Monthly Archives: March 2017

WTA 79- Season 5 Episode 4 What’s the Matter with Kansas?

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Does anyone know “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” We do, now that we have seen that very episode of The Americans! It’s Season 5 Episode 4 and it aired March 28, 2017! This episode was written by Gwyneth Horder-Payton and directed by Peter Ackerman.

This is Episode 79 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 80.

It’s easy to do the news when our listeners provide it for us! First up from Greg is Paste revealing how The Americans became the best show on television. Then both @apexbuddha and James sent us a cool story from Foreign Policy that offers up the next must-watch TV show – Russia’s version of The Americans!

Then we get into an amazing episode, which begins with Gabriel meeting with Philip and Elizabeth and offering two new targets as sources – both of whom live in Topeka, KS. He insists they take the lead in spite of their protestations. Philip and Elizabeth make contact with their targets and begin the honeypot process. Henry is missing. Again! The Tims return and need Paige to babysit their infant. She then spies on them, finding Pastor Tim’s diary. She tells Elizabeth who insists she stop spying on the Tims. Paige is defiant. In Moscow, Oleg and his new interrogator partner Ruslan cajole Ekaterina into giving up the name of her contact at the brava. They follow leads and the Colonel tells them to use blackmail against the target – his son is in Afghanistan. Oleg protests. He tells his mother that people are trying to get him to do things that could land him in jail. She later reveals her own incarceration for 5 years and that she did whatever it took to survive. Misha is smuggled out of Yugoslavia and makes it to JFK Airport in New York City.

Remember that we do love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please keep sending them in! 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 78- Feedback for The Midges

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Anyone got a midge-swatter? We need one this week for The Americans Season 5 Episode 3 “The Midges” that aired March 21, 2017! It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Stefan Schwartz.

This is Episode 78 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 77 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

Don’t let our history and tech segments bug you! We wouldn’t want to break your back! In history we spy on the OBKhSS and catch them listening to Roxy Music’s “More Than This” and then making out to Alabama’s “Old Flame”. We then fly on over to the Amtorg Trading Corporation offices on a cool Aeroflot airliner and freak out when we are attacked by some nasty flying sitodiplosis mosellana creatures! Thank goodness we have your amazing feedback while we recover from the aerial onslaught!

And we do love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please keep sending 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 or Stitcher!

WTA 77- Season 5 Episode 3 The Midges

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This is Episode 77 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 78.

Two news items stand out this week! KPCC has a cool interview with the J’s and reveal that they are vowing not to put a young KGB-era Putin in the series! Then The Washington Post takes a look and finds that the insect warfare on ‘The Americans’ isn’t all that outlandish!

Then it’s time for the show! It’s just another run of the mill day in Jennings world. The Eckerts go bowling with their new besties, the Morozovs and we hear more about terrible Soviet Union. Tuan continues being a little whiner and ticks off Elizabeth. Matthew shows genuine concern for Paige, who tests her new technique to lie to him about how she is feeling and finds it effective. Oleg digs into his investigation on corruption in the Soviet food world, and is later confronted by the CIA. He hears a tape of a conversation with Stan implicating him as a traitor. Miscah makes it to a mule in Yugoslavia who takes money from him menacingly. Gabriel tells Philip and Elizabeth that there are bugs in a lab in Oklahoma City that they need to investigate. They go to Oklahoma, have cowboy sex, and then hit the lab. They meet lab supervisor Randy Chilton, whom they scare and then promptly kill. Philip wonders if they should tell Paige.

Oh, and by the way. MARTHA IN A SUPERMARKET!

WTA 76- Feedback for Pests

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What sort of creatures could be bugging Philip and Elizabeth and Soviet grain? We get a tease in this week’s The Americans Season 5 Episode 2 “Pests” that aired March 14, 2017! It was written by showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg and directed by Chris Long.

This is Episode 76 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 75 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

We have history and crackpot theories combined this week! We start with the US Department of Agriculture and its evolution, then we drive along with Elizabeth to St. Clair County, Illinois. Our theory is only 35 miles away…at Monsanto! Then we retreat to the hothouse and the old school and pick the old-school tech from Master Lock, and after all that we must use Emotional Self-Regulation to maintain control! Then we get some awe-inspiring theories and feedback from our tovarischi!

WTA 75- Season 5 Episode 2 Pests

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This is Episode 75 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 76.

We have a couple of cool news features for you this week! First up is one from Thrillist revealing the 9 most shocking sex scenes from The Americans. Then we have a cool visual article in Adweek that shows The Americans has the best key art of any TV show!

