# The Americans Season 4 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496 "2016-01-28T15:34:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**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, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/201 "2016-04-28T15:12:37Z")
I’m not convinced that Martha’s going to make it to Russia either. But, if she does, I don’t think things will be as bad for her as you might think. As an American defector who’s provided useful intel, she’ll be treated decently, probably given a job training KGB types on American society and culture. But as a foreign national, she’ll be under constant watch. ---
**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:** [April 28, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/202 "2016-04-28T15:55:27Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I’m not convinced that Martha’s going to make it to Russia either. But, if she does, I don’t think things will be as bad for her as you might think. As an American defector who’s provided useful intel, she’ll be treated decently, probably given a job training KGB types on American society and culture. But as a foreign national, she’ll be under constant watch. Yeah, she’d probably get an apartment and job training people in English, but it’s not like she wanted to go to Russia, or betrayed the US for any ideological reason. She’s just sad and lonely and got duped; so they Soviets will never trust her. Plus in a few years, the whole system will collapse, but she won’t be able to go home because she’d go to prison. So she’s riding out the 90s like every other pensioner in Yeltsin’s Russia and not allowed to go home. ---
**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, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/203 "2016-04-28T16:57:04Z")
It’s occurred to me that Martha and Nina each made the choice that the other should have made. Martha could (and should) have come clean once Walter Taffet entered the picture. Her prior activities could have been explained as working on behalf of what she thought was a legitimate internal inquiry. Now she’s stuck with going to Russia or killing herself. Nina came clean and ended up dead, when she could have defected and ended up marrying a rich American. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/204 "2016-04-28T17:33:03Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > It’s occurred to me that Martha and Nina each made the choice that the other should have made. Martha could (and should) have come clean once Walter Taffet entered the picture. I think Martha could still come clean. It might not be pretty now, and she’d get some jail time I’m sure, but she knows quite a bit now that could help get her some sort of deal. ---
**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:** [April 28, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/205 "2016-04-28T18:21:09Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > It’s occurred to me that Martha and Nina each made the choice that the other should have made. Martha could (and should) have come clean once Walter Taffet entered the picture. Her prior activities could have been explained as working on behalf of what she thought was a legitimate internal inquiry. Now she’s stuck with going to Russia or killing herself. Nina came clean and ended up dead, when she could have defected and ended up marrying a rich American. Good observation! Nina was savvy and ended up dead, Maryha was naive and ended up screwed; different approaches to the same result. ---
**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 29, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/206 "2016-04-29T01:08:26Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Interesting, even after Elizabeth advised Philip to tell Martha that he would be joining her later, that Philip decided to be honest with her and tell her that he would not be coming, ever. Even Martha realizes that the circle will be complete, and that she will be alone again, just like it was before Philip came into her life. And Martha was already under the impression that she that Clark would have to stay behind & join her later which would have made it all the easier to get her to go along with the exfiltration plan (no nasty surprise at the airfield when he doesn’t board the plan). > [@madmonk28](#): > > I love how the show builds the pressure and just when it seems like Philip and Elizabeth can’t take any more, the show adds more pressure. In the first episode of S1, Philip proposed going over to the Americans, but now that they’ve killed an FBI agent, I’m guessing that’s not possible without them going to prison. Even with all they’ve done I think the Jennings still have more than enough valuable intel to barter their way out of prison. They’d have to spend the rest of their lives in some kind of protective custody though since the KGB would throw a lot of resources into trying to horrifically kill them (& the kids). ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/207 "2016-04-29T19:29:06Z")
Martha has t make it out the US otherwise the KGB will lose Philip, but it doesn’t look like she’ll make it to Moscow - that second pilot thing and the rat in a jar metaphor … messy. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/208 "2016-04-29T19:52:45Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Martha has t make it out the US otherwise the KGB will lose Philip, but it doesn’t look like she’ll make it to Moscow - that second pilot thing and the rat in a jar metaphor … messy. Yes, and it’s worth remembering that this show is not set in a parallel-universe 1980s–the showrunners have made an effort to keep it tied to actual historical events. And we know that the Soviets didn’t deploy any biological weapon of the type William described (as being in the rat’s tissues). So having the plane go down into the Atlantic seems like a real possibility. (As awful as that would be as an ending to Martha’s story.) ---
