Audiobook: In the Dybbuk's Pocket

 

read the short story here -- for FREE

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Jack Ryan 3: On the Edge of Your Seat, In a World Both Better and Worse than Ours

I binged the third season of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime Video -- and let me say how good it is to binge rather than watch a TV series on the old-fashioned weekly basis -- and also say that I thought this was the best of three new Jack Ryan screen forays.  Which is to say, I thought the action was great, the plot complex and surprising and even profound at times, and the overall narrative excellent.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

The enemy is a Russia quite familiar to us.  Luka (a very major character, very well played by James Cosmo) laments that, in Russia, "We don't build things anymore, we build lies."  This is a tragically apt description of Putin.  And the villain (not Luka) yearns and is working for a restoration of the Soviet Union.  But though there's a fleeting, unclear reference to Ukraine, it soon becomes clear that Ryan is dealing with a very different kind of Russia than we all are dealing with off-screen.

In fact, in Jack Ryan 3, the man in charge seems more like Gorbachev, and it's the young Defense Minister who would start World War III if that would enable the return of the Soviet Union.  There are good and bad players and in between on both sides of this escalating tension, in Russia, the U.S., and central Europe, where most of the action takes place.  More than enough to keep you guessing, and they are all well played.

My favorites, in addition to Luka, are Wendell Pierce back as James Greer (who hasn't "been in Moscow many times"), Michael Kelly as Mike November (great name, and at least a dozen or more prime wisecracks), Nina Hoss as Alena Kovac (President of the Czech Republic), and Peter Guinness as Petr her father. There've been a long line of Jack Ryans on screen, going back to Alec Baldwin, and proceeding to Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine.  At this point, John Krasinski is at least as good as Pine, which is high praise.

Considering the shape our world is currently in, seeing what Jack Ryan has to contend with -- no Putin in power, no COVID -- is almost a relief.  But Jack Ryan 3 manages to make the end of the world seem more harrowingly at hand.  It keeps you on the edge of your seat and the series in top form.

See also Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime: Right Up There ... Jack Ryan 2: Fascism Loses -- At Least, In This Story

The Peripheral Season 1 Finale: The Putin Diaspora

Well, if you've been reading these reviews, you know how I am regarding what strikes me most in an episode: it could be a word, a phrase, that a character utters, something that has a special relevance either to our own world outside of the series, or something in the series, or both.

In the case of the season one finale of The Peripheral on Amazon Prime, the phrase is uttered by one of those three gents -- probably too nice a word for them -- in that gentleman's club in that brief coda after the closing credits.  One of them talks about "the Putin diaspora," which was a big factor in their world.  Nice current touch, a reference to the fascist dictator who has been terrorizing Ukraine for nearly a year now with an attack which clearly cannot succeed.

The mention of a "Putin diaspora" in the future -- or maybe "a" future would be a better word -- suggests that something Putin did led to a mass exodus of Russians from Russia.  That would certainly be a logical result if Putin continues his monstrous aggression in our all too-real world.  Good for The Peripheral for calling our attention to that.

[Spoilers follow ... ]

Now as to the rest of the season one finale and its science fiction: It's good to see Flynne and Lowbeer united, my two favorite characters in the series.  I didn't like Flynne's ingenious solution to the problem at hand -- setting up a new stub -- because, well, I didn't like Flynne being killed, in any manner, shape, or form.  Even if being killed in the stub in which this narrative began was necessary for Flynne to confound Cherise, and flourish in a new stub in which Cherise, at least for now, can't find her.

Flynne's death in our reality also makes sense, though, given Flynne's not wanting to live here with her mother dying in less than a month, and neither Flynne nor Lowbeeer or anyone apparently being to stop it.  The reason for that, though, is still not clear, at least not to me.

All in all, an excellent finale to an excellent first season, more than enough to make me sure and eager to watch what comes next.

 

See also The Peripheral 1.1-1.2: Cyberpunk, Time Travel, and Alternate Reality ... 1.3: John Snow ... 1.4 Who Took Lev's Tea? ... 1.5: The AI Therapist ... 1.6: Now or Soonest ... 1.7: The Unreliable Genie

alternate reality about The Beatles on Amazon, and  FREE on Vocal

Suspicion (Season 1) FInale: Truth

Excellent finale of Suspicion on Apple TV+.  Lots of answers to questions, with some big questions remaining.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Here are some of the answers:

1.  What Katharine did wrong in suppressing Eric Cresswell's report in the 1990s was not only delay the world's awareness of the dangers of climate change, but subvert the very notion of truth itself.  That's about the biggest mea culpa I've ever seen in a TV series or a movie.  She's responsible for Trumpism, including the lies about COVID, and Putin's spewing of lies about his monstrous invasion of Ukraine.  None of that is specifically said in the finale, but the undermining of truth has had those, and other, baneful results.  It's not as if that didn't happen before what Katherine did -- propaganda is as old as humanity, and other monsters like Hitler used it very effectively and disastrously against the world.  But truth has certainly taken a beaten in this current world of ours, and Katherine is responsible for that?  Wow!  I'm not sure if that's just a little too ambitious for this finale, or way over the top.

