Tag Archives: Americans FX

WTA 119- Season 6 Episode 7 Harvest

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You knew we had to have at least one more gruesome spy thing, didn’t you? Well we sure did this week, along with Stan’s spidey-sense kicking in, Dennis’s frustration, and Elizabeth remaining winless this season! At least Philip was there to prevent an even worse outcome. Plus: Harvest meets the scythe and Marilyn meets the axe! All this and Erica, Henry and Paige too in The Americans Season 6 Episode 7 “Harvest”, which aired May 9, 2018. It was written by newcomer Sarah Nolen and directed by Stefan Schwartz.

This is Episode 119 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 120.

A couple of intriguing news items are out there this week. We start of with Vulture going on the set of the game-changing episode, ‘Harvest’ and giving us background on writer Sarah Nolen. We follow that with Mic’s think piece about the final season of ‘The Americans’ being all about the death of ideologies.

This episode begins with Philip revealing to Stan…that the business is tanking. Stan gets a bro hug and arousing suspicion. Stan drive Henry to get back to school and the conversation sets his spidey-sense to max! Philip arrives in Chicago to help Elizabeth with the extraction of Harvest. In a sequence reminiscent of Season 1, they attempt the move and it ends with resounding failure and death all around them. Dennis and Stan react to the Chicago mayhem. After dealing with the aftermath, Philip and Elizabeth head home. Which Stan did first. Erica later pushes Elizabeth to understand…something. Elizabeth then pushes Paige to commit. And Philip remembers his wedding to Elizabeth.

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 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.

WTA 112- Feedback for Urban Transport Planning

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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!

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 111- Season 6 Episode 3 Urban Transport Planning

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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

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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

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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 103- Seasons 1-3 Roundtable!

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Tovarischi! We are closing in on the debut of the final season of The Americans! So we started a rewatch of the entire series and asked some of our long-term audio contributors to help us break down Seasons 1-3! Joining us this time are our friends and co-hosts Kathleen (aka alternakat), Roland, & Chris who help us go through themes. characters and major plot points from the first three seasons of our favorite show!

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 98- Season 5 Episode 13 The Soviet Division

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What a gripping ending to the penultimate season of The Americans! We start out with a bloody mess, get a beautiful moment in Moscow, check in with many of our characters, and wind up ever more tortured with Philip and Elizabeth and an uncertain future! This was all in Season 5 Episode 13 “The Soviet Division” which aired May 30, 2017. It was written by the showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, and was directed by Chris Long.

This is Episode 98 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 99.

We start the news via ‎field reporter Don Trepczyk with the exciting announcement in Variety that Keri Russell received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Then NBC has a cool and revealing interview with Tuan aka Ivan Mok who draws inspiration from family history. We wind up in the UK with The Guardian’s look at secrets, lies, the new cold war and how The Americans has become truly topical TV!

Then it’s time to get into the thrilling finale! Picking up right after last week, Philip, Elizabeth and Tuan meet the Morozovs outside their house and Pasha…has cut himself! He is rushed to the hospital and will recover. Evgenhiya is going to take him back to Moscow, without Alexei, who says he will never go back. Philip and Elizabeth talk with Tuan, and he chastises their petty bourgeois concerns. Martha takes a stroll with Volody. He shows her a little orphan, Olya, whom Gabriel found for her, maybe to adopt! Where is Oleg? Renee has a convenient excuse to move in with Stan, who tells her he wants to change jobs at the FBI – and she doesn’t want him to! Gennadi passes a polygraph with flying colors! Henry gets into St. Edward’s then Philip tells him tough cookies bub! You are staying home! Paige says goodbye yellow brick road to the Tims. She later spars with Elizabeth who belts her but good! Philip sees Kimmy for maybe the last time…until he learns Daddy Breland is the new head of the CIA’s Soviet Division! He contemplates tossing the tape that reveals this but doesn’t. He apologizes to Paige about her life, and then takes a walk with Elizabeth. He shares the tape contents, and they discuss what to do. Elizabeth says she can’t do this anymore, that she is making him stay here. And it just keeps getting worse for him and she doesn’t want to see him like this anymore. And scene! Only 10 long months to go until we find out what’s next!

WTA 93- Joe Weisberg & Joel Fields Interview

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We did it! We obtained a bigger interview than either the KGB or FBI could muster – The Americans showrunners Joe Weisberg & Joel Fields! They join us live via satellite to discuss many aspects of the show, cagily evade any hint of spoilers, and answer many listener questions! Plus, we ask them a question they haven’t heard before!

WTA 88- Feedback for Immersion

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Claudia? Oh no! Oh yes! Our favorite (haha!) handler is back and so are we, talking about The Americans Season 5 Episode 8 “Immersion” which aired April 25, 2017. It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and was directed by Kevin Bray.

This is Episode 88 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 87 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

There’s some cool history and tech for you this week! We have to handle Directorate K busting in on us while we we’re watching the lead officer in our local GRU. To relax after a terse confrontation, we play some Pitstop which is a true fave of all the boys in SIS-1. Then since we are starving we head over to Armand’s Pizza while listening to Peter Gabriel on our Compact Cassette in the dash! Then there are awesome new getups again with nice hair and more of your feedback than ever!