The Americans, Season 2
Still doing their thing, even if season 1 had the better (cover) story.
Here's what I've been watching and playing over the last seven days...
MOVIES
No movies watched or re-watched, mainly thanks to being seriously ill for a few days, and a certain Witcher's adventures eating up my time...
GAMES
I played through this once before on Xbox Series S and enjoyed it, got it as part of a bundle on PC ages ago and am enjoying going through it again, having already polished off the first two chapters.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood & Wine
I was taking Blood & Wine slowly, but being ill and having a lot of time resting doing nothing gave me all the time I needed to finish off everything in my quest log bar a Gwent tournament.
I'm now going through the game and clearing a '?' from the map each day, which should stretch things out enough to see what the remaster looks like and - thanks to how many '?'s there are around Skellige, I might still not be done by the time the next expansion, Songs of the Past, comes out.
However, I only finished the story a couple of days ago, so will write about how much I enjoyed Geralt's time in Beauclair next week.
Also currently playing: Batman: Arkham City, EA FC 26
TV
The Americans, Season 2
Season summary: Philip and Elizabeth are forced to confront the costs of their spying, while their marriage, family life, and trust in each other are pushed to the breaking point.
Episode 1, “Comrades”
A really good episode to start the season, tying up how last season ended and setting things up for the season ahead, including a bloody murder scene of fellow operatives to put the central couple on the alert. [9/10]
Episode 2, “Cardinal”
A solid follow-up to the first episode, and I’m now starting to wonder how long it’ll be before Paige finds out the truth about her parents. [8/10]
Episode 3, “The Walk In”
Another solid episode and another kill for Agent Beeman, who’s racking up quite the body count (and I’m not talking about his affair with Nina). [8/10]
Episode 4, “A Little Night Music”
Another really good episode with Paige’s newfound faith testing her parents’ patience and a nice cliffhanger ending. [8/10]
Episode 5, “The Deal”
“The Deals” would’ve made for a more accurate title, and there was a lot of talking in this episode, most of which felt superfluous although I’d be happy to be proven wrong in the future. [6/10]
Episode 6, “Behind The Red Door”
A return to form with a really great episode centred around different types of sexual relationships and the different ways they can be harmful. [9/10]
Episode 7, “Arpanet”
Another really good episode with Philip bugging a high-tech system and Nina passing a lie detector quiz – two very different stories that somehow complemented each other perfectly. [9/10]
Episode 8, “New Car”
Lots of twists, turns, reveals and yet another death – and this is arguably one of the show’s quieter episodes! [8/10]
Episode 9, “Martial Eagle”
An odd episode with Philip having issues after killing someone on a mission, despite killing before, and showing more of his dark side – taken on its own, this is a good episode but doesn’t really fit with what we’ve seen of the character. [7/10]
Episode 10, “Yousaf”
A mixed episode: everything on the Jennings’ side of things felt like the usual high quality, but two on the American side of things felt out of character/not in keeping with the show’s tone and dragged down the episode for me. [6/10]
Episode 11, “Stealth”
Aside from the character of Larrick continuing to feel like an import from a Jason Bourne film and not fitting the show AT ALL, this was definitely an improvement. [8/10]
Episode 12, “Operation Chronicle”
Another really good episode with a lot of tension that would’ve made for a great build-up to the season finale if I didn’t dislike the character of Larrick so much.
Here’s hoping he’s killed off next time out. [8/10]
Episode 13, “Echo”
A pretty solid climax to the season, although it seems like even the show knew how shit Larrick was as a character as this Jason Bourne-level threat was disposed of with pathetic ease when it came down to it, and good bloody riddance.
There were some other neat reveals, including one involving the son of another pair of agents and Moscow wanting Paige to follow in his footsteps – with multiple seasons to go, it’ll be interesting to see if that happens. [8/10]
While still a very good show, I didn't like The Americans' second season as much as the first, and I hope they steer clear of the super-talented, multi-disciplinary marvel, Bourne-like opponents in the future. [8/10]
Comments