Yeah, don’t forget that the former Poppa Spy is now working back home giving Nina a hard time when what he was suspected of was far worse.
I agree. She’ll be banging him silly before long. They can discuss American wine, have a few drinks and then blammo. That jokey Korean lady is annoying as hell. The actress is doing a phenomenal job.
So Nina’s subplot is over. My cable kept cutting; did Stan actually find anything in Martha’s apartment that could incriminate her or contradict her story about an affair with a married man?
Damn, the Soviets really mean it when they say the sentence will be carried out “shortly.” I suppose it was inevitable, but I am still shocked. She was a great character.
Wonder what consequences this will have for Stan and Oleg.
I know Stan found a handgun, did he find anything else?
A book - I couldn’t see that well, but it looked like might have been Kama sutra or something.
I too was shocked about Nina.
At first I thought during the walk they were going to do exactly that, but I thought once that guy started talking - with his sour demeanor - it was going to be good news.
On the plus side - someone else doesn’t have to stay in The USSR
Disagree strongly on the first–I find her very appealing (as in, one of the nicest people you’ll ever encounter, but not in a boring or treacly way). But yes, the actor (who has won a Tony for her stage work) is great.
Tonight’s episode was another great one. The showrunners are sticklers for verisimilitude, so I’m assuming death sentences really were carried out that way. Seems strange, dangerous, and messy. Hopefully we’ll hear more about that on the podcast.
On a lighter note, The Boris-and-Natasha style “Vital part of training” line from Elizabeth was all kinds of awesome.
I assumed this is how Soviet execution actually goes, as I’ve heard of it before and it was depicted the same way in HBO’s excellent Citizen X, about the most prolific serial killer in history:After the lead investigator finally catches the guy after decades on the case, the accused is brought before a perfunctory trial, pronounced guilty, walked straight to a room with a drain in the floor and shot in the back of the head. Notice how Nina’s execution chamber had a bucket and mop in the corner? That’s deliberate, of course.
In terms of carrying out the death penalty I find the Soviet system (as depicted in American media) much more humane than the American system. My only complaint is that they then send a bill for the single bullet to the family, which just seems crass. Again, assuming that’s actually true.
It’s definitely more humane to not make them go through the dread of awaiting execution, as pondered by Samuel Jonson and Jean-Paul Sartre (“Le Mur”). But it just seems like it could end up injuring one of the others in the room.
Yep, it was the Kama Sutra book Martha was using with Clark last season. Neither the book nor the handgun are particularly incriminating. But Stan also took polaroids of the apartment, so I bet something will eventually stick out.
The actress playing Nina did great in the final act, from dreams of liberation, to resignation, dread, anticipation, and finally shock at her final sentence. It must be hard to play a lifeless corpse; when they lifted her onto the tarp she was totally limp.
I’m sure that was an emotional day of shooting (um, the scene). Here’s your final scene in the series, go through these emotions and then die. I bet the whole crew comes away from such scenes with a sense of loss and sadness. It certainly was a shocking scene and one I almost wish I didn’t watch. I’ll miss Nina; she was beautiful.
He also found a box of condoms and a book of the Kama Sutra.
Nothing incriminating - some things that were maybe a little surprising, but nothing that really sticks out as horribly wrong at first glance.
He took polaroids so he could put everything back the way it was after he tossed the place. Sneaky spy tricks.
Last time I read the thread before watching the danged episode. Still, shocking to see. (BTW, I think billing the family for the bullet was a Chinese thing, not Russian.)
I agree the execution itself is more humane, but the legal processes leading up to it are a different story.
Yeah, that all sounds like it would fit with Martha having an affair with a married man. Stan finding her marriage certificate or photos of Clark would be very, bad though.
I said upthread that the Nina subplot was a drag on the story these days. Now I feel vaguely guilty.
In Soviet Russia, story is drag on Nina.
I was thinking something different. I thought it was actually a little cruel and sadistic to go through the whole spiel and say “denied! Your execution will take place shortly.” Why did they bother doing that and give her the moment to panic and become afraid, rather than just simply shoot her in the back of the head when she was still confused and didn’t know what was going on?
Nina’s death was inevitable. This is simply NOT the show that would allow for a last-minute startling reprieve and let her escape. There was just no other way out for her character, but yeah…I was still shocked and stunned by that final scene.
Right up until that scene, I was thinking Martha’s monologue on her ‘date’ was the saddest thing this show had ever done. Poor, poor Martha. “He’s married” (which is closer to the truth than she even knows) “there are no illusions…it’s not like I’m putting on a wig and sneaking into a hotel room…”
If any character can make it out of this alive, I’d like it to be Martha – but after this episode, I am not counting on that. (Yeah, I’d like to see Philip & Elizabeth and their kids get away…but I’ve never imagined that happening.)
I think there is at least some commentary in there on the dehumanising elements of bureaucracy and the rigid adherence to the rules that the Communist system required from the people actually operating it. It’s been decided that this is how executions are to happen, so they do it that way and there’s no brook for argument. Clean, efficient and swift - but also pretty dehumanising and bleak. All the little details of that scene - the mop in the corner, post the execution the coroner doing a quick check of the body and filling in his form, the systematic disposal of the body - show that this is routine.
Playing the English Literature undergrad, I think there is a mild undercurrent of “do stuff based on your emotions for people you care about and bad things happen” running through this series, definitely on the Soviet side. Some examples: Back in S1, some of the most difficult moments for the continued running of the operations between Phillip and Elizabeth are where their marriage becomes more real and emotional. Jared in Season 2 wants to impress and ultimately be with his handler and winds up killing his family. The minute Nina stops thinking about her own survival and decides to try and help Baklanov contact his child, she’s doomed. It’s interesting that the show-runner interviews are like - she grew as a person and wanted to help him - whereas a different view, that she was alive as long as she was working Baklanov for the system and that “personal growth” was not going to keep her useful to the Soviets, is equally valid I think. The Soviet system in this series is not about emotion - it’s all about “the greater good” and those that keep their eye on that seem to do best, at least from the point of view of survival. Indeed, one could argue that this was one of Elizabeth’s strengths in particular in the early going. Now, she’s not necessarily willing to put family all the way first - she’s not going to be defecting - but she’s at least willing to countenance Phillip taking the children and running to the FBI/CIA if the worst happens to her.
We’re now at a point where Phillip and Elizabeth are making operational decisions based on the best interests of someone they care about - Paige. My view of this series suggests this is a Bad Thing, plus the opening 4 episodes of this season have been so atmospherically oppressive, I cannot see a way that there are not more key characters ready for the morgue before S4 is done - unless of course it would be worse for them to be alive and living with the consequences of their actions.
No, you’re right. It was an annoying distraction from the main story line and was going nowhere. The only possible outcome I see from it is that perhaps her death will cause Oleg to either defect or become a double agent. If that happens, it’s deep shit for our heroes.
I can see that happening. Stan had him half recruited last year when he “outed” the fake defector. Add losing a brother and a lover to the Soviet system, Oleg is primed to “cross over”.