Definitely more realistic—I was very pleasantly surprised they went with it. I'd figured they'd just go with easy over realistic so he could have scenes that used sophisticated language.

Originally the biggest hurdle was that it seemed like he was calling from NYC and the operator didn't say that the park was in DC, so that's hard to just ask around about, even if we assume that his transliteration would allow him to pronounce it closely enough that people in the right city would understand him.

He came to NYC (the normal point of entry from Europe) and called a number that his mother gave him. She told him to come to a park that was in DC. Sure he could conclude Philip was nearby, but that's still not narrowing it down even if he assumes he's a travel agent in DC, where Philip works but doesn't live.

Technically I think he said he knew Philip was a travel agent in America, which is more vague. He's not even in VA—isn't the agency itself in DC?

I was actually surprised at how poor they made his English. I figured they'd of course have him speak it simply because he was going to be presumably doing scenes with non-Russian speaking actors. So I was prepared to assume that his connection to Irina and his being being motivated would explain him being able to…

But "all one needs to say" doesn't necessarily say specifically what they're politics are in a practical sense. Joe Weisberg might vote the same way as and agree with the rest of his family but just also think it was a good idea to talk to Oliver North for that ep.

I meant that the Centre had already used Mischa to pressure and manipulate Philip when they told him he was in Afghanistan (so Philip should work extra hard to get Afghanistan intel). So the Centre isn't above using him to pressure Philip—that's another reason, imo, NOT to kill him. If they kill him Philip has every…

It appeared Irina gave him a number and her code to use, plus what to say.

I honestly think their telling her had nothing to do with thoughts about how she'd keep pressuring them or investigating or worrying she'd find out on her own. I think they realized that what she was saying was completely true, that she knew they were lying, and if they continued to lie to her they were choosing to…

Would he even know Gorky Park was in Leningrad? It seems like the operator told him Bess Truman park and that's it. You might go looking for Gorky Park in Moscow

I suspect the conclusion you're drawing about their politics from Oliver North's involvement in an episode is mistaken, if you mean they must be conservative.

I have held this idea close ever since that happened. Not only was it Henry showing his most primal instinct (it's the most dramatic action he's ever taken), but we even later see that his father had a somewhat related incident happen when he was the same age.

But why would he recognize anything as a DC area code? Or even an area code at all?

I don't know if this speculation is serious, but all the speculation about Henry being already trained etc. just seems to go completely against the whole heart of the show. When Jared was recruited behind his parents back he wound up killing them because the show takes the kind of emotional disturbance this would…

And he does tend to be honest with her about stuff and there's just no real answer to give her. think Paige herself maybe appreciated the silent sympathy to any easy answer he might try to give. He probably did say something, but I'll be she just liked being listened to. Elizabeth often responds to these questions…

I think they were definitely leftovers. But we didn't get the family dinner scene where they ate it the first time. Presumably Henry was there for that one.

LOL! Sorry, I just had a vision of poor Mischa trying to do spywork in America given the level of familiarity and command of English he's got. It would be like dropping me down in Moscow and saying GO SPY!

Neither could Nina.

Yes, people always talked about the danger of him showing up on their doorstep and I could never figure out how on earth he would do that. I can accept the short cuts this ep gave where he had the call signal and just met Gabriel (even if, as I said above, it would be quite difficult for him to find the Park without…

And find "Bess Truman Park?" (which he possibly can't even spell) in DC?