2. Of all the original group of suspects, it looks as if Aadesh was the only one totally innocent at the end of the finale, right?  That's a nice piece of work.  So, let's see: Natalie killed Martin, Sean is a hired killer (more on him in a moment), Tara (Cresswell's daughter) was responsible for the whole kidnapping plan in the first place, and Eddie was never part of the kidnapping -- he's a cop*.  All in all, a nice piece of whodunnit work.  *Which means, as ns2110theonly pointed out to me on YouTube, that Eddie's innocent too!

3. Also a very good twist is Leo being responsible -- part of the conspiracy -- for is own kidnapping.

Let's get to some questions:

Actually, they all revolve around Sean.  Who sent him that huge amount of money that he was justifiably smiling at as it came through on his phone at end?  Katherine?  Probably ... though I wouldn't rule out some other nefarious group we don't quite know about. And ... he seemed to be a pretty good shot.  Was he deliberately trying to stop Eddie but not kill Eddie when Sean shot him? If I had to bet on this, I'd say, yes.

Questions like that are grist for a second season, which I'd definitely see.  The first was a really flavorful, strong cup of tea.

See also Suspicion 1.1-2: Excellent Start, But Is It Four or Five? ... Suspicion 1.3: The Fifth ... Suspicion 1.4: Surprises and Invincibility ... Suspicion 1.5: Tara and Sean ... Suspicion 1.6: Martin, Sean, and Tara ... Suspicion 1.7: The Mystery Continues

 

Hitler, Trump, and Putin: Sharpening the Comparisons

In the past few years, leaders ranging from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin have been compared to Adolf Hitler.  I think the comparisons are valid.  But Hitler had more than a decade-long career as the leader of Germany, and it might be useful to sharpen the comparisons by specifying to what point in Hitler's career the comparisons apply.

Hitler at his worst was responsible for the murder of six million Jewish people and tens of thousands of Roma.   Putin has certainly not come close to that number as yet, and it is not clear at this point that Trump has been responsible for murder.  Where, then, do they currently correlate to Hitler's horrendous career?

Shortly before and leading to the onset of World War II, Hitler annexed pieces of the other countries around him.  In 1938, Hitler convinced Neville Chamberlain (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) to allow Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia.  A year later, Hitler and Stalin's conquest of Poland ignited the Second World War.   Clearly, Putin's attempt to annex Ukraine is somewhere between Hitler's annexation of Sudetenland and Poland.   In that undeniable, tragic way, Putin is indeed like Hitler.

Trump's similarity to Hitler comes at a much earlier time.  Hitler rose to power condemning the press that truthfully reported on his activities as the Lugenpresse -- the lying press -- just as Trump labeled and still continues to call news organizations that truthfully report on his activities as fake news.  By 1932, Hitler's Nazi party received enough votes in the general election that the German President, von Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as Chancellor.  Successive elections resulted in Hitler going out of and back into power.  By 1933, Hitler was back as Chancellor, and before that year ended all political parties other than the Nazis were banned in Germany.  I would say Trump most accurately compares to Hitler circa 1932 to 1933.

The point of these comparisons, and the hope that resides in them, is that there is still time to prevent the further rise of Trump and Putin.  With the current and immensely destructive attack on Ukraine, Putin is the one who needs to be stopped most immediately.  The Ukrainian people are doing an heroic job of this, but they need even more help from U.S., NATO, and the free world, as Ukraine has repeatedly requested and experts ranging from U. S. Army lieutenant colonel (ret.) Alexander Vindman and former U. S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul have repeatedly made clear.  Trump is not an immediate danger right now, but the Republicans need to nominate someone else for the 2024 election -- or, if they nominate Trump again, he needs to be soundly defeated again.

We the people in this world who believe in freedom have our work cut out for us.

Stranger Things 3: Growing Up

An excellent third season of Stranger Things - in fact, my favorite of the three so far - which couldn't be more timely in this age of Trump and Putin.   In the 1980s, the Russians were the Soviets, but they occupy the same place in Western popular culture - adversaries - and so they make great villains along with the monsters that the breakthroughs to the other dimension engender.

