Tag Archives: Americans Podcast

WTA 57- Feedback for Munchkins

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:30 — 38.1MB)

Well, we totally didn’t see much of this coming on The Americans this week! From Alice’s rage to poor Agent Gaad, we were absolutely flabbergasted! It’s Season 4 Episode 10, and it aired May 18, 2016. It was written by Peter Ackerman and directed by Steph Green.

This is Episode 57 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 56 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

Historic references abound this week! Make sure you look out for any Munchkins if you ever head to Siberia to visit Philip’s family in lovely Tobolsk, where you can probably find a copy of The Militant. It might have an article about the Eritrean Border to enlighten you. Once you get back to America you will be sure to get a Twinkie as you ponder Mr. Hanson’s words about Martha helping others during the Great Flood of 1951. Afterwards, head on home and use that All-American tech in the kitchen, making your dinner slowly with a Crock Pot and finish up with a nice cup of Maxim Freeze-Dried Coffee. And don’t miss Alice’s Wig of the Week! We then get to your awesome feedback and reactions to this garage door pounding episode!

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 56- Season 4 Episode 10 Munchkins

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:46:03 — 48.9MB)

This is Episode 56 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 57.

Newstime courtesy of Vremya this week! We begin with The New York Times’ interview with Richard Thomas on Agent Gaad’s Fate, John-Boy and Jimmy Carter, followed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s 5 reasons to give ‘The Americans’ a try. Next up is Inverse with Philip and Elizabeth’s Most Brutal Moments on ‘The Americans’, then we wind up with Deadline’s chat with Frank Langella on Broadway’s ‘The Father’, ‘The Americans’ & HBO’s ‘All The Way’.

Then it’s time to say goodbye to yet another main character, Agent Gaad, as more shock and death await us this week! Tensions build between Young Hee and Don as he is overwhelmed with guilt after Patty’s honeypot trap. Pastor Tim disappears while on a relief mission in Ethiopia. His wife Alice confronts Philip and Elizabeth demanding their help and threatening to expose them if they don’t find and safely return PT. Paige once more confronts her parents about their mission and futures. She seeks solace from Alice, who tries to give it but is overcome and Paige must console her instead. Stan and Dennis meet the new boss, definitely not the same as the old boss! They must mind their margins. They later meet with Martha’s father and they assure him they are still looking for her. Oleg and Tatiana have a candid discussion about why she is in the US. In Thailand, retired Agent Gaad is approached by Russian thugs and he is mortally wounded trying to flee them. Arkady learns the news and is devastated. Paige later talks with Matthew who takes her to the church where she learns that Pastor Tim is safe and will return soon. Gabriel presses Elizabeth about getting access codes from Don for William, and he asks her if she would like him to see if the centre has another way in. She pauses for a long moment, and says “yes”!

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 55- Feedback for The Day After

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:15 — 29.3MB)

What could bring the Russians and Americans together for a couple of hours? Why, if it’s the Fall of 1983 it’s the TV movie “The Day After”, which is also the title of this week’s The Americans! This is Season 4 Episode 9, and it aired May 11, 2016. It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Daniel Sackheim.

This is Episode 55 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 54 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

We have some new and some familiar items in history this week! We cower behind the couch as we watch The Day After, and if that wasn’t scary enough we worry about catching the Lassa Virus which is a sort of Hemorrhagic Fever. Fortunately, we can try to unwind with Yazoo’s terrific song “Winter Kills” and then study the lyrics to Major Tom (Coming Home) by Peter Schilling. Then it’s time to freak out a bit about the Soviet Oko Launch Detection System when we learn how close it came to destroying civilization! Then once we recover our composure it’s time to hear your thoughts and ideas in your terrific feedback!

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!

WTA 54- Season 4 Episode 9 The Day After

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:37 — 31.8MB)

What could bring the Russians and Americans together for a couple of hours? Why, if it’s fall of 1983 it’s the TV movie “The Day After”, which is also the title of this week’s The Americans! This is Season 4 Episode 9, and it aired May 11, 2016. It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Daniel Sackheim.

This is Episode 54 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 55.

In the Pravda newsroom we are following some juicy stories. The Hollywood Reporter reveals (and kinda demands) how the Television Academy can save itself by nominating ‘The Americans’ for Emmys’, and next Browbeat (the Slate Culture Blog) tells us that ’The Day After’ is still terrifying to watch. We then close with Flavorwire showing how ‘The Americans’ uses ’80s pop culture to reflect its characters’ psyches.

