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The Americans (1 Viewer)

so when Stan said she passed the lie detector, was he being truthful? If she failed, he'd probably still tell her she passed and play it for what it's worth...

 
Rove! said:
so when Stan said she passed the lie detector, was he being truthful? If she failed, he'd probably still tell her she passed and play it for what it's worth...
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That would be a little subtle for this show (pulling the trick but not showing the cards to the audience) but it would be a nice twist.

:thumbup:

eta: the long play, though, is probably that Stan is forced to work for the KGB and John and Mary flip to the US side.

 
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Bump

Just saw this week, the Beeman stuff is getting pretty interesting as it's obvious the Russians know they have him and it's a matter of time before they turn him completely

The stolen propellers story line is sort of interesting, wonder how much of that was going on

The kid crying at the end was a but much

 
Just finished watching. There's just such a subtle realism to the show. Nothing overhyped or unrealistic.

Solid show on so many levels.

 
Righetti said:
Bump

Just saw this week, the Beeman stuff is getting pretty interesting as it's obvious the Russians know they have him and it's a matter of time before they turn him completely

The stolen propellers story line is sort of interesting, wonder how much of that was going on

The kid crying at the end was a but much
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I thought the kid was incredible in that scene.

 
Daywalker said:
Righetti said:
Bump

Just saw this week, the Beeman stuff is getting pretty interesting as it's obvious the Russians know they have him and it's a matter of time before they turn him completely

The stolen propellers story line is sort of interesting, wonder how much of that was going on

The kid crying at the end was a but much
Click to expand...
I thought the kid was incredible in that scene.
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I agree. "I'm not a bad person. I'm not a bad person!" Meanwhile, his parents kill innocents while they live a lie and put their family at risk.

Then again, hearing how the boys on the sub died due to their intel while watching his new z28 toy was a nice reminder that maybe material things and the American way is not what they truly stand for.

Good stuff.

 
Man, what a great episode.

The look on Elizabeth's face as Larrick choked out Lucia gave me chills.

Stan is good and truly ####ed, isn't he?

The scene when Stan was trying to get out of his car in his garage was both symbolic (maybe a tad heavyhanded) and hilarious.

 
Christo said:
Sinrman said:
It continues to get better and better...
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:yes:
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:goodposting:

The writing and acting, from a purely melo-drama standpoint are amazing- this would be solid TV even if it was just a family/life study. Add in the intrigue of the spy-business, action and eye-candy, and this is definitely one of the better things going on TV.

It's hard not to compare with Homeland based on story-lines. BUt the latter IMO is laughably so far off the quality here that it's probably easy NOT to compare.

Did I read it above, or catch it mentioned on the news that Oliver North has been a consultant on the Contra story-line? Sure- why not just go to the source. :thumbup:

 
The best show with both plot and insight into the true depth of human character that I can remember.

Tonight was magnificent drama.

 
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I also look forward to one day going through the series again (something I've never before done with a series and not even close) so look for the subtle clues, word play and double entendre. Like the example tonight of how the church indoctrinates the kids from when they are young with songs and friendship... Not too unlike the communist party when our protagonists were kids. Really great stuff.

But know one is purpose. Seeing Paige's two earring holes should agitate a good percentage here.

 
The driving question of "The Americans" season 1 was "How real is this marriage?" And at different points in the season, Philip and Elizabeth would have each given you very different answers. That tension hasn't entirely gone away in season 2 — witness the mess caused when Elizabeth hears about Clark and Martha's sex life — but for now they are treating each other as a genuine spouse, and instead the question they keep asking themselves is an even harder one:"What kind of a person am I becoming?"

It's not that they are questioning the mission itself. Elizabeth never has, and when Philip has at times, it's been more about wanting to protect his family than about believing they are on the wrong side of things. They don't. These two remain loyal to Mother Russia, angry at what the Reagan administration is doing, fully in support of the cause.

But it is one thing to believe you are doing the right thing in the abstract and quite another to be confronted, again and again and again, with the violent, direct consequences of your actions.

"Martial Eagle" opens with Philip and Elizabeth finally making their assault on the contra training base, an operation that was designed to have some casualties, but not as many as actually result. A young American soldier stumbles across Philip and dies because he refuses to stay quiet. And when they return to the woods where they left the real septic truck driver tied up — against Elizabeth's wishes — they discover that he died of exposure, left out in the cold forest for too long with too little protection.

