# New FX Series: The Americans (Starts Jan 30th) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172 "2013-01-24T02:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/321 "2013-04-26T01:59:20Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > BTW, isn’t the KGB aware of the existence of _The Vault_ in the FBI office? Phillip should know from his conversations with Martha that there’s a room Gaad and the other agents go to discuss highly classified info that she’s can’t set foot in. The KGB is aware of the Vault. Martha has mentioned it to Phillip several times. But even with a Vault available, a simple off the cuff remark in passing or over a cup of coffee could help the KGB learn more about what the FBI knows, plans or suspects. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/322 "2013-04-26T03:17:59Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > And Mags Bennett can’t be killed off, can she? Per [Sepinwall’s](http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-the-americans-the-oath-til-death-do-you-part) recap, she’s got another job lined up. I’d hate to see her go–the chemistry with her and Elizabeth is magic–but I won’t be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/323 "2013-04-26T03:51:23Z")
I wonder what they will do to Martha next week. Unlike the Jennings, the character is eminently killable. Now that they have a bug in the FBI office they really do not need her anymore. Killing her off would be wise now. Protecting Nina and his own skin is easy for Arkady. All he has to say is that they whole Nina with Stan thing was a setup and that’s how they discovered that his boss was bent etc. Nina can thenbe sent back to HQ with a glowing recommendation and a private word that ensures she never goes into the field again and becomes some Generals secretary/fuck toy (which seems to the the KGB’s role for women who are not Claudia). BTW, did anyo see Elizabeth’s face when Philip asked her to act as family at the wedding. For a moment she had the hurt wife “you have got to be kidding me” look which immidietly becomes the spy who does what needs to be done. Well done to Ms Russel. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/324 "2013-04-26T07:12:15Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I wonder what they will do to Martha next week. Unlike the Jennings, the character is eminently killable. Now that they have a bug in the FBI office they really do not need her anymore. Killing her off would be wise now. Not really. The bug requires close proximity to the receiver/recorder that Phillip gave her to carry in her purse and bring to him for “download” each night. And the bug will eventually need to be retrieved and/or battery replaced. Also, if they killed her, surely her recent marriage and her parents’ description of the suddenly missing groom and in-laws would come to light. That would all definitely trigger a security sweep that would find the bug, even if they didn’t need her to continue operating it. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/325 "2013-04-26T14:01:12Z")
I’m wondering if the “Martha Bug” will pick up the fact that the “Wienburger bug” has been compromised. So even though Nina didn’t blow that bug the Russians would have no idea that the maid had given it up. In this light Nina’s “confession” might be seen as a ploy to get more intel. If somebody’s gonna get killed, my money’s on Nina. I also think it would have been funny if KGB guy has said, “We all send stuff home.” (I watch the show on the web and if the “finale” has already aired, I haven’t seen it yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/326 "2013-04-26T15:12:35Z")
I think the Oath was part of it but I think what made Nina come clean was Vlad being killed and her knowing Stan did it and lied to her about it. The theme of this show seems to be you have these global stakes but it always seems to come down to relationships and people (like how the FBI agent ended up dying not because he was an Agent but because he was a Jealous ex boyfriend). ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/327 "2013-04-26T15:29:40Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I’m wondering if the “Martha Bug” will pick up the fact that the “Wienburger bug” has been compromised. So even though Nina didn’t blow that bug the Russians would have no idea that the maid had given it up. In this light Nina’s “confession” might be seen as a ploy to get more intel. If somebody’s gonna get killed, my money’s on Nina. Wow, I didn’t think about that, but I bet you’re right. Killing or otherwise harshly treating (she may just disappear back to Russia/Siberia, never to be seen again) the sympathetic, pretty chick would be appropriate for a season finale. I, for one, will miss her butt. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/328 "2013-04-26T23:00:33Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > (I watch the show on the web and if the “finale” has already aired, I haven’t seen it yet.) Nope, it’s on next Wednesday (May 1st). