Like i said, darkest show on tv….Phil's performance in this was amazing, to go from morose and reflective, conscience consuming his every thought to child like and playful, those scenes with Kim are so awkward to watch, but thats the shows brilliance, I don't want to see a grown man seduce a little girl, clearly out of her league in a game way above her abilities….but imagine how Phil feels, he REALLY doesn't want to do this, and it shows in all the frames and little moments, yet…he's so good with her, because he's treating it just like his own daughter….'make it real'. Thats the disconnect. He had so many great scenes and just subdued brilliant lines and acting, I was in awe by the end of the episode, which I watched twice. You have to watch 'Americans' twice, even as you squirm.
And, i can't forget Liz, casual murder of her assets husband, just to maneuver her way in even more…..and the uncomfortable, cringeworthy bond growing between these two women, as Liz manipulates her at every turn, is just as hard to watch as Phil and Kim. It's something that really gets a reaction, because as an audience we are thinking of people in our lives, (obviously none are Russian spies) but how these peoples emotions are turned and played, and their every secret and every desire is only a means to an end for these agents. It's such a crushing weigh to carry, and Liz shoulders it, with a sociopathic edge, while Phil with the heavy burden of a condemned man. You can't help but empathize with these innocents, who out of friendship, kindness, attraction ignorance, youth, compassion let these people into their lives.
Then the show goes THERE, in a single frame, without blinking an eye…and Phi's incredible performance, you look at him, curling himself into bed and see a desperately sad and unhappy boy, who slept with men and women for always all the wrong reasons, and who doesn't really know true intimacy, because it is all a charade, or a tool, to manipulate. A boy who has been abused, and toughened to take the abuse, whose heart was never really in it, and he's so lost in it all, he's losing his ability to disconnect. Someone whose body and mind have been used, always for the lust of flesh. That fukking look he had was just brutal. His psyche has been devastated by his life's work. Phil wants out at the first chance, but maybe he has gone too far, seen and done too much, to ever go back. His raw honesty with Liz, as she asks him 'Do you do that with me'? He miserably admits that he does.
And, i can't forget Liz, casual murder of her assets husband, just to maneuver her way in even more…..and the uncomfortable, cringeworthy bond growing between these two women, as Liz manipulates her at every turn, is just as hard to watch as Phil and Kim. It's something that really gets a reaction, because as an audience we are thinking of people in our lives, (obviously none are Russian spies) but how these peoples emotions are turned and played, and their every secret and every desire is only a means to an end for these agents. It's such a crushing weigh to carry, and Liz shoulders it, with a sociopathic edge, while Phil with the heavy burden of a condemned man. You can't help but empathize with these innocents, who out of friendship, kindness, attraction ignorance, youth, compassion let these people into their lives.
Then the show goes THERE, in a single frame, without blinking an eye…and Phi's incredible performance, you look at him, curling himself into bed and see a desperately sad and unhappy boy, who slept with men and women for always all the wrong reasons, and who doesn't really know true intimacy, because it is all a charade, or a tool, to manipulate. A boy who has been abused, and toughened to take the abuse, whose heart was never really in it, and he's so lost in it all, he's losing his ability to disconnect. Someone whose body and mind have been used, always for the lust of flesh. That fukking look he had was just brutal. His psyche has been devastated by his life's work. Phil wants out at the first chance, but maybe he has gone too far, seen and done too much, to ever go back. His raw honesty with Liz, as she asks him 'Do you do that with me'? He miserably admits that he does.
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he kissed her back
