# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/81 "2014-04-06T04:26:36Z")
So with the homosexual SEAL. They are going to penetrate the Contras? And Arkady seemed wise to Oleg’s stratagem with Beeman. What are they playing at? ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/82 "2014-04-07T04:44:11Z")
> [@](#): > > And Arkady seemed wise to Oleg’s stratagem with Beeman. What are they playing at Oleg lied to Beeman about he being the only one who knows about the affair, since its all in the reports. It seems to me Arkady and Oleg want to snare Beeman, but suspicion regarding Nina is also mounting. It is possible she is overselling her influence on Beeman. It’s a 50/50 shot that he’ll give them the Intel, we see him getting the computer print out, but it’s unclear if he’ll walk it over to the Embassy, especially when he gets abrupt advice from John Boy not to tell him stuff, and that he maybe in over his head. She’s really playing him for all it’s worth and right now he is missing all the clues that she isn’t in love with him. If the timing was right she could “do her job” just like the Sandinista Lucia. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/83 "2014-04-07T05:30:44Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Eh, I think he bet on Stan not wanting to push his luck by killing _another_ KGB diplomat. There were three others chasing after Oleg after all and knew who the target was. > > I am wondering > > 1. Why did Elizabeth say “this is Mrs Jennings!” so defiantly when the Martha warning come in? Was it a simple establishment that Philip is her man despite all? > 2. What is Oleg up to anyway. He wants to do what exactly with Beeman? > 3. What is the KGBs extraction plan for the Jennings. They have been compromised…the Israelis know who they are. And can tell the US. They have their car. Engine and chassis number should permit easy tracing. > BTW, I well imagine Vladiamir Putin doing exactly what Oleg did. He is the right age as well. Do the Israelis have them compromised? They don’t know their names, cover identities, addresses, or anything else. They might be able to make a sketch but those are notoriously unreliable and especially if Phillip was in disguise(can’t remember if he was or not). ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/84 "2014-04-07T05:35:34Z")
I was actually surprised and impressed by the way they handled Lucia’s killing of the Congressional aide. Up until she did it I really had no sympathy for him and he struck me as a spoiled drugged out rich kid(yeah IRL I’d have more sympathy for him or at least not want him killed but this is TV). Then when he started telling Lucia how he wanted her to meet his mother and he clearly cared about her and didn’t see her as a notch on his bed post I actually became very sympathetic and Lucia and her reactions reminded me very much of Elizabeth’s reactions to the sailor. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/85 "2014-04-07T15:14:02Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Do the Israelis have them compromised? They don’t know their names, cover identities, addresses, or anything else. They might be able to make a sketch but those are notoriously unreliable and especially if Phillip was in disguise(can’t remember if he was or not). They have their car. Engine and chassis number. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/86 "2014-04-07T16:49:20Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > They have their car. Engine and chassis number. Although Philip and Elizabeth are likely paranoid enough to never go out on an operation in a car that is traceable to their “real” cover identities. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2014, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/87 "2014-04-09T10:45:08Z")
In episode 6, the newest female character asks her mark to go out of the room to get her a glass of ice water just after he prepared a spoonful of drugs but before he injected it. I presume that spoon contained Heroin. But I can’t figure out what she might have added to it that would have killed him about 30 seconds after he injected it or why she would have done that. Can anyone guess why she might have made that instant decision to kill him and what that powder might have been that she added to his spoon? Also, I would have thought that any powder added to that mixture would have had to have been heated or else the powder would remain visible. That is why people heat the water and Heroin mixture. Wouldn’t he have noticed some powder floating around in the spoon? I know that realism is not valued very highly in this series and I can understand why that is so. But sometimes this show just asks the audience to accept an awful lot at face value. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/88 "2014-04-09T13:47:38Z")
She didn’t make an instant decision to kill him; she knew she had to kill him all along, after being told to do so my Elizabeth (“tie up loose ends”). I think they made her look hesitant while she was with him, until he mentioned having her meet his mother. For whatever reason, perhaps the realization that the relationship was doomed as she’d never meet his mother, her resolve strengthened and she knew she had to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/89 "2014-04-10T02:59:18Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > They have their car. Engine and chassis number. Good point. That said, I suspect like Elmore Leonard criminals to cover their tracks they’d only use stolen cars or ones that otherwise couldn’t be traced to them. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/90 "2014-04-10T03:03:07Z")
Wow. I wonder if Beaman is really that gullable or he’s going to double cross Nina at some point.It’s possible she _didn’t_ pass the lie detector, even though she’s been coached how to pass one. Beaman could be waiting to snare both Oleg and Nina. Or maybe he’s just gullable. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/91 "2014-04-10T03:03:27Z")