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/329 "2013-04-27T07:34:05Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > I found this really jarring too. I would have understood the concept of a pause button back then, since we first had reel-to-reel tape recorders, then cassette tapes. But it wasn’t a term applied to life, by any stretch of the imagination. Hell, even today that phrase annoyed me. WTF does that mean? “We hit the pause button” - erm, wha? > [@voltaire](#): > > I had suspected that during the episode before it happened, I started to wonder if that would happen, and how she could come clean, when they did the oath. > [@](#): > > - Then she also didn’t tell him about being promoted into a _very_ significant and advantageous position. Oh, you mean her taking the oath and all that. > [@Flander](#): > > I had a thought that the pin she got after reading the oath was a bug, but it didn’t turn out that way. Anyone else think this? I wondered about giving her a pin like that. Seems an odd thing for covert operatives. But not that it was a bug. Too tiny for that era. > [@AK84](#): > > I wonder what they will do to Martha next week. Unlike the Jennings, the character is eminently killable. Now that they have a bug in the FBI office they really do not need her anymore. Killing her off would be wise now. Nope, still need her to take the data downloader every night, and killing her would bring up the secret wedding and missing groom. > [@](#): > > BTW, did anyo see Elizabeth’s face when Philip asked her to act as family at the wedding. For a moment she had the hurt wife “you have got to be kidding me” look which immidietly becomes the spy who does what needs to be done. Well done to Ms Russel. Yeah, she carried it off well. > [@Quimby](#): > > I think the Oath was part of it but I think what made Nina come clean was Vlad being killed and her knowing Stan did it and lied to her about it. The theme of this show seems to be you have these global stakes but it always seems to come down to relationships and people (like how the FBI agent ended up dying not because he was an Agent but because he was a Jealous ex boyfriend). Yes, there’s a damn lot of stuff revolving around the petty and typical relationship crap and how that really controls what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/330 "2013-04-27T09:34:52Z")
The marriage thing felt unnecessary, and I think actually placed him in greater jeopardy. From what we’ve seen of Martha, it seemed pretty clear she’d do almost anything he’d want. There was no need to propose. But by doing so, then springing this task on her out of the blue, it could have (and should have) raised doubts by her as to his true motives for getting married. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/331 "2013-04-28T01:03:02Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I think the Oath was part of it but I think what made Nina come clean was Vlad being killed and her knowing Stan did it and lied to her about it. Everybody keeps saying she knows Stan killed Vlad. How could she know that? There is no reason he should have done it, and no reason she should know he did. This is a guy who was deep undercover for months at a time, and didn’t get caught. He hasn’t done anything to slip up with her. She knows that Stan is a high-level analyst. He’s not even a field agent any more, let alone a hit man. When he killed the agent he surprised everybody, including John-Boy. In fact, IIRC, he killed him about a minute after Vlad finally admitted he was KGB. He should have been demoted for not at least trying to get more out of him before he killed him. All people are going on is that he didn’t give her a flat denial the tenth time she asked him, but that’s easily explained by the fact that he gave her flat denials the first nine times, and they obviously don’t work, so he’s looking for another way to say no, I didn’t kill him, would you please give it a fucking rest. At the very most, she suspects that he knows who did it. That’s it. And she knows that in this relationship, she passes information to him, not the other way around. It’s certainly possible, and even likely, that Vlad’s death was a major reason for her to reevaluate her actions, and confess. But Stan’s honesty about his role in it has nothing to do with it. Does anyone think she would have been happier in her role as a mole if Stan _hadn’t_ lied to her? