Monthly Archives: March 2016

WTA 40- Season 4 Episode 2 Pastor Tim

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:30 — 46.8MB)

Holy cats is The Americans is off to an amazing start! The tension is unbearable in Season 4 Episode 2 entitled “Pastor Tim”, which aired March 23, 2016, was written by executive producers Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg, and directed by Chris Long!

Two really cool news items start the show this week. First up is a thoughtful piece from Refinery29 with the opinion that The Americans is making an important point about rape. Next we have The New York Times with Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields discussing ‘The Americans,’ Ronald Reagan and Pastor Tim.

We get into our episode discussion from the title and presence or lack thereof of Pastor Tim, two deaths that affect Elizabeth and Oleg, the developing relationship between Elizabeth and Philip, and Paige’s unexpected turn with Elizabeth. Then we have some tidbits from history including the organization CISPES, the cool 80s tune Tainted Love by the synth-pop band Soft Cell, and the city of Vladivostok. In tech of yesteryear we have the invention of the Cooler! Finally it’s on to your feedback about all the craziness this week!

We love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please send them to us! You can email text or audio feedback to watchingtheamericans@gmail.com or signal us (we have replaced the operator!) at 919-907-0542. Follow us on Twitter @WatchAmericans. Please like us on our Facebook page Watching The Americans. And if you do enjoy the show, kindly rate us or better yet rate and review us in iTunes!

WTA 39- Season 4 Episode 1 Glanders

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:46 — 41.9MB)

At long last, Season 4 of the best show on television aka “The Americans” is here! It’s an incredible debut entitled “Glanders”, it aired March 16, 2016, was written by executive producers Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg, and was directed by Thomas Schlamme!

We have a couple of great news items to begin this week! First up is The WaPo confirming that yes, ‘The Americans’ is still the best drama on television, followed by Variety talking to co-showrunner Joel Fields about Martha, Stan and Planning a series finale. Then we get into our episode recap and discussion, discussing the introduction of biowarfare, Martha and Clark, the new illegal William, and the confrontation between Stan and Philip. In our history segment we go over the disease Glanders and the KGB’s mysterious Department 12, then in tech we delve into the ins and outs of biological warfare. We wind up the week with lots of terrific feedback!

WTA 38- Kelly AuCoin Season 4 Pregame Interview!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:06 — 28.8MB)

With only days to go until the debut of “The Americans” fourth season, we were able through illegals’ means to “invite” Kelly AuCoin, aka “Pastor Tim” to chat with us about the upcoming season! Kelly talks about working on the new episodes, attending the gala premiere party, and reveals what little he can without being sent to join Anton Baklanov in the Gulag! And it’s all spoiler-free!

WTA 37- The Americans Season 3 in Review Part 2

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:19 — 42.6MB)

It’s almost time for the start of another amazing season of the best show on TV, “The Americans”! And as we love to do each year, we take time to break down every episode of Season 3 to get our minds in the game! Plus we have a treat to up the ante – our good friend Kathleen Lewis aka Alternakat joins the mayhem! There was so much material to go over we have split this into two parts!

This is the second of two parts, with our discussion diving deep into Episodes 7-13 of Season 3. We break down key events of each episode, point out themes that grew during the season, and of course in these early shows we have to talk about the bone-crunching tooth-cracking action! Plus, we take a quick look at the Season 4 teaser trailer!

WTA 36- The Americans Season 3 in Review Part 1

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:48 — 39.2MB)

To begin we have two quick news items. We start with an interesting piece in Slate calling Season 4 a thriller without the thrills, then we move to Inverse which offers us a concise guide of everything you need to remember about ‘The Americans’ before Season 4.

Of course, we think there is something to be said for not being quite so concise, and our discussion dives deep into Episodes 1-6 of Season 3. We break down key events of each episode, point out themes that grew during the season, and of course in these early shows we have to talk about the bone-crunching tooth-cracking action!

Come back later this week for Part II of our takedown of Season 3 in our Episode 36!