I'm not a lawyer, but this ABC article about the real Russian illegal program suggests that the natural-born children are still American citizens.

Yes, it's another instance showing that the Directorate S idea of encouraging the illegals to have children was a foreseeably bad idea.

That doesn't seem earned or true to character unless a whole lot happens between now and then.

I agree with you that the decision process of the KGB hierarchy back in Moscow is going to be ruthlessly pragmatic. Pragmatism, not sentiment, is why I see so much downside to trying to kill P+E.

Thanks. Listening to that song in the context of this show made me realize that those lyrics fit really well for a Soviet anthem of some sort. The music and vocals would have to change very dramatically, though.

Sorry, but the Pastor Tim is KGB theory doesn't make sense at this point. If he's KGB, then him knowing about the Jennings isn't any real problem to solve. They've run this issue all the way back to Moscow, and the people running the illegals program appear to be in the inner sanctum of knowing about all operations…

I think that Erik is reading way too much into it. It would make no sense for Gabriel or the KGB bosses to kill P+E rather than extract them.

I agree with you. If nothing else, P+E extracted to the USSR would be incredibly valuable to help train new illegals how to fit in with American society and how to recruit American assets. Killing them rather than extracting them makes zero sense unless the KGB thinks that they've been flipped into double agents…

My interpretation of Gaad's behavior is that the exact point of the "log every copy" rule is to try to prevent someone from doing what Martha did. The precise number of extra copies therefore doesn't really matter. One extra is too many, because that could be a page of an important document that someone has copied and…

I agree. Makes me wonder if those skeletons help explain why she relates to Jimmy so well and if there's a bit more to the side of her that still enjoys their cons.

I'm going from memory on both of these, but here's how I recall each scene.

Except that they've had scenes - I'm thinking specifically of the general meeting over Rick's fate and also the welcome party for the group - that pushed the impression that there weren't many people in town. And that was before casualties from the Wolves and the zombie herding plan.

That makes no sense. Your logic implies that a person should be able to walk among a large group of zombies unnoticed.

Giving some benefit of the doubt to the writers, perhaps it would make a difference to zombies some distance away - say 50 yards or more. But that seems inconsistent with the fact that a quiet person is often successfully hiding from zombies much closer than that on the show.

Well, what is B.S. is that the characters have discovered points 1 and 3 but use that knowledge only on very rare occasions. When it's convenient for the plot, that knowledge is routinely ignored by all the main characters.

Just like the characters have been doing - or more precisely, generally not doing - since Season 1 with the knowledge that zombie viscera are useful camouflage.

Fair point, and thank you for clarifying. Opining on criminal law is beyond my area of expertise, so I probably should have just left that point alone.

Zack, do you truly believe what you wrote about Peggy in that last paragraph? You equated "gurus, self-help, and murder" * as ways to deal with feeling frustrated. Lots of people are frustrated in their lives, and Peggy's frustration would justify something like divorcing Ed and leaving for California, not failing…

She wasn't in shock after she hit Rye. Recall that she drove home - having enough presence of mind to "take the back roads" - cleaned herself up, and made dinner.

I notice that your list of the targets of South Park's satirical ire excluded a big one: online advertising, with a focus on the short attention spans engendered by pages full of clickbait links for both clear ads and other "sponsored content". Innocent omission, or did that one hit a little too close to home?