Monthly Archives: April 2018

WTA 115- Season 6 Episode 5 The Great Patriotic War

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This is probably the first time since the death of Nina that we were left completely speechless by an episode of The Americans! Things are really coming apart at the seams, in every sense in every relationship, from Gennadi and Sofia to Paige, Elizabeth and Philip. We got a surprising and bitter return of Tatiana confronting Oleg! And the turn in the Kimmy and Jim relationship was unbearable. Top that off with Philip making a stand and you have one of the most amazing episodes in six seasons! True horror and sadness are waiting for you in The Americans Season 6 Episode 5 “The Great Patriotic War” which aired April 25, 2018. It was written by Hilary Bettis and directed by Thomas Schlamme.

This is Episode 115 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 116.

We have a couple of great news items for you. First up Vulture examines the utter shock of Philip and Paige’s fight. Then it’s time for A/V Club to reveal how The Americans can be a great horror movie, too.

Then we start the show with food delivery man Stan who also serves as best friend and marriage counselor. Paige continues to defy Elizabeth and shows a feral side that takes care of a couple of grabby frat boys, much to Elizabeth and Philip’s dismay. Erica continues to sicken and tries to impart some wisdom to the brick wall known as Elizabeth. Tatiana returns to confront Oleg about his actions years before and he learns she is the reason why the GRU was after him and his family. Claudia teaches Paige about the Soviets in World War II aka The Great Patriotic War and she and Elizabeth demonstrate proper vodka techniques to Paige, resulting in an almost humanizing first-time lovemaking discussion. Elizabeth completes her mission regarding Gennadi with horrific collateral damage involving Sofia and Illya. Most sadly, Elizabeth plays a honeypot on Philip, and she pushes him one step too far to make him take an extreme action with Kimmy. After Philip learns what happened to Gennadi and Sofia, he takes a final stand to save Kimmy.

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 114- Feedback for Mr. and Mrs. Teacup

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:33 — 53.9MB)

We thought last week was the most depressing episode yet of The Americans. Well, we were wrong! Nothing goes right this week, from travel agency finances and fancy school payments to sensor heists to trips to watch a World Series Game 6! And Philip can’t even get a snuggle from Elizabeth! Sadness abounds in The Americans Season 6 Episode 4 “Mr. and Mrs. Teacup” which aired April 18, 2018. It was written by Peter Ackerman and directed by Roxann Dawson.

This is Episode 114 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 113 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

Baseball is one historic sport and we dive deep starting with Glenn’s fave (he has the jacket!) the Yakult Swallows who as far as we know never played at The Metrodome in Minneapolis! Then we review the epic Game 6 of the 1987 World Series while drinking a refreshing Pilsner Urquell before Barb clues us in on the nefarious doings of DC Mayor Marion Barry, who as we know loved playing NERF football! We then proclaim Paige the winner of Wigs of the Week (without a wig!) before you guys tell us what you thought!

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 113- Season 6 Episode 4 Mr. and Mrs. Teacup

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:08 — 39.4MB)

This is Episode 113 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 114.

Two choice items are in the news. Russian propaganda arm Russia Today offers up a look at Hollywood’s malicious propaganda that dehumanizes all Russians. Take it with a heaping helping of salt. Then we have a neat introspective piece in America Magazine on how “The Americans” highlights the dangers of consumerism.

We recommence right where we left off – in the park with that hot new couple, Oleg and Philip! Oleg then checks in with Igor using cool spy codes, and then Igor gives the real scoop to Arkady! Elizabeth tries to steal a sensor, and all she gets are 3 more dead guys! Dennis ropes Stan back into marriage counseling, and Henry learns Philip can’t pay! At least Philip can still line dance! Unfortunately that’s all he can do since Elizabeth is too tired to even cuddle. She does convince Erica and Glenn to check out a World Series Game 6 with stomach-upsetting results! To top it all off, Paige ignores Elizabeth and goes all honeypot on a mark!

WTA 112- Feedback for Urban Transport Planning

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:20 — 54.4MB)

Can Philip have a sadder face? He outdoes himself this week! Plus, Elizabeth gets to kill someone. Wha? And the Oleg-Stan bromance recommences! It awaits us in The Americans Season 6 Episode 3 “Urban Transport Planning” which aired April 11, 2018. It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Dan Attias.

This is Episode 112 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 111 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

We had to really cull all the history and tech again! We take a trip to The Forum to meet up with our pals authors Napoleon Hill and William Clement Stone who are coincidentally experts on The Strategic Defense Initiative! We get a hankering for some Russian taste treats and hit the kitchen to pile on the smetana, solyanka and zharkoye! Fortunately our buddy George Shultz helps us finish the grub while explaining why he is such a fan of Gorby and his plans for Perestroika and Glasnost, all while humming the tune of Dance Me to the End of Love” by Leonard Cohen! Then we put the leftovers down the garbage disposal, leaving no smorg to put away in the Handi-Wrap left on the kitchen counter! We then take a look at the Wigs of the Week before hearing more feedback than ever!

WTA 111- Season 6 Episode 3 Urban Transport Planning

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:17:41 — 44.8MB)

This is Episode 111 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 112.

