The Americans “Lotus 1-2-3” Spoilers Ahead
The Americans’ “Lotus 1-2-3” was a gorgeous episode for Philip and Elizabeth’s marriage. Its means of breaking down the ramifications their missions are beginning to have while reminding us of how very real this relationship has become was poetically moving. And where their conversation was concerned with Elizabeth willing to take it on alone, my friend Katie over at Nerdy Girl Notes analyzed the brilliance perfectly in her weekly review. (Seriously, how does she do this weekly? That little genius!)
Philip declaring “it’s us” was everything. A beautiful representation of the fact that no matter how agonizing their missions become, they’re in it together. And following that scene, a little later came the sweet embrace that left me feeling way too much.
Very rarely do you watch two people in a moment of quiet intimacy and feel every ounce of the serenity that’s engulfed them. But on The Americans that happens often with Philip and Elizabeth. Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell have such electric chemistry, it’s impossible to watch them without understanding every layer that goes into their character and their partnership.
And in their embrace, you could feel a plethora of problems fade into an effortless bliss. For Philip especially, it was a moment of clarity—a moment where he could just be. A moment where it was just the two of them. And no matter how dark the future would get, you know their adoration runs deep. In what may have started out as a planned relationship, today, it’s the one thing in their lives they’re certain of.
The one thing that’ll ground them back home to a place of familiarity and understanding. It was sweet to watch, incredibly innocent even, but simultaneously compelling and heartrending. There’s a lot that lies before them, but with this embrace, they reiterated the promise that they’ll always be an us, and very, very real. There’s no need to fake it today, for the way they’ve grown to care for another moves them to great heights—physically and emotionally patching up the darkness that’s within. No matter how dark it gets, how heartbreaking, at the end of the day, they can always come together again.
What are your thoughts on The Americans’ “Lotus 1-2-3?”