“Munchkins” should have been titled “Discomfort” because every
story in the episode — Young-Hee’s anguish, Alice’s threat, Gaad’s death,
Martha’s dad’s false hope, anything to with Kimmy — made me very uncomfortable.
I wanted to put my hands over my face and watch parts of it through my fingers
like a horror movie.
The terrible irony of the whole thing with Pastor Tim, of
course, is that Philip and Elizabeth actually didn’t want to kill him, opting
to keep an eye on him, and now their restraint bites them in the ass. Who knew
Alice would be such a threat? It’s the latest foreshadowing of the Jennings
family relocating to the USSR, with Elizabeth now the one to want to run. “I
thought I could live like this,” she says.
In the end, it’s a false alarm, with Tim running out of gas
in a remote area. This played almost like a parody of a sitcom, with the
situation being a wacky mix-up and resolved by the end of the episode. This
being The Americans, nothing ever
ends. I was filled with dread even after Tim was safe. Alice still has that
tape ready to go to the government. The situation is still very dire, with
Henry’s tennis ball bouncing on the garage door adding a Telltale Heart aggravating tension to the household.
Paige is dealing with things way above her pay grade. She
has to live with her parents as spies (who preach trust even while they deny
they kill people) and also has to comfort the woman who would turn in her
parents. The exchange with Kimmy telling Philip that her dad actually works for
the CIA was a neat parallel with Paige telling Tim and Alice who her parents
are. In both situations, Philip points out that both teenagers revealed more
than they should have. I wonder if Matthew revealed too much about the betrayal
in his dad’s office and if that will lead to Paige revealing too much to him
and Matthew telling Stan and the whole thing boiling over.
The Jenningses face the constant prospect of having to run.
Look what happened when Gaad tried to run: It literally killed him. Watching
him bleed out was rough and that useless apology from the Soviet agent was
funny and horrific. I was kind of excited when I saw the setup because I
thought it would be a new storyline, which is necessary after the show has
ended a few stories. But of course, this one isn’t over and I’m sure we’ll hear
more of what Arkady had planned for his American counterpart.
Nobody will ever know what happened to Gaad, just like
nobody will ever know what happened to Martha. Her father’s hope was
discomfiting. He asked Stan and Aderholt to bring her home but he won’t like
what the FBI will do when they find her. The show made the right move by
exiling Martha rather than killing her because the idea that she’s still out
there somewhere is more haunting.
The Americans
really sucker-punched its viewers with the Young-Hee story. They found a
delightful character and made us spend a lot of time with her and then she’s
crying to Patty on the phone and her husband is about to be blackmailed for
state secrets. The whole thing is terrible and it’s eating up Elizabeth. She
doesn’t want to lose a real friend and that makes her do a rare thing: She
gives in to her human vulnerability and gives herself a break for once. I know
the plan to find another way into the bioweapons cache won’t work (thanks, next
episode previews) but it was important that Elizabeth at least tried to find
another way.
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