# The Americans Season 3 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2015, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097 "2015-01-28T09:03:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**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:** [February 26, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/321 "2015-02-26T20:35:12Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Another thing. Phillip tells Stan to “go for it” regarding the “EST lady”. Think she might be an undercover as well? I assumed that she is working for the Soviets the minute she started flirting with Stan. It’s an obvious play. Philip knew Stan would be at that meeting, after all. And Stan is clearly vulnerable emotionally–a new girlfriend would be in a position to get good intel from him without his knowledge. In reference to the idea of Stan taking Nina to dinner at the Jennings house (which I agree is unlikely): I’ve never been clear on the extent to which people working at the Rezidentura are aware of/knowledgeable about sleeper agents such as Philip and Elizabeth. For example, when Elizabeth recently had to phone for help when trying to evade the dragnet of pursuing vehicles, did someone working for the Rezident (or even Arkady Ivanovich himself) know about it or get informed about it afterward? What is the connection, if any, between the semi-official KGB presence in the Embassy and the Center? One of the great virtues of this show is that the writers don’t spell things out for us. And for obvious reasons they may want to keep this cloudy. Even so, there must have been hints here and there as to who knows what. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/322 "2015-02-26T20:52:11Z")
Sherrerd, You said Stan taking “Nina” to dinner. I’m certain that was just a slip and you meant to say the “EST 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:** [February 26, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/323 "2015-02-26T20:54:05Z")
> [@twuest](#): > > Count me in on not particularly going for the realism as far as the death of the Northrop guy goes. Charlie’s point about the entire idea is well taken. > > Plus…early 80’s in DC…the government knows there are sleeper agents working the area. Suddenly out of nowhere a worker from a fairly prominent defense contractor dies after having a car land on him, and it goes unnoticed by the authorities? > > The guy’s employed by a defense contractor dealing with highly sensitive projects. That alone should at least draw some attention. > > Hellloooooo…FBI…anyone home? I got a nice laugh from that post. 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:** [February 26, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/324 "2015-02-26T20:59:32Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Sherrerd, > You said Stan taking “Nina” to dinner. I’m certain that was just a slip and you meant to say the “EST Lady”. No, I was referring to the theory discussed a few posts back, in which someone speculated about a potential storyline: Nina coming back to the US; taking up with Stan; and the two of them going to dinner at the Jennings home. And then some stray reference or remark by a Jennings would signal to Nina that they are actually not Americans at all. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/325 "2015-02-26T21:30:03Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I just want to say that I think you are amazingly perceptive. IMHO, the quality of this thread has definitely risen a few notches since you have joined. You really add an excellent level to this thread and I am not just saying that because you are a young girl like what’s her name who is being pursued by Phillip. You are so thoughtful. Here’s a link to my picture: [http://img3806.imagevenue.com/images/loc550/79749\_AprilBowlbycleavage\_122\_550lo.jpg](http://img3806.imagevenue.com/images/loc550/79749_AprilBowlbycleavage_122_550lo.jpg) I’d love to date a man who respects me for my brain. > [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I have said this before: > > I’m not really a stickler for realism on this show. But, when a 110 pound woman can give one kick to an iron support holding up a 3500 pound car causing it to fall on a man working underneath, crushing him to death, that is just way too far away from realism to be worth any kind of debate. Or am I missing something there? > > I don’t really mind things being too far away from realistic in most cases because this show seems to be much more focused on person-to-person interactive events. Or am I missing a very important theme of this show? That was a floor jack. Usually just a twist of the handle will bring it down. I can’t speak for this model. The victim should have had blocks under the car as back up. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > In reference to the idea of Stan taking Nina to dinner at the Jennings house (which I agree is unlikely): I’ve never been clear on the extent to which people working at the Rezidentura are aware of/knowledgeable about sleeper agents such as Philip and Elizabeth. Phillip approached the KGB officer in D.C. bookstore to warn him off Paige, and he knew who Phillip was. Sleeper agents are completely inactive for years at a time. Phillip and Elizabeth are highly active operatives with a very thorough cover. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/326 "2015-02-26T21:32:00Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Sleeper agents are completely inactive for years at a time. Phillip and Elizabeth are highly active operatives with a very thorough cover. Yes; I suppose they’d be more accurately called “illegals.” Good catch about the bookstore scene. I wonder if that’s the only clue we’ve been given, on the question of who knows who… ---
