The Americans 1.08

Mutually Assured Destruction

Philip and Elizabeth are tasked with finding and stopping an assassin who was hired by the KGB to kill a scientist. They don't know what he looks like or who his target is. They know he is going to kill one of 14 scientists in the Washington area but that's about all they've got to go on.

Claudia tells Elizabeth during a one-on-one meeting that Philip slept with Irina when he was in New York City. She doesn't seem to trust Philip and hopes that Elizabeth will see things the same way that she does. Elizabeth leaves the conversation feeling betrayed by Philip. She doesn't confront him right way but keeps the information to herself.

Elizabeth and Philip go to Baltimore on the basis of information provided by Claudia. They visit an arms dealer who provides them with a picture of what the would-be assassin looks like.

Philip continues to seduce Martha, who works for FBI Agent Frank Gaad, Stan's boss. She thinks Philip works for another intelligence agency. She helps him by photocopying information that Gaad handed to her to file away. FBI Agent Amador tries to rekindle his relationship with Martha but she brushes him off.

Stan Beeman secures a safehouse in the Eastern Market neighborhood of DC. It is a place for he and Nina to meet. The first time they meet there they quickly drop the pretense of professionalism. Later in the episode he finds out that Nina has received a promotion which could mean greater access to secret information.

Philip and Elizabeth find the assassin and kill him. They think they have accomplished their mission but they don't know that he already a planted a bomb in the handheld radio of one of the FBI agent who is tasked guarding a high level scientist. The bomb goes off killing the FBI agent and the scientist.

Elizabeth confronts Philip about the time he spent with Irina. Philip comes clean, finally. He claims that he didn't tell Elizabeth the truth before (when she asked him very directly if anything happened with Irina) because he was afraid of losing Elizabeth.

This isn't the best show ever. I'm enjoying it enough. I'm going to finish watching the first season but I'm not sure if I will continue beyond there. It isn't bad, it just isn't great. I feel as though the show takes too many shortcuts. There are too many things that are explained away much too conveniently or not explained at all. Where do all their disguises come from? How are they able to keep their work for the KGB a secret from their kids? I think my biggest problem with the show is that I don't feel immersed in the world in which the show is supposed to take place. It feels like a thin disguise.

Master of None 2.07

Door #3

Chef Jeff offers a long-term contract on Clash of the Cupcakes. Dev doesn't want to sign a long-term contract. He pitches a couple other ideas to Chef Jeff in the hopes that he can continue to work with him. Dev wonders if he is doing the right thing in turning down the long-term contract. He visits his father, who thinks he is making a big mistake.

Other things happen: Brian's father is dating two women. Dev has to give a pep talk to the Magnificent Kenny (Cedric the Entertainer), a celebrity judge on Clash of the Cupcakes. Dev finds out that Francesca is engaged.

I laughed several times during this episode but it felt a little disjointed. The part with Brian's father didn't seem to intersect with Dev's part of the episode at all.

Cowboy Bebop 1.01

Asteroid Blues

Spike and Jet, down on their luck, intergalactic bounty hunters, go after Asimov Solensan, a criminal. Solensan and his wife are on the run from the law and the mob. He tries to unload some of the goods he stole from the mob but soon has lots of people (the mob, the law) on his tail in addition to the two bounty hunters.

Most of the episode takes place on an asteroid called Tijuana that looks like a set from an old western film. I love the pace at which the show moves and the way music is used to set the tone.

I first watched Cowboy Bebop 15+ years ago, sometime after I first got a DVD player, which was 2001. I watched it a second time 10 years ago, in 2007-08. I rented the DVDs from Netflix the first and second time around. This is just my third time watching the series. I feel as though I should have more to say about the episode but it really is as simple as I describe it in the first paragraph above. I decided to buy the DVD set even though it is available to stream through Hulu. I am watching it subbed, not dubbed. I have never tried watching it dubbed.

What sets Cowboy Bebop apart from other shows, I think, is how it purports to be an action show but is really a character piece. I love watching the crew of the Bebop, just two in this episode but more down the road, interact with one another.

Atypical 1.02

A Human Female

Sam has a crush on Julia, his therapist. He gets down when he finds out she has a boyfriend but Zahid (his co-worker) and Doug (his father) try to encourage him not to give up hope. His father changes his tune once he discovers who he has a crush on.

Elsa struggles with her feelings for Nick, the bartender. It is implied that Doug had an affair some time in the past.

Casey gets teased by her classmates about dating a guy who got kicked out of school. She isn't actually dating him yet. She kisses him for the first time after she gets him to tell her how he got expelled.

On the whole not bad. I kind of like it. It isn't blowing me away. I wish the father had his own arc (like the other three family members) but maybe the show works better the way it is.