It is one civilian casualty too many for Philip — who has already killed an innocent busboy and an innocent computer programmer for the sin of being in the wrong place at the wrong time — and something breaks in him as a result. He spends the rest of the episode in a dark and angry place, raging against Paige, against the deity his daughter now finds so comforting (which goes against everything he and Elizabeth were raised to believe), against poor Martha(*), against the minister at Paige's church, and against Reverend Tim's god.

(*) I love whenever the show presents a situation where Philip or Elizabeth seem to be acting out their problems but are actually working a mission. At first, Philip appears to be playing Martha the doctored tape of Agent Gaad calling her ugly just to fill her with the same self-loathing that's consuming him, but it becomes clear in the next scene that it's more complicated than that — that Philip is now feeling so impatient to move this operation along that he no longer cares about hurting Martha if it will make her a more useful ally. Similarly, when Elizabeth chats up the woman from AA, you can be forgiven for a few moments for thinking she's found a way to go into therapy without anyone knowing, but instead it turns out her "sponsor" is a Northrup employee she'll try to exploit to get to the stealth technology.

Elizabeth has her own problems with what went down, and with finding out that Paige gave so much money to the church, but she hasn't gotten her hands as dirty this season and has never been as conflicted as her partner, so she's able to work out most of her frustration by lecturing Paige about what it's like to grow up without, and forcing her to do chores in the middle of the night.

But Philip wanders between despair (going back to the boardwalk in his Rust Cohle disguise just to stare at the surf) and rage (tearing up Paige's Bible) until he shows up at the church, not in disguise, but looking like a man who means business. And we know already what tends to happen to people who see Philip Jennings' face after he has done something bad, and it seems not impossible at all that he might do some fatal harm to Reverend Tim, or anyone else unfortunate to cross his way. (That this seems possible in an episode where he's feeling terrible about killing innocent people speaks volumes about how warped and backwards Philip's entire situation and mental condition is right now.)

There's a moment where Philip comes to look at the painting of Christ on the church wall, and it seems like we might be in for some "Two Cathedrals" action of Philip taunting the great and powerful Christian deity. But that's missing the point. Philip does not believe in the existence of God, of an afterlife, of any of the concepts that his daughter is, to his great frustration and bewilderment, turning to for comfort. He has no need to vent his anger at a character who is as real to him as Bugs Bunny is to you or me. But he is looking for... something, anything, to become the outlet for all fury, and instead all he finds is the gentle, patient clergyman, who speaks to him of God's forgiveness but also of the more earthly matter of getting Philip's temper under control. And the words don't do a thing to ease Philip's pain, but they at least seem to break the spell he's under and send him out of the church without incident.

It has been a very bad period for Philip, and with Andrew Larrick looking very unhappy at learning what happened at the training site, I imagine things have greater potential to get worse than to get better. More people will have to die, I suspect, and probably at the hands of this very efficient, very unhappy Soviet killing machine.

It is, needless to say, a gut-wrenching tour de force performance from Matthew Rhys. In an ideal world, this incredible second season would find a way to break the Emmy drama logjam, Rhys and Keri Russell would get nominations, and Rhys could submit "Martial Eagle" for voters to look at and at a minimum have second thoughts about automatically voting for Matthew McConaughey or Bryan Cranston. I have no idea if that will actually happen, and after an hour like this, I don't much care, to be honest. Emmy voters may see it or not, and the poorer for them if they don't. But I got to see it, and it was phenomenal.

Some other thoughts:

* You may have noticed that the episode gives a shared story credit to Oliver North, who was one of the most infamous figures associated with the Iran-contra scandal. As Dave Itzkoff from The New York Times explains, Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg reached out to North to get some insider detail about the operation, and he wound up giving him so much that they felt he had earned the credit for this one (which was otherwise written by Tracey Scott Wilson).

* Oh, the bitter, bitter irony of Stan pumping all the stealth scientists for secrets the KGB might use to blackmail them, when of course the KGB already has its hooks into Agent Beeman and will soon be in position to tap him for all this wonderful information he's gathering. "No one ever imagines they will" betray their country, Stan tells Fred, having no idea that he's about to be forced to.

