The Americans - Episode 2.03 - The Walk In - Review: Think About The Kids

In The Americans third installment this season titled ''The Walk In'' we got glimpses of Elizabeth at her 'highs and lows', her friendship with Leanne and even Stan got something more substantial to do!

The 'high point' of Elizabeth this episode had to be how she comforted Jared and decided to not tell him the truth about his parents. Something that was probably for his own good, despite the promise she made to Leanne. The way she said supporting words and gave him a shoulder to cry on has to have hit home with her. This could be (one of) her own kids in the not so distant future as the killer of the Connors' family is still unknown. 

The 'low point' came when Elizabeth and Philip went on their mission to see the machine and encountered Derek, the poor guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. What followed was an intense, scary interrogation where Elizabeth only menacingly held a crowbar. Yet I was worried Derek would get beat up, maybe even killed, that's how convincing Elizabeth (and Keri Russell) was. Derek mentioning his kids is something that might have saved him, but that didn't stop Elizabeth from threatening his kids to make sure Derek kept his mouth shut. Very intense and really, people you don't want to meet in a dark alley? Elizabeth holding a crowbar. 

Most of these terrific Elizabeth scenes were supported by flashbacks, something I think the show does very well and doesn't rely on too often. The scenes between Elizabeth and Leanne were nice and showed us more of their friendship, which is why the murder of Leanne and her family hit so hard. It also gave us some beautiful moments between Philip and Elizabeth before they fell in love with each other. We already knew that took years upon years, but these flashbacks also highlighted the difficulties of being intimate within their fake marriage. Something that also took years and when it happened it was only because they felt they should have kids. The moment were Elizabeth held Paige as a baby was wonderful and I look forward to more glimpses of Philip and Elizabeth's relationship. 

Paige also was on a roll this episode as she investigated the 'aunt' were her mother stayed during her recovery from her gunshot wound. I feel it was a step too far for Paige, who in my mind hadn't reached that level of suspicion yet that she would travel across the country to see if Elizabeth's story checked out. The aunt is probably part of their KGB cover as she pretended to be senile and informed Philip of Paige's visit. Philip was very understandable when he lashed out at Paige back home, which was the scene of the episode for me. With both Paige snooping around their spy life and the fear for the safety of their kids it was very dangerous what Paige did. But something tells me Philip snapping at her isn't going to keep her at bay.  

Then there was Stan who finally had something to do this episode while he investigated the walk in Dameran, which lead to him shooting Dameran on the rooftop. On the relationship side Stan continues to have struggles with his wife, but finally told Nina he loved her. Still Stan's stories feel so disconnected from the rest of the show, I don't know what to make of it. Igor is also still hovering over Nina and basically asked her out on a date, she rejected him but Igor doesn't strike me as someone who takes no for an answer. 

Also there was the use of another Peter Gabriel song on the show, this show does their musical choices so well!

All in all, a good episode that gave us more insight in various relationships though Stan still feels disconnected from the rest.

8/10

Pascal

Pascal's a Dutchman and has been a longtime commentator on SpoilerTV and started out as a writer for SpoilerTV last year. He is quite a TV addict and writes for a local, Dutch, newspaper. Next to that he's into soccer for his local team, a gamer and a fanatical swimmer. He writes previews and reviews for SpoilerTV for a variety of shows. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to contact him.