And all of our team were in top form.  Dustin's as sharp as ever, this time with a girlfriend, though his friends doubt her existence.   El's superpowers are formidable, though not unlimited, and she's falling in love - with Mike. His sister Nancy makes a cool and on-target reporter, and a good couple with Jonathan.  As always, there are at least three plot lines developing at the same time, peopled with interrelated characters, and converging well, if bruised, at the end.

The most compelling relationship is between Joyce and Jim, though it's hardly as yet a relationship.

Joyce lost Bob to the evil in Season 2, and she's wary of a new relationship.  Jim's not exactly her type.  But there's a chemistry there, which makes it all the more heart-wrenching when he's apparently killed in the Season 3 finale - a grievous blow not only to El, his beloved daughter, but Joyce.

Except - well, I and millions of fans don't think he's dead.  I never think a character is dead unless I see his or her head blown apart.  Jim just disappears when Joyce destroys the portal.  And in the coda, we learn that those nasty Russians have an American prisoner (unseen).   Since no one else from Hawkins has gone missing, I'd say Jim's survival would not only be most welcome, but is wide open.

The series is growing up well.  It's good to see the gang getting beyond their board games.   Cars have replaced bicycles as the most onstage mode of transport.  The sexuality is handled in an intelligent way, including an important character who turns out to be gay.   All of this adds up to a great foundation for a Season 4, which I look forward to seeing as soon as possible.

See also Stranger Things 1.1-1.5: Parallel Horror ... Stranger Things 1.6-18: Lando to Fringe ... Stranger Things 2: Bigger, Better


more parallel worlds ... "flat-out fantastic" - says Scifi and Scary

Trump and Putin = Hitler and Stalin, 1930s

I've been thinking more about my realization earlier this week (I'm sure many others have thought the same) that Trump and Putin are reminiscent of Hitler and Stalin, in the 1930s.   Let's flesh this out.

Putin is not a Communist by name, but he rules his Russia in much the same way as Stalin ruled Russia in the 1930s - by murder and intimidation.   He has the same attitude as did Stalin about Russia being taken advantage of by the world, and the consequent need to stand up to that by any and all means possible.   Part of that was an alliance with Hitler and the Nazis in the late 1930s.   During that alliance, Stalin and Hitler invaded Poland, and Stalin forcibly annexed or attacked the Baltic states, Finland, and Romania.   The similarities to Putin in Crimea and Georgia, unopposed by Trump, are undeniable.

Trump is not (yet) Hitler, but he shows many disturbing tendencies of going in that direction.  He has contempt for the press - he calls it "fake news," just as Hitler labeled the press Lügenpress or "the lying press" - and prefers communicating directly to his people via Twitter, without the intervention of the press, just as Hitler did with radio.   Trump is inhumane to minorities and immigrants, and preaches an American purity similar to Hitler's Aryan superiority.  He has contempt for the democratic process, as did Hitler, and embraces dictators such as Putin, and the autocratic leaders of China, North Korea, and Turkey, just as Hitler did with Mussolini and Tojo.

Obviously, neither Trump nor Putin have committed anything like the mass atrocities and genocides Hitler and Stalin would do in the 1940s.   But by then, the two allies of the 1930s - sometimes suspicious of one another, but more than willing to sign a non-aggression pact in 1939 - had broken and were engaged in a fierce, all-out war.

Trump says he wants peace with Putin and Russia, which is good.   But people who value freedom and democracy and its necessary bulwarks like the press must do all in our power to make sure the two don't eradicate democracy, as Hitler and Stalin did in their countries in the 1930s, and soon tried to do with the rest of the world.

Why Trump Loves Putin

Blackmail has often been cited, sometimes along with gratitude for the help Russia gave him in the 2016 election, as the reason Trump so adheres to Putin, as seen again in the Helsinki press conference today.

That may well be, but I think the deeper reason is that Trump has an affinity to dictators - to people in power who don't need the votes of anyone to continue in office.  Though Trump often trumpets how he won the election of 2016 - including again today - he knows full well that he lost the popular vote and only is in office because of the quirks of the Electoral College.  And that must rankle him.

When he sees our allies in Canada and in Europe, he has contempt for them, because he knows full well that they can be swept out of office in the next election. As can he.

When he sees Putin, or the leaders of China, North Korea, and Turkey, he sees something quite different.   He sees people who have somehow managed to stay in power, in some cases decades already, without needing a single real vote.  He sees people who think of themselves as Plato's philosopher king, though who knows what any of them, especially Trump, actually know of Plato's work.