* Of the many disguises Philip and Elizabeth have sported over the years, Elizabeth as a male soldier has to be the least convincing. Keri Russell can plausibly transform into many people, but a member of the opposite sex is not one of them. That said, it was in a situation where she really didn't have to fool anybody, but simply move around in the dark and kill anyone who got close, so it's probably okay; it's not like they have her approaching a secured gate in broad daylight in that get-up. But I'm guessing we won't see Philip crossing over to the other side of the gender line, unless it's to mourn the cancellation of "Bosom Buddies," which happened in the spring of '82.

* Gaad and Arkady finally meet, and it's everything you might have hoped for from the bosses of the respective sides. Gaad makes his big play, and though it seems like an effective one, Arkady takes it completely casually to put some doubt into his opponent's mind. That said, the show has put so little effort into establishing Stan's new boss as any kind of character (we've barely even seen him), that we have to be heading towards Gaad getting his job back, right?

* Not a ton of early '80s references this week, but Sandra Beeman is listening to celebrity sex expert Dr. Ruth Westheimer, whose radio show was syndicated by 1982, and whose first TV show launched that year. And, of course, she's listening to it as she's packing to go off and have an affair with a man she met at EST, which is the absolute least Stan deserves for everything he's been doing (and hasn't been doing) to her of late.
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Another great episode.

I loved the Sandra/Stan scene. I was nearly as blindsided as he was, though that makes sense since we've really only seen their relationship from his POV. Stan, who - like Phillip - thought he was so good at compartmentalizing various aspects of his life, discovers that he's NOT the smartest guy in the room. And that he's not really in control of any part of his life. He's committed treason, knows deep down that he doesn't really have Nina under his thumb, and now his wife is calling the shots at home. The look on his face when Sandra says "are you going to tell me you're not having an affair?" and his inability to say anything tells you all you need to know about how much everything is unraveling for Stan.

Speaking of coming apart at the seams, hello Phillip! Crap, was Rhys good in this one.

 
Totally agree with Uruk.

That said after Phillip's struggle last week to do the right thing (eg- avoid killing the septic guy), I would have liked a little more struggle before his plunge into angry/depressed-Phillip. Minor quibble though- the writing and acting on this show keeps getting better. easily the best show on TV for me right now (as much as I love GoT).

 
El Floppo said:
Did I read it above, or catch it mentioned on the news that Oliver North has been a consultant on the Contra story-line? Sure- why not just go to the source. :thumbup:
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Saw in the credits of the most recent episode either "story by" or "written by" Oliver North and someone else.

 
3C said:
El Floppo said:
Did I read it above, or catch it mentioned on the news that Oliver North has been a consultant on the Contra story-line? Sure- why not just go to the source. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Saw in the credits of the most recent episode either "story by" or "written by" Oliver North and someone else.
Click to expand...
I remember watching the Ollie North trials when I was 13 or so... Were they on during summer because I remember watching it at the tennis place and I was there more often in summer than otherwise?

As the series approaches the fall of the iron curtain it's going to get REAL interesting. To watch your country lose the Cold War and succumb to the very strategy that Reagan espoused then see it put into action has to be really difficult. All the while you know that your children are better off in tier home rather than yours - even with the faults of materialism and the inequity that comes with freedom.

 
Koya said:
3C said:
El Floppo said:
Did I read it above, or catch it mentioned on the news that Oliver North has been a consultant on the Contra story-line? Sure- why not just go to the source. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Saw in the credits of the most recent episode either "story by" or "written by" Oliver North and someone else.
Click to expand...
I remember watching the Ollie North trials when I was 13 or so... Were they on during summer because I remember watching it at the tennis place and I was there more often in summer than otherwise?

As the series approaches the fall of the iron curtain it's going to get REAL interesting. To watch your country lose the Cold War and succumb to the very strategy that Reagan espoused then see it put into action has to be really difficult. All the while you know that your children are better off in tier home rather than yours - even with the faults of materialism and the inequity that comes with freedom.
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Yeah, summer towards the end of Reagans 2nd term.

 
El Floppo said:
Totally agree with Uruk.

That said after Phillip's struggle last week to do the right thing (eg- avoid killing the septic guy), I would have liked a little more struggle before his plunge into angry/depressed-Phillip. Minor quibble though- the writing and acting on this show keeps getting better. easily the best show on TV for me right now (as much as I love GoT).
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Agree that it was a pretty steep drop this week, but - looking back - it's been coming. He's kind of been on edge since the first episode this season when his friends got killed. His asking (begging) Elizabeth a week or two ago to admit she liked their cover as affluent Americans had a bit of a "twitch" to it, as if he knew asking was wrong but he couldn't help it. IIRC, this was after he killed the kid in the computer room (same time frame, anyway). The collateral damage - computer kid, septic driver, Emmett & Leanne's daughter - has had him close to the breaking point for a while now.

