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[Bluth54]

Do you want to hear about Lotus 1-2-3?

Oh man I loved that opening sequence.

 

[Sectorseven]

Is Philip's son going to try and see him anyway, and maybe get killed?

That could be what breaks Philip.

 

[jerry113]

I guess the Soviet intelligence is getting shittier

 

[Cornballer]

Man, this show is like getting punched in the gut and then kicked in the groin sometimes. We've moved on from Poor Martha to Poor Philip. Poor everyone...

 

[Dan]

Poor Mischa.

Philip is so burned out. Life has dragged him too far down.

Everyone's taking some emotional blows. At least things are looking up for Henry!

 

[RastaMentality]

Such an incredibly good final moments. No action but just great dialogue.

 

[Linius]

Wondering where they'll go with Mischa at this point. Would be a let down if we've seen him all this time only to get shipped back to Russia the minute he set foot on American soil.

 

[Cornballer]

- Slate podcast for this week

This week, Thomas joins showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, along with the episode’s director, Noah Emmerich—who also plays Stan Beeman—at the sound mix for Episode 505, “Lotus 1-2-3.” They talk about Beeman’s state of mind now that he is happy in love but less content with his work situation, as well as the latest developments in Russia. Then Costa Ronin, who plays Oleg Burov, provides his perspective on a key scene in the episode.

Very good episode this week that's worth a listen. Emmerich is a bright guy with a lot of thoughtful commentary about directing and acting.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I think Mischa is going to keep pushing and be eliminated. That's going to be the last straw for Philip. That final line was so ominous...

 

[Cornballer]

- NY Mag: Margo Martindale on Playing Ruthless Women and Seeing More of Claudia on The Americans This Season
- Vox panel discussion
- Screener: Each episode of ‘The Americans' is becoming a master class in misdirection
- AMNY: ‘The Americans' costume designer talks NYC's best vintage stores
- NY Mag: The Activism of Elizabeth and Paige on The Americans

EDIT: Brief Emmerich interview with the Onion A|V Club

 

[CoolOff]

When the sex is so bad you have to think about that time you ate stale bread when you were 5.

Edit: Holy shit the triple date. I'm dying.

Edit 2: Wow, that last scene. That's something you can only get after 3+ seasons of amazing character building.

 

[CoolOff]

Combined in previous post.

 

[jett]

I figure the Centre will end up brutalizing Mischa Jr. and the show's endgame will be Phillip, either alone or with Felicity, somehow turning on the USSR, maybe?

I wonder if this Oleg stuff will actually go somewhere of worth. You just never know after the Nina business last season. Either way, it's a bore.

 

[Cornballer]

- Warming Glow's Anxiety Report: Someone Please Get Mischa An Umbrella

 

[Sectorseven]

Is Philip going to get conflicting intel about the grain from that chick he's spying on? Why else would the writers have both characters working on the same thing?

 

[captjohnboyd]

I figure the Centre will end up brutalizing Mischa Jr. and the show's endgame will be Phillip, either alone or with Felicity, somehow turning on the USSR, maybe?

I wonder if this Oleg stuff will actually go somewhere of worth. You just never know after the Nina business last season. Either way, it's a bore.

Boo this man! Just kidding I agree that Oleg's plot seems to be as unnecessary as Nina's I just enjoy both the actors so much but Oleg in particular. I don't know where they find these Russian speaking actors (presumably not Russia?) but damn they are good. Also I've always felt that at least part of the point of the threads over there is to sort of prep us for the disillusionment that Philip is and will be feeling

 

[Disgraced]

I like Oleg's story right now because Stan is actually effecting it and being affected by it, whereas Nina was just fucked.

 

[Cornballer]

- ScreenerTV: Director/star Noah Emmerich knows what’s coming up for ‘The Americans,’ but he’s not telling

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Is Philip going to get conflicting intel about the grain from that chick he's spying on? Why else would the writers have both characters working on the same thing?

To further break Phillip.

 

[Ashby]

To further break Phillip.

"At least Martha was cute in her own way"

 

[Cornballer]

To further break Phillip.

That and it's a further demonstration of them being on the same page and invested in their marriage. Neither of them wants to do it and it's drudgery for both of them.

