# The Americans, Season 2. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123 "2014-02-24T17:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/201 "2014-05-02T01:47:34Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Well, I’ve suspected the teenage son from the beginning. There was something about the wideness of his grin as he returned to the hotel room that seemed…excessive and noticeable. As if the showrunners were planting a clue. > > Then again, it could simply have been a case of the actor trying to “act” and the director failing to notice (or to reign the kid in if he did notice). Dang! That is a very good guess. What else would be the point of that kid’s sub-plot? I wouldn’t feel very comfortable about that home and all those other kids in it now (where he is currently living). ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/202 "2014-05-02T20:37:10Z")
I would like to ask for some help with the recaps to Season One. I have posted the links to the recaps of the 13 episodes from Season One above and I’d like to know if anyone here can spot some errors with those recaps from the Vulture site. I’m trying to decide whether I should rely on those recaps or use some other recaps instead. One particular glaring error is found about halfway down this page. I have begun to work my way through the recaps I posted above. One problem I have is that I could not find any recaps for Season One on the “clotureclub” site. For some reason, they seem to begin with Season Two and I had to get the recaps for Season One from the “[vulture.com](http://vulture.com)” site. IMO, the recaps from the “[cloture.com](http://cloture.com)” site are far more detailed than any other site I have yet found (although I hope to discover another site with more detail one day). So, I would like to ask if anyone here can find some recaps for Season One that are superior than the ones from the “[vulture.com](http://vulture.com)” site, please post that here? In addition, I may just be missing something on the “[cloture.com](http://cloture.com)” site. If anyone can check out that site and determine why there are recaps there for all the Season Two episodes but none from the Season One episode, I’d very much like to know that. Even better, if you can find the recaps for Season One on that site, I sure would like to know where they are. Here is the link to the recap on “[cloture.com](http://cloture.com)” for S02E01. If you can find a way to get at the recaps for the first season, please post that info here? Thank you very much. Here is the link to the recap for Season 01 Episode 02 on the site “[vulture.com](http://vulture.com)”. > **[The Americans Recap: Umbrellas and Caviar](https://www.vulture.com/2013/02/americans-recap-season-1-the-clock.html)** > > After last week’s pilot, you might have worried that The Americans would bend over backward to make its characters as “likable” as possible. Nope! I would like to ask some questions about that recap. But let me start with one to see if there is any interest. \*\*\* HERE IS THE ERROR IN QUESTION \*\*\* The recap for Season 2 Episode 1 on the Vulture site says: “It started with Phillip Jennings screwing the assistant to the undersecretary of Defense …” > **[The Americans Recap: Umbrellas and Caviar](https://www.vulture.com/2013/02/americans-recap-season-1-the-clock.html)** > > After last week’s pilot, you might have worried that The Americans would bend over backward to make its characters as “likable” as possible. Nope! But, unless I am mistaken, the episode begins with Phillip in bed with the wife to the undersecretary of Defense. That seems like a rather serious mistake to me and makes me worried that the person writing this blog may not be very accurate. I seem to have noticed several other strange but very clear errors and perhaps I should use a different site for my recaps of the first season. I suppose that the mistake could always be mine. So … Can anyone here verify that is indeed a mistake? Was Phillip in bed with the assistant? Or with the wife? If anyone has any opinions as to the accuracy of the recaps to Season One on the Vulture site (the 13 links are all posted above), I’d certainly appreciate knowing about that. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/203 "2014-05-02T21:53:31Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Dang! That is a very good guess. What else would be the point of that kid’s sub-plot? Yes–the fact that they keep bringing the character back has only enforced my belief that they were signaling something with the big-smile-coming-back-to-the-room. > [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I wouldn’t feel very comfortable about that home and all those other kids in it now (where he is currently living). Good point. If it IS the case that the character is a ‘natural born killer’ (and not, say, a Super American Patriot who offed his family because he found out they were Soviet spies)…then the kids in the new home are definitely in danger. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/204 "2014-05-02T22:08:46Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Well, I’ve suspected the teenage son from the beginning. There was something about the wideness of his grin as he returned to the hotel room that seemed…excessive and noticeable. As if the showrunners were planting a clue. I’m being whooshed, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/205 "2014-05-02T22:19:44Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m being whooshed, right? Not by me! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/206 "2014-05-02T22:27:21Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m being whooshed, right? I’m with you. This is an incredibly implausible theory, so I hope its proponents are not serious. > [@TonySinclair](#): > > She’s plain by TV/movie standards, where their idea of making a woman ugly is to give her a pair of glasses, but by real life standards, she’s fine. Agreed. She’s a bit dowdy in her style, and of course not as attractive as smoking hot Nina, but she’s far from ugly. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/207 "2014-05-03T00:29:36Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m with you. This is an incredibly implausible theory, so I hope its proponents are not serious. Yeah. The only thing it’s got going for it, IMO, is the story rule that it ought to be someone to whom we’ve been introduced, and there just aren’t a lot of good candidates. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/208 "2014-05-03T01:08:03Z")