Bigger picture, I wonder if the showrunners have an end game in sight at this point. Evidently, the show's ratings aren't killer but they are getting a lot of critical buzz similar to how Breaking Bad was in the first few seasons. I doubt The Americans will ever catch the wave that Breaking Bad did after the "Face Off" episode. Hell, has the show been renewed for next season yet? I imagine all of these kinds of shows have the nightmare of "Deadwood"'s end hanging around. At the same time, what is the time span a serialized show like this can cover and not spin its wheels? Are we going to be still be dissecting The Americans when they throw in the GNR "Appetite For Destruction" reference as Henry is in rehab for his Stan-induced heroin addiction? Truth be told, I'd rather them finish the storyline next season (or maybe one more after that) than do a "I Love The 80s" season for each year of the decade.

 
I know I bombed on this show early on but it kind of grew on me. I gave it some slack because it improved. And it turned out to be better than a lot of the dreck that cable networks try to pass off these days.

But after all this time I realized that it is just really hard to care about anybody on the show. Yeah, yeah...spies, cold war, MILF Keri etc. But who the hell are we supposed to root for? If anyone of the major characters was killed off I wouldn't blink an eye. I think the last time I felt any kind of empathy for someone on the show was the Russian guy Phil kidnapped and sent back. It's just empty.

 
Officer Pete Malloy said:
I know I bombed on this show early on but it kind of grew on me. I gave it some slack because it improved. And it turned out to be better than a lot of the dreck that cable networks try to pass off these days.

But after all this time I realized that it is just really hard to care about anybody on the show. Yeah, yeah...spies, cold war, MILF Keri etc. But who the hell are we supposed to root for? If anyone of the major characters was killed off I wouldn't blink an eye. I think the last time I felt any kind of empathy for someone on the show was the Russian guy Phil kidnapped and sent back. It's just empty.
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HE HAS A PULSE

 
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?

 
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
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I care about all of them, but I agree they're walking an extremely thin tightrope right now. Maybe I've just given into the show, but I really care what happens to the main characters and am giving the writers a lot of leeway.

 
Officer Pete Malloy said:
drummer said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
drummer said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
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Nina
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Because she's hot?
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Are you gay?
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It depends. Are you horny?
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It's getting weird. But that happens when you feed drunken trolls.

 
Brady Marino said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
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Honestly, not really. Nina maybe.
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I've seen this show described as "dry" and "cold". For whatever reason, though, I connect with these folks -all of them, down to and including Gaad & Arkady. And, in my case, I don't think it's wish-fulfillment (i.e., "I need a good TV show so I decree this as The One"). The relationships feel real to me. I've been knocked completely off my feet like Stan was this week, have tried to do something that my parents hated like Paige (in her case, going to church; in mine, dating outside of my race), tried to separate necessary "bad" from "good" in my life (everyone on the whole ####### show), and Nina is raging hot.

Different strokes and stuff, I guess.....

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Brady Marino said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
Click to expand...
Honestly, not really. Nina maybe.
Click to expand...
I've seen this show described as "dry" and "cold". For whatever reason, though, I connect with these folks -all of them, down to and including Gaad & Arkady. And, in my case, I don't think it's wish-fulfillment (i.e., "I need a good TV show so I decree this as The One"). The relationships feel real to me. I've been knocked completely off my feet like Stan was this week, have tried to do something that my parents hated like Paige (in her case, going to church; in mine, dating outside of my race), tried to separate necessary "bad" from "good" in my life (everyone on the whole ####### show), and Nina is raging hot.

Different strokes and stuff, I guess.....
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I'd probably feel bad if Stan got whacked at this point. But yeah, the show does come off "cold" to me. After all, this is a show set in the Cold War after all.

I still enjoy it, but I don't look forward to it nearly as much as Game of Thrones, Justified, or even Fargo.

