(Spoilers) FX The Americans v.3

[Mladen]

2 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Philip is my favorite character and I would hate to see him die.

Me too. Matthew Rhys is, IMO, the best actor currently on TV. But, this season will get ugly. And I do believe we will see Jennings clash at some moment. I do, however, hope they'll resolve it.

58 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

I do hope for a happy ending after all... but don't know if that's possible...

I agree. But the pile of dead bodies they have left behind them will surely come to haunt them. The sins of the past and all that...

[williamjm]

On 29/03/2018 at 4:40 AM, Mark Antony said:

Awesome to have it back. Thought it was a really good opening ep. Stakes have finally been raised. This season is gonna be so intense. 

Loved seeing Arkady. The whole plot line introduced by him with the divides in the Soviet Union and using Oleg to get to Phillip and then using Phillip to get information from (or even stop) Elizabeth was/is going to be stupidly entertaining. 

Elizabeth looks so worn out. Shouldn’t be surprised by how brutal she is and especially by what lengths she would go to protect Paige but her stabbing the navy dude still caught me off guard.

The episode just got shown on TV over here. I agree it was an excellent opening, the dialogue-free intro showing Philip and Elizabeth going about their new routines was particularly good. I wasn't expecting the time jump, but it brings in some interesting possibilities, and I think it was essential if they wanted to involve Paige more directly in the main plot. I had wondered for a while if the end-game could have Philip and Elizabeth working against each other, but I wasn't expecting it to happen this way - I could have imagined Philip trying to defect to America.

Time jump worked for me though I do wonder how the Kimmy situation from last season played out. Her dad had just got promoted to head of Soviet division and that was what made them stay in America iirc.

Hopefully they'll bring that plotline up again given how significant it was to the end of the previous season. I guess it's possible that over time they found another way other than Philip to get to Kimmy's Dad.

On 31/03/2018 at 10:51 AM, Mark Antony said:

How do you guys think Oleg will react once he finds out that Phillip is Stans neighbor/friend? 

I'd suspect he should know already before going to America. Arkady said he has been reviewing Philip's file, and the connection with Stan is a potentially important piece of information that Oleg needs to know.

On 02/04/2018 at 5:24 PM, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I'm shocked it took so long for him to get out of the game. We saw from the first episode that his heart wasn't in it. The show isn't going to end well for any of them but it's going to be the worst for Elizabeth and Paige. I'm shocked they made her drink so much of the Kool-Aid.

It always seemed the biggest flaw of the second-generation agents plan that they wouldn't have any innate loyalty to the Soviet Union so it makes sense that they'd try to make Paige feel a connection with her parents' homeland.

[Tears of Lys]

On ‎3‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 9:10 AM, Kyoshi said:

We're watching. Some of us just have nothing to say and enjoy reading other people's analyses.

Yes, that's what I do.  Plus, I feel like I must have missed the ending of last season, because I can't remember where it happened that Philip decided he was out of the spy game.  And Paige being IN the spy game when Philip was so against it seems like a big disconnect.  And when did Paige learn to speak Russian??  She was sitting there watching a Russian soap opera with her mom and the older lady and seemed to understand what was going on.  Did I faze out and miss that the actors on the Russian soap were speaking English?  What the hell is going on??  

This is one of the rare TV shows that I would really love to have the entire thing on DVD.  It's the best thing on television right now by a long shot - right up there with Breaking Bad.  It's ridiculous it gets so little attention. 

Oh, and I LOVED Philip doing the cowboy dancing with the boots and all!  I had forgotten that that whole country line dancing was a "thing" back then. 

[Ran]

2 hours ago, Tears of Lys said:

Yes, that's what I do.  Plus, I feel like I must have missed the ending of last season, because I can't remember where it happened that Philip decided he was out of the spy game.  And Paige being IN the spy game when Philip was so against it seems like a big disconnect.  And when did Paige learn to speak Russian?? 

The show has jumped 3 years since the end of last season, which I think explains the whiplash you're feeling. Philip being out was definitely part of that final episode, but it's clear Paige has become much more involved (and trained) in the intervening time.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

4 hours ago, Tears of Lys said:

Yes, that's what I do.  Plus, I feel like I must have missed the ending of last season, because I can't remember where it happened that Philip decided he was out of the spy game.  And Paige being IN the spy game when Philip was so against it seems like a big disconnect.  And when did Paige learn to speak Russian??  She was sitting there watching a Russian soap opera with her mom and the older lady and seemed to understand what was going on.  Did I faze out and miss that the actors on the Russian soap were speaking English?  What the hell is going on??  

This is one of the rare TV shows that I would really love to have the entire thing on DVD.  It's the best thing on television right now by a long shot - right up there with Breaking Bad.  It's ridiculous it gets so little attention. 

Oh, and I LOVED Philip doing the cowboy dancing with the boots and all!  I had forgotten that that whole country line dancing was a "thing" back then. 

The Russian T.V. is helping her learn, I suppose Claudia (character actress Margo Martindale) has ways of getting it. 