This means that Trump is neither stupid nor out of control.  And though he may be subject to blackmail, and though he may be grateful to Putin for what Russia provided to him in the 2016 election, I think that Trump's embracing of Putin reflects what he feels and desires in every ounce and the deepest part of his being: to stay in office, to do as he pleases, without the annoyances of the press or the need in his view to pander to voters, for as long as he pleases.

Possibly other politicians and even presidents in American history have felt the same.  But I'd say none as fanatically and irrevocably as our current President, and this is a far more serious threat to democracy than blackmail or gratitude could deliver.

The Americans 6.1: Elizabeth vs. Philip

Well, The Americans, never more relevant to the current news than it is today, was back tonight with the first episode of its final season.  And the story it set in motion was relevant indeed.  It's the story of Gorbachev and the perestroika and glasnost he set in motion verses the KGB forces and the older, harder liners who opposed him in what would be the final few years of the Soviet Union.  History tells us he won - but not completely.  And, eventually, those KGB forces took power again, in the form of Vladimir Putin.

But back in the late 1980s - with Bork just nominated to the Supreme Court - Putin was not yet in command or control.  And the battle between Gorbachev and the KGB was played out with other people.  Including ...

Here in the U.S., Philip recruited from retirement on behalf of Gorbachev to keep an eye on what the KGB-loyal forces are doing here.  Which include Elizabeth.   In other words, the couple we've followed for the past five seasons are not only no longer working together.  They're working against each other.  With a directive to Philip to kill Elizabeth if necessary.  It's that serious.  The Americans has always been as serious as it gets, but never more so than now.

At least, that's the set-up for now.  Philip tries to tell Elizabeth, but she's too exhausted to listen.  Emotionally drained.  As indeed she should be.  She just killed a young naval security guard who's offense was to take Paige's ID - more out of flirtation than anything else.  But Elizabeth can't take any chances.  She never could.  Killing is always her ready option.  She may agonize about it.  But unlike Philip, she gets over it.  One might even call her a kind of psycho.

This binary opposition - Elizabeth vs. Phillip - was in the cards all along.  It's exciting to see it finally come out on the table in this final season.  And I'll be back here next week with more.

See also The Americans 5.1: The Theft ... The Americans 5.2: Oleg and Stan ... The Americans 5.3: Cowboys and Bugs ... The Americans 5.4: Dating, Soviet-Spy Style ... The Americans 5.5: Wrong about the Bugs ... The Americans 5.7: Gabriel ... The Americans 5.9: Gabriel and Martha ... The Americans 5.10: That Pastor, Again ... The Americans 5.11: Execution in Newton ... The Americans 5.12: Back in the U.S.S.R. ... The Americans Season 5 Finale: The Little Things

And see also The Americans 4.4: Life and Death ... The Americans 4.6: Martha, Martha, Martha ... The Americans 4.8: Whither Martha? ... The Day After The Americans 4.9 ... The Americans 4.10: Outstanding! ... The Americans 4.11: Close Call ... The Americans 4.12: Detente and Secret History

And see also The Americans 3.1: Caring for People We Shouldn't ... The Americans 3.3: End Justified the Means ...  The Americans 3.4: Baptism vs. Communism ... The Americans 3.6: "Jesus Came Through for Me Tonight" ...The Americans 3.7: Martha. My Dear ... The Americans 3.8: Martha, Part 2 ... The Americans 3.10: The Truth ... The Americans 3.12: The Unwigging ... The Americans Season 3 Finale: Turning a Paige

And see also The Americans 2.1-2: The Paradox of the Spy's Children ... The Americans 2.3: Family vs. Mission ... The Americans 2.7: Embryonic Internet and Lie Detection ... The Americans 2.9: Gimme that Old Time Religion ...The American 2.12: Espionage in Motion ... The Americans Season 2 Finale: Second Generation

And see also The Americans: True and Deep ... The Americans 1.4: Preventing World War III ... The Americans 1.11:  Elizabeth's Evolution ... The Americans Season 1 Finale: Excellent with One Exception

Homeland 7.6: Meets The Americans, Literally

Whew, a powerful Homeland 7.6 tonight which does what Homeland always does best, an episode which changes everything.  Plus this one had some other good features -

Such as Costa Ronin, showing up tonight in a role that he does best - a Russian spy (Oleg in The Americans, Yevgeny in Homeland) in the U.S.  Except Yevgeny has little of the humanity of Oleg, as he makes clear in the speech he gives to his older fellow spy, Ivan, who is wedded to the Soviet ways of spying.  They kept the world safe, Ivan says.  Yeah, but it destroyed our country, Yevgeny truthfully says.  And he therein is the clearest spokesperson for Putin we've yet to see in the real news, fake news, or just plain narrative fiction.

