105 replies to this topic

[TWoP Lockley]

Track and discuss spoilers here and here only please.

A reminder: Per TWOP rules. Promos are NOT considered spoilers and you may discuss them in all threads (as long as it's on topic) with no spoiler tags.

Edited by TWoP Lockley, Jan 30, 2013 @ 12:56 PM.

[christina_ma]

Found a few items that I would consider spoilers for the season in a Slate interview with the producers. Joe Weisberg, the former CIA member, is the Slate editor's brother. Read it on Slate.

Slate: In Episode 2, the story revolves around an event in the life of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, and a meeting with his British counterpart, John Nott. That made me ask myself, “Did that really happen?” Are you trying to get viewers to question the official version of the Reagan ’80s?

Fields: The show works on different levels of reality. There’s the fictional world of Philip and Elizabeth, their marriage, and their life. There’s the real world of what happened during the Cold War. And then there’s this hazy in-between world. So, for example, Caspar Weinberger was a real person. The show is speculating what nobody can know, which is what was going on in the secret world of the KGB at that time. Could they have possibly tried to put a bug in his home, and if they did, what would they have done with that information? Who knows?

There are times when we take leaps, but they’re careful leaps. For example, in Episode 4, the Reagan assassination episode, the Jenningses go back and listen to some things off that bug. Now, we don’t know for sure that the KGB did that. However, we do know that there were tapes made of the White House Situation Room that day, and we used sections of those tapes in the bug that Philip and Elizabeth listen to. The question becomes what would they have done had they heard what actually happened? Among the things we found out in our research of that day was that Al Haig not only went on television and said, “I’m in control here,” but he also requested, and received, a copy of the nuclear football—the briefcase with the missile launch codes. So that episode asks what would these two spies do in the tension and fog of that day if they had that information.

So they will be using real events and writing for this fictional KGB couple. And used real recordings from that era for the show. Everything I read keeps getting better. CANNOT wait.

[BitterCocoa]

Ooh sounds very promising. Definitely looking forward to the episode that revolves around the Reagan assassination attempt.

The following is an interview with Matthew Rhys. Contains some spoiler-ish elements about what to expect in future episodes. And you get to hear his lovely Welsh accent. Bonus!
Ausiello

[Gabrielle Tracy]

This spoiler speculation came to me this morning while I was brushing my teeth. Yeah, I know, weird. Anyhoo...

Remember in the flashback in the first episode Philip is gazing at a photo of a young woman and rips it up and tosses it in the trash?

Did you all see the preview of next week's episode (episode 3) where Philip and Paige are in a coffee shop and a woman says to Philip, "You have a beautiful daughter."?

Is it possible that that is the same woman from the picture? If so, all sort of awesome possibilities are, well, possible!

[madam magpie]

I think that woman is going to end up being their handler. I saw a TV Line article about her. It looks like the same person, but I only caught a quick glimpse and so can't be sure.

Based on the preview, I was also wondering...What if Elizabeth turns out to be a double agent? There's that quick moment where she's talking to an African American guy; she says, "He's my husband." And the guy says, "He's your cover." (Or something like that.) Would the Russians have black spies during the Cold War?? I don't know...maybe they did. But my first thought was, "Whoa. Is she working for the CIA too?" Or maybe I just watch too much Alias. :)

[ultimategirl]

As a side note, the handler character is played by the truly fabulous Margo Martindale, who won an Emmy a couple of years ago for playing a hillbilly criminal matriarch on Justified. She was excellent, and I'm really excited to see her on this show.

[Gabrielle Tracy]

I'm kinda bummed that my idea didn't work out! lol

Do you all think that that picture will have significance at some point (if the series lasts which I hope it will)?

[larapu2000]

I want a flashback episode dealing with HOW the Russians establish such bullet proof cover identities for these sleeper agents. You know that if Mr. FBI neighbor was suspicious enough to illegally break into the garage, he probably also ran a background check on them. That obviously didn't amount to anything, or the show would be over already. Do they find American adult orphans who match the physical description, murder them, and replace them with soviet doppelgangers? They can't have a family or friends or live in their hometown in order to be chosen for Soviet replacement duty. I find the whole idea that this REALLY HAPPENED to be so fascinating.

