# 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:** 20
**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 20, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/381 "2016-05-20T14:08:54Z")
Tim is a missionary - you want common sense? I thought Gadd misread them. They didn’t want to harm him, no idea where he thought he was going via nth floor patio. Paige is a player; the churchman’s wife breaching/threatening to breach confidentiality, protocol or whatever … bad career move for them, The heavily pregnant Alice thing must have at least a modest angle. Very, very interesting that E didn’t just smash Don - the fuckwit works creating viruses that make your organs boil. Go work at Johns Hopkins or something. ---
**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 20, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/382 "2016-05-20T15:21:24Z")
Wouldn’t it be interesting if Don and Yung He turned out to be Chinese spies? ---
**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 20, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/383 "2016-05-20T17:21:34Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Tim is a missionary - you want common sense? > > I thought Gadd misread them. They didn’t want to harm him, no idea where he thought he was going via nth floor patio. > > Paige is a player; the churchman’s wife breaching/threatening to breach confidentiality, protocol or whatever … bad career move for them, The heavily pregnant Alice thing must have at least a modest angle. > > Very, very interesting that E didn’t just smash Don - the fuckwit works creating viruses that make your organs boil. Go work at Johns Hopkins or something. Good points. Gaad should have just listened, even played along a bit if he thought that was the safest play. And it’s true about Don: I hadn’t thought of that fact, that feeling so bad for him might not make as much sense when you ponder what he does. Although maybe he really is just trying to come up with vaccines? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/384 "2016-05-20T17:41:40Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Anyone else want to scream at Paige “What the fuck did you think was going to happen?” I wonder if the actress has to practice her “worried wrinkle” in the mirror, or maybe her eyebrows are stuck that way by now. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/385 "2016-05-20T18:04:03Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Wouldn’t it be interesting if Don and Yung He turned out to be Chinese spies? No, it wouldn’t. Anytime a new character appears everyone immediately thinks they might be a spy. But it’s far more interesting for Elizabeth to have a crisis of conscience because they really are decent people. ---
**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 20, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/386 "2016-05-20T20:05:39Z")
Have to comment on one amazing sense; the tennis ball pounding the garage door - what a thing, the editing, the cinematography, the chopping, expressions from E we’ve never seen, the go back to Russia/I’ve never been to Russia … gripping. The tennis ball was like out of Sergio Leone or something. ---
**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 20, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/387 "2016-05-20T20:25:56Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Have to comment on one amazing sense; the tennis ball pounding the garage door - what a thing, the editing, the cinematography, the chopping, expressions from E we’ve never seen, the go back to Russia/I’ve never been to Russia … gripping. The tennis ball was like out of Sergio Leone or something. You’re right–it was a beautifully realized scene. (The sound people must have had fun coming up with a ‘sufficiently annoying thump’…of course it could simply have been ‘tennis ball thrown against a garage,’ but then again it might have been a more elaborate aural construction.) ---
**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 20, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/388 "2016-05-20T20:30:58Z")
The thing I love about this show is how it plays against expectations. Martha’s gun wasn’t used to shoot anybody, not even Martha. Pastor Tim and wife are still kicking (at least for now). Gadd goes on vacation, gets killed. The list goes on. ---
**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 20, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/389 "2016-05-20T20:41:55Z")
Yep, all in all, Gadd’s not had a great year … The “proposal” is so intriguing … The big guy seemed genuinely sorry he died and I do take the statement “we don’t want to hurt you” at face value. I do wonder if it ties in with this Department 12/older secretary story arc … ---
**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 20, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/390 "2016-05-20T21:28:52Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Have to comment on one amazing sense; the tennis ball pounding the garage door - what a thing, the editing, the cinematography, the chopping, expressions from E we’ve never seen, the go back to Russia/I’ve never been to Russia … gripping. The tennis ball was like out of Sergio Leone or something. It added a lot to the tension. It was very much like the Sister Christian scene from Boogie Nights. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/391 "2016-05-20T23:00:59Z")
I’m a bit surprised that everyone is so intrigued by the proposal for Gad. I think far and away the most likely explanation is that the Soviets knew Gad had been kicked upstairs, thought that he might be bitter and willing to be recruited, and figured they’d have someone approach him. If he turned them down, then nothing lost, but might as well take a 1 in 100 shot of gaining a massive asset. And somehow the instructions from Moscow got a bit garbled and the guys “approaching” him, not necessarily the KGB’s best and brightest, screwed up the approach. Sure it might be just about anything else, but that fits the facts way too well for me not to assume that it’s the case until we find out otherwise. ---