We have three great items in the news this week. First up a terrific interview in Vulture with Noah Emmerich who says he won’t miss playing Stan! Next we have Paste’s opinion that The Americans is reaffirming its status as one of TV’s best portraits of marriage, and we wind up with Film School Rejects’ deep dive into the tragic score of The Americans.

Then it’s time for the Elizabeth body count to begin! (Spoiler: one tonight. That we know of!) Apart from Elizabeth mayhem, she and Philip have radically different approaches to dealing with Paige. Stan continues his new role as marriage counselor along with his political asylum offerings. We learn all about Russian cooking at Chez Claudia! The bromance we all wanted to see, Oleg and Stan, fires up! Bonus points for Haskard and his baseball jacket! And Henry checks in!

WTA 110- Feedback for Tchaikovsky

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:18 — 36.6MB)

The fast-paced opening of Season 6 shifts into a more deliberate and devolving state for poor overworked Elizabeth! Philip loses a client, and Paige gets musical! We also get Stan: marriage counselor? Plus: FBI Mailbot makes his triumphant return! It’s all in The Americans Season 6 Episode 2 “Tchaikovsky” which aired April 4, 2018. It was written by the showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, and was directed by Matthew Rhys.

This is Episode 110 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 109 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

History and tech have a musical flair this week as we meet Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky who just happens to be toying with our emotions in None but the Lonely Heart, which makes us want to START making sense with Talking Heads who are Speaking in Tongues about Slippery People. Then we visit the ever-dapper Don Regan who throws doubt on Reagan’s Alzheimer’s onset timing. Thank goodness we have a calculator to figure out how much to charge for a vintage lithium-based radiation sensor – they ain’t cheap! We then take a look at the Wigs of the Week: just before hearing all your terrific feedback!

WTA 109- Season 6 Episode 2 Tchaikovsky

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14:43 — 43.1MB)

This is Episode 109 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 110.

For your listening pleasure we have 2 fun stories for you in the TASS-approved news! First up is a great piece in Vulture talking with the folks on the show for their favorite disguises. Then

thanks to Maggie C on Facebook we found Uproxx’s ‘The Americans’ Anxiety Report: Paige And Mail Robot Are Not Gonna Be Okay! Too funny!

We then break down the brain-splashing craziness! The situation continues to unravel for Elizabeth this week. Her multiple operations are a drain on her. She is almost caught meeting with her State Department contact. She attempts to use an asset from 1981 who is resistant to helping her. Philip loses an important customer and Henry gives him advice. Stan and Dennis have to deal with the deterioration of Gennadi and Sofia’s marriage. FBI Mailbot! Paige gets a classical music lesson from Claudia. She later comes upon the shocking outcome of Elizabeth’s attempt to extract tech from her old asset.

WTA 108- Katie Irish Interview

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Season 6 of The Americans is finally here! What are the Jennings wearing? Katie Irish, Costume Designer for the show knows all! Katie returns to answer our questions about the costumes in Season 6, fashion in the 1980s, and more! And of course she answers your wardrobe questions!

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 107- Feedback For Dead Hand

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:29 — 39.0MB)

And so it begins…the last Season of The Americans! What a debut for us this week – we jump back to the future three years and enter a world familiar yet changed. We check in with the gang – Stan & Dennis, Oleg, and of course the Jennings. Plus we have surprising returns including Claudia and Arkady! And things aren’t looking so hot for Philip and Elizabeth who have diverged over the interim. It took a plus-sized show to set us up and we get one in The Americans Season 6 Episode 1 “Dead Hand” which aired March 28, 2018. It was written by the showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, and was directed by Chris Long.

This is Episode 107 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 106 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

With three years gone, there is so much history to cover, but first we take a moment to sneak into the theater and check out out the Oscar-winning Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears. That’s just before we head to DC and try to get a peak at the Washington Summit featuring Ronnie and Gorby! We wonder if Gorby can keep control of the Strategic Rocket Forces who have a tight grip on the Dead Hand, which is pretty much what Robert Bork will be playing soon thanks to the U.S. Senate. To calm us down, we turn up some Crowded House because we could swear we just saw a Soviet SS-20 outside the window! No doubt we will flee in our Camaro and alert the media with our awesome floor-mounted Car Phone! Then it’s time for more incredible feedback than we have ever gotten!

WTA 106- Season 6 Episode 1 Dead Hand

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:42 — 46.0MB)

This is Episode 106 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 107.

There were so many stories out there that it was really hard to choose the news! We head to the Big Apple via The New York Times’ terrific interview with the artist who helped with a new storyline. Next up we have the always reliable Uproxx and Alan Sepinwall’s take as the show begins its ominous endgame, and we have a cool chat in (again) The New York Times as we find out if Holly Taylor will inherit the family business?

Then we proceed to our usual annotated deep dive into the show. Elizabeth has been working alone for quite some time, and the strain is apparent. Paige has become a budding operative under Elizabeth’s and Claudia’s guidance. Philip is now very successful as a full-time civilian running the travel agency. And dancing! Henry has gone off to boarding school and is quite the hockey player. Arkady returns and convinces Oleg to help reform elements in the government, while Elizabeth is recruited to stop those same elements. And after five seasons of becoming closer, Philip and Elizabeth are now worlds apart.