 
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Brady Marino said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Brady Marino said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
Click to expand...
Honestly, not really. Nina maybe.
Click to expand...
I've seen this show described as "dry" and "cold". For whatever reason, though, I connect with these folks -all of them, down to and including Gaad & Arkady. And, in my case, I don't think it's wish-fulfillment (i.e., "I need a good TV show so I decree this as The One"). The relationships feel real to me. I've been knocked completely off my feet like Stan was this week, have tried to do something that my parents hated like Paige (in her case, going to church; in mine, dating outside of my race), tried to separate necessary "bad" from "good" in my life (everyone on the whole ####### show), and Nina is raging hot.

Different strokes and stuff, I guess.....
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I'd probably feel bad if Stan got whacked at this point. But yeah, the show does come off "cold" to me. After all, this is a show set in the Cold War after all.

I still enjoy it, but I don't look forward to it nearly as much as Game of Thrones, Justified, or even Fargo.
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It's all good, my friend. I prefer it to Game Of Thrones, though that may be in part because I've read the GOT books and have some idea what's coming. Don't have that with The Americans - I don't chew my nails, but this show makes me want to.

Really, though, I love the fact that we have so many options these days.

 
Righetti said:
Bump

Just saw this week, the Beeman stuff is getting pretty interesting as it's obvious the Russians know they have him and it's a matter of time before they turn him completely

The stolen propellers story line is sort of interesting, wonder how much of that was going on

The kid crying at the end was a but much
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They obviously didn't read this thread as I once again saw a 1987 baseball card on the kids bed. Come on!....How hard is it to look at the stats on the back?

 
3C said:
El Floppo said:
Did I read it above, or catch it mentioned on the news that Oliver North has been a consultant on the Contra story-line? Sure- why not just go to the source. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Saw in the credits of the most recent episode either "story by" or "written by" Oliver North and someone else.
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Yes. The producers called him to ask a few details about the Iran-Contra affair, and he gave them so much info that they thought he deserved story credit.

 
Thunderlips said:
Righetti said:
Bump

Just saw this week, the Beeman stuff is getting pretty interesting as it's obvious the Russians know they have him and it's a matter of time before they turn him completely

The stolen propellers story line is sort of interesting, wonder how much of that was going on

The kid crying at the end was a but much
Click to expand...
They obviously didn't read this thread as I once again saw a 1987 baseball card on the kids bed. Come on!....How hard is it to look at the stats on the back?
Click to expand...
I've lost track of what year it's supposed to be in the story... but didn't the Iran Contra thing happen in 87?

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Brady Marino said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
Click to expand...
Honestly, not really. Nina maybe.
Click to expand...
I've seen this show described as "dry" and "cold". For whatever reason, though, I connect with these folks -all of them, down to and including Gaad & Arkady. And, in my case, I don't think it's wish-fulfillment (i.e., "I need a good TV show so I decree this as The One"). The relationships feel real to me. I've been knocked completely off my feet like Stan was this week, have tried to do something that my parents hated like Paige (in her case, going to church; in mine, dating outside of my race), tried to separate necessary "bad" from "good" in my life (everyone on the whole ####### show), and Nina is raging hot.

Different strokes and stuff, I guess.....
Click to expand...
Yeah- I'm drawn into this show because the writing and acting (and direction) set up real relationships between the characters. I don't care if I'm "supposed" to like one or any of them or if there's a heroic protagonist I'm supposed to support. I care what happens to all the characters because of the honesty and "realness" of the characters which is set up by the writing and acting. That's what I mentioned upthread in regards to liking this just as melodrama. Add in the espionage and supposedly real story-lines (or at least based on real story lines), action and nice exotic eye-candy, and I'm completely drawn in.

 
El Floppo said:
Thunderlips said:
Righetti said:
Bump

Just saw this week, the Beeman stuff is getting pretty interesting as it's obvious the Russians know they have him and it's a matter of time before they turn him completely

The stolen propellers story line is sort of interesting, wonder how much of that was going on

The kid crying at the end was a but much
Click to expand...
They obviously didn't read this thread as I once again saw a 1987 baseball card on the kids bed. Come on!....How hard is it to look at the stats on the back?
Click to expand...
I've lost track of what year it's supposed to be in the story... but didn't the Iran Contra thing happen in 87?
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I think it's 1982 in the show right now.

The weapons sales to Iran that became part of the Iran-Contra thing started in 1985 (and the scandal broke in 1987). But we'd been funding the Contras in Nicaragua since before 1982.