I like how Philip has settled in to a nice suburban life. 

12 hours ago, williamjm said:

The episode just got shown on TV over here. I agree it was an excellent opening, the dialogue-free intro showing Philip and Elizabeth going about their new routines was particularly good. I wasn't expecting the time jump, but it brings in some interesting possibilities, and I think it was essential if they wanted to involve Paige more directly in the main plot. I had wondered for a while if the end-game could have Philip and Elizabeth working against each other, but I wasn't expecting it to happen this way - I could have imagined Philip trying to defect to America.

 

 

Hopefully they'll bring that plotline up again given how significant it was to the end of the previous season. I guess it's possible that over time they found another way other than Philip to get to Kimmy's Dad.

I'd suspect he should know already before going to America. Arkady said he has been reviewing Philip's file, and the connection with Stan is a potentially important piece of information that Oleg needs to know.

It always seemed the biggest flaw of the second-generation agents plan that they wouldn't have any innate loyalty to the Soviet Union so it makes sense that they'd try to make Paige feel a connection with her parents' homeland.

The whole plan is flawed. There is no way they would be able to pass a background investigation to work in the CIA or FBI. 

[Mark Antony]

16 hours ago, williamjm said:

.I'd suspect he should know already before going to America. Arkady said he has been reviewing Philip's file, and the connection with Stan is a potentially important piece of information that Oleg needs to know..

True. Well Stan seeing Phillip with Oleg then?  Seems likely to me that Stan having had relationships with both of them will come into play.

last nights episode wasn’t as good as the premiere but still solid. Elizabeth has way too much on her plate without Phillip and is getting sloppy. Paige isn’t ready to be much of a help yet. She’s actually a liability, I’m not sure why she would be backing up Elizabeth for something like that at the end.

I thought Henry sounded like Stavros, Phillip!   

[williamjm]

10 hours ago, Tears of Lys said:

Yes, that's what I do.  Plus, I feel like I must have missed the ending of last season, because I can't remember where it happened that Philip decided he was out of the spy game.  And Paige being IN the spy game when Philip was so against it seems like a big disconnect.  And when did Paige learn to speak Russian??  She was sitting there watching a Russian soap opera with her mom and the older lady and seemed to understand what was going on.  Did I faze out and miss that the actors on the Russian soap were speaking English?  What the hell is going on??  

At the end of last season Philip wanted to quit, it looked like he might be temporarily persuaded to keep doing it because his operation with the senior CIA agent's daughter looked like it could give them vital information but maybe something happened with that since then.

It did seem surprising Philip would ever accept Paige being involved. I think there are a couple of things where it would be useful to fill in a bit more of what happened in between the seasons (I've only seen the first episode so I don't know if the second has done any of that).

I think the Russian soap opera may have had English subtitles, but presumably they're trying to teach her some Russian.

This is one of the rare TV shows that I would really love to have the entire thing on DVD.  It's the best thing on television right now by a long shot - right up there with Breaking Bad.  It's ridiculous it gets so little attention. 

I agree it's probably the best show on TV at the moment (at least out of those I've watched, there are so many shows on it's difficult to keep up).

[SerHaHa]

Best show on TV right now IMO.  They are doing a great job of setting this season up.  I can just feel a big conflict coming in the final episode or 2.  It's so hard to predict what may happen, Paige, Elizabeth, Stan, Phillip - they are all going to end up interacting and knowing everything about one another near the end I thing, it's just difficult to see exactly how right now, which is part of the allure for me. 

[lady narcissa]

I was thinking about the ending I'd like to see and I think its Elizabeth sacrificing herself to save Paige from something which lands her in federal prison for the rest of her life with Phillip and Paige being sent back to Russia...with Phillip being tortured by continually running into Martha at the grocery store.  And then Stan would become Henry's guardian and Henry ultimately ends up working for the CIA as an analyst down the road.  I suspect none of this will happen, however.  But its fun to speculate.

This season has really driven home that Paige is basically my contemporary and we grew up in the same world and time.  It's been an interesting way to revisit that world and the Soviet Union and to see it again from this side of history.  In 2018, Paige would be a middle aged woman and Elizabeth and Henry would be senior citizens.

[Jaxom 1974]

11 hours ago, Triskele said:

Phil's new haircut works well for establishing a change in timeline.

Beeman's girlfriend's reaction to his suggestion about switching departments seems to hint at her being a spy.

The "her being a spy" and that scene about a change if department was last season...I was actually wondering if that could even be true as she' still with him after the time jump...

 

I think I'm going to being saying, "Oh, Paige..." a lot this season...

[HexMachina]

My favourite scene of the premiere was actually the dinner scene with Stan, the Jennings and his colleague from the FBI. It was brilliant seeing the contrast with the dinner scene of the early seasons. Paige really has grown into an awesome young lady

[Winterfell is Burning]

Nah, it makes no sense for someone to be spying on Stan after all this time. If she was a spy, she'd have dumped him by now.

