(Spoilers) FX The Americans v.3

[Mark Antony]

Hahah Elizabeth and Phillip are so focused on Paige yet I could easily see Henrys friendship with Stan causing their downfall. 

Damn that ending was brutal but felt inevitable. Good episode. 

[Dr. Pepper]

Nina's plot has felt disconnected and unnecessary for a while.  But it turned out to be what made her death have such an impact.  I kept expecting her story to go somewhere, for her to get out of prison.  So when she is executed with almost no warning, it stung a lot.  I sort of just sat staring at the screen for a bit afterwards.  

[Winterfell is Burning]

OMG, THEY KILLED NINA! THE BASTARDS!

 

Really great episode. I'm specially curious to see the effect of Nina's death in both Stan and Oleg.

[Mark Antony]

1 hour ago, Dr. Pepper said:

Nina's plot has felt disconnected and unnecessary for a while.  But it turned out to be what made her death have such an impact.  I kept expecting her story to go somewhere, for her to get out of prison.  So when she is executed with almost no warning, it stung a lot.  I sort of just sat staring at the screen for a bit afterwards.  

Agreed it was quite shocking even though I felt it coming. Walking Dead should take notes  

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

They weren't fucking around when they said shortly.  

[Tears of Lys]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 4:18 PM, Jack Bauer 24 said:

Nina has plot armor. She isn't going anywhere.

Don't you hate when that happens?   

1 hour ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

OMG, THEY KILLED NINA! THE BASTARDS!

 

Really great episode. I'm specially curious to see the effect of Nina's death in both Stan and Oleg.

I wonder if either of them will even know her fate.  I also wonder if Oleg's father saw Oleg's attachment to Nina as a serious handicap - one that had to be dealt with.  He can always be told that she was shipped back to America.  Oleg's staying in Russia. 

And, yeah, that shot to the head was really brutal.  At least she didn't have to worry and wonder long.  "Your appeal has been denied.  The death sentence will be carried out. . . shortly."  BOOM. 

 

It occurs to me that this thread is LOADED with spoilers.  Should the title of the thread be changed to reflect that fact? 

[Mark Antony]

I think Ninas death will definitely have an impact on Stan and especially Oleg so yeah I do think they'll find out. 

Edited the thread title, good call.

[Kindly Old Man]

Nina's death was brutal, but I thought the rest of the episode was a bunch of wheel-spinning. Everyone recovers from the Glanders. Stan searches Martha's apartment and doesn't really find anything (did I read this wrong? the kama sutra and pistol didn't seem like a big deal to me, maybe I missed something). The Pastor Tim situation got all the air taken out of it - the prospect of them working him isn't very interesting to me. I mean, it was well executed wheel-spinning but still. I have a lot of confidence in the show's writer's though so I'll trust they're taking all of this somewhere good.

[Fragile Bird]

I heard a good interview yesterday with the show runners.  One of them is ex-CIA, and because of that all the scripts have to be cleared by some special office to make sure no secrets that have to stay secret are accidently revealed.

I suspect the manner of Nina's story and the way it spun out has some basis in reality....and if not, the CIA guy wanted to really contrast what might happen to you in the USA with what did happen in Russia.

ETA:  I will post a link to the interview (on a radio program) later today, when I have a moment.

[Jack Bauer 24]

Finally.

[Commodore]

On 4/7/2016 at 1:33 PM, Kindly Old Man said:

Nina's death was brutal, but I thought the rest of the episode was a bunch of wheel-spinning.

The entire show is wheel spinning. 

Nina's death was perfect for the writers. They could insert a seemingly meaningful event that did not change the dynamic of the show in any way. Nothing is triggered by her death. 

The trick the writers have is to make it seem like Liz/Phillip are about to be found out, but it never actually happens. Stan is just as clueless about Elizabeth/Philip now as he was in the first episode. They are teasing it with Stan looking into Martha, but it's very easy to see the writers killing her off or Stan dropping that line of inquiry before anything meaningful is discovered. 

The one time an actual domino fell was when Paige learned about her parents. That has been interesting and they've handled it well .

[Mladen]

1 hour ago, Commodore said:

The entire show is wheel spinning. 

I have to agree. And that is why it is so beautiful. It is not action-packed, one thing leads to another kind of action show, it is in a very slow burning mode. And one would even have to argue that it is expected from the show that speaks about spies that are active for the past two decades. It is more like we are getting a glimpse into their lives, than actually seeing series of life-changing, defining moments, although as said, confession to Paige, was a game-changer. Also, one has to acknowledge that this is also a family drama, a series about marriage, coming of age, love. On the grand scheme of things, yes, every thing leads to another in our lives, but sometimes it doesn't feel that way and that is something that shows embodies very nicely.

As for Nina, it was quite appropriate ending. It doesn't matter where it happened, it happens in Russia, China, USA, EU countries, all over the world. Small, insignificant persons get killed on daily basis without it making to the headlines, without making some huge impact except in the microcosm of their beloved ones. So, yeah, it was done as it should and I liked. It wasn't perhaps the most brutal, but it certainly was definitive. She died and is just one of the many that died during those years whose life will never inspire stories. It is actually quite sad, when you think of it. 

[Fragile Bird]

I thought the death of Nina was very sad.  I had grown quite fond of her.  When she dreamed about being released with an airline ticket in her hand together with the scientist, I had a feeling of impending doom, of her dreaming of her version of heaven.