I agree there’s no way the kid did it. The reason he got a scene this week is because Stan hopes he might recognize the photos of Elizabeth and Philip. My crazy theory on who did it is Fred, Emmett and Leanne’s asset. But I don’t have a good reason other than I find him really creepy. Larrick is an obvious choice, but I hope the writers are going for something a little more surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Navigator66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/43a26b/32.png) [@Navigator66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navigator66)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/209 "2014-05-03T01:12:25Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > It was already established in season 1 that Annelise is a bit crazy. I think she went into it intending on staying faithful to her husband, but she kind of gets off on all the sexual intrigue. She felt guilty. > > It was dangerous of Philip to use her for such a mission, but he really wanted to keep Elizabeth out of it. I thought Annelise"s rage at Philip was more than just that she cheated on her husband. I wondered if the ISI man made her do a sexual act that she found disgusting but couldn’t object to or say no to at the time. Wondered too, what did Philip do to Elizabeth that time a few episodes ago were she wanted him to be Clark the Animal and take her. He did turn her over? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/210 "2014-05-03T01:14:44Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This is an incredibly implausible theory, so I hope its proponents are not serious. Why implausible, given this season’s themes? Elizabeth and Philip fear for the welfare of their children–they’re anxious about the danger to which they are exposing Paige and Henry. And simultaneously, they wrestle with the question of whether the things they do are justified by their nationalistic/political/philosophical allegiance. What more perfect way to unite these themes than a child who \*becomes \*the danger to a parallel Soviet-spy couple? If Jared decided that the “is what they do justified?” question’s answer if NO, then… There’s a reason that we were shown the other Soviet-spy mother asking Elizabeth to give a letter Revealing All to her children ‘if something should happen.’ Elizabeth destroyed it, providing a nice character-revealing moment. But in addition to being a character-revealing moment, why wouldn’t it also have been a plot point? Certainly the existence of the letter simplifies the reveal of the son’s motive (or ostensible motive, anyway)—“I read that letter and I decided I couldn’t let these traitors to the USA live another minute.” Of course if this does turn out to be the way the show goes, the son will have been revealed to be mentally ill as much as super-America-loving. No sane teenager murders his parents out of pure patriotism. But even that would unite this season’s themes: in that parallel family, the good-Soviet-spy parents would have failed to keep their son safe from his mental illness. Probably they were too busy doing missions to have noticed. Elizabeth and Philip, quite busy with missions themselves, would certainly be aware of (and tortured with guilt by) the similarities. (A summary describing some of the points under the spoiler tag is at ['The Americans' Recap: Road Trippin'](http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/the-americans-recap-road-trippin-20140312) This occurred in the 12 March 2014 episode “The Walk-In.” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/211 "2014-05-03T01:31:54Z")
I don’t think you need to spoiler tag stuff that happened in past episodes. Anyway: I just think if it turns out to be the kid, it’s will be a shark-jumping moment for this show. I like a good twist, but not one as wild as that. That’s getting into soap opera (or later seasons LOST) territory. > [@LawMonkey](#): > > Yeah. The only thing it’s got going for it, IMO, is the story rule that it ought to be someone to whom we’ve been introduced, and there just aren’t a lot of good candidates. Interesting point. I kind of hope it’s not following that rule. > [@SaharaTea](#): > > My crazy theory on who did it is Fred, Emmett and Leanne’s asset. But I don’t have a good reason other than I find him really creepy. That to me would also be a big WTF. I thought they pretty clearly established that he was quite fond of Emmet and very surprised to hear that he was dead. I don’t think Philip makes it out of that trap alive if Fred is the killer. > [@Navigator66](#): > > I thought Annelise"s rage at Philip was more than just that she cheated on her husband. I wondered if the ISI man made her do a sexual act that she found disgusting but couldn’t object to or say no to at the time. > > Wondered too, what did Philip do to Elizabeth that time a few episodes ago were she wanted him to be Clark the Animal and take her. He did turn her over? Yes he did, and got aggressive. I think those are related in the sense that the showrunners are consciously trying to steer away from an earlier tendency to show people in this world taking on different sexual partners and personas without any apparent psychic blowback. I don’t think though that Annelise did anything really weird sexually but just felt uncomfortable and sleazy about having sex with someone as a subterfuge, something she has not done before. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/212 "2014-05-03T01:32:38Z")