[Bronn Stone]

2 hours ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

Nah, it makes no sense for someone to be spying on Stan after all this time. If she was a spy, she'd have dumped him by now.

Because the KGB has so many agents who've worked their way into the bedrooms of FBI counterterrrorism agents (past and possibly future) that they can throw one away????

Even if she's determined he's out of counterterrorism for now, he knows a lot of valuable stuff and important people.  Patience is the bread and butter of spycraft.

[Mladen]

3 hours ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

Nah, it makes no sense for someone to be spying on Stan after all this time. If she was a spy, she'd have dumped him by now.

Well, it might if he still has open cases as the agent, which, as we have seen, he does.

Someone please jog my memory... I am still confused about Phillip's retirement. Last year's finale was about finding out that the girl he has been working (the one he shared joints with),well, her father became some huge deal in CIA. And the point was made that he can't quit because they will need that intel. What happened to that storyline? Have I missed something?

[Winterfell is Burning]

1 hour ago, Risto said:

Well, it might if he still has open cases as the agent, which, as we have seen, he does.

Someone please jog my memory... I am still confused about Phillip's retirement. Last year's finale was about finding out that the girl he has been working (the one he shared joints with),well, her father became some huge deal in CIA. And the point was made that he can't quit because they will need that intel. What happened to that storyline? Have I missed something?

No, we just don't know what happened yet.

 

2 hours ago, Bronn Stone said:

Because the KGB has so many agents who've worked their way into the bedrooms of FBI counterterrrorism agents (past and possibly future) that they can throw one away????

Even if she's determined he's out of counterterrorism for now, he knows a lot of valuable stuff and important people.  Patience is the bread and butter of spycraft.

Yeah, no, it's not like he was ever that high on the food chain. And it's not like it's particularly hard for an attractive woman to get an FBI agent if they want. Also, Stan clearly won't feed her anything, the KGB can certainly find someone more gullible.

[Annara Snow]

On 4/8/2018 at 2:29 AM, Winterfell is Burning said:

No, we just don't know what happened yet.

 

Yeah, no, it's not like he was ever that high on the food chain. And it's not like it's particularly hard for an attractive woman to get an FBI agent if they want. Also, Stan clearly won't feed her anything, the KGB can certainly find someone more gullible.

Stan has been involved in some pretty important cases - including the fake defector and investigating illegals - and brought it important intel from Oleg. I don't know what makes you think he's so low on the food chain and unimportant. And people whose job is counter-terrorism should not be that gullible - certainly not gullible enough to leak information to any random sexual partner. A long-term partner/spouse would be far more likely to have their trust and get some information - or at least be able to keep an eye on him (so he would no, say, figure out the truth about his neighbours). 

If anything, I'd bet more on Stan being more gullible or easier to get to than Adeholt.

[Tears of Lys]

Thanks to all who helped clear things up for me.  One of the most enjoyable things about this show is that it's a lot smarter than I am!  - which is one of the reasons I want to get it on DVD and go back and fit pieces together.

I don't know about Stan being gullible, per se.  I just think that people being people, it's possible to catch anyone at the right/wrong time and learn things you want to know - things that, under other circumstances, they wouldn't divulge.  Being in the right place at the right time makes that possible.

[Mark Antony]

Elizabeth can’t go an episode with murdering someone these days. Sad to see how far apart Phillip and Elizabeth have drifted but at the same time I’m rooting for him to stop her. Still think Stan’s relationship with Oleg will lead to him discovering The Jennings.

Wasn’t sure what to make of Phillip not being able to pay Henry’s tuition? 

[Annara Snow]

36 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Elizabeth can’t go an episode with murdering someone these days. Sad to see how far apart Phillip and Elizabeth have drifted but at the same time I’m rooting for him to stop her. Still think Stan’s relationship with Oleg will lead to him discovering The Jennings.

Wasn’t sure what to make of Phillip not being able to pay Henry’s tuition? 

It seems that Philip is having trouble running the business on his own, as well - it's not as bad on the soul as Elizabeth struggling with spy business on her own - and it's in a different way - but money trouble is something else on top of their problems. They were definitely better as a duo.

 

That last scene of Elizabeth murdering someone else, the third murder in that many episodes, while Philip is spying on her, set to 'Dance Me to the End of Love'... Ominous...

[Tears of Lys]

On ‎4‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 0:11 PM, Annara Snow said:

It seems that Philip is having trouble running the business on his own, as well - it's not as bad on the soul as Elizabeth struggling with spy business on her own - and it's in a different way - but money trouble is something else on top of their problems. They were definitely better as a duo.

 

That last scene of Elizabeth murdering someone else, the third murder in that many episodes, while Philip is spying on her, set to 'Dance Me to the End of Love'... Ominous...

I don't think it's so much that Philip can't run the business on his own (although, his attempts at sales team building are pretty awkward) but I think at this point in time the travel industry may have been going through consolidations and/or rising competition with budget packages, etc. 

But, yeah, they're much better as a team in ALL ways.  Very sad, actually, what it's come to.