The Americans S4E09 The Day After

WTA 54- Season 4 Episode 9 The Day After

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.

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