NewsRadio 3.06

Stocks

Matthew returns from a vacation in Japan with gifts for everyone. Lisa refuses to ask Dave for a new chair because she doesn't want anyone to think that she did anything unprofessional to get it. Jimmy tries to teach Beth about investing in the stock market after she inherits some money from a recently deceased aunt.

Overall pretty good. Not every joke landed with me but it felt like more than half of them did.

Fargo 2.05

The Gift of the Magi

Hanzee explains to Floyd what he found in the last episode. Dodd insists that the butcher is working for the guys from Kansas City. Hanzee backs him up.

The Kansas City crew prepares a hit on the Gerhardt clan but the Gerhardts strike first. Everyone on the Kansas City side is killed except one of the Kitchen brothers. Hanzee is the only survivor on the Gerhardt side.

Simone goes to visit Mike Milligan, who wasn't present at the shootout. He has the head of Joe Bulo in a box which was presumably detached from the body by Hanzee. Mike insists that she start producing some information if she wants to live.

Peggy tries to talk Ed into listening to what Lou said about the Gerhardts coming after them but he is too fixed on his dream of owning the butcher shop to listen. After he goes to work she packs up her things in a couple suitcases and goes to the repair shop to pick up her car. It looks like she is going to make a run for it but at the last minute she changes her mind. She sells the car to the mechanic for $700 so that Ed will have the money he needs to buy the butcher shop.

Dodd is about to send one of his men to deal with Ed when Charlie (Bear's son) steps in. He wants to be the one to kill Ed. Dodd laughs at first but then sends him with his man to the butcher shop. Charlie goes into the shop and winds up getting into a conversation with Noreen, the owner's daughter. They talk about Camus. Ed comes out from the back but Charlie panics. Instead of shooting Ed he buys some meat and returns to the car.

Lou is more or less off the case for the entire episode. He is stuck with escort duty. Ronald Reagan (Bruce Campbell) is passing through on his presidential campaign. Ed has a couple conversations with Reagan which leave him shaking his head. He gets a call from Ben Schmidt about the remnants of the shootout from earlier in the episode. Lou promises to head to Fargo once he is off escort duty.

Charlie makes a second attempt at killing Ed. He goes in the back of the butcher shop. He shoots once but then his gun jams. Dodd's man comes in and tries to finish the job. Charlie seems to get hit by a bullet that is intended for Ed. A fire breaks out in the back to the butcher shop. Ed proves to be too much for Dodd's man. They wrestle around among the flames in the back of the butcher shop. The fight ends with Ed putting a meat cleaver into the man's forehead.

Ed and Noreen drag Charlie out of the butcher shop. The fire in the butcher shop is just getting worse. Ed takes off and goes home. He tells Peggy that he has changed his mind. He agrees that they should make a run for it. She tells him about selling the car. The episode ends with them hearing police cars outside their house.

The showdown between the Gerhardts and the men from Kansas City happened much more quickly than I thought it would. I was a little surprised to learn that Hanzee didn't kill both of the Kitchen brothers but looking back on it now I guess he had to leave someone alive to deliver the severed head to Mike.

I love how they keep throwing up these seemingly impossible situations. I half expected this to be Ed's last episode. I'm not disappointed that he survived the attempt on his life. I'm just not sure what to think now or what to expect next. I loved the tension surrounding him in this episode.

The Americans 1.07

Duty and Honor

Philip goes to New York for a travel conference. There he runs into Irina, an old lover, who also works for the KGB. They work together to take down a Polish political leader who seeks to move his country away from the Soviet Union. She tells Philip she has a son. She tells him that he is the father. She wants him to run away with her. He sleeps with her but he turns down Irina's offer of a life on the run. He questions whether she has a son or if that was just a ruse to get him to run away with her. He returns to DC at the end of the episode.

Elizabeth stays behind in Washington. She looks after their kids and takes care of a little business. One of the subordinates of the man she killed in 1.05 (Comint) has serious gambling debts. He isn't being cooperative so Elizabeth shakes down and pays off his bookie. She meets with Claudia. They talk about their last encounter, when Elizabeth beat Claudia up after learning why she and Philip were being tortured.

Stan Beeman goes out drinking with Amador at the end of the day. He doesn't take Amador's advice when it comes to hitting on a woman who is giving him a look. He does sleep with Nina for the first time, when he should be at home having dinner with his wife and son. He once again expresses his concern about getting Nina out of harm's way to his boss who once again brushes off the request.

The episode ends with Philip and Elizabeth in their bedroom. She apologizes once again for what she told their superiors about him. She wants them to try and be a real couple. He seems to have accepted her apology. She asks him about what happened with Irina. He lies and tells her nothing happened between them.

Not my favorite episode of the season but it is up there. Stan's subplot didn't move me much at all. The parts with Elizabeth were a little on the weak side. The parts with Philip and Irina were more interesting. As always I love watching Elizabeth and Philip's relationship evolve. It is the centerpiece of the season.