# 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:** 17
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/321 "2016-05-13T06:02:11Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > But he woke up in the bed… with lotion on his… > > It’s not a big leap to believe alcohol on an empty stomach can lead to a dazed condition where one might not remember every detail. > > He’ll focus on the shame and his potential divorce, and do as E requests. Then why can’t E stay friends with Young Hee? If it’s a secret from her, E will have to remain friends or it would look suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/322 "2016-05-13T06:15:49Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Then why can’t E stay friends with Young Hee? If it’s a secret from her, E will have to remain friends or it would look suspicious. E would end up ordering Hee _to go!_ 😉 Seriously… Hee would want to be friends with a blackmailer? Worse… he’ll know he was set-up, and E is a foreign agent. Any friendship would be a beard. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/323 "2016-05-13T06:18:37Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > E would end up ordering Hee _to go!_ 😉 > > Seriously… Hee would want to be friends with a blackmailer? Worse… he’ll know he was set-up, and E is a foreign agent. > > Any friendship would be a beard. She wouldn’t know that E was a blackmailer. I thought that was the whole point of the blackmail. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/324 "2016-05-13T06:28:09Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > One nice little touch I liked - while Elizabeth was rifling through Don and Young-hee’s shelves, she pulls out a VHS of the film “Sophie’s Choice” - alluding to the fact that no matter which way she decided to go with them, she would end up hating herself. That was a nice use of a nostalgic reference. > > And “the Day After”! Oh man, watching that movie just stands out in my mind like a mushroom cloud. I remember my whole family watched it - just like the Jennings did - and I remember every scene they showed. They showed it on a Sunday evening and it was all anybody talked about at school the next day. My social studies teacher AND my science teacher took time out of their regular lesson plans to talk about it. > It seems like the show is wrapping up a lot of storylines rather decisively this season - Nine, Martha, Lisa, now even Young-hee who they barely just introduced. Certainly the situation with Pastor Tim will finally come to a boil - whatever he wants to discuss after he and his wife get back from Ethiopia cannot be good. I have a suspicion that there will be a major game-changing event before this season is over. > > **BTW, This Tatiana lady has got to be up to SOMETHING with Oleg**. I just can’t believe she’s simply a new love interest for him. She just radiates femme fatale energy and she has something up her sleeves. I imagine the Rezidentura may not be so trusting of Oleg, given how close he was to Nina and his general fascination with American culture. Indeed… (in my best Russian voice) \*I keep waiting for Moose and Squirrel. \* As a quick aside: I wish I had the deep orgasms Oleg seems to have. Could he be overacting just a little? I see P is no longer letting Stan win at racket ball. Anger at being thrown up against the garage wall? I bet P could shut out Stan if he wanted to. P talks too much to the biologist who steals the poisons. He may be being tested, hence… the biologist breaking protocol in contacting P directly. Could the biologist have been caught and is working with the FEDS? Tune in next time for the next exciting episode. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/325 "2016-05-13T06:36:42Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > She wouldn’t know that E was a blackmailer. I thought that was the whole point of the blackmail. She? You mean Hee’s wifey? Of course, she’ll have to be managed by both E and Hee. Any sour looks by Hee and Mrs. Hee will know something’s wrong. Maybe: what E needs won’t take but ‘1’ trip for Hee to accomplish? ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/326 "2016-05-13T06:45:30Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > She wouldn’t know that E was a blackmailer. I thought that was the whole point of the blackmail. Oh…love yer name, and I love those, too. But I need to do a better job at scraping those little white seeds out when I make the poppers. Miss one or two and it really burns the mouth. ---
**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 13, 2016, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/327 "2016-05-13T07:05:24Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > As a quick aside: I wish I had the deep orgasms Oleg seems to have. Could he be overacting just a little? > > I see P is no longer letting Stan win at racket ball. Anger at being thrown up against the garage wall? I bet P could shut out Stan if he wanted to. > > P talks too much to the biologist who steals the poisons. He may be being tested, hence… the biologist breaking protocol in contacting P directly. Could the biologist have been caught and is working with the FEDS? Oleg: it was explained in the script. Their relative reaction to sex is a metaphor for privileged upbringing vs. poverty. It’s not poison, it’s viruses. I would imagine the difference between them is contagion. And no, of course William hasn’t been caught. We were led to understand, through the story Oleg told of sunlight bouncing off clouds, people on the ground are making decisions because they cannot trust systems or their bosses, hence William spoke to Philip first not Gabriel. That was the point of Oleg’s story. The family contrasts are splendid atm; the perfect middle class Korean couple with perfect children living the American dream and entirely sustained by the fathers ability to help produce virus’s that boil your organs and cause blood to come through your skin. Soviet spy and American FBI families watching The Day After together. So much, so many. It’s a beautifully crafted work. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/328 "2016-05-13T11:01:31Z")
I have trouble believing that simple adultery would be enough to convince the otherwise upstanding Korean biologist to become an agent. This isn’t some low-level secret, it’s a biological weapon that could cause mass death (including possibly his family) even by accident. He’s going to be willing to hand that over in order to avoid possibly having a divorce? His career shouldn’t even be over if he goes straight to US counterintelligence as soon as she starts asking him for the info. There has to be more to it than 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 13, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/329 "2016-05-13T11:53:45Z")