I couldn't agree more. How do they get them into the country? Do they go through a Scandinavian country, or from Cuba to Canada? Remember the FBI agent saying that they have to go meet people's 2nd grade teacher in order to establish that they had a life in this country, because the KGB is so good or something?

The spycraft and the history of what the KGB did is so thrillingly fascinating. Let's write letters requesting this!

[GothamCity]

I read an interview with Matthew Rhys where he said that in his research he'd read that the KGB would send agents to Canada for a couple of years to acclimate. It was a years-long process before they even set foot in the US and were " activated".

[mascan42]

I'm still not convinced that this won't eventually be revealed as an alternate history in which the nukes start flying because of something our couple fucks up.

[humoresques]

After watching this episode and reading the episode descriptions for later episodes, I'm calling it now - Phillip is Polish/from a satellite state, not actually Russian. I noticed how intently he was watching the news coverage on the Solidarity movement early in the 4th episode, and with regards to spoilers I've read I think it clicks well enough. I'm ready to be wrong though!

[augreg]

With Stan and the wife, there is another possiblity...could either Philip or Elizabeth end up involved with one of the FBI Couple as well? They clearly have no problem with the old "honeytrap", and Elizabeth having an FBI agent as a close source would be a great asset to them. Could be as possible as the Stan-Nina talk...

[Baby Fish Mouth]

Looks like we may find out who the woman in Philip's photo is soon. Here's the synopsis for Episode 7:

Trying to put their distrust aside, Elizabeth attempts to re-assert control over one of her agents and Phillip is reunited with a woman from his past.

[ClairdeLune]

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad they will be delving into Philip's past soon. Without knowing why he is the way he is, I'm afraid he'd go the way of "too good to be true."

[Lexxaholic]

I've been following the episode commentary for 'In Control' on several different forums. No one on any board has mentioned what I consider to be one of the most revealing lines in this episode.

When Claudia and Elizabeth are meeting, Claudia says, "The Rezidentura will be worthless. Slow. Unreliable. We both know it. I can say it." This, along with the sly glance after the leaving Elizabeth, leads me to believe Claudia is playing Elizabeth with the 'friendly grandmother' act. Just like she did to Robert's wife. Claudia obviously has her own agenda.

Why would Claudia assume that Elizabeth would consider the KGB Rezidentura worthless in this situation? Is she trying to pull Elizabeth and Philip into the internal KGB struggle?

To me this follows along with clues we have been given in a couple of previous episodes.

---

In the pilot, General Zhukov, in his meeting with Elizabeth says, "I am fighting now against comrades in our own organization who are starting to act like they did in our darkest days." "If I am not here, you are to fight on."

In "The Clock" when the un-named Directorate S officer is speaking to Vasili Nikolaevich in the KGB Rezidentura, saying,

"...we both understand I answer to other people in Moscow."

"General Zhukov isn't who he used to be. Be careful. I tell you as a friend."

This seems, to me, like they are setting up an internal KGB battle in to which Elizabeth and Philip will be drawn.

When/if General Zhukov is killed, this will cut the last personal tie (that we know of) Elizabeth has with her motherland. I hope this will lead to some questioning on her part about her future.

[ClairdeLune]

This seems, to me, like they are setting up an internal KGB battle in to which Elizabeth and Philip will be drawn.

You are right, and the power struggle probably goes well beyond KGB since the Party controls everything. With a Cold War warrior coming to power in Washington, it stands to reason for Moscow to become increasingly hawkish.

The Jenningses have already felt the ripple effect of this change in political landscape. Not long after General Zhukov's ominous "if I'm not here" talk, they were ordered to complete a 6-month operation in 3 days, thus highlighting the new power structure's sense of urgency and its complete disregard for the safety of field operatives. Then their longtime handler - probably a Zhukov confidante - was called away, and in his place came Claudia, steely-eyed and tough as nail - she had fought at Stalingrad, for Pete's sake!