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/332 "2013-04-28T03:59:20Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > The marriage thing felt unnecessary, and I think actually placed him in greater jeopardy. From what we’ve seen of Martha, it seemed pretty clear she’d do almost anything he’d want. There was no need to propose. I was concerned about that. He seemed to think (with Elizabeth’s encourament) that a bit more was required to get her to put a bug in the office. Martha has been wanting a real relationship, and he can’t give that to her. Ostensibly because he’s violating the law by seeing her when he’s supposedly interviewing her as part of his overseer job. He already gave her jewelry, and (accidentally) met her family. He doesn’t have a lot of room to give her more. A secret wedding certainly was a big give, even if it was secret and she still can’t tell anyone. But I think it was a step too far. Or it shows just how far they go in this manipulation game. Regardless, would she have gone from smuggling out some documents one time to planting a bug on her boss and being complicit in the daily retreival of information? And still being told they can’t tell anyone, they can’t be seen in public together, etc? > [@](#): > > But by doing so, then springing this task on her out of the blue, it could have (and should have) raised doubts by her as to his true motives for getting married. You would think, but people seem unable to put 2 and 2 together. The way he did it, he didn’t couple the marriage with the task, he asked her for marriage, and then later “needed some help” and she agreed, already happy what he’s doing for her. > [@TonySinclair](#): > > Everybody keeps saying she knows Stan killed Vlad. How could she know that? There is no reason he should have done it,… At first she asked him to find out who did it. He told her he didn’t know, he couldn’t find out. Finally, she wondered if the reason he wouldn’t tell her is that he was the one. So she asked him. And doesn’t believe him. > [@](#): > > … and no reason she should know he did. This is a guy who was deep undercover for months at a time, and didn’t get caught. He hasn’t done anything to slip up with her. I think the implication is that he has begun to have real feelings for her, and that has compromised his ability to deceive her. She sees through his lies. > [@](#): > > She knows that Stan is a high-level analyst. He’s not even a field agent any more, let alone a hit man. He is a field agent. He goes into the field for investigations, and to work his spy. He is not active undercover, but he’s not an analyst, an office-bound second-hand data evaluator. He’s not that high level. He’s a regular agent not on undercover work. > [@](#): > > All people are going on is that he didn’t give her a flat denial the tenth time she asked him, but that’s easily explained by the fact that he gave her flat denials the first nine times, and they obviously don’t work, so he’s looking for another way to say no, I didn’t kill him, would you please give it a fucking rest. And yet his repeated denials are not convincing. > [@](#): > > At the very most, she suspects that he knows who did it. No, at the most, she suspects that he is the one who did it. She doesn’t have actual evidence, merely his stonewalling and repeated denials. But she’s sharper than he is on this spy thing. > [@](#): > > Does anyone think she would have been happier in her role as a mole if Stan _hadn’t_ lied to her? No, I certainly don’t think Stan telling her he did it would make her happier about being a mole. Or being with Stan. That’s the point - they are in this “relationship” that is a messy game of dual manipulation and deception. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/333 "2013-04-28T04:34:10Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Everybody keeps saying she knows Stan killed Vlad. How could she know that? There is no reason he should have done it, and no reason she should know he did. This is a guy who was deep undercover for months at a time, and didn’t get caught. He hasn’t done anything to slip up with her. Personally I thought it was pretty clear she knew he was lying. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/334 "2013-04-28T16:54:24Z")
It’s a lot easier to lie convincingly to someone you’re not sleeping with. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/335 "2013-05-02T13:42:52Z")
Who saw the season finale last night? I have a question on the very last scene. I’m spoilering it, even though it already aired, because I know that some people catch up later in the week. So, the daughter goes into the laundry room and sees…what, exactly? Did she see something there that I didn’t? Or is it the point that she didn’t see anything unusual? If it’s the latter, it seems like a weird note to end a season on – but maybe I’ve been conditioned to expect some kind of revelation and/or cliffhanger in season finales, and they’re playing with that expectation… ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/336 "2013-05-02T15:09:23Z")
