# 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:** 15
**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 15, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/281 "2014-05-15T14:22:36Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Both the codebreaking scenes in this last episode bothered me. First, how would Larrick intuitively know how to use a Soviet one-use pad to decode a radioed message—that’s probably in Cyrillic anyway? And how could the message on the toilet paper roll be done in a complex code? Seems much more likely that the illegals would have some simple substitution cipher they could fall back on for short notes to each other, but Elizabeth did seem to be laboriously decoding it. It did seem like there was just not enough information there to create that message, but I am no cryptographer. Kudos to those who predicted Jared was already KGB-ish. Strange about Kate not wearing any disguise though. Good, tense episode overall last night in any event. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/282 "2014-05-15T19:51:14Z")
How the hell did gay sailor stereotype breaker know who Jared was? Unless, he actually was friends with Emmet and Leanne? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/283 "2014-05-15T20:07:12Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > How the hell did gay sailor stereotype breaker know who Jared was? Unless, he actually was friends with Emmet and Leanne? Jared’s picture was presumably all over the papers and TV as the survivor of the hotel massacre. And that’s assuming he isn’t the killer and hadn’t already been stalking them and just missed killing Jared in the hotel by happenstance ---
**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 15, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/284 "2014-05-15T22:00:07Z")
Maybe the killer intentionally left Jared alive to see if anybody “came for him”. Sure looks that way after last nights ep. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/285 "2014-05-15T23:34:06Z")
It’s possible that Larrick found Jared’s house the same way he found Kate’s. But I think Larrick found out about Jared _after_ he broke into Kate’s home. That’s why Kate wrote “Get Jared Out” when she realized there was an intruder. It’s interesting that Elizabeth brought up the question of why Kate met with Jared without a disguise. Jared’s not a spy. Maybe he’s related to Kate in some way? Another thing. If Jared knew his parents were KGB, what’s in the envelope that Leanne gave to Elizabeth? Maybe it’s a confession that they were double agents. I don’t think Larrick knows anything about the killers of Emmet and Leanne. So far, he’s been working completely alone. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/286 "2014-05-15T23:38:05Z")
Just remembered something. Philip mentioned that Fred had an entire closet of toys for Jared. Maybe that’s how Fred communicated with Emmet and Leanne? Maybe Jared is a spy. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/287 "2014-05-16T00:50:45Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > As far as the wig E wore when she visited Jared, I believe it is highly similar to the wig depicted in the drawings. The glasses were also identical. To me it looks nothing like her social worker wig. [Here’s a page with an image of the sketch](http://www.tv.com/shows/the-americans-2013/community/post/the-americans-season-2-episode-10-yousaf-review-139882243561/) (Scroll down) [Here’s a page with an image of her social worker disguise](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2251834/Keri-Russell-wigs-set-new-FX-spy-series-The-Americans.html) [Here’s an attempt to direct link to the sketch](http://img2.tvtome.com/i/u/b113b84097874915c9459e3bc341d9ba.jpg) [Here’s an attempt to direct link to the social worker wig](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/12/21/article-0-169A90A0000005DC-69_306x648.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/288 "2014-05-16T00:56:01Z")
I’m pretty sure the sketches were from when the FBI almost nabbed them in the season 1 finale. Here’s what they looked like in that episode: [Philip](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm143697408/tt2737880?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_9) [Elizabeth](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm194029056/tt2737880?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_10) (Links to the imdb “pictures” page for the last episode in season 1.) ---
**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 16, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/289 "2014-05-16T01:15:43Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > … Philip mentioned that Fred had an entire closet of toys for Jared. … I believe this will turn out to be very important. Fred has expressed a personal devotion to Emmett (who he knew as “Paul”). That devotion may or may not be genuine. Emmett apparently told Fred he had a son; Philip says (while tied up on Fred’s floor): > [@](#): > > Those model-- the model kits, those model kits that you have in your closet. > They were gifts for his son, weren’t they? Weren’t they? We don’t usually tell people about our kids, so you must really mean a lot to him. [The Americans (2013) s02e02 Episode Script | SS](http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-americans-2013&episode=s02e02) This whole thing is odd; Fred has been established as a grandiose sort of person who believes that he hasn’t been appreciated in the USA as he deserves (sending him into the arms of Soviet spies). Why would Emmett’s disclosing he has a teenage son have helped Emmett handle Fred? In other words, the very fact that Fred knows enough about Jared to want to buy him a closet full of gifts is…odd. I still believe that Jared was part of the killing of his parents and sister; I now believe that Fred was the actual killer, and that Jared and Fred conspired to accomplish the murders. And then there’s the fact that Larrick planted a tracker on Jared: both Fred and Larrick were run by Jared’s parents, and Larrick apparently continues to feel it’s important to get to Jared. (Possibly to kill him; possibly to do something else. We haven’t been told anything about interactions between Fred and Larrick, have we?) (Part of my reasoning rests on the fact that John Carroll Lynch (Fred) is a big-deal legitimate-theater actor. The showrunners didn’t hire him on a whim.) ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/290 "2014-05-16T01:46:16Z")
Many good points, **Sherrerd**. An unpleasant thought just hit me. What if Jared was the honey trap for Fred? That would explain the gifts, Fred’s lack of a girlfriend/friends, and why Jared killed his family. Maybe Kate felt sorry for him. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/291 "2014-05-16T02:16:25Z")
