# 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:** 28
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/541 "2016-06-11T22:02:38Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Yeah, but recall that the FBI sketch artist accidentally did a sketch of Martha, which Stan then showed to Gaad. His reaction was “Who is that?” And Gaad saw Martha every day of the work week! > > The early 1980s FBI had the worst sketch artist ever, apparently. I actually don’t remember an accidental sketch of Martha. Here’s a [screen cap of 2 sketches](https://tvatemywardrobe.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/the-americans-two-sketches.png) they have for Elizabeth- the one on the left is from the CIA agent whom Caludia would kill and the one on the right is from Weinberger’s maid. Although they superficially look dissimilar, Stan instantly recognizes they are they same woman. And the one on the left does look pretty similar to normal Elizabeth. I can’t find screen caps for the sketches they have of Philip, but they are even closer to resembling him, imo. The sketches from Gaad and the other guy that Elizabeth attacked didn’t really look like her, but they only saw her face for a second. IMHO, of all the little hints that Stan has that point to Philip and Elizabeth, the sketches are the ones that come closest to popping the willing suspension of disbelief bubble. I just think they made them too accurate for someone with Stan’s instincts. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/542 "2016-06-11T22:10:54Z")
I don’t believe that Stan actively consciously suspects P&E. If he did, he could get a background check done on them and their entire identities would collapse instantly. I do think the show runners are a bit coy about the extent to which he subconsciously suspects them. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/543 "2016-06-11T22:35:22Z")
I dunno. Both those sketches look pretty “generic white female” to me and I know that they’re supposed to be Elizabeth. I think, as I’ve said before, that Stan was initially suspicious of P+E, then dismissed those suspicions and that it would now take a lot more than normal to get him to revisit them. Ironically, if he spent more time at home, he’d probably notice their coming and going at all odd hours. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/544 "2016-06-12T18:41:00Z")
Here’s a question I’ve had occasionally - who the hell lives next door to P&E? Looks like their neighborhood is made up of duplexes. But you never hear of see a hint of whoever lives in the unit adjoining theirs. To the contrary, P generally just pulls in and parks wherever he wants, even tho it appears he would be blocking the neighbors access to their garage. At least Stan seems to use the parking space next to his garage. (Come to think of it, why doesn’t he ever park IN his garage?) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/545 "2016-06-12T21:35:17Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Here’s a question I’ve had occasionally - who the hell lives next door to P&E? Looks like their neighborhood is made up of duplexes. But you never hear of see a hint of whoever lives in the unit adjoining theirs. To the contrary, P generally just pulls in and parks wherever he wants, even tho it appears he would be blocking the neighbors access to their garage. Yeah they do look like duplexes (maybe even triplex), but after 4 seasons of it not being an issue, I think it’s safe to assume they all just live in very big houses with multiple front doors and too many garages. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/546 "2016-06-12T22:55:31Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Yeah they do look like duplexes (maybe even triplex), but after 4 seasons of it not being an issue, I think it’s safe to assume they all just live in very big houses with multiple front doors and too many garages. Since we know they meet in their basement, and sleep upstairs… it’s safe to assume they live in a three-level home with a single car garage. I lived in a much-more upscale community just across the river from Falls Church, in North Potomac, Maryland: the Lakelands. We had a 21/2 car garage, and fully finished basement. Their home looks like a Ryan… or NV Home, to me. NV built ours, and they now own Ryan Homes. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/547 "2016-06-13T04:23:08Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > Since we know they meet in their basement, and sleep upstairs… it’s safe to assume they live in a three-level home with a single car garage. > > I lived in a much-more upscale community just across the river from Falls Church, in North Potomac, Maryland: the Lakelands. We had a 21/2 car garage, and fully finished basement. > > Their home looks like a Ryan… or NV Home, to me. NV built ours, and they now own Ryan Homes. Yeah they have a 1 car garage except for the times when the production was too cheap to put up the false exterior in front of the 2 car garage that lives opposite the 1 car garage, or when they were just shooting an establishing shot and no one wanted to bother putting up the false exterior again because certainly no one on the internet would notice. Or maybe because they at one point had intended to show the neighbors who were lucky enough to have the 2 car garage. That’s what Dinsdale was bringing up, the fact that their house (and Stan’s) is clearly a duplex/triplex. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/548 "2016-06-13T04:42:30Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Yeah they have a 1 car garage except for the times when the production was too cheap to put up the false exterior in front of the 2 car garage that lives opposite the 1 car garage, or when they were just shooting an establishing shot and no one wanted to bother putting up the false exterior again because certainly no one on the internet would notice. Or maybe because they at one point had intended to show the neighbors who were lucky enough to have the 2 car garage. That’s what Dinsdale was bringing up, the fact that their house (and Stan’s) is clearly a duplex/triplex. No… with 3 levels, it’s a tri. And the garages are clearly 1 car. But hey, what do I know… I only lived there for 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/549 "2016-06-13T04:59:41Z")
One more thing: P & E & Stan live in what’s called a PUD: a planned urban development. And… there weren’t any PUDS in 1983… the very first was the Kentlands… which attaches to the Lakelands. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/550 "2016-06-13T05:37:55Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > No… with 3 levels, it’s a tri. And the garages are clearly 1 car. A triplex is also a name for building divided into 3 self-contained residence, which is pretty clearly what those houses are, as evidenced by their large size, 2 physically separated garages along with multiple parking spaces, 3 front doors and 3 chimneys. Maybe you just don’t recall some of the earlier episodes where the show did not try to hide the fact that directly across the driveway from the 1 car garage is a second, separate 2 car garage, which is why (I assume) Dinsdale was asking where the other family is. While the show often frames the exterior shots so you can’t see the 2nd garage and other times has erected a fake wall, it is still visible there sometimes in establishing shots. This pretty much goes for both houses, the Jennings and Beemans. > [@btcg](#): > > But hey, what do I know… I only lived there for 15 years. You lived where? In those very houses were talking about which are in New York where they shoot the show? You just said you lived in Potomac. Did you live in both? What does your house in Potomac have to do with a house in New York? ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/551 "2016-06-13T05:46:01Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > A triplex is also a name for building divided into 3 self-contained residence, which is pretty clearly what those houses are, as evidenced by their large size, 2 physically separated garages along with multiple parking spaces, 3 front doors and 3 chimneys. > > Maybe you just don’t recall some of the earlier episodes where the show did not try to hide the fact that directly across the driveway from the 1 car garage is a second, separate 2 car garage, which is why (I assume) Dinsdale was asking where the other family is. While the show often frames the exterior shots so you can’t see the 2nd garage and other times has erected a fake wall, it is still visible there sometimes in establishing shots. This pretty much goes for both houses, the Jennings and Beemans. > > You lived where? In those very houses were talking about which are in New York where they shoot the show? You just said you lived in Potomac. Did you live in both? What does your house in Potomac have to do with a house in New York? I’ll type slower: it doesn’t matter- they didn’t have PUDS is 1983, so it’s not historically accurate. But unless you actually lived in the area… you probably didn’t know this. And… you can look this up; tri’s have 3 levels… trust me on this… but maybe math is different in NY. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/552 "2016-06-13T05:49:01Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > One more thing: > > P & E & Stan live in what’s called a PUD: a planned urban development. > > And… there weren’t any PUDS in 1983… the very first was the Kentlands… which attaches to the Lakelands. Don’t be offended, but I genuinely don’t understand what point you’re trying to make with this particular post. Also, a very cursory search for PUDs leads me to a development called Montpelier in Maryland, a Levittown-stlye PUD that incorporated in 1966. I have no idea if that is germane to your point. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/553 "2016-06-13T05:59:09Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Don’t be offended, but I genuinely don’t understand what point you’re trying to make with this particular post. > > Also, a very cursory search for PUDs leads me to a development called Montpelier in Maryland, a Levittown-stlye PUD that incorporated in 1966. I have no idea if that is germane to your point. Don’t take this wrong… but you seem to have issues counting to 3… so I’m not surprised. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/554 "2016-06-13T06:00:11Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > I’ll type slower: it doesn’t matter- they didn’t have PUDS is 1983, so it’s not historically accurate. But unless you actually lived in the area… you probably didn’t know this. > > And… you can look this up; tri’s have 3 levels… trust me on this… but maybe math is different in NY. The question isn’t whether their house is historically accurate. The question that lead to this particular thread of the discussion has been “Where is the other family, since the house is clearly a duplex or triplex?” And the answer, ostensibly, is that, while it is clearly a 2- or 3-family structure, there are no other families dwelling there, so even though we’ve seen the superfluous garages and everything else, let’s just pretend it’s one big house. And I can’t believe you’re making me quote a dictionary, but here is a definition of [triplex](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/triplex). ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/555 "2016-06-13T06:07:45Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > The question isn’t whether their house is historically accurate. The question that lead to this particular thread of the discussion has been “Where is the other family, since the house is clearly a duplex or triplex?” And the answer, ostensibly, is that, while it is clearly a 2- or 3-family structure, there are no other families dwelling there, so even though we’ve seen the superfluous garages and everything else, let’s just pretend it’s one big house. > > And I can’t believe you’re making me quote a dictionary, but here is a definition of [triplex](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/triplex). Again… you might want to read your own links: An apartment or other residence on three floors. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/556 "2016-06-13T06:15:28Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > Again… you might want to read your own links: > > An apartment or other residence on three floors. The very first definition is “A building divided into three self-contained residences.” I am not disputing your definition, but for some reason you’ve decided to dispute mine. Are you saying the houses used in the show are not triplexes using my definition? ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/557 "2016-06-13T06:24:55Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > The very first definition is “A building divided into \*\*three \*\*self-contained residences.” I am not disputing your definition, but for some reason you’ve decided to dispute mine. Are you saying the houses used in the show are not triplexes using my definition? Last post: neither P & E or Stan lives in a building attached to 3 other residences. But P & E live in a 3 level home… hence a tri. You’re really reaching… why not just admit it? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/558 "2016-06-13T06:37:03Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > I’ll type slower: it doesn’t matter- they didn’t have PUDS is 1983, so it’s not historically accurate. But unless you actually lived in the area… you probably didn’t know this. > > And… you can look this up; tri’s have 3 levels… trust me on this… but maybe math is different in NY. > [@btcg](#): > > Don’t take this wrong… but you seem to have issues counting to 3… so I’m not surprised. This is a warning for you. You have been told before, in other topics, to stop replying so snarky to other posters. If you have a real problem with any poster here, take them to the Pit, don’t talk to them insultingly in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/559 "2016-06-13T06:41:08Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > This is a warning for you. You have been told before, in other topics, to stop replying so snarky to other posters. If you have a real problem with any poster here, take them to the Pit, don’t talk to them insultingly in this forum. Sorry… but isn’t the very motto here ‘Fighting ignorance since 1973’… snarky? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496/560 "2016-06-13T06:49:33Z")
You can do it in a way that doesn’t make it seem like you’re talking down to them or insulting their intelligence. Now if you have any further questions or discussion about the warning or policy, it’s fine…but just please PM me or make a thread in About This Message Board so that this thread doesn’t get a (further) hijack of talking about the rules/warnings/etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-4/744496.md?page=29)