For awhile now, I’ve been wondering about Martha’s ultimate
fate. There will come a point at which the situation would be too untenable for
her to keep living. I don’t want her to hang too long and wear out her welcome
but Alison Wright has been so great and her character has added so much to the
show that I don’t want her to leave. I think they’d have to save her death for
the end of the show, because if she gets killed, I think that would wreck Philip
and sort of be the end of all of it.
After last week’s episode, I am wondering exactly where
they’re going with this whole Martha thing. I was sure she was very dead at the
end of season three when Clark took off his wig. I thought she got a reprieve
earlier this season. Now I’m waiting for her to walk the gallows after the
visit with Clark, Jennifer and Gabriel in the safe house.
Martha’s life is unraveling faster and faster and even with
the help of Valium, she can't deal with it. After finally asking the question
of who Clark works for, she gets her answer: The KGB. Her sister-in-law is in
on it and is actually her husband’s other wife. She fantasizes that she can
just go back to work like nothing happened but the FBI suspects she’s a spy.
(Stan and Aderholt prove their investigative skills but the fallout is sure to
be terrible. Gaad is flabbergasted that his own secretary planted the bug in
his pen, knowing that his career and credibility will be severely damaged.)
Worst of all, she’s seen Philip’s true face so if the
Americans interrogate her, there is no plausible deniability that she doesn't
know who he really is. No matter how much mercy they might want to show, the
Soviets can’t get around the hard fact that Martha can identify her so they may
have to kill her or send her to the USSR. The be-wigging is a double danger for
Elizabeth: It puts her family in danger since the FBI could identify them and
also endangers her relationship with Philip, who may have unmasked himself due
to a real bond with Martha. He doesn’t really answer his Soviet wife when she
asks him if he wanted Martha to see his real appearance. Philip not only
betrayed the protocol of a spy but he betrayed Elizabeth by actually being
truly vulnerable with Martha.
In contrast to the Technicolor sex between Philip and
Elizabeth last week, his sex with Martha was bleak and very sad. She clings to
him because he’s the only thing left that she can cling to, not realizing the
heartbreaking fact that he will not be able to follow her wherever she goes. Is
Philip having sex with her because he wants one last time for himself or
because he’s doing her one last kindness before she faces exile or death? As
with everything on The Americans, I’m
sure the answer is “a little from column A, a little from column B.”
The scene where Philip takes the gun away from a sleeping,
vulnerable Martha was unbearably sad. What followed was thrilling: Martha, even
knowing she’s doomed, taking control and threatening to scream “KGB!” on the
street at Gabriel. The covers of both sides have never been closer to getting
blown open. Martha at once has the potential for great power but she’s also
never been closer to death. I have no idea what’s coming next but I’m sure it
will be heartbreaking.
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