Even considering all the buildup, I can’t imagine anyone feeling disappointed with how things go down at that living room table. We knew we could count on Russell and Rhys to deliver the goods at this point, but the scene wouldn’t we worth a whit if Holly Taylor didn’t rise to the occasion. Director Larysa Kondracki knows she’s got a talented young actress to work with, though, so the restrained back and forth shooting of the scene lets you see Taylor crush every single word and reaction she’s asked to give. While Paige’s confusion and anger are hitting you in the gut, the adults trim the edges with smaller moments, like Philip’s microscopic nod to Elizabeth that sets things in motion, or Elizabeth’s wavering smile as she looks at Paige. On its own, the sequence raises the already dizzyingly high bar The Americans aspires to as a series, and dares the rest of 2015’s television to keep up.
It also helps to justify the off-kilter pace of the first half of the hour, the hubbub of the Jennings’ professional lives grinding to a halt once their home life becomes a shambles. The chaos of “Stingers” is still going on in the second half of the episode, but the Jennings just don’t care anymore. The war, the Centre, the Cause: none of that matters to Philip and Elizabeth while they wait for Paige to process things. When Paige calls Pastor Tim to tell him a version of what’s happened, intercutting brings us back to Philip and Elizabeth before we hear what exactly she thinks her parents are. Maybe she says nothing, maybe she comes up with a lie of her own, or maybe she tells the truth. Philip and Elizabeth are trying on Paige’s old shoes now that they’re the ones in the dark, and it’s an uncomfortable, distressing fit.
When Stan comes over for dinner at the end of the episode, Paige’s deer-in-the-headlights look at the Fed next door suggests it’ll be a while before she can fully comprehend this radical new reality. Stan, a man who works in espionage, thinks Dustin Hoffman dressing up as a woman to get a job is too ridiculous to happen in real life, but his neighbour’s daughter woke up this morning in a spy movie. If the last shot of “Stingers” is indicative of anything, it’s that Paige getting closer to her parents has put her further away from anything resembling a normal life.
And yet, after all this, Paige isn’t the Jennings child I’m most worried about. As “Stingers” explodes one of the biggest bombshells in The Americans’ arsenal, think of what Philip and Elizabeth are missing while they carry the fate of the world and their daughter on their shoulders. Henry’s been on the fringes of the show all season, but the hour is almost as much about his disconnection from his family as Paige’s. Just as looking at Paige is like looking at a younger version of her parents, watching Henry tonight is like watching a surrogate version of Stan, the two bonding over movies, football games, and loneliness.
The drama of Paige’s confrontation is yet another smokescreen in “Stingers,” one designed to cover-up Henry’s own incredibly depressing hour. His questions are ignored by his parents at the dinner table, he has no one to watch Tron with, and his dad doesn’t seem interested in his new favourite SNL sketch. Henry isn’t much younger now than Paige was when she first started suspecting something off about her family. What once seemed like another case of “Ignored Cable Drama Son Syndrome” may be the greatest long con by The Americans yet. “I have to look at everything we have, and say what I want,” Stan tells Henry about the mess that is his broken home. How long before Henry really starts looking around his own house, and wants something as badly as Paige did tonight?
- Stray Thoughts
-Thankfully, it was announced yesterday that the show has been renewed for a fourth season. Hurray for at least 13 more hours of agonizing appointment television!
-Martha’s just about the only major thread on the show left on the backburner, but based on Stan’s moment of pause in his interview with Taffett, that shouldn’t be the case for long.
-With The Verdict, Tootsie, and The Dark Crystal all in theatres, “Stingers” takes place right before Christmas (Stan, as Philip notes, acting like Santa Claus of late). Considering the final episode of the season is titled “March 8, 1983,” it’ll be interesting to see when and how the show covers the two-month gap.
-Great touch: Elizabeth stops Henry during his “Mr. Robinson’s Neighbourhood” tribute almost exactly at the point in the sketch where Eddie Murphy is supposed to be interrupted. Who says she doesn’t have comic timing?
-Zinaida’s sweet tooth is still driving me crazy. It might just be a detail meant to improve her cover as someone thankful to be in the land of plenty, but I swear, there’s something else going on here!
-Paige’s crescent moon earrings during The Conversation look like little sickles. She could be a communist without even changing her wardrobe!
-Known sufferers of ICDSS include: Homeland’s Chris Brody, Breaking Bad’s Walter Jr., Banshee’s Max Hopewell, and Mad Men’s Bobby Draper. Consult a doctor if you suspect yourself of being the uninteresting youngest son of your family.