 

[Dan]

Although it's interesting that Elizabeth's stated reason for finding her target distasteful is now void. He's no longer an awful person gleefully trying to starve populations.

Spoiler

And we know from the preview that she'll still be seeing him again.

 

[devilhawk]

That was some phenomenal tv right there.

You can really see things starting to happen. Not because of dramatic events happening, but because of dramatic changes in the characters. No coming back from that.

 

[dabig2]

Man, you can feel Philip's anguish through the screen. All those innocent nerds he's needlessly had to murder is starting to break him, and he was already broken before. That Margo conversation (already submitted to the Emmy's probably) was some dark foreshadowing.

 

[Funky Papa]

Catching up. Holy crap. Algebra 2? This season's Henry looks like he's​ ready for conscription.

And that Lotus 123 hook was tops 💯

Edit: and here comes the awkward dinner.
Edit 2: awkward dinner 2? The Americans, you are killing me.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Catching up. Holy crap. Algebra 2? This season's Henry looks like he's​ ready for conscription.

And that Lotus 123 hook was tops 💯

What I think is somewhat ironic is that while the Centre got it wrong about the wheat/grain situation, Phillip and Elizabeth also got it wrong about Paige vs. Henry.

To me, Henry would make the better spy. Paige is all sorts of conflicted.

 

[Sectorseven]

I was hoping the math thing was going to be because of his videogame addiction. "Well, I wanted to start making games."

 

[faridmon]

Henry continues to be my favourite character. Further Maths is nothing to be scuffed at

I was hoping the math thing was going to be because of his videogame addiction. "Well, I wanted to start making games."

''Making games great again''

 

[Funky Papa]

I feel like Mischa is going to accelerate things for pretty much everybody. He's either going to do something rash and have the Centre liquidate him or he's going to get antsy and rush to the FBI/tip them off by accident.

The good thing about The Americans is that it always surprises you, so I trust the show to shock me when it happens. It was the same with Nina getting Nina'd. We all knew she was going to be executed, but the way they played it caught everybody by surprise.

I also feel like the final shot was loaded with symbolism.

 

[Redd]

I don't think Phillips first son's gonna make it and that's gonna be the final straw for Phillip.

 

[Disgraced]

I also feel like the final shot was loaded with symbolism.

http://i.imgur.com/tIvslAp.jpg

Yuuuup. That whole scene. The McDonald's on Philip's side is pretty overt, but I think the interesting part is that he doesn't have an appetite for it. The colors are interesting too. There is an extremely muted red, white, and blue throughout, but I see Phil's suit as distinctly navy. There's something to the blonde and curly brown hair as well, imo. Their costumes sort of resemble tame ethnic stereotypes of a Russian woman and American man, I think. Then Liz's side of the room is empty, white, and brown, and on Phil's side the door is open, the lighting is a little higher, and the big-ass comfy-looking chair is on Phil's side too.

Decisive and wicked shot.

 

[CoolOff]

Yuuuup. That whole scene. The McDonald's on Philip's side is pretty overt, but I think the interesting part is that he doesn't have an appetite for it. The colors are interesting too. There is an extremely muted red, white, and blue throughout, but I see Phil's suit as distinctly navy. There's something to the blonde and curly brown hair as well, imo. Their costumes sort of resemble tame ethnic stereotypes of a Russian woman and American man, I think. Then Liz's side of the room is empty, white, and brown, and on Phil's side the door is open, the lighting is a little higher, and the big-ass comfy-looking chair is on Phil's side too.

Decisive and wicked shot.

 

[Rehynn]

One thing I've been thinking about is that this show has some of the best, most authentic broken English I've ever heard in a movie or a TV show. As someone who speaks English as a second language, I'm often really bothered by non-native English speaking characters using syntax that has very little to do with that of any existing language.

 

[Ristifer]

Yuuuup. That whole scene. The McDonald's on Philip's side is pretty overt, but I think the interesting part is that he doesn't have an appetite for it. The colors are interesting too. There is an extremely muted red, white, and blue throughout, but I see Phil's suit as distinctly navy. There's something to the blonde and curly brown hair as well, imo. Their costumes sort of resemble tame ethnic stereotypes of a Russian woman and American man, I think. Then Liz's side of the room is empty, white, and brown, and on Phil's side the door is open, the lighting is a little higher, and the big-ass comfy-looking chair is on Phil's side too.