Addition to the tag, above: It’s more likely that Jared would have read _another_ letter written to him by Leanne for “in case,” given that Leanne gave the one Elizabeth destroyed to Elizabeth too many years ago for Jared to have been able to read it. But Leanne plainly cared a lot about making sure Jared would be clued in, in case of his parents’ deaths, to their real job as Soviet spies. If she wrote one letter, she might well have written another (and put it in a “to be opened in case of our death” envelope that Jared happened to get the chance to open). ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/213 "2014-05-03T01:37:18Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I don’t think you need to spoiler tag stuff that happened in past episodes. Oh, okay. I decided to err on the side of caution, having witnessed some deeply emotional exchanges over in threads for other shows (particularly the _Game of Thrones_ threads. :eek: Of course those are complicated by ‘books,’ but even show spoilers generate arguments, sometimes.) ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/214 "2014-05-03T13:48:13Z")
> [@Navigator66](#): > > I thought Annelise"s rage at Philip was more than just that she cheated on her husband. I wondered if the ISI man made her do a sexual act that she found disgusting but couldn’t object to or say no to at the time. > > Wondered too, what did Philip do to Elizabeth that time a few episodes ago were she wanted him to be Clark the Animal and take her. He did turn her over? When Annelise was raging at Phillip, I believe she did say something along the lines of, “You turned me out!”. So, I think her rage has something to do with feeling that Phillip didn’t care anything more for her than as if she was a whore. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/215 "2014-05-03T16:53:36Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Oh, okay. I decided to err on the side of caution, having witnessed some deeply emotional exchanges over in threads for other shows (particularly the _Game of Thrones_ threads. :eek: Of course those are complicated by ‘books,’ but even show spoilers generate arguments, sometimes.) Unless you’re on the creative staff for this show (in which case we’ll all fall down and worship you in this thread), you can’t really spoil anything here. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/216 "2014-05-05T02:02:45Z")
I just watched the latest episode again and it seems to me that Anneliese genuinely wanted to make things work with her husband and did not expect to have sex with Yusef. So, once she did have sex with Yusef, she blamed Phillip and was enraged because she felt that she was cheating on her husband due to the way Phillip handled things. But, the thing that didn’t make sense to me was that her behavior after meeting Yusef the first time was extremely excited about spending the evening with Yusef in his room because he was a very powerful man. So, I’m confused. On the one hand it would seem that she was wanting for something to happen with Yusef. But, on the other hand, she became enraged when it did. I suppose that I’m just not understanding what happened. Or maybe she is truly acting crazy. In either case, there is something going on here that doesn’t seem to add up. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/217 "2014-05-05T14:44:50Z")
It is possible for someone to be excited at the idea of all this sexual intrigue and still feel guilty and used when it’s over. Especially Annelise, who isn’t the most emotionally stable person to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/218 "2014-05-06T12:49:20Z")
What was the whole thing with the drugs/chemicals they used? Would it have been typical for a Soviet to be that antagonistic toward Christianity at the time? Kind of interesting how they compare the two examples of indoctrination. ---
**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 6, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/219 "2014-05-06T14:29:19Z")
One item from the KGB toolbox was a gas that would cause a heart attack, often delivered from a pen-like instrument. The pills Elizabeth took immunize her against it. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/220 "2014-05-06T16:14:33Z")
I’m still trying to resolve a problem I have with the recap to the show - Season 2 Episode 1 on the site: [Vulture.com](http://Vulture.com) - [The Americans Season 2 Premiere Recap: Strange to Myself](http://www.vulture.com/2014/02/americans-recap-season-2-premiere.html) The recap says: “It started with Phillip Jennings screwing the \*\*assistant \*\*to the undersecretary of Defense …” But it seems to me that the episode began with Phillip in bed with the \*\*wife \*\*to the undersecretary of Defense. That seems like a rather serious mistake to me (and it has not been corrected in a very long time) and makes me wonder if this is a reasonable site from which to get recaps Can anyone clarify for me whether the woman in bed with Phillip is the wife to the undersecretary of Defense or his assistant? I’m asking because I seem to have noticed several other errors in recaps on that site - but that site carries the most detailed recaps I have yet found. If it’s full of errors, then perhaps I should use a better site to get recaps? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123.md?page=12)