So is anyone else wonder if either Stan lied to Nina about passing, or if the technician lied to Stan? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/92 "2014-04-10T04:42:37Z")
I was shocked when Nina gave Beeman the death glare and told the truth about whazzisname. How the hell is that supposed to work? On the other hand, I am all about seeing more Nina-butt. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![easydoesit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/57b2e6/32.png) [@easydoesit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easydoesit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/93 "2014-04-10T08:05:39Z")
Can anyone guess why she might have made that instant decision to kill him and what that powder might have been that she added to his spoon? Also, I would have thought that any powder added to that mixture would have had to have been heated or else the powder would remain visible. That is why people heat the water and Heroin mixture. Wouldn’t he have noticed some powder floating around in the spoon? I know that realism is not valued very highly in this series and I can understand why that is so. But sometimes this show just asks the audience to accept an awful lot at face value. [/QUOTE] Drug use is not portrayed accurately in any TV shows or movies in my experience, unless it’s about drugs. Some are close, but it would take too much time and energy to make it look right, so if they’re just trying advance a point I understand them sacrificing a little reality to further the plot… And she could have put anything in the spoon, i.e. even cocaine would have dissolved in the spoon, and you aren’t even supposed to cook that or amphetamines. So it could have realistically been powder that dissolves in water that I’m sure Moscow knows about (or a theoretical fake fatal powder the producers made up hahaa) And yeah, I wanna know about “Ms. Jennings” and who keeps calling her. They slipped up somehow, I think it has to do with Martha and them trying to see if they’re married or something(?) I don’t know but if anyone else caught it i’d love to hear what you think. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/94 "2014-04-10T14:01:22Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > I was shocked when Nina gave Beeman the death glare and told the truth about whazzisname. How the hell is that supposed to work? > > On the other hand, I am all about seeing more Nina-butt. 😃 Nina does have a lovely butt. However, I just can’t believe that Keri has such a beautiful body at age 38 with two children. IMO, she could easily pass for a girl in her early twenties. I was particularly fixated on the scene where she was lying on her bed fully naked with her husband (although you could only see her backside). I just think Keri Russell is an exceptionally beautiful lady. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/95 "2014-04-10T14:09:17Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Some of us watched this episode several times (or parts of it) just for the KR scenes… Excuse me for being dense but why did you want to see the KR scenes multiple times? Was it in appreciation of her acting ability? Or was it in appreciation of her beautiful body? Or something else? I can certainly understand if it was something else. I must admit to being highly fixiated on Keri Russel just on account of her great beauty. I would just hope that if I ever married a woman who was 38, that she would look close to being as beautiful as KR looks when she is 38 years old. ---
**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 10, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/96 "2014-04-10T14:26:34Z")
Is anybody else unsure as to what game Nina is playing? Is she, after a moment of doubt during “The Oath”, still providing Stan with legitimate intel? Or is she playing Stan for Oleg? Or is she playing a “double game” on both men using her feminine “wiles” just hoping to survive? ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/97 "2014-04-10T14:37:35Z")
I think Nina really did pass the lie detector. She revealed that she knows the FBI (and probably Stan) killed Vlad, but I think Stan believes she loves him in spite of that. I’m not sure if Nina is playing a double game; she appears to have real feelings for Oleg, but as he said, she’s a very good liar. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/98 "2014-04-10T15:20:48Z")
She is running to men she thinks can protect her. Last season it was Beeman, this time it’s Oleg. The difference is that Oleg is sharp and savvy to her intentions, while Stan is the most naive G Man in the FBI. How did Philip dispose of the scientists body? The fact he is missing won’t raise alarm bells? So who did kill Emmet and Leigh Anne? ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/99 "2014-04-10T15:45:55Z")
We still don’t know who killed Emmett and Leanne. We probably won’t know until the end of the season, or maybe longer. I don’t think Philip had enough time to dispose of the body, but he knows how to kill someone so that it doesn’t leave much physical evidence. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123/100 "2014-04-10T16:31:39Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > How did Philip dispose of the scientists body? The fact he is missing won’t raise alarm bells? It presumably will, but Philip’s hope is that by the time it’s noticed that he’s missing and people realize that the last place he was seen was somewhere-near-the-computer-lab enough time will have passed yada yada yada. Clearly that was not an optimal outcome for Philip, even ignoring the moral aspect (which I feel like it’s getting harder for him to do). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-2/682123.md?page=6)