The Americans

Well. Let’s just say that last week’s table setting worked wonderfully for this week’s delicious meal. Noah Emmerich – otherwise known as the actor behind our friend Stan Beeman – directed this episode, and while he was likely aided by stellar editing and writing, this is a fantastic episode to claim as anyone’s first time in the foldable director’s chair. Let’s dive in.

Three main plot threads weave their way throughout “Walter Taffet,” the main one/the episode title referring to the new man in charge of ferreting out Martha’s secret. Remember that pen she put in Gaad’s office way way back in season one? The very reason that she was even selected as “Clark’s” fake wife? In a spectacular scene, the bug’s discovered and Martha immediately enters into a scrunched-face state of intense panic. Do they know it was her? What could happen to her? Will this throw her marriage, such that it is, into jeopardy even if she’s never found out? The scenes of her in the bathroom, panicking at every heavy footfall, or at her desk with the metal detector poised over her bag, or even back at her apartment, the waves of fear still not subsiding. Excellent work by everyone involved. 

The battle for Paige’s soul continues, with Elizabeth gaining the upper hand with her story of civil rights activism and her increasing levels of honesty. “Am I going to come back home and Paige will already know about us?” Phillip asks Elizabeth, terrified at the thought that he won’t even get the opportunity to explain things himself if he has to. Couples have arguments all the time, especially about raising children, but something of this magnititude could rip a family apart. It won’t happen here (even if they ended up hating each other they would have to stay together for the sake of their jobs) but this isn’t a problem that’s going to go away, no matter how earnestly they make up at night.

The Americans may be about spies and secrets and sex and even about parenthood, but the heart of the show lies in those quiet moments, in the early morning, with Phillip and Elizabeth lying in bed, arms around each other. Elizabeth apologizing for withholding her trip with Paige, and then Phillip decided to tell the truth about his other son. There’s an uncomfortable silence immediately afterwards, as Phillip wonders how Elizabeth will respond and she stays still. Then she turns over and the two stare at each other and talk quietly as the camera recedes, letting them have their moment away from even our eyes.

Secrets continue to spill out throughout “Walter Taffet,” continuing with a relatively minor scene of Stan and his son, in which he gets one step closer to letting us know what really happened in his undercover life as a white supremacist. He managed to connect just a bit with his son by telling the truth, even if it wasn’t all of the truth, about how scared he was in his undercover life. It’s moments of honesty, of opening up to another person about our weaknesses and fears that connects people. Stan, Elizabeth, Phillip … their lives are built on the foundation of secrets. Learning to let some go, to expose their weaknesses to others — it’s the only way they’re going to connect.

Finally, the episode ends with an utterly breathtaking coda that calls to mind the series’ pilot via kidnapping to the sound of an epic ’80s tune. This time it’s Fleetwood Mac playing over Phillip and Elizabeth (decked out in excellent “I’m so edgy and artsy” wigs) nabbing two South African would-be-bombers.

The ratcheting intensity of the song, the tense glances through the window, the subtle nods and static bursts, all culminating in Elizabeth’s ruthless execution of an innocent bystander and Phillips scuffle with the target they eventually toss into a van and drive away with. We’re left a bit out of breath, wondering how they could have succeeded so effortlessly in such a brief moment, especially as the episode seemed like it could have ended with Phillip and Elizabeth in bed and still felt satisfying. B

ut now the season’s remaining six episodes look like they’re going to fall in six quick bursts of action and intrigue. There are so many unresolved plots, many of which will likely reach a head this season, many of which won’t. What will happen with the South Africans? Will Martha be found out? What will come of her, her marriage, and her gun? What about Phillip and Kimmy? Nina? Zinaida? Phillip’s son? What awkward thing with Henry say at the dinner table next? And most importantly, what will come of Paige and her future? The Americans has to address that fully this season; the laws of drama and narrative make it incredibly unlikely that they’ll keep it a dangling threat. Maybe she doesn’t find out, but Phillip and Elizabeth would have to decide together that that’s what they want. 

Tidbits

  • Seeing Phillip and Elizabeth in reddish wigs acting the happy new couple was even more painful when we see how they act after pulling into the garage back home. Sure, they eventually made up, but it was still difficult.
  • I’m impressed and surprised – though by now I shouldn’t be – by how well the Soviets prepared for Martha’s eventual request to see “Clark’s apartment.” It really looks like somewhere he’d live, complete with photos and a bottle of wine.
  • Can Elizabeth keep her “kidnapping South Africans” wig on for more episodes because it somehow makes her even more badass.