Jay: I just don’t know anymore. This show is all over the place, and I don’t really mean that in a good way. We’re about halfway through the season (6 out of 13 episodes), but I’m still unable to get excited about anyone or anything in the show. That’s a problem, right?

There wasn’t anything glaringly wrong with this episode, necessarily. The plot moved along at a decently fast pace, and I couldn’t help but smile at the scene between Elizabeth and Gregory on the steps of Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. (I practically live in that building these days.)

But the story with the kids was just…weird. What are the chances that the first person to pick them up would be such a psycho? The reviews I’ve read point to that narrative as a way for The Americans to show how the kids now have secrets of their own, just like their parents. But every kid keeps secrets from his parents. (Am I misremembering my entire childhood?) Even taking into account the danger presented by that freak at the duck pond, hiding something like this from one’s parents is perfectly in line with normal kid behavior. All of that makes me wonder why it’s included in the episode at all.

As for Elizabeth and Phil, it’s gotten to the point where, even if I have trouble identifying specific problem parts, I’m not particularly into the episode anyway. Maybe it’s that their on-again-off-again marital problems are already boring me.

The Stan/Nina dynamic was more interesting. As noted elsewhere, the scene with the projected images flashing on their faces was very well-done, even if Stan seems unable or unwilling to acknowledge just how much danger he’s put Nina in. Side note: I love that he managed to protect her and get rid of her sexual partner, all in one fell swoop.

Did this episode mark an improvement? Or is it still stuck in “meh” territory? Continue reading Sam Lim and I chat about The Americans, Episode 6: “Trust Me?” Not so much. →