The Americans: Season Two (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

The new season starts tomorrow at 10 PM.

 

[Josh Dial]

I can't wait: I really enjoyed the first season.

 

[DaveF]

I'm there like a Care Bear!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Thanks for the heads up. I thought it was going to be later in the year. Definitely being added to the DVR season pass.

- Walter.

 

[Joe_H]

Maybe I just can't remember other times, but I'm pretty sure that's the first time I ever saw THAT sexual act depicted on TV. Also, after everyone complaining about the wigs last season, I loved that the first scene had his ripped off.

 

[DaveF]

A strong start. They're ratcheting the tension, introducing the kids to the danger in a new way. Nina is going to be manipulating Stan to get him to fall in love, while trying no to get in far deeper than she already is. And the Embassy has a new idiot placed by a powerful father...who I presume will turn out to be too competent for his own good.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I have to admit that the show really surprised me with the fate of the other family. I honestly did not see that coming; and thought the show was introducing another set of cameo players for the season. Of course, the question remains who was responsible? Was it tied to Phillip's mission at the beginning of the episode, or something else?

I enjoyed how the show contrasted the reactions from the two women in Stan's life to a viewing of The French Lieutenant's Woman. (I've never seen the film, so maybe there is another layer of meaning that I am missing.)

Agree with Dave, a really strong start for the new season.

- Walter.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Love this show!

Annoyed as to why the daughter should have these deep and persistant suspicions, but other than that..

LOVE that they have actors that can actually speak Russian! So annoying to hear it butchered..

 

[Nathan_F]

The bachelor party friend who had a "plumbing business, a very successful plumbing business..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Plumbers Anyone?

 

[DaveF]

It is a great season so far. The first season was anchored emotionally by having Stan and Phillip 's lives in parallel. Their marriages and jobs were waxing and waning in sync.The second season, remarkable, has deftly taken a new direction. Stan's is trying to escape his marriage and personal problem, with his "relationship" with Nina. In contrast, Philip has overcome most of the problems with Elizabeth, and the focus is more on fear of losing her to her fears and also protecting his kids. I've been surprised all along the way: especially with the machinations of the Russian embassy. The new fellow working the X (?) directorate has a great story, and getting better as in entertwines with Nina's. It's also been a very sad show. The deaths in Season 1 were brutal and frightening. This season, I feel they are sadder, more senseless. The worst was the Nicaragua radical killing her young boyfriend. But in the context of the show, it was a superb scene. What I'm most curious about are two aspects: short term, what's the plan for Phlip's fake marriage with the FBI secretary? Long term, as in series finale, what is the plan for the kids? This is the great self-deceit in the entire soviet embedded agent plan. The kids are Americans. To return them to the Motherland will be like re-patriating the Jewish scientist. It will destroy what the parents hold most dear. I look forward to finding out.

 

[DaveF]

The Americans remains my second favorite show, after The Good Wife.

Philips interaction with Pastor Tim was wild. I don't know that I've seen that religious interaction on TV before. And true to their characters, Philip understands when he's gone too far and wants to make amends with Paige. But Elizabeth further entrenches, believing her daughter must be ready to face the true Soviet hardships of life that she faced as a young woman.

 

[Quentin]

So much goes on in this show that I find it hard to post/discuss. All the layers at work - Beeman being interviewed by the kid of spies about being a hero as his marriage is collapsing and he's about to face a choice to betray his country. Man, it's brutal.

I think he's going to turn. I think Nina is all he has left and he will do whatever he has to do to 'save' her. Little does he know, he is not saving her, nor is she in love with him...or is she?

I thought the whole story about her being sent back to Russia was BS - a plant that Arkady knew would get back to Nina and panic her enough to make her 'performance' to Stan work. Like I said...layers.

 

[ScottH]

Man, this show really knows how to do season finales!

Was a little surprised Stan turned on Nina, but it was obviously the correct choice.

I started getting suspicious of Jared when he was meeting with Kate, but I was still surprised by it.

Pretty interesting twist with Paige at the end...leaves for numerous possibilities next season. I have to think if the "Center" knew Paige's personality well enough they would want nothing to do with her. The son would be a much better target.

 

[TravisR]

Pretty interesting twist with Paige at the end...leaves for numerous possibilities next season.

The best thing about twist like that is that it makes total sense and it's still a surprise.

 

[Quentin]

Spectacular end to an incredible season of TV. Really well done.

I thought the Jared twist was nice, but that kid sold it like there was no tomorrow. Even my daughter blurted out, "he's a good actor!" Timid Jared became something altogether different as he died and it was clear how he could be the person that killed his own family. So misguided and so used by the KGB.

I didn't think Stan turned on Nina so much as he didn't turn on his country. He couldn't. I enjoyed watching him struggle with it, but I'm glad he didn't turn traitor. I hope we see Nina again.

I really love how all the conflict in this show is so multi-layered. Phillip and Elizabeth want a better life for their daughter than they had...a very American principal in the '80's. Yet, Elizabeth is always the one that isn't as Americanized as Phillip - now curious that maybe Paige COULD make a good recruit. It will make for great tension next season.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Wow, good finale!

Pretty much all of it came as a total surprise, I must admit...

 

[DaveF]

Loved it. Great show.

I was hoping that Elizabeth was going to come around, that the danger to Paige was going to crack open her soul to the reality that her family plan is nothing but castrophic. But rather than deal with the cognitive dissonance, she internalized it, made it her own decision, and is ready to double-down and commit her daughter to the cause and Mother Russia.

Next season could be even better, building on these stories.