If Jared was used as bait for Larrick, it would explain a lot. Larrick killed Emmet and Leanne to make Jared happy and that’s why Larrick planted the homing device on Jared. Larrick isn’t pursuing Jared to catch spies – he wants a return to their old relationship. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/292 "2014-05-16T03:22:37Z")
There’s definitely something a bit weird about what Larrick knew and when. The dead couple were his handlers. So when they were publicly murdered, and their “real names” presumably published, that should have led him straight to Jared. So he could have known who Jared was weeks ago. So what did he learn from Kate if anything? And unless I mis-saw, he saw Elizabeth picking up Jared, so why did he choose to pursue Jared instead of Elizabeth? Unsettling as the idea of Jared being the honey trap is, it would certainly throw a new light on all of this stuff (although no idea why Kate would meet him in civilian clothes). ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/293 "2014-05-16T06:34:15Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > And unless I mis-saw, he saw Elizabeth picking up Jared, so why did he choose to pursue Jared instead of Elizabeth? He doesn’t know anything about the Elizabeth identity, though he has of course met her several times. He followed the kid because he lost track of both of them when they ditched his homing beacon. While Elizabeth is a pro and won’t be trackable by asking random strangers, a teenage boy with no spying skills is more readily trackable with the “have you seen this kid?” type investigation. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/294 "2014-05-16T15:23:42Z")
Ao, the smart money is on somebody dying next week. Who? Nina, Larrick, Jared are the main candidates. I must say, I don’t buy the “Jared is the honeytrap” angle. The Soviet couple clearly loved and were proud of their children from what we have seen. ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/295 "2014-05-16T15:39:32Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Side question. The actor who played the cancer guy. This is the second thing I’ve seen him in recently where he plays a guy with cancer. Is the real guy OK? This put me in mind of an actor who did have terminal cancer, and whose wasted appearance was put to use in a movie role (probably his last). I can’t recall the title - a suspense movie with supernatural elements I think. It was in the 80s or early 90s. He wasn’t especially famous in film but was well know as a stage actor and acting mentor. He looked appropriately gaunt and ill. Anyone remember this? ---
**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 16, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/296 "2014-05-16T21:21:47Z")
Agree with **Ellis Dee** and **AK84**. There are several theories being advanced ITT that I won’t say are ridiculous (in the sense of “it’s impossible that the show’s writers will go there”). What I will say is that if any of them turn out to be right, they will be very disappointing shark-jumping moments IMO: > [@Sherrerd](#): > > I still believe that Jared was part of the killing of his parents and sister; I now believe that Fred was the actual killer, and that Jared and Fred conspired to accomplish the murders. > [@Sefton](#): > > Jared’s not a spy. Maybe he’s related to Kate in some way? > > Another thing. If Jared knew his parents were KGB, what’s in the envelope that Leanne gave to Elizabeth? Maybe it’s a confession that they were double agents. > [@](#): > > What if Jared was the honey trap for Fred? That would explain the gifts, Fred’s lack of a girlfriend/friends, and why Jared killed his family. Maybe Kate felt sorry for him. > [@](#): > > If Jared was used as bait for Larrick, it would explain a lot. Larrick killed Emmet and Leanne to make Jared happy and that’s why Larrick planted the homing device on Jared. Larrick isn’t pursuing Jared to catch spies – he wants a return to their old relationship. ---
**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 16, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/297 "2014-05-16T23:03:40Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Agree with **Ellis Dee** and **AK84**. > There are several theories being advanced ITT that I won’t say are ridiculous (in the sense of “it’s impossible that the show’s writers will go there”). What I will say is that if any of them turn out to be right, they will be very disappointing shark-jumping moments IMO: Why do you see these possibilities as ‘shark-jumping moments’? I mean, obviously you have a right to feel negatively about these possible developments, but what about them seems to fit the usual definition of ‘shark-jump’ (e.g. cheap or implausible or ridiculous)…? (Not trying to attack your views–just curious about ‘why shark-jumping’.) ---
**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 16, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/298 "2014-05-16T23:10:59Z")
> [@Vashbul](#): > > This put me in mind of an actor who did have terminal cancer, and whose wasted appearance was put to use in a movie role (probably his last). > I can’t recall the title - a suspense movie with supernatural elements I think. It was in the 80s or early 90s. He wasn’t especially famous in film but was well know as a stage actor and acting mentor. He looked appropriately gaunt and ill. > Anyone remember this? The first thing I thought of was Yul Brynner’s anti-smoking commercial (and clearly that’s not what you meant.) Second: Lee Strasberg, who did look rather wan in the 1979 _Going in Style_, which was three years before his 1982 death. However, that movie has no supernatural elements, so that’s probably not it. IMDb has him appearing in the 1981 TV-movie _Skokie_, but that’s not a supernatural suspense film, either. I’ll keep checking (even if YOU are our Researchmeister!! ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/299 "2014-05-17T01:32:19Z")
Found it:[Julian Beck](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0065191/). He had a brief role in _Poltergeist II_, where he looked like death. ---
**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 17, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/300 "2014-05-17T01:38:02Z")
I sure don’t see the agents pimping out their kid, but it does raise an interesting question. Do heterosexual agents, especially male ones, engage in homosexual acts for the cause? It would sure give a new meaning to “taking one for the team”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123.md?page=16)