I’m fairly certain Daughter found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in the laundry room, there was even folded laundry like Elizabeth said when they had their middle of the night encounter. But this is setting up a seed for next season. Daughter presumes Mom must have _something_ in that room. I have to presume that being a teenager, she might be thinking Mom has a secret stash of booze or pot somewhere in the laundry room, but I’m very glad the secret stash of recordings hasn’t been discovered _yet_. Thinking of moving the washer to check what might be behind it would have been a ridiculous leap of deduction. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/337 "2013-05-02T15:25:40Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > but I think what made Nina come clean was Vlad being killed and her knowing Stan did it and lied to her about it. > [@Irishman](#): > > At first she asked him to find out who did it. He told her he didn’t know, he couldn’t find out. Finally, she wondered if the reason he wouldn’t tell her is that he was the one. So she asked him. And doesn’t believe him. > [@Irishman](#): > > I think the implication is that he has begun to have real feelings for her, and that has compromised his ability to deceive her. She sees through his lies. Yeah, we’ve been watching regularly and have concluded essentially that. > [@Irishman](#): > > Hell, even today that phrase annoyed me. WTF does that mean? “We hit the pause button” - erm, wha? It means [not going to tell you specifics; here’s a bad metaphor instead!] > [@Irishman](#): > > I wondered about giving her a pin like that. Seems an odd thing for covert operatives. The moment he produced the pin, I said out loud, “And here’s the big gold pin everyone in the top secret organization wears!” > [@Irishman](#): > > Yes, there’s a damn lot of stuff revolving around the petty and typical relationship crap and how that really controls what happens. My take on the whole series is that it’s fundamentally about individual people trapped in the conflict between these two giant superorganisms. It’s additionally given some spice by the fact that Elizabeth and Philip are so flawed/malajusted because they come from a flawed organization serving a flawed political structure. Elizabeth in particular was raised to be a tool, and has trouble being a full person. We see the characters struggling to have normal lives while meeting the demands of, or at least trying to avoid punishment from, their feuding superorganisms. > [@Meltdown](#): > > Who saw the season finale last night? I have a question on the very last scene. I’m spoilering it, even though it already aired, because I know that some people catch up later in the week. I saw it. I have _no idea_ what we were supposed to take away from that scene. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/338 "2013-05-02T16:26:22Z")
Ok, nobody was killed, but my scenario is still on the table. How many of you got the feeling that if Stan had come back and had the “go-ahead” to pull Nina out she’d have gone despite her new-found loyalty to Mother Russia? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/339 "2013-05-02T19:46:22Z")
A fine ending to an excellent season. [QUOTE=Sailboat] I saw it. I have no idea what we were supposed to take away from that scene. [/QUOTE] Obvious. The kids are growing up. They are going to become rebellious, do what they are told not to do and possibly learn things they should not. Its going to become complicated. Very complicated [QUOTE=E-DUB] Ok, nobody was killed, but my scenario is still on the table. How many of you got the feeling that if Stan had come back and had the “go-ahead” to pull Nina out she’d have gone despite her new-found loyalty to Mother Russia? [/QUOTE] I think her instructions might have been to go if she was offered. The KGB could still use her and while we are at it, she knows perfectly well the KGB can and will kill her if she tries to actually defect. I am glad that the “trouble in marriage” arc is completed. They did make it more interesting that it should have been with their twists and turns, but ultimately I think that they should not have attempted it, was obvious how it would end. Claudia is hard to read. She does come across as an exasperated middle manager who has to force down the brasses decrees that she does not agree with onto the worker bees, but why did she attempt to sabotage the Jennings so much? I am surprised that they are still are sorta in contact with family in the USSR or in fact that they have family, I would have thought they would perfer orphans. I hope next season takes place a couple of years down the road. Perhaps in 1983. With Pershing missile deployments, KAL007 and finally Able Archer and Operation RYAN. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172/340 "2013-05-02T19:51:17Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Ok, nobody was killed, but my scenario is still on the table. How many of you got the feeling that if Stan had come back and had the “go-ahead” to pull Nina out she’d have gone despite her new-found loyalty to Mother Russia? Seems like she would have had no real choice at that point, and would have accepted exfiltration. Although of course it’s left ambiguous how she actually would have felt about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fx-series-the-americans-starts-jan-30th/648172.md?page=18)