under pressure: on the americans, season 4, episode 5

One of the great pleasures of The Americans for me is the beauty and skill with which it’s shot, and this week’s episode, “Clark’s Place,” has some of the most memorable visual motifs and shot sequences in the entire series. 

In this episode, we see men under pressure, contained alone and with others in spaces so small that they give no room for the emotional weight or tension of the moment to dissipate. Men in phone booths…

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…and men in cars…

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…united by women they’ve used as spies or women they suspect of spying.

I especially love this shot sequence in which Philip tells Martha, the woman who knows him as her husband Clark, that he loves her, while his wife Elizabeth sits in the car watching him. 

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Philip is speaking to Martha but she’s actually left out of the connection he has with Elizabeth at that moment. Martha loves “Clark” heart and soul, with passion and devotion. Philip has a kind of love for Martha but doesn’t love her as a partner. He’s shepherded her into this dangerous life and feels a sense of responsibility for her. He worries for her well-being and will do whatever he can to keep her safe. But it’s Elizabeth who has his heart and soul, Elizabeth who gets the truth of him in ways that Martha never will. It’s Elizabeth who he loves as a partner

And when he’s distraught about Martha, it’s Elizabeth who gets to keep him warm…

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…which can only mean that Martha is left out in the cold.

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And god, she deserves better.