dex14

Decker

Perfect title for the episode that airs right before the Final Four.

Osiris3657

Mischa just reached NYC, so it shouldn't be more than a couple episodes before he meets Phillip. I admire Stan for putting his freedom on the line for Oleg.

Decker

The look that Phillip and Elizabeth give after Gabriel tell them "...And they're both Single!"

mcnabb

I was surprised how Gabriel treated them in that scene, as he almost got out the violin and started playing, "Cry Me A River."

I guess the big question with this season is: When does Paige blow their cover, because she is treading on thin ice right now and probably will do something stupid.

I'm also trying to guess how they are going to weave Henry into the family business, because he is still clueless as to what is going on. Maybe when Mischa shows up and they have to tell him everything?

BearFan

I snagged the book Jack Barsky – Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America that just came out ... worth checking out for fans of the show. He is an East German who was recruited by the KGB to be a deep cover spy in the US ... interesting reading and it looks like he has a cameo in an upcoming episode of The Americans later this year.

Damfino

Thanks for the tip. Sounds like a great read.

Also of note is a German TV series called "Deutschland 83" about an East German spy working undercover in West Germany in 1983.

mcnabb

This week's podcast had the creator of the show talking about the relationship with Phillip and Elizabeth and why they are wary of this mission. He said their marriage is the strongest it's ever been so they are not too keen on missions where they essentially have to pimp themselves out anymore.

He said a theme of this season is the 3 children that are/will be waying on their lives right now each in a different way: Paige, Twan and eventually Mischa making his way to America.

BearFan

Deutschland 83 is an excellent show, I really enjoyed it. From what I read they were planning on doing a Deutschland 86 and 89, not sure it is a sure thing one or both of those will happen .. but I hope they do.

Damfino

Deutschland 86 is in production.

Damfino

Uh, what about Henry? Addicted to video games and failing math?

BearFan

Where is Henry? Playing with Bobby from Mad Men?

Decker

Henry appeared in this episode -- he even had a few lines!
Looks like a scholarship to Georgetown as a Power Forward is probably in his future.

mcnabb

It's funny but I can totally relate to Henry because I am roughly the same age as him, and being a youngest sibling, I was just as clueless to everything going on at that time. Heck, my parents could have been spies and it would have went right over my head. The only thing I cared about in 1984 was Baseball, Intellivision, Star Wars and Girls.

Decker

Big picture thought : I have spent more time thinking and obsessing about this show's end point than any I have ever watched. I knew that The Sopranos and Breaking Bad had to end a certain way. There couldn't be a happy ending for such anti-heroes. I knew there would have to be some melancholy to the end of Mad Men - that Don Draper would have to face some sort of reckoning.
Here? I don't know. Phillip and Elizabeth are bad people, they have done many terrible things. Still I don't root for their downfall and worry about what it means for their kids. And I know that when Stan (as genuinely likable and good a guy as there is on TV today) finds out the truth, it will be devastating. Honestly, I have no idea how this show will end in 20 or so more episodes and I'm not sure I really want to find out. Can't we just keep it going on like this cat-and-mouse game? :P

BearFan

I really see 3 ways the show could end (pure speculation on my part)

1) They defect
2) They get caught and either end up in jail or defect
3) The do not get caught and the Cold War ends .. and they go on being "Americans" minus the spy stuff

Decker

I thought about way 3) but the thing is -- the wall didn't even fall until November 1989 and we're only in early 1984 now. Can't see them jumping that far ahead in time in the short time remaining.

BearFan

Yeah .. it would be a big time jump .. and it would even be after 1989, because the USSR was around until late 1991

Raul3

Great to see Henry back. Was that the same actor, just grown up?

About the ending, they are anti heroes. They have done bad things, but Stan has done his share of bad things too, so he may be able to understand. Specially if something bad happens to Oleg. Because he will think that was his fault.