Arkady's reaction was "perhaps it was a mission that never should have happened", so he seemed to think that the idea was a long shot. It may have been ordered by his superiors against his advice.

That request was really weird to me. I had the impression previously that Tatiana's superiors in Moscow could get what they wanted just through normal channels.

With Directorate S and the Washington rezidentura, we're normally seeing some of the KGB's best and brightest. Those 3 guys in Thailand clearly are not.

I agree that a William defection seems very plausible based on his demeanor. I've thought that he's had that vibe since he appeared. Even prior to this episode, his typical low-level sarcasm had boiled over into anger talking with Philip about handlers who "don't give a shit about you" when they were quarantined at…

"If William is under surveillance so often, why doesn’t he ever wear a disguise? Is it because he’s under surveillance so often he can’t risk going to the store for some spirit gum?"

Some reasonable historical parallels to Martha's situation are Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, and Guy Burgess. They were 3 British spies working for the KGB who fled to the Soviet Union in the 1950's and 1960's, in each case reportedly with the help of their Soviet handlers.

Well, killing her has its own downside. If that happens, the U.S. government should publicize the hell out of her story, at least within the U.S. intelligence community. The end of the road in spying for the Soviets is either the U.S. government catches you (plenty of examples of that) or the KGB kills you (see…

You're welcome.

No, because New Mexico is a one party consent state - see https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-… - and Chuck was one of the parties to the conversation.

It better not be Nacho. There's no reasonable/plausible explanation for how Nacho got from the shack to Mike's car. There wasn't enough time, and Nacho couldn't have done it without Mike seeing him.

I recommend that you read more of the Wikipedia article that you linked. It points out that very few Protestant denominations (Anglicans, Episcopalians, and some Lutherans - basically only the most "Catholic-like" Protestants) use the term "priest", notwithstanding the broad dictionary definition that you cited. …

I forgot to mention that Father Rivas also isn't wearing the traditional Catholic priest's garb of all black with a white collar. That's not conclusive - I don't think that all priests do so all the time - but it certainly doesn't help his case with Tim and Alice.

An important detail of Father Rivas' conversation with Pastor Tim was off, and it might be meaningful. Father Rivas addressed Pastor Tim as a fellow "priest". Tim's not a "priest". He's a "pastor" or "minister".

Ehh, I'd wait a bit before being so glad about her willingness to "play the game". We've seen that Kim enjoys the thrill of these cons away from work, and now she's complicit with Jimmy's Mesa Verde scheme after the fact. I doubt that her willingness to be in or near these frauds ends well for her.

I gave up on FTWD after Season 1 for that exact reason (plus gaping plot holes in the story that they did choose to tell in Season 1).

Yes.

I agree. I think that by far the more suspicious thing in 1983 would be parents abruptly going on a business trip and leaving their two kids (ages 15 and 12) alone without any adult supervision, or at least asking neighbors to check on the kids.

I agree. I think that by far the more suspicious thing in 1983 would be parents abruptly going on a business trip and leaving their two kids (ages 15 and 12) alone without any adult supervision, or at least asking neighbors to check on the kids.

Agreed. It's actually an almost ideal lie to cover up suspicious behavior like nervousness and vague answers about her personal life or whereabouts.

They were trained and then sent to the U.S. roughly at the peak of bowling's popularity. Bowling leagues would have been a great way to gain introductions to potential sources at that time. While she was making a joke of it to Paige, I bet that their KGB training taught them how to bowl.