 
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El Floppo said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Brady Marino said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
Click to expand...
Honestly, not really. Nina maybe.
Click to expand...
I've seen this show described as "dry" and "cold". For whatever reason, though, I connect with these folks -all of them, down to and including Gaad & Arkady. And, in my case, I don't think it's wish-fulfillment (i.e., "I need a good TV show so I decree this as The One"). The relationships feel real to me. I've been knocked completely off my feet like Stan was this week, have tried to do something that my parents hated like Paige (in her case, going to church; in mine, dating outside of my race), tried to separate necessary "bad" from "good" in my life (everyone on the whole ####### show), and Nina is raging hot.

Different strokes and stuff, I guess.....
Click to expand...
Yeah- I'm drawn into this show because the writing and acting (and direction) set up real relationships between the characters. I don't care if I'm "supposed" to like one or any of them or if there's a heroic protagonist I'm supposed to support. I care what happens to all the characters because of the honesty and "realness" of the characters which is set up by the writing and acting. That's what I mentioned upthread in regards to liking this just as melodrama. Add in the espionage and supposedly real story-lines (or at least based on real story lines), action and nice exotic eye-candy, and I'm completely drawn in.
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:shrug: I just don't see that. Not sure if it is the writing or acting or directing. Pretty much all of the characters come off as hollow to me.

 
Officer Pete Malloy said:
El Floppo said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Brady Marino said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
Click to expand...
Honestly, not really. Nina maybe.
Click to expand...
I've seen this show described as "dry" and "cold". For whatever reason, though, I connect with these folks -all of them, down to and including Gaad & Arkady. And, in my case, I don't think it's wish-fulfillment (i.e., "I need a good TV show so I decree this as The One"). The relationships feel real to me. I've been knocked completely off my feet like Stan was this week, have tried to do something that my parents hated like Paige (in her case, going to church; in mine, dating outside of my race), tried to separate necessary "bad" from "good" in my life (everyone on the whole ####### show), and Nina is raging hot.

Different strokes and stuff, I guess.....
Click to expand...
Yeah- I'm drawn into this show because the writing and acting (and direction) set up real relationships between the characters. I don't care if I'm "supposed" to like one or any of them or if there's a heroic protagonist I'm supposed to support. I care what happens to all the characters because of the honesty and "realness" of the characters which is set up by the writing and acting. That's what I mentioned upthread in regards to liking this just as melodrama. Add in the espionage and supposedly real story-lines (or at least based on real story lines), action and nice exotic eye-candy, and I'm completely drawn in.
Click to expand...
:shrug: I just don't see that. Not sure if it is the writing or acting or directing. Pretty much all of the characters come off as hollow to me.
Click to expand...
petepete be doin' some trollin'.

 
drummer said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
El Floppo said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Brady Marino said:
Officer Pete Malloy said:
The only guy I care about is John Boy because he has like 7 siblings to take care of.

Seriously...is there anyone on the show...that could die in the next episode that you would care about?
Click to expand...
Honestly, not really. Nina maybe.
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I've seen this show described as "dry" and "cold". For whatever reason, though, I connect with these folks -all of them, down to and including Gaad & Arkady. And, in my case, I don't think it's wish-fulfillment (i.e., "I need a good TV show so I decree this as The One"). The relationships feel real to me. I've been knocked completely off my feet like Stan was this week, have tried to do something that my parents hated like Paige (in her case, going to church; in mine, dating outside of my race), tried to separate necessary "bad" from "good" in my life (everyone on the whole ####### show), and Nina is raging hot.

Different strokes and stuff, I guess.....
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Yeah- I'm drawn into this show because the writing and acting (and direction) set up real relationships between the characters. I don't care if I'm "supposed" to like one or any of them or if there's a heroic protagonist I'm supposed to support. I care what happens to all the characters because of the honesty and "realness" of the characters which is set up by the writing and acting. That's what I mentioned upthread in regards to liking this just as melodrama. Add in the espionage and supposedly real story-lines (or at least based on real story lines), action and nice exotic eye-candy, and I'm completely drawn in.
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:shrug: I just don't see that. Not sure if it is the writing or acting or directing. Pretty much all of the characters come off as hollow to me.
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petepete be doin' some trollin'.
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Nah, I don't think so. He's been pretty straight in here and his criticisms have merit - I've seen them in other places, too. And - when Officer Pete's's not shticking - I tend to listen to what he says, at least as another way to look at things. Sometimes, art just doesn't connect. Hell, U2 leaves me as cold as dead fish but a bazillion people think they are The Truth.

 
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