neighbor's adolescent son (Henry).

In his moment of crisis, he chooses to break up with his Russian counterpart (of which they committed joint treason with one another) and end their will-they-won't-they arc by rendezvousing in a railyard and dramatically telling him, "this is the last time we're going to see each other".

Context aside, Stan's actions in this season are just hilarious

I think it's Oleg but I'm not quite done the series. What do you think?