**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:** [February 26, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/327 "2015-02-26T22:12:48Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > You are so thoughtful. Here’s a link to my picture: [http://img3806.imagevenue.com/images/loc550/79749\_AprilBowlbycleavage\_122\_550lo.jpg](http://img3806.imagevenue.com/images/loc550/79749_AprilBowlbycleavage_122_550lo.jpg) I’d love to date a man who respects me for my brain. Oh! What a wicked child you are! P.S. I love wicked children. Especially if they are girls. 🙂 ---
**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:** [February 26, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/328 "2015-02-26T22:14:30Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > No, I was referring to the theory discussed a few posts back, in which someone speculated about a potential storyline: Nina coming back to the US; taking up with Stan; and the two of them going to dinner at the Jennings home. And then some stray reference or remark by a Jennings would signal to Nina that they are actually not Americans at all. Aha! Thanks very much. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/329 "2015-02-27T00:26:25Z")
Let me just get this in as I just saw this episode and don’t have a lot of time … it’s not going away in my head - the Tori woman chasing Stan. It can’t be a Soviet setup, it really can’t but… erh, it just isn’t. Finally the killed someone! It’s been weeks, already!! I’m not sure I’m getting why Oleg and Stan would want to help each other, it’s not like Nina’s offering a timeshare? ---
**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:** [February 27, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/330 "2015-02-27T00:53:22Z")
Neither of them want her to be killed. Stan’s motives, I think, are a little more involved. I think he thinks that by saving Nina he can “atone” for killing Vlad. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/331 "2015-02-27T06:54:18Z")
Northrop built the Advanced Technology Bomber, [known as the B2 Spirit.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/332 "2015-02-27T08:32:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Northrop built the Advanced Technology Bomber, [known as the B2 Spirit.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit) It was built in Southern California. The factory 50 miles from DC just seems weird. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/333 "2015-02-27T09:39:24Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > It was built in Southern California. The factory 50 miles from DC just seems weird. It was assembled there yes. But components could have easily been made at another facility. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/334 "2015-02-27T10:31:26Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > It was built in Southern California. The factory 50 miles from DC just seems weird. No idea about the 80s but atm they have seven sites around Baltimore alone (and sites in all 50 states), some involved in radar systems : [http://www.northropgrumman.com/Careers/DiscoverNorthropGrumman/Pages/FeaturedLocations.aspx](http://www.northropgrumman.com/Careers/DiscoverNorthropGrumman/Pages/FeaturedLocations.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/335 "2015-02-27T17:17:30Z")
> [@BOOM](#): > > No idea about the 80s but atm they have seven sites around Baltimore alone (and sites in all 50 states), some involved in radar systems : > > [http://www.northropgrumman.com/Careers/DiscoverNorthropGrumman/Pages/FeaturedLocations.aspx](http://www.northropgrumman.com/Careers/DiscoverNorthropGrumman/Pages/FeaturedLocations.aspx) And even if that were totally not the case at all, that sort of things doesn’t bother me in the slightest. So what if Northrop didn’t have factories near DC? They clearly COULD have, unless there’s some obvious and well-understood climatic or geological reason or something. If they didn’t have factories near DC then Phillip and Elizabeth would never have talked about them at all and instead would be trying to get at some other piece of classified info and would be trying to compromise some other person. Doesn’t interfere with the storytelling in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/336 "2015-02-27T17:44:16Z")
Indeed. One of the things that sometimes irritates here is the occasional shallowness of the nitpicking. It’s great if someone notices something others have missed but how about it being something smart in the storytelling cos, really, these writers know what they’re about. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/337 "2015-02-27T19:09:08Z")
Creepy flash back on the ‘Sex training’ (((shutter))) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/338 "2015-02-27T23:54:49Z")
I think they are going to end up framing the defector as aKGB agent to get Nina back. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/339 "2015-02-28T00:01:21Z")
With reference to the earlier issue, I think Nina was about to be let in on the secret of who the deep-cover agents were but self-reported her treasonous activities before that happened. It is still possible that, in the event she was expatriated to the U.S. and met the Jennings socially, she might pick up on some “foreign-ness” to them. I mean imagine trying to “purge” your speech of all native turns-of-phrase. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2015, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097/340 "2015-02-28T06:03:47Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > It is still possible that, in the event she was expatriated to the U.S. and met the Jennings socially, she might pick up on some “foreign-ness” to them. I mean imagine trying to “purge” your speech of all native turns-of-phrase. This is a really interesting point. I took linguistics freshman year and had learned that supposedly, people learning an “L2” (a “foreign” language, after the period when it can be learned natively, roughly the first five years of life) could never entirely lose their accent. But then junior year I met a German girl who gave the lie to this. Her American accent was flawless. However, she would occasionally say something that would make people do a double take: the one that comes to mind is her saying something like “careful, I don’t want to get any earth on this dress” (I don’t remember the sentence exactly, but what I remember for sure was that she used the word “earth” when the American idiom would have been to say “dirt”). > [@BOOM](#): > > Indeed. One of the things that sometimes irritates here is the occasional shallowness of the nitpicking. > > It’s great if someone notices something others have missed but how about it being something smart in the storytelling cos, really, these writers know what they’re about. If people want to nitpick signage, they can do it in pretty much every outdoor shot. ETA: > [@madmonk28](#): > > I think they are going to end up framing the defector as aKGB agent to get Nina back. I initially liked this, thought it was a nifty twist, but upon further reflection it strikes me as having one fatal flaw: the KGB would know she is not a double agent. Or do you think they would play along and want her back just to punish her? But that’s just trading one traitor for another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-3/711097.md?page=18)