Decisive and wicked shot.

Love this.

 

[jesu]

Yuuuup. That whole scene. The McDonald's on Philip's side is pretty overt, but I think the interesting part is that he doesn't have an appetite for it. The colors are interesting too. There is an extremely muted red, white, and blue throughout, but I see Phil's suit as distinctly navy. There's something to the blonde and curly brown hair as well, imo. Their costumes sort of resemble tame ethnic stereotypes of a Russian woman and American man, I think. Then Liz's side of the room is empty, white, and brown, and on Phil's side the door is open, the lighting is a little higher, and the big-ass comfy-looking chair is on Phil's side too.

Decisive and wicked shot.

Great stuff.
And the chair in the middle facing Philip's side?
Mischa's?

 

[Alpende]

Yuuuup. That whole scene. The McDonald's on Philip's side is pretty overt, but I think the interesting part is that he doesn't have an appetite for it. The colors are interesting too. There is an extremely muted red, white, and blue throughout, but I see Phil's suit as distinctly navy. There's something to the blonde and curly brown hair as well, imo. Their costumes sort of resemble tame ethnic stereotypes of a Russian woman and American man, I think. Then Liz's side of the room is empty, white, and brown, and on Phil's side the door is open, the lighting is a little higher, and the big-ass comfy-looking chair is on Phil's side too.

Decisive and wicked shot.

I love stuff like this. I did notice the lighting being a bit brighter on Philip's side but that was as far as my 'analysis' went.

 

[Bluth54]

What I think is somewhat ironic is that while the Centre got it wrong about the wheat/grain situation, Phillip and Elizabeth also got it wrong about Paige vs. Henry.

To me, Henry would make the better spy. Paige is all sorts of conflicted.

I wonder how long until they have to tell Henry the truth. They got lucky with Paige but there is the possibility their kids could take the truth about their parents poorly and tell Stan.

 

[IronRinn]

Caught up from last week. Nothing to add that hasn't been covered but it was a great episode and that ending was just brutal in the way that only this show can be. I don't know if anyone does broken as well as Matthew Rhys at the moment.

 

[IronRinn]

Just realized that last week's episode was directed by Noah Emmerich. They really like giving him the episodes with maximum co-star nudity in them, don't they?

 

[Cornballer]

New episode tonight:

Crossbreed

Spoiler

Gabriel stuns Philip and Elizabeth with a sudden announcement and a crushing revelation about Philip's past. Stan and Aderholt draw a fly into their web, while Oleg and Ruslan ambush their first suspect.

 

[Cornballer]

- Newsweek: 'The Americans' producers Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields are tight-lipped about final season

 

[effzee]

Man, you can feel Philip's anguish through the screen. All those innocent nerds he's needlessly had to murder is starting to break him, and he was already broken before. That Margo conversation (already submitted to the Emmy's probably) was some dark foreshadowing.

I watched the episode on dvr and then deleted it - what was the margo conversation?

 

[Cornballer]

I watched the episode on dvr and then deleted it - what was the margo conversation?

Claudia and Gabriel discussing what to do about Mischa.

 

[dabig2]

I watched the episode on dvr and then deleted it - what was the margo conversation?

Claudia and Gabriel discussing what to do about Mischa.

Yeah, it was them in the car talking about what to do with Mischa. Claudia kept saying how "he's unstable" and Gabriel made a brief comment about asking her if she's talking about Philip or the son. He then basically reminds the audience that Claudia never trusted or liked Philip. Fast forward to the end of the show where once more Philip looks absolutely crushed about what they did and what they're doing.

 

[Niraj]

Let's goooo

 

[IronRinn]

Welp, time to watch some spirits get crushed.

 

[Niraj]

Welp, time to watch some spirits get crushed.

Don't forget about ours!

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Gabriel feeling guilty.

 

[-griffy-]

Poor everybody.

 

[IronRinn]

Even Gabriel is starting to feel the strain.