Battlefield 1 | The Americans, Season 3
From the First World War and global conflict to the Cold War and family conflict.
MOVIES
Not the greatest movie ever, but still an enjoyable watch and - apologies in advance for being somewhat superficial here - but Jessica Chastain is so unbelievably gorgeous in this film that she stands as solid proof that you don't need to get an actress even close to naked to make her look sexy beyond belief.
GAMES
Battlefield 1
Game summary: Takes you back to The Great War, WW1, where new technology and worldwide conflict changed the face of warfare forever. (Steam)
If I announce up-front that I stopped playing Battlefield 1 due to my 'Endgame' rule and disliked it so much that 3 hours was more than enough to give up on and why I'm not giving it a score.
The game stills looks pretty good for something 10 years old, and the audio design is pretty terrific too, but that's about where my praise ends.
I was never interested in Battlefield 1's multiplayer, but got it very cheap in a sale, so thought I'd at least play through the War Stories campaign, but didn't even make it halkway through them before stopping.
The introductory sequence where you play as soldiers in different scenarios being killed is overly-scripted and doesn't do enough to help introduce you to the game, getting things off to a bad start.
Then there comes the poor mission structures, level design and, at least where the aerial combat is concerned, absolutely dreadful controls too.
You might get something out of it if you're an FPS fanatic who wants to try out the First World War setting, but I can't recommend it all otherwise and will happily avoid ever playing it again.
TV
The Americans, Season 3
Season summary: Philip and Elizabeth face increasing pressure from their KGB bosses as family tensions deepen, forcing them to confront increasingly dangerous missions and divided loyalties.
Episode 1, “Est Men”
Man, this show’s season premieres are always so good at packing so much in that it makes summing them up really hard – but a great way to start the new season. [9/10]
Episode 2, “Baggage”
Well, this episode includes one of the most nausea-inducing scenes I’ve ever seen in live-action, giving the title of the episode a whole new meaning. [9/10]
Episode 3, “Open House”
Another high-quality episode that just makes me want to keep watching even when I should be heading to bed! [9/10]
Episode 4, “Dimebag”
Lots of manipulating and being manipulated by just about everyone this episode, with Philip being played by two teenage girls no less. [8/10]
Episode 5, “Salang Pass”
This felt like a more thoughtful episode than normal, with Philip struggling to complete an unsavoury task and glimpses into the equally unsavoury training he had to undergo in preparation. [8/10]
Episode 6, “Born Again”
Trouble with teenage girls with a twist: Philip not wanting to sleep with Kimmy, and Elizabeth struggling to follow through on recruiting Paige – fun stuff! [9/10]
Episode 7, “Walter Taffet”
This was the first episode that made me realise how little is happening on the FBI side of the story, while so much is happening with the Soviets – utterly imbalanced in terms of importance, yet it never feels that way. [8/10]
Episode 8, “Divestment”
Continuing the line of thought from above, it’s interesting to see KGB agents acting as defenders of the US due to stopping a bomb going off as it would be harmful for their efforts. [9/10]
Episode 9, “Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?”
A sweet, sad episode with Elizabeth having to kill an innocent older woman who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. [9/10]
Episode 10, “Stingers”
Paige finds out the truth about her family – comes as a surprise completely out of nowhere, at the behest of her Pastor, who I don’t trust in the slightest. [9/10]
Episode 11, “One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov”
Apart from the titles for this and the last episode feeling like they’re the wrong way around, another really enjoyable outing and I’m predicting not good things for Martha’s future at the FBI. [9/10]
Episode 12, “I Am Abassin Zadran”
Not much of an episode in itself, more continuing the ongoing stories and putting pieces into place for the finale, but still highly enjoyable nonetheless. [8/10]
Episode 13, “March 8, 1983”
It continues to be a ‘problem’ for the show that season finales just feel like any other episode – generally that’s fine as the show is consistently very good to great, but it does mean that certain events, like Paige’s choice in this episode, don’t land as hard as they should. [8/10]
A step-up from season 2, which was still bloody good in its own right anyway - this show is so consistently great that it distorts how you should judge quality television.
The Americans' third season continues the show's high, high standards and constantly finds new ways to make things interesting rather than letting the 'mission of the week' grow stale. [9/10]
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