FX's The Americans - Episode 3.13 "March 8, 1983"
Elizabeth and Paige take a trip that lands them in treacherous territory. After an emotionally charged mission, Philip turns to an unlikely source for solace. Stan's plan to save Nina culminates in unforeseen ways.
The third season of The Americans has been especially hard on Philip. The missions have gotten much more complicated, brutal and disturbing while the personal drama has been much more destructive. He is simply trying to fight for what he thinks is best for his family. At times, that has meant he stands opposed to the orders the Centre has for him. They want him to tell Paige the truth so that she can become a second generation spy for the Soviet Union. They needed him to seduce an underaged girl in order to retrieve crucial information in a time of increasing global conflicts. He needed to keep Martha together after her entire world crumpled and she desperately wanted to leave. It has been a hard season for Philip. He just wants someone to understand him. Someone to truly know who he is as a person and who will listen to his concerns without judgment.The only people Philip can truly and honestly talk to though are Elizabeth and Gabriel. They are the only ones who could possibly understand the scope of what he's going through. And yet, they are much more committed to the cause than he is. That does give them blinders of a sort. The level of intimacy between Philip and Elizabeth is genuine. Despite that though, he still struggles telling her how he feels about the current state of his life. He wants to be open with her but he doesn't know how. This lifestyle is almost getting to be too much for him. He does receive some appearance of success. The CIA cancelled their meeting with the Mujahideen leaders, meaning the army in Afghanistan won't be getting U.S. weapons any time soon. That means more Soviet soldiers will live to fight another day while also giving Anton more time to recreate the systems for the Soviet Union. That is a victory for his cause. And yet, Philip still feels terrible.
Philip understands the practicality of everything that he does. He needs to kill and manipulate people in order to preserve the mission. He manipulated Kimmy's emotions to be able to plant that bug in her father's briefcase. And now, he has killed to keep Martha in a valuable position within the FBI. Martha isn't seen at all in the finale but her presence is still felt through Philip. He frames her co-worker for planting the bug in Agent Gaad's office. It's a brutal sequence where the audience gets to see Philip waiting in the man's apartment before knocking him unconscious, planting evidence and hanging the body. It's a disturbing moment that is obviously weighing on Philip's conscience more than usual.
Thusly, it's surprising that Philip turns to EST meetings to get some understanding of how to deal with these feelings instead of talking with Elizabeth. Sure, it's likely because she's out of the country with Paige at the moment. But EST really does offer him some wisdom that he genuinely starts pondering about. It is awkward when he runs into Sandra at the meetings. The two haven't spent a whole lot of time together throughout the series. They are friends though which makes it easier for them to have a heart-to-heart after the meeting. Philip wants to believe that Elizabeth knows who he is. He is a good husband who arraigned this whole trip for her to see her dying mother one last time. And yet, there's still the part of him struggling to tell her how he honestly feels about the work he has been doing lately. It has been rough and he struggles to put it into words. He's doing his best to do what's right for his family. But he still feels shitty all the time.
Things haven't been as difficult for Elizabeth this season in terms of her work life. She was successfully able to get those pictures for Anton without too many problems. Her inner turmoil has largely been in her family life with her mother dying back home and Paige demanding to know the truth about her parents. Elizabeth has always wanted to share the truth with Paige because she wanted her to understand what her true heritage is. Paige forced her parents' hands though. She demanded the truth and the reveal that Philip and Elizabeth are Soviet spies has been overwhelming to the whole family. Philip and Elizabeth want to believe that Paige traveling to West Germany with her mother to meet her grandmother for the first and only time will help her better understand their lives. The reunion is a big emotional event. Elizabeth and Paige aren't ready for it when the Soviets bring Elizabeth's mother to them while they're still sleeping. But that doesn't take away from the emotional honesty of the moment. This is a moment that no one in the room thought they would ever have. Elizabeth and her mother have one last moment together. Elizabeth is very grateful for Philip arraigning this whole trip and giving her a real chance to say goodbye.