Next up is the terrific episode! Everyone in the episode is shown watching the ABC TV movie “The Day After”, which underscores how precarious the cold war remains in 1983. Stan and Philip are friends again and play racquetball together. Pastor Tim wonders how Paige is doing and asks Philip for a family meeting after he returns from a mission to Ethiopia. Paige finally has a smile on her face as Philip begins teaching her to drive, first with the tank, second with the much cooler Camaro! William signals Philip and reveals a new variant of the Lassa virus. He questions Philip whether or not to tell the Centre, and Philip subsequently asks Elizabeth the same thing. They decide to do so and proceed with Young Hee and Don to get William higher access in the lab. To be able to blackmail Don, Elizabeth drugs him and puts him in a compromising position, leading him to believe he slept with her. Elizabeth is destroying more lives and actually seems troubled this time.

WTA 53- Alison Wright Interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:29 — 19.8MB)

Season 4 of The Americans has had the most intense story yet, and Martha Hanson is at the center of it all! So it’s a perfect time to talk with the incomparable Alison Wright about her amazing performance that has won raves from critics and fans alike. We go over Season 4 and Martha’s choices so far, discuss her role in HBO’s “Confirmation”, and then she answers some of your awesome 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 49- Season 4 Episode 7 Travel Agents

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:25 — 34.0MB)

Oh Martha, can this get any worse? And you Gaad, what are you going to do? In perhaps one of the series finest episodes, we end up asking these questions and more! This week we are talking all about The Americans Season 4 Episode 7 “Travel Agents”, which aired April 27, 2016. It was written by Tanya Barfield and directed by Dan Attias.

This is Episode 49 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 50.

We have some great stories in the Pravda newsroom! We begin with The Hollywood Reporter’s chat with Alison Wright on Martha’s fate, followed by A/V Club’s opinion that there’s no escaping the best episode (so far) of The Americans’ 4th season, then Adweek reveals how ‘The Americans’ Chooses Its ‘80s Ads, and we wind up with TV Series Finale’s supposition that The Americans may already be renewed for Season Five.

Then it’s all about Martha Martha Martha! We watch as she is on the run in DC from both her colleagues at the FBI and her KGB pals. Will she call someone? Will she jump from a bridge? Who finds her first? Why do we call operator Joan “Ginger?” Plus, a respite with the teens. That leads us to the startling revelation of the true nature of the #Clartha relationship and the seeming fate facing Martha. What a gut-punch!

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!

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 34- Interview with Alison Wright

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:00 — 20.5MB)

It’s end of season special time! And we have brought back the amazing Alison Wright aka Martha Hanson to recap Martha’s incredible character arc! We also have our good friend and frequent contributor Kathleen Lewis joining in for the fun. In our chat, we recap all the wild swings with Martha in Season 3, talk about acting in general, and answer some terrific listener questions.

WTA 33- Season 3 Episode 13 March 8, 1983

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:47:10 — 49.4MB)

So many people have a bad day in the Season 3 finale of The Americans we can hardly keep track! It’s Season 3 Episode 13 “March 8, 1983” written by Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields and directed by Daniel Sackheim. The original air date was April 22, 2015.

Paige and Elizabeth journey to West Berlin where they meet Elizabeth’s dying mother. Gabrielle confronts Philip who is becoming more and more unglued. Philip visits another EST seminar where he meets and talks with Sandra. Stan reveals to Gaad that he has been working Oleg and has him on tape confessing treason and Zinaida’s role as a double agent. Gaad furiously tries to have Stan fired and is overruled by the Deputy Attorney General. Philip kills FBI computer specialist Greg and frames him for bugging Gaad’s office. Paige and Elizabeth return home, and Paige tells her mother she doesn’t think she can lie to everyone like her parents do. Philip tries to tell Elizabeth how he is feeling about what he has done and she turns away from him. Elizabeth tells Philip she believes Paige is doing fine with her new knowledge, while Paige weeps in the room next door. She calls Pastor Tim and tells him she is in pain, and that her parents aren’t who they say they are – the are Russians!

We have your latest news! First up we have a great interview by Alan Sepinwall from Hitfix with Joe and Joel and their view that ‘it may be that our sense of bad is changing’. Next up is a piece from Grantland all about Spies in the House of Love, and we wind up with the HuffPo revealing 7 Reasons ‘The Americans’ Was So Addictive This Year.

We have good things for you in history and tech this week! We start with Anton and Nina in their Siberian labor camp, then we listen to President Reagan’s Evil Empire Speech. For tech we fire up the trusty Commodore 64 Computer, pack up our Samsonite Suitcases, and call Pastor Tim on our stylish Princess Phone.

Plus we get your great thoughts about the Season 3 finale!

We do so 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!