Then we get right into the darkness of “Pests.” Immediately following the shocking end to last week’s episode, Philip and Elizabeth bring in the virus-containing tissue cut from William’s body to Gabriel and brief him on the end of Hans. Gabriel indicates that the Centre is up in arms about grain shipments from America coming to the USSR and worries about its contamination. Paige sleeps in the closet. In Moscow, Oleg learns from the Colonel that high ranking officials are getting food that others cannot. Only their part of the KGB is untouched by corruption. As Oleg leaves work, he is clearly being tailed walking through Moscow. He is later spoken to by a CIA operative who demands a meeting, leaving him with a map and time to meet on March 9th. Stan has a very busy time. He asks out Renee who likes him and reminds him of Philip. He learns from the CIA that Oleg is safe in Moscow, then the CIA tries to get him to assist them in turning Oleg. He refuses and later asks the Assistant Attorney General for help for Oleg, and the AAG declines to do so. Elizabeth follows Morozov to Illinois and finds a greenhouse where wheat is infested with bugs. The Eckerts and son Tuan have a fun-filled dinner with the Morozovs at a Bennigan’s. Paige and Matthew continue to get close, and have a tender moment. Philip and Elizabeth begin training Paige to control her emotions.

WTA 74- Feedback for Amber Waves

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At last we have new episodes of The Americans! Season 5 has begun and what a terrific debut! Hear all about it as we dive into Season 1 Episode 1 “Amber Waves” that aired March 7, 2017. It was written by showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg and directed by Chris Long.

This is Episode 74 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 73 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

We rock on with history and tech this week, starting with Devo and their smash “That’s Good”, then tune in the 1984 Winter Olympics with Philip and Elizabeth. We then take a break with John Irving’s The Hotel New Hampshire, and then we spy a bit on the goings on at the PGU inside the KGB! The tech of sweetness is paramount for Lipton Ice Tea which in 1984 is powered with Nutrasweet! Then y’all take the stage with terrific thoughts in our feedback segment!

WTA 73- Season 5 Episode 1 Amber Waves

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:42 — 33.2MB)

This is Episode 73 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 74.

Now that Russia has become such a big deal in the news in the real world, what better time to examine how things have evolved? Slate shows us Spies Then vs. Spies Now and How the Evolution of Technology Changed Espionage. Then The J’s talk with NPR On Writing the Cold War-Era Drama Amid New Russian Relations!

We begin the episode with some high schoolers who are not Americans, Tuan and Pasha. We learn that Tuan is a Vietnamese spy working with Philip and Elizabeth’s newest cover, as airline pilot and stewardess the Eckerts. Through Tuan they meet with Morozovs, defectors from Russia who are connected to the Agriculture Ministry. Oleg returns to Moscow and begins his new job with an investigative branch of the KGB that will be looking into corruption in agriculture. Stan and Philip talk girls, while Elizabeth teaches Paige rudimentary self-defense. Henry was exposed to radiation that made him a monster. Gabe and Claudia take a moment. Gabe give Philip and Elizabeth one last encounter with poor William – exhumation for the Lassa virus in his body. In an extraordinary sequence, Philip and Elizabeth and goons including poor Hans sneak into Fort Detrick and silently dig up the body. Hans falls into the hole, cuts his hand where William cut his own, and is exposed to the virus. He says he’s fine. Elizabeth shoots him!

WTA 72- Kelly AuCoin Interview!

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It’s time! Time for the return of The Americans, and that means time for our friend Kelly AuCoin to officially ring in Season 5 with us! Kelly joins us via satellite from NYC and lets us know all about his latest projects, and then he deftly dodges all our questions about what to expect for Pastor Tim and Alice this season! Plus he takes on your questions too!

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 71- Season 5 Precap with Alternakat!

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It’s less than a week away – Season 5 of The Americans! After breaking down the episodes from Season 4, it’s time to pull out our crystal ball and precap what could be coming this year! And who better to join our speculations and discussion than our good friend Kathleen, aka Alternakat! We dig deep into all our characters, advance crackpot theories, and get excited about next week. Plus, Kathleen reveals “Kathleen’s Awesome 1984 Mixtape” featuring the following smash hits:

Come Back and Stay – Paul Young

Love is a Stranger – Eurythmics

Wrapped Around Your Finger – The Police

Leave It – Yes

New Year’s Day – U2

One Thing Leads to Another – The Fixx

Burning Down the House – Talking Heads

Let’s Dance – David Bowie

Mama – Genesis

Union of the Snake – Duran Duran

We also have a couple of news items! Vogue checks out the style of Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys at the Premiere of The Americans, while NPR talks with ‘The Americans’ showrunners on writing the Cold War-Era drama amid our new Russian relations!

WTA 70- The Americans Season 4 Review

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At long last tovarischi, the return of The Americans is upon us! And you know we have to go back to all that happened last season to be ready for the mayhem to come! We break down each and every episode of Season 4 and offer our thoughts about what we have seen and what it all means!

Plus we have a wee bit of news this week for you, starting with a listing of many of the awards that the show was up for, plus the wins! Then we have Deadline’s great interview with Keri Russell & Matthew Rhys on ‘The Americans’ Emmy-nominated 4th season, followed by Vulture’s piece on The Americans showrunners on real-life Russian spying, Donald Trump, and the new season, and we close with The Seattle Post Intelligencer revealing that The Americans’ producers love those Russian hacking jokes as much as you do.