And yet, the trip doesn't exactly do what Philip and Elizabeth were hoping in regards to Paige. They hoped it would give her a better understanding of their worlds. Instead it only brings about more questions and more uncertainty in her head. Philip and Elizabeth have lied to Paige. They aren't going to disagree with that any more. They are trying to be completely honest. And yet, the cost of the lying is simply becoming more overwhelming for Paige. She does decide to go along on the trip but she doesn't have the full understanding of the world around her to fully acknowledge what all is happening in her own personal world. When Elizabeth checks to make sure no one is following them on the streets, it's a confusing concept to Paige. She doesn't know that it's simply a part of who her mother is. She has no knowledge about her parents' line of work. It's brutal and disturbing. They are just trying to protect her from all of it as she tries to come to terms with the truth.
Despite her nerves, it does seem like Paige enjoyed getting the opportunity to meet her grandmother. And yet, the moment she leaves forever only makes Paige more confused about the big decisions her mother and grandmother had to make. She doesn't understand how the two of them could say goodbye all those years ago knowing that they may likely never see each other again. It's a concept so foreign to her. Elizabeth does her best to try and explain it but that doesn't help Paige all that much. She still feels a hesitation on Philip and Elizabeth's part about being completely honest with her. She asked for the truth and the weight of it is much more than she can handle. Now she feels trapped in her parents' world and they are trying to take her own identity away from her.
Paige doesn't know if she can handle all the stress and responsibility of the truth. She needs to in order to preserve Philip and Elizabeth's covers. They believed she was ready to carry the responsibility. But it's much more complicated than any of them could have expected. The truth is overwhelming and their typical means of escape aren't doing enough to cover up that feeling. Love is still constantly present. But Paige doesn't fully and genuinely know her parents and vice versa. Elizabeth believes that the trip was good for Paige and that she handled herself well. That's simply not the case. The trip is actually the thing that pushes Paige to the desperate need of sharing the truth with someone. The only person who does know who she is and not what she's expected to be: Pastor Tim.
The concluding minutes of the finale are completely devastating and brilliant. Everyone is just trying to emotionally reveal themselves to the only people capable of understanding and empathizing with their needs. Philip wants Elizabeth to know how he is feeling about his life right now. She really is trying to comprehending but his words aren't doing an adequate enough job in making his feelings clear. Meanwhile, Paige does articulate the words well to Pastor Tim over the phone. Her parents are Russians and trying to turn her into a liar. Neither Philip nor Paige know what to do about their inner turmoil and thus are turning to someone who can at least take some of that struggle away from them. The audience has no idea how Pastor Tim reacts to this news and what it can mean for the Jennings family in the future. Right now, it's all about Paige finally getting this information off her chest in a way that will eventually make her feel better even though it could destroy her family altogether. With Philip, he doesn't know how to tell Elizabeth about his struggles because of her conviction for the cause. While he's trying to tell her, President Reagan is on the television delivering his famed speech calling the Soviet Union an Evil Empire. Those are words that will fuel Elizabeth's hatred towards this country even more. It pulls her attention away from Philip right when he needs her the most. It is a devastating conclusion for the season. One that will only present further and more tumultuous complications in the future.
Some more thoughts:
- "March 8, 1983" was written by Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg and directed by Daniel Sackheim.
- Oleg finally gets confirmation that Zinaida is actually a KGB spy. He takes it to Stan who takes it to Gaad who is largely just furious with him. This operation to rescue Nina has been in motion all season long. And now, it has reached an unexpected conclusion - with Zinaida being used to trade for a different CIA asset and Stan being authorized to turn Oleg into an asset.
- Meanwhile, Nina has finally broken down about what her life has become. She has been asked to manipulate so many people into trusting her in order to win back her freedom. She doesn't end the season a free woman. Instead she's bonding with her latest target as he is the only person who can possibly relate to her struggle and vice versa.
- Elizabeth tells Phillip that he may not be seeing things clearly when it comes to Martha and whether he should tell her about her co-worker's death and framing before or after the agency learns about it. Elizabeth is able to point that out to Philip. And yet, they are both so in the dark over how Paige is really doing.
- Overall, this was yet another phenomenal season for The Americans. Yes, at times there were too many plot beats that struggled keeping momentum. But the performances and emotional intimacy of the show continued to drive the season to success. I'm so grateful that I got to cover every episode this season and am happy that FX has already ordered a fourth season. Until next year, my fellow comrades!