Yep, it’s way too straight line. My guess is he commits suicide causing E a mild crisis of confidence. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/330 "2016-05-13T16:54:42Z")
Some thoughts: Phillip’s new disguise seems like a huge shout out to Ned Flanders. That virus - I think they named it Laksha or something similar - sounded like Ebola, in its effects. I wonder if they’re suggesting that Ebola is man-made? I’ve got no idea on the history of Ebola or similar as a virus, whether there were cases prior to the early 80s, etc. I do know, thanks to my Cold War studies at Uni, that, at this time, Ethiopia was in the Soviet sphere of influence after the Soviets supported a coup in 1974. If P&E wanted to get rid of Pastor Tim, they could probably just place a phone call. Wouldn’t solve the problem of his wife though… ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/331 "2016-05-13T17:14:26Z")
What exactly is the Korean man’s job/use? Neither my wife nor I caught it. Someone above called him a biochemist. Is he supposed to get access to Level 4 for the other agent? And how does the blackmail work. I’m just wondering how E persuades him to do what, rather than admit one apparent indiscretion. Good show, tho, as always. Oh yeah - what tape did Alice make? I started watching this show after I complained on these boards about the dearth of good shows on TV, which didn’t focus on sexual perversion and violent crime. Someone here recommended it (THANKS!). I think it obvious that this show is well written and well acted. I think the interpersonal dynamics are the most appealing. What would it be like to deal with your family, neighbors, co-workers if you led a double life? What would this do to you over time? Didn’t particularly see this as appealing to liberals or conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/332 "2016-05-13T17:35:50Z")
It’s a weaponized version of [the Lassa virus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassa_fever). I assume that Elizabeth’s plan is more than just “ok, give me access to level 4 or I will tell your wife”. I assume it would be a slow process, with each individual step not too bad, and then the fact that he’d given in to earlier blackmail gives her that much more leverage to blackmail him with about going forward, etc etc. I guess we’ll see how it plays out. But as others have suggested, I wouldn’t be shocked if it went horribly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/333 "2016-05-13T17:49:59Z")
Just so we are all clear, the wife is Yung He. Her husband is Don, not Hee. Don works on level 4 where Will works. ---
**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 13, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/334 "2016-05-13T17:56:52Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Don works on level 4 where Will works. William doesn’t have level 4 clearance, which is why they need Don who does. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/335 "2016-05-13T18:35:31Z")
Can anyone offer a general reference to when they explained Don worked on Level 4? I realize I do not tend to watch TV as closely as many do, but my wife and I just missed it. Seemed like E was cultivating Yung Hee thru Mary Kay, but I didn’t understand the aim. Then when she went to their house for dinner, I figured her target was a family member, but I must have missed the reference to Don’s job. Of did E and the other spies reference it elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/336 "2016-05-13T18:37:40Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > It’s a weaponized version of [the Lassa virus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassa_fever). > > I assume that Elizabeth’s plan is more than just “ok, give me access to level 4 or I will tell your wife”. I assume it would be a slow process, with each individual step not too bad, and then the fact that he’d given in to earlier blackmail gives her that much more leverage to blackmail him with about going forward, etc etc. I guess we’ll see how it plays out. > > But as others have suggested, I wouldn’t be shocked if it went horribly wrong. But Elizabeth told Phillip that she would miss Yung He. If she was going to blackmail Don by not telling his wife, then she would still be hanging out with Yung He. Also, Don is honorable. He probably won’t be susceptible to blackmail. I think that this will all go wrong for Elizabeth and she will have ruined her friend’s life for nothing. She should have realized this and told the Center that they would have to find another way. ---
**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 13, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/337 "2016-05-13T19:06:00Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Can anyone offer a general reference to when they explained Don worked on Level 4? I don’t think we have a whole lot. S4E2 - quite early in the hour Gabriel talks about William only having level 3 clearance at Fort Detrich, that they need the code to access level 4 and hands E a list of company employees - the implication is she should identify possible targets. About half an hour later P tells William they are working on it. Fist scene after the credits of S4E3 E is at the same Mary Kay beauty whatsit as Yung He, then they bump into each other at the market. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/338 "2016-05-13T19:24:54Z")
Like others, I’m wondering why E said she would miss her Korean (woman) friend, when a successful blackmail would mean they would continue as friends, as if nothing happened. My wife’s guess is that E only has so much time in each day, so she needn’t _bother_ continuing to cultivate her friendship, but instead focus on other “tasks.” ---
**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 13, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/339 "2016-05-13T19:34:40Z")
It dangerous now. You keep it simple between you and the target. The Koreans could cook up some nonsense plan using the wife’s friendship with he Soviet spy. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/340 "2016-05-13T19:48:52Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Can anyone offer a general reference to when they explained Don worked on Level 4? Actually, I think there’s at least a chance that the show did some uncharacteristically poor editing and the two things are unrelated. I’ve been paying attention because there was quite a while when Elizabeth was pursuing Yung-He without us having any idea why. In the most recent episode, the confluence of “hey we really really need to get to level 4” and Elizabeth accelerating her plans with Yung-He and Don is circumstantial evidence, but really no more than that. So we’re certainly not certain of anything at this point, but it would be a weirdly pointless mislead of they were not related. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=18)