This quote is long but it expresses very well how I felt about the episode:

 

Quote

 

I don’t believe Nina Sergeevna Krilova had any illusions about leaving Russia, though that belief was formed entirely by reading the tea leaves left behind by The Americans’ last three episodes. It would have to be: Annet Mahendru speaks, maybe, a grand total of five lines between “Experimental Prototype City Of Tommorow” and “Chloramphenicol,” and two of her scenes in these episodes are dream sequences. While Agent Aderholt is out to dinner with Martha (which may or may not be related to her apartment being raided by Stan), Martha mentions that there are “no false promises” in her romance with a “married man.” It’s the same with Nina’s time in the gulag: The show made no promises of escape to keep.

There’s a hint of false promise in tonight’s dream sequence, but “Chloramphenicol” is quick to tip its hand. The heavenly light that illuminated the safe house last week creeps into the interrogation room and Anton’s laboratory, two spaces otherwise depicted as suffocating holes untouched by the sun. Such grand, romantic visions of freedom shall not come to pass in this world, something to keep in mind every time Matthew Rhys’ eyes light up at the thought of Philip, Elizabeth, and the kids going on the lam.

From a cold, emotionless critical perspective, an execution is the logical endpoint of Nina’s story. The show’s visits with her have grown increasingly short, and returning her to a prison cell is a narrative cul de sac that no gorgeously lit dream can circumvent. As the story ends, so does her life.

But that is not to say that her execution is devoid of feeling. I’ve been bracing for this development for weeks, and I still experienced a swell of sorrow, shock, and surprise when the gun went off. As The Americans proves time and time again, you never hear the bullet with your name on it. Nina is a character we’ve come to know and sympathize with, whose choices help determine the course of the show and whose relationships to other characters are complex and compelling. No other character who’s died on this show could be described in such terms. For these reasons and more, Nina’s death matters.

One of those reasons: It’s a new, fatal wrinkle in the show’s concept of loyalty. Nina commits to many people, institutions, and causes, but none bring her deliverance. The dramatic irony of “Chloramphenicol” is that Oleg’s father re-ups his commitment to freeing Nina (after Oleg makes his own sort of loyalty pledge), but the machinery has already been set in motion. This is the thanks Nina gets for sacrificing her sense of self in the name of both the Soviet Union and the United States: A soldier in the Red Army shoots her in the back of the head.

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/death-counts-americans-234895

ETA:  An excellent review, btw.

[Jack Bauer 24]

I know they were going for the shock!value ending, but all my viewing friends and I could do was yawn and say it should have happened long ago.

[Fragile Bird]

13 minutes ago, Jack Bauer 24 said:

I know they were going for the shock!value ending, but all my viewing friends and I could do was yawn and say it should have happened long ago.

Subtlety is not the strong point of a lot of people.

[Tears of Lys]

Some people haven't lived long enough to be moved by true tragedy. 

The more I think about it, the worse Nina's death seems to me.  The actress really "brought it" in those final moments too.  I still remember her poignant but ineffectual struggle and tears.

On another note, anybody have any theories how Martha's situation is going to play out?  Is Philip going to handle her death, or Elizabeth? (Perhaps Philip can't bring himself to it.)  Or is Martha going to be one step ahead of Philip and bring about the Illegals' downfall? 

[Consigliere]

15 hours ago, Jack Bauer 24 said:

I know they were going for the shock!value ending, but all my viewing friends and I could do was yawn and say it should have happened long ago.

"Shock value" is not even remotely appropriate to describe Nina's death. Anyone saying it is has probably not been paying attention. There has been an air of inevitability over Nina's fate for quite some time now. Yes, the manner in which it happened was surprising but her death did not come out of left field and was certainly not "cheap shock".

[Mark Antony]

5 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

"Shock value" is not even remotely appropriate to describe Nina's death. Anyone saying it is has probably not been paying attention. There has been an air of inevitability over Nina's fate for quite some time now. Yes, the manner in which it happened was surprising but her death did not come out of left field and was certainly not "cheap shock".

Agreed. 

I was critical of all the screentime they gave Nina cause it felt so detached from The Jennings but if anything "dragging out" Ninas imprisonment in Russia added to the impact of her death. It was really well done imo.

[Mladen]

2 hours ago, Tears of Lys said:

Some people haven't lived long enough to be moved by true tragedy. 

The more I think about it, the worse Nina's death seems to me.  The actress really "brought it" in those final moments too.  I still remember her poignant but ineffectual struggle and tears.

On another note, anybody have any theories how Martha's situation is going to play out?  Is Philip going to handle her death, or Elizabeth? (Perhaps Philip can't bring himself to it.)  Or is Martha going to be one step ahead of Philip and bring about the Illegals' downfall? 

As for Nina, as I said, it was truly sad. On more levels than one and even though the character itself was never impacting me, I have to say that end was not too brutal in the terms of shocking, but it did leave the sense of sadness.

And Martha, hmmm. I think she may stay. And may stay as Phillip's second wife for quite some time. I think that the last episode actually brought us to conclusion that she has made some sort of peace with what she and Phillip are doing.

[Kindly Old Man]

21 hours ago, Commodore said:

The entire show is wheel spinning. 

Nina's death was perfect for the writers. They could insert a seemingly meaningful event that did not change the dynamic of the show in any way. Nothing is triggered by her death. 

The trick the writers have is to make it seem like Liz/Phillip are about to be found out, but it never actually happens. Stan is just as clueless about Elizabeth/Philip now as he was in the first episode. They are teasing it with Stan looking into Martha, but it's very easy to see the writers killing her off or Stan dropping that line of inquiry before anything meaningful is discovered. 

The one time an actual domino fell was when Paige learned about her parents. That has been interesting and they've handled it well .

This is a good point. I'm fine with it since it's hard to see how they can have real movement wrt Phil and Elizabeth getting discovered before they start their endgame. Usually, though, they have subplots that have good dramatic arcs (e.g. Larrick), develop the characters, or are engaging on an emotional level. I didn't get any of that from the Glanders thing this season.