That would do the opposite of adding layers of tension to me. To me it would just make it a sort of silly game where people flipped back and forth in their loyalties—more players this early puts too much focus on the desires of the agencies over the people. The spy game is secondary to the relationship and if…

Yes, and yet his impenetrability was very different from his wife's. She turns to stone. I thought you could really see MR go slack. His face relaxed, his eyes went unfocused. You could see he was just settling in for passive resistance, just probably using his stomach muscles enough to protect himself as much as he…

I can't get on the Stan/Nina train. He's the guy who told her to suck her boss's cock and then got the vapors when she did it. (I know there's a question of whether or not he was really saying what she heard, but the upshot is that's what happened.) Any closeness to their relationship now comes from him holding her…

@avclub-4f18f486a356810b3ef8008243bcba7a:disqus Depends on the kid too. I remember being terrified of being left alone in the car when my mom went into the supermarket when I was really young in the 70s. So I was more paranoid than she was. Paige seems by nature more trusting than Henry. This could be her age too—she…

@avclub-63fe3abe20ab541bdcf44e28c691644d:disqus That's definitely true—the paranoia coming from different places, and the way people cover themselves one way and then get it from somewhere else.

That would probably be the case for plenty of people today too, especially with a comment like that one.

Not to mention explaining why the Mafia had somehow made this suburban couple as Soviet spies.

According to the age given in this ep, wasn't he all of 19 or 20 when he met Elizabeth in 62? And he would have been through years of training before that like she was.

There were still kids in the 80s who hitchhiked despite being told how dangerous it was. Henry had certainly gotten the memo—and he said Mom had specifically warned them about it. I think it was more the situation—Paige thought she was taking control of the situation and probably liked the idea that she was doing…

@avclub-723c7ca41a74ee7ee5d26e39d12235be:disqus Sometimes a skeeve on the highway is just a skeeve on the highway.
If the KGB was trying to get the kids into custody there were a million better ways to do it than have a guy happen to drive by them at the exact second Paige decided to stick out her thumb. They'd already…

Not in my junior high.

I don't think any guy who claims he has to go to work in order to entice a 13-year-old into a car, then takes her to a secluded area, then gives her alcohol and then yells at her when she tries to leave could be described as just a weird dude with bread. There was no way that situation wasn't going to end badly…

I think it's clear that Phillip's less ready to go all the way than Elizabeth (he already announced he wanted to defect) but he did all he needed to do in the scene with Martha. As a man he didn't need to offer himself for spanking. He just had to romance her a little. Not as much is asked of men in that area. (Though…

@eric827:disqus Louie isn't on HBO. It's on F/X like The Americans.

@Scrawler2:disqus Also it makes her feel like she's the one who's more sophisticated and in control. If they do get together she'll probably be the one coaxing him and chasing him now, and she'll think of him as a timid guy—so exactly not the guy who's actually playing you and pumping you for information. It makes him…

Phil's pretty smart in his manipulation. He probably sees that holding back makes him seem more sincere in his affection. UST is more exciting than RST for her, so she'll want to see him again to see what happens. Also it's probably more in character for the guy he's playing—goes with the wig.

But his "cover" is that he works at the Russian Embassy and is Russian. So he'd actually look more suspicious if on some afternoons he exchanged his Russian coat for a Member's Only jacket and Adidas.

And Phillip is the one who is very sensitive about his blind spot.

Phillip and Elizabeth seem like such an interesting inkblot of a couple sometimes. Every time i read something about which one is the [fill in blank] and which one is the [another blank] one I never see it—but I'm sure I have my own comparisons that others don't see.

@avclub-5fd14fc7a83b79e976652d8c4abecc78:disqus Right, that's what I mean too. He clearly wasn't ready to get married, but he was willing to get married. Now Ted seems to be saying that the reason he wasn't yet married was because he really liked being single—iow he wasn't willing and didn't want it. He wanted to keep…