Moral ambiguity is a staple of The Americans, a theme that snakes its way through every character interaction and every event. Coming off the heels of a masterpiece such as “Martial Eagle”, the show continues to explore that idea, crafting a fairly compelling episode in “Yousaf” as we head into the season’s endgame.
“There is grace and forgiveness for you.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I do.”
Hiding is an essential aspect of being a spy, but sometimes, we can only hide for so long. In “Martial Eagle”, arguably the best episode this series has ever produced, our spies continue to become undone, with Philip Jennings, in particular, affected the most.
“It’s nicer. It’s easier. It’s not better.”
Last season, one of the major character questions was whether Philip Jennings was coming around to the American way of life, seduced by the glamor and the peaceful life and the culture. That question arises again in “New Car”, which is an excellent installment in an increasingly excellent sophomore season.
“You are a very good liar, Nina Sergeevna.”
The Cold War resulted from a clash of ideals, but it was also very much a war of technological advancements; that idea is prevalent in “Arpanet”, an intriguing and thrilling episode about the relationships between humans and technology.
Humans feel emotion.
Even the most cold-hearted, calculating, and intelligent spy will feel emotions; it’s all a matter of how much they let those emotions affect their jobs. The better you are at understanding and manipulating them, the better you’ll be at carrying yourself when you’re sent out into the real world. What happens, though, when those emotions take over?
I don’t remember much of my past, but what I do remember is wrapped up in nice, neat memories, little packages of bliss or pain that serve as a reminder of where I came from. It’s the same with Philip Jennings, who spends this fantastic hour of television struggling with himself, wanting to grasp onto a past he feels like he’s lost.
When you play a part, it’s only natural that you relate to it and get caught up in the words and the actions and the beliefs, perhaps actually taking on some of those traits you’ve been asked to act out. Oftentimes, the person you play is merely an extension of yourself, the other side to a curtain you attempt to open and shut.
Elizabeth Jennings is such an interesting character.
First off, Keri Russell is brilliant, and second off, there’s a compelling nuance to her character that endears her to me; she’s the crowbar wielding badass at one moment and a protective mother at another, but what happens when her two worlds clash?
“We’ll get used to it, like we got used to everything else.”
The Jennings family has been through a lot recently. Last week, Philip and Elizabeth saw the bodies of a murdered family with ties to their own, and that traumatic event has compounded upon their paranoia. There’s an unsettling feeling permeating this second hour, a slower, yet still compelling episode with nice character work.
The wigs are back!
In all seriousness, though…the wigs are back. In fact, Fields and Weisberg kick season 2 off with a sequence in which Philip kills a few people–innocent bystander included–gets his wig ripped off, and seems shaken as he drives away. This is the mark of a man who’s become increasingly hardened by the job, and the rest of the episode deals with who exactly our characters are.
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