At the end of episode 2, Elizabeth already came to the realization that "they shouldn't ask us to do impossible things." So long as Moscow continues to crack the whip, the Jenningses - and their kids - will be at increasing risk, and hence Elizabeth's disillusionment will continue.

I remember reading somewhere that the actress playing Claudia is cast in some comedy pilot. If so, will Claudia stay with the show, or will she be written out as a casualty of KGB politics?

[Irlandesa]

I posted the Margo Martindale/Claudia news in the Media thread. Her fate will likely depend on whether or not the pilot is picked up. If it's picked up, she likely won't be available much to be the handler. I would guess they'd just get a new handler.

[Grom]

It depends on when The Americans starts filming season 2 and whether the Will Arnett show films in NYC like this one does. I know Alec Baldwin only filmed like three days a week on 30 Rock so MM might not have that heavy of a filming schedule on the Arnett show if it gets picked up.

[GenevieveRedux]

TV Line interview with Matthew Rhys

In ep. 5, Elizabeth and Claudia are coming to blows. Could any self-respecting KGB handler abide a beatdown from her agent? Or does this mean Margo Martindale must leave the show in order for Elizabeth to live.

I hope Claudia leaves. Didn't like her from the start when she brought her menacing presence around Paige.

[icouldntresist]

I think one the crimes/murders they committed or will commit will come back to haunt them. The Philly operative would be the most likely to flip if caught for the murder of the Puerto Rican women.

A missing security guard in a cabinet member's neighborhood the night the president is shot wouldn't raise questions? A missing security guard with a bullet in the head assasination style?

It's not just murder. What if the maid or family gets picked up for something and they start bargaining for a deal.

It wouldn't surprise if the Keri Russell goes off on the school social studies teacher one day for the Poland and space comments. And she is turned in as physco.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

I was watching the interview with Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell on The View today (it's posted in the Media thread) Not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but Rhys says his character was 35 or 36 when he first meets Elizabeth. If that's true, that's a huge age difference that really makes me sympathize with Elizabeth even more. Also, Phillip looks really good for someone in his early 50s.

[Sister Magpie]

I assumed he had to be joking when he said Phillip was supposed to be 36 then. Rhys is 38 and Russell is 36. She said she was 18 when she met him because her age had been nailed down and then they looked at him for his age. I think his own age just hadn't been nailed down so he said something funny in response to 18--but in reality the characters are around the same age.

Edited by Sister Magpie, Feb 27, 2013 @ 7:03 PM.

[christina_ma]

I assumed he had to be joking when he said Phillip was supposed to be 36 then.

Thank goodness! For a moment I thought I would have to start writing letters. One can only suspend so much disbelief.

[Puds38]

Because FX shows work on a different schedule than regular network shows, I think Margo could do both.

[augreg]

Because FX shows work on a different schedule than regular network shows, I think Margo could do both.

I thought that the Margo/Claudia/Granny role was just a story arc...I can't remember where I herad that though. I'll have to rewatch the last episode's credits to see if she's in them, don't recall seeing her but they may have changed them from last wee.

[madam magpie]

I read or heard that someplace too. And don't she and Keri Russell have some throw-down fight??

[Puds38]

So they will get yet another handler somewhere down the line? I guess that could feed into the divisiveness in the KGB. First asking them to do impossible things, and now the frequent turnover in handlers instead of one person with whom they build a solid relationship.

[icouldntresist]

End game. Ironic twist of fate. Elizabeth in particular going home to a capitalist Russia after the fall of communist Russia in the late 80s.

[Gabrielle Tracy]

That "other" FBI dude; I cant remember his name and it's really bothering me!

Anyhoo, SOMETHING is going to happen with him. I don't know what, but I think he's going to finally get pissed off about how he is basically treated as the FBI's ugly redheaded stepchild and something's gonna happen.

[Rickster]

A House Gets Blown Up

Edited by Rickster, Feb 28, 2013 @ 12:34 PM.