**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 29, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/209 "2016-04-29T19:58:49Z")
There seemed to be an awful lot of airtime devoted to “the pilot”. They don’t usually go into such details of logistics, so I’m guessing there is something special about the pilot. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/210 "2016-04-29T21:55:15Z")
I think that subplot was about Directorate office politics, with the new woman showing up Oleg. His incompetence / the lack of faith she put in him may play into him eventually turning for Stan. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/211 "2016-04-30T22:20:06Z")
I found the title of next week’s episode very interesting in regards to Martha’s story: “The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears.” David Copperfield performed this illusion in front of a live television audience on April 8, 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/212 "2016-05-01T21:43:31Z")
Yay! I’m caught up! Now I need to wade through all of YOU GUYS’ posts! 😉 Gotta figure Martha’s dead. My favorite developments: the kids drinking beers. They’ve basically been left to raise themselves - would enjoy seeing more rebellion. Also loved John Boy coming to the realization that his secretary had a KGB husband. What a hoot! Wife and I watch Good Wife, which has made it tough seeing the bio-agent, who had a creepy recurring role on that show. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/213 "2016-05-02T05:25:37Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > Great scenes between Philip and Elizabeth. I really think Elizabeth will propose that they run from the KGB by the end of the season. What makes you think that? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/214 "2016-05-02T15:31:14Z")
If I were Martha I’d think Cuba looked pretty good as a destination. Hell I do now. She could even meet her parents in Canada and places. Can someone remind me what crimes they can legitimately charge Martha with? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/215 "2016-05-02T17:24:37Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > …Can someone remind me what crimes they can legitimately charge Martha with? Off the top of my head, she placed a bug in her boss’ office (she thought she was doing it for the government, but that’d be hard to prove); she made photocopies of the schedule for the detail of FBI agents assigned with following people so that the KGB would know when it’s safe to meet with agents; and she knows that Philip murdered the IT guy and made it look like a suicide to cover her crimes (she found out after the fact, but she never reported it); and I’m sure she lied to federal agents investigating all of the above. ---
**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, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/216 "2016-05-02T19:26:29Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > I found the title of next week’s episode very interesting in regards to Martha’s story: “The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears.” > David Copperfield performed this illusion in front of a live television audience on April 8, 1983. So, Martha will disappear via giant turntable…hmn. Should be interesting! (Not sure if I need to spoiler-tag the methods used by Mr. Copperfield, but, just in case…) ---
**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, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/217 "2016-05-02T23:28:11Z")
It would take a really big turntable…to make the Statue of Liberty disappear. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/218 "2016-05-03T00:10:07Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > What makes you think that? Just a hunch. I think it’s getting harder for Elizabeth to justify what they’re doing to Paige, and even harder to justify their treatment of assets like Martha and the Korean lady. I think Elizabeth is slowly getting to a point where her loyalty to her family is greater than her loyalty to the KGB. That doesn’t mean they will run, but I can see Elizabeth hitting a wall pretty soon. ---
**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 3, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/219 "2016-05-03T01:53:30Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > It would take a really big turntable…to make the Statue of Liberty disappear. That’s entirely dependent on the size of the audience you’re turning. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/220 "2016-05-03T03:02:10Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > Just a hunch. I think it’s getting harder for Elizabeth to justify what they’re doing to Paige, and even harder to justify their treatment of assets like Martha and the Korean lady. I think Elizabeth is slowly getting to a point where her loyalty to her family is greater than her loyalty to the KGB. That doesn’t mean they will run, but I can see Elizabeth hitting a wall pretty soon. Well, I can’t say that I’ve seen much change in Elizabeth’s overall position. I mean, twice in this episode she reminds Philip that they may have to kill Martha, so I don’t think she’s having any trouble justifying her treatment. She certainly doesn’t show any remorse for gut punching her; in fact, I think she enjoyed it, considering her lingering jealousy of Philip’s relationship with Martha. We don’t know what the deal is yet with the Korean lady, right? So there’s nothing there yet. As for Paige, Elizabeth is still lying to her about not hurting people and how they do only good things. Basically, she’s been treating her more like an asset than a daughter. There hasn’t been much to make me think Elizabeth isn’t just fine with that arrangement. So in my opinion, I don’t see a wall yet- Elizabeth still appears to be fully committed. That being said, I do wonder if at some point we see a switcheroo, with Elizabeth starting to question things and Philip rededicating himself, if only because that it works thematically to see both sides of their coins, despite it being a bit of a Cousin Oliver move. The problem is I can’t imagine what would shake Elizabeth’s faith at this point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=12)