**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 20, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/392 "2016-05-20T23:38:14Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I’m a bit surprised that everyone is so intrigued by the proposal for Gad. I think far and away the most likely explanation is that the Soviets knew Gad had been kicked upstairs, thought that he might be bitter and willing to be recruited, and figured they’d have someone approach him. If he turned them down, then nothing lost, but might as well take a 1 in 100 shot of gaining a massive asset. > > And somehow the instructions from Moscow got a bit garbled and the guys “approaching” him, not necessarily the KGB’s best and brightest, screwed up the approach. > Sure it might be just about anything else, but that fits the facts way too well for me not to assume that it’s the case until we find out otherwise. Agreed completely, except even further: I don’t think the instructions were garbled, and I don’t think the soviet agents did anything particularly wrong in that scene. Gaad just freaked the fuck out. He ran himself through a plate glass window…whaddya gonna do? ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/393 "2016-05-21T02:04:19Z")
Gaad panicking and running through the window seems goofy, but I guess it makes sense in this universe where the KGB is killing Americans left and right. Confronting him alone, outnumbered in his hotel room was a bit threatening. ---
**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 21, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/394 "2016-05-21T02:45:27Z")
I don’t think that there is any way that Don gives up the codes to Level 4 over blackmail. He’ll try to set Elizabeth up. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/395 "2016-05-21T06:48:23Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I’m a bit surprised that everyone is so intrigued by the proposal for Gad. I think far and away the most likely explanation is that the Soviets knew Gad had been kicked upstairs, thought that he might be bitter and willing to be recruited, and figured they’d have someone approach him. If he turned them down, then nothing lost, but might as well take a 1 in 100 shot of gaining a massive asset. I was thinking that they might want him as an intermediary. I don’t think he’d turn (and I’m betting the Soviets didn’t either). But he could carry a message when the Soviet Embassy wanted to get some info to the Americans but couldn’t go through normal channels. Anyway, whatever they wanted him for, he needed to be alive to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/396 "2016-05-21T23:32:16Z")
> [@twuest](#): > > No need to feel that way at all, and no offense taken…and I’m not upset in the least if someone disagrees. After all, this is a fictional show, so we’re all good. > > I will also concede that the poster who mentioned a black-and-white, good vs evil view of things would be correct to interpret that as the the origin of my point of view. I will not, however, agree with the idea that is is childlike. Quite the opposite. > > … > > There are situations where I can cut someone slack. Espionage is not one of them. I suspect that nowhere in the statutes covering espionage does it state that one is exempt from the law if one is under personal stress. There are no “Get Out of Jail Free” cards. > > You spy on the United States, you go to jail, which is where Martha belongs. Out of curiosity, why do you enjoy the show at all, **Twuest**? ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/397 "2016-05-21T23:35:37Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > I was thinking that they might want him as an intermediary. I don’t think he’d turn (and I’m betting the Soviets didn’t either). But he could carry a message when the Soviet Embassy wanted to get some info to the Americans but couldn’t go through normal channels. > Anyway, whatever they wanted him for, he needed to be alive to do it. Hmmm, maybe they were going to try to let Martha contact her parents through him. Gabriel did say they would try, right? ---
**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 22, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/398 "2016-05-22T00:54:10Z")
I don’t think they’d sent three guys for that. Remember when Gadd sat down with Arkady when he was at some D.C eatery? That’s the way you handle that. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/399 "2016-05-22T01:11:53Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Agreed completely, except even further: I don’t think the instructions were garbled, and I don’t think the soviet agents did anything particularly wrong in that scene. Gaad just freaked the fuck out. He ran himself through a plate glass window…whaddya gonna do? I agree with this. Other than entering his room without permission, they didn’t seem particularly threatening to me. I would have expected the character to be more calm and at least hear the proposition. He just seemed like a more level-headed guy. Hear the proposition, ask for time to consider it, then get his wife and himself to the embassy ASAP. Something like that. Running through the patio glass door was the last thing I expected of him. ---
**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 22, 2016, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/400 "2016-05-22T07:47:27Z")
Tbf, he sort of bundled through the doors as being pursued by one goon, but nonetheless it was an irrational choice in the circs. Another angle on it might be to see it as a standard approach by the KGB and the interesting angle isn’t the fact or intention of the approach but the fallout from it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=21)