Of all the songs that have been used on The Americans in its 44 episodes so far - and there have been many - none have felt more appropriate than Queen and David Bowie’s collaborative hit ‘Under Pressure’. In fact, its appearance in the closing moments of Clark’s Place left me wondering as to why it hasn’t featured before. But then, at no point in the series’ run have the stakes been so high, things so tense, or the characters as pressured as by the end of this hour.
Not only did it feel an incredibly fitting inclusion, but the handling of the scene was truly spectacular. Much more elegant than last week’s brutal ending, we cut here between Phillip and Elizabeth, Martha, and Stan and Aderholt. The Jennings couple, freshly armed with the knowledge that their neighbour is working with the man who not only fought alongside Gaad in the season three premiere, but the same man who took Martha out for dinner, are filled with concern. For Martha, it’s a case of the walls closing in on her, and fast. Before the titles rolled, she told Clark that she’d been prescribed Valium for the panic attack she had. This, after informing him about Gaad’s reminder in regards to the copy machine along with her dinner date. Things were already looking desperate for her, but as Clark’s Place progressed, it seemed to get gradually worse.
Declined a chance to meet her husband after Hans correctly thinks that he spots a car he’s seen before, Martha is forced to call the KGB switchboard after being given the number. The threads are unravelling, slowly but surely, for Phillip. With each episode that passes, she seems to get one small step closer to discovering the horrible, horrible truth. What’s intriguing - and somewhat sad - is that all of this is her doing. Yes, Phillip is taking advantage of a lonely woman with great access, but it is her desire to know everything about what’s going on that is plunging her into the darkness. Here, her need to be able to contact Clark, while extremely reasonable (as she tells him, “I can’t live like this”), is yet another weight to add to the heavy load she is already carrying.
For Phillip, the burden is greater, and almost unbearable. For much of the series’ run, he’s felt remorse over invading an innocent woman’s life, lying to her for years and using her to unknowingly betray her country. So now that there is a risk of her being discovered, his default desired action is the exact same as when he and Elizabeth discovered that Tim knew the truth: To get out. He is very much of the belief that it would be far better to get her out now and risk having done so too early if the FBI aren’t actually investigating her than leave her there waiting to get blown. The latter option would be a ticking time bomb, almost as bad as the burning house to which Gabriel referred last week. But contrary to his opinion regarding the Jenningses and their need to leave, Gabriel felt that the best thing would be to leave Martha in place for the time being. He was thinking purely of the mission at hand, of course, and the intelligence that she can provide would be invaluable in William’s effort to acquire and pass along more of the glanders, or much worse, for the greater good of the Soviet Union. It’s a fascinating dilemma to have, particularly given that the ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ scenario runs on a slightly deeper level. While that does apply, it’s a balance hanging on ground on the tip of a pin. Martha could provide more information, but she may get caught and break, leaving the spies in a mess. And if they do pull her out, they lose out on crucial information that will, in Gabriel’s words, tip the balance of power between the United States and the Soviet Union, even if that will keep her, Phillip and Elizabeth and their mission safe.
They are all caught between the toughest rock and the firmest of hard places.
So for now, Martha stays. It’s impossible to think that this will remain the case for much longer though, given what we as an audience know about Stan and Aderholt’s covert operation. And after what happened to Nina last week, The Americans has proven it isn’t shy to make the difficult moves when a storyline reaches that point, so whatever happens will not be pretty, given where it all seems to be heading.
“This is our last dance. This is ourselves under pressure,” the final line of the track says. That gives off a vibe of certainty, which would overstate things slightly, though the sure thing is that it may be their last dance, and everyone knows it. The Jenningses took the opportunity to have sex, perhaps for the final time, in the slight calm before the storm, while Martha sat and drank her wine as Stan and Aderholt sat outside her apartment, waiting, watching. Things are poised to go terribly wrong for all involved, with the consequences driving the remainder of the season. And I can’t wait.
Notes:
- Alison Wright continues to deliver some superb performances. That opening scene, as Wright attempted to balance Martha’s external calmness with her ongoing internal battle of emotions - ranging from terrified to desperate to upset - was truly excellent. I know it’ll probably never happen given the track record, but can someone please get this woman an Emmy (or at the very least, a nomination for one)?
- While everything with Martha was going on, the Jenningses had to begin their plan of working Pastor Tim. Their first move? Bring in a man to pretend to be an El Salvador priest to provide Tim and Alice a story convincing them that really, they’re all fighting for the same thing, just in different ways. For the moment, it seemed to succeed, and Paige’s later conversation with Tim seemed to help that. But it’s a very thin rope to be walking, and the pastor could be on an unfortunate path to death very soon.
- Oleg has now returned to the US after attending his brother’s funeral, and learning of Nina’s execution via his father, who he blamed for not doing enough to save her. Arkady, who was also unaware until enlightened by Oleg, couldn’t understand what Nina did to get herself killed after being given numerous chances. Costa Ronin and Lev Gorn did some great work in their respective scenes this week.
- Stan also discovered the bad news, and his reaction was surprisingly restrained. I’d be very interested to see how that knowledge plays into the episodes to come.
- Speaking of Stan, he and Phillip finally patched things up, though not before he called his neighbour “an asshole” for not telling the truth about est. That really was a long time coming, and it can only help the Jenningses in the long run.
- Brandon J. Dirden takes Annet Mahendru’s vacated series regular spot, with his name now appearing in the opening titles.
- "Five more minutes on that thing and then bed." "I'm not gonna fall asleep anyway." "So stare at the ceiling for eight hours, then you can eat breakfast."
What did you all think of Clark’s Place?
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