But there was nothing plain about tonight's episode 7.6.  It also featured Carrie drugging and seducing the FBI agent Dante whom she thought was her ally, but was really playing her for his profoundly nefarious plan.

And that's the plan that changes everything.  Because this FBI guy is in fact in cahoots with Wellington's mistress to set him (Wellington, the President's Chief of Staff) up, with an eye towards bringing the President down.  So the twist here is President Elizabeth Keane is a not a Trump in woman's clothing after all - Keane is really Hillary, and Putin's operatives here in America are indeed trying to bring her down.

I'm happy to see this, because I didn't like Keane acting like Trump in even the slightest way.  She's much more convincing, sympathetic, and real as a Hillary Clinton kind of President.

I said in my review of an earlier episode this season that I was a little disappointed in Homeland.  I'm glad I kept watching.  Tonight's 7.6 was one of sharpest to come down the pike in the entire series.

See also Homeland 7.1: The Worse Threat ... Homeland 7.2: Carrie vs. 4chan ... Homeland 7.3: Separating Truth from Hyperthinking ... Homeland 7.4: Fake News! ... Homeland 7.5: "The Russian Angle"

And see also Homeland 6.1: Madam President-Elect ... Homeland 6.2: Parallel Program ... Homeland 6.3: Potentials ... Homeland 6.4: "A Man with Painted Hair" ... Homeland 6.5: The Attack on Carrie's Brownstone ... Homeland 6.7: The Arch Villain ... Homeland 6.8: Peter's Problem ... Homeland 6.9: The Tide Begins to Turn ... Homeland 6.10: Fake News! ... Homeland 6.11: Quinn and Dar ... Homeland Season 6 Finale: Chilling - and True to Life

And see also Homeland 5.1: Moving into the Age of Snowden ... Homeland 5.2: Who Wants to Kill Carrie ... Homeland 5.3: Carrie and Kerry ... Homeland 5.5: All Quinn ... Homeland 5.6: Saul Wises Up ... Homeland 5.7: Tough to Watch ... Homeland 5.9: Finally! ... Homeland 5.10: Homeland and Homeland ... Homeland 5.11: Allison as Primo Villain ... Homeland Season 5 Finale: RIPs

And see also Homeland 4.1-2: Carrie's State of Mind ... Homeland 4.3: Quinn and Carrie ... Homeland 4.4: Carrie's Counterpart ... Homeland 4.5: Righteous Seduction ... Homeland 4.6: The Biggest Reveal ... Homeland 4.7: The Manifestation ... Homeland 4.8: Saving Someone's Life ... Homeland 4.9: Hitchcock Would've Loved It ... Homeland 4.10: The List ... Homeland 4.12: Out of this Together

And see also Homeland 3.1: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.3: Two Prisons ... Homeland 3.4: Twist! ...Homeland 3.6: Further Down the Rabbit Hole ... Homeland 3.7: Revealing What We Already Knew ... Homeland 3.8: Signs of Life ...Homeland 3.9: Perfect Timing ... Homeland 3.10: Someone Has to Die ... Homeland 3.11: The Loyalist ... Homeland Season 3 Finale: Redemption and Betrayal

And see Homeland 2.1-2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.3-5: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.6: What Brody Knows ... Homeland 2.7: Love Me Tinder ... Homeland 2.8: The Personal and the Professional ...Homeland Season 2 Finale: The Shocker and the Reality

And see also  Homeland on Showtime ... Homeland 1.8: Surprises ... Homeland Concludes First Season: Exceptional

Counterpart 1.9: The Spy Who Came In From The Fold

With all the killings these days of expatriate Russians in London - presumably on Putin's orders but what do I know - the doings in Counterpart, and its facsimile to Cold War East and West Berlin, seem ever closer to our own reality.

Not to mention the harrowing massacre in the our-side offices near the end of the episode - brilliant as as a piece of fiction, all too reminiscent of the massacres in places much more innocent than spy centrals in our own world.

And if that isn't enough, we now have Baldwin set against Howard-prime.  They haven't fought it out yet, but when they do, that should be something to see.

All of which is making Counterpart a prime piece of spy-game fiction.  As I said in my review of Hard Sun last week - another meld of crime and science fiction story - the crime is diamond-hard in Counterpart, and the science fiction soft and blurry.  We have no idea how the alternate reality was  brought into being - not even a nod to the science that somehow made that happen.  Which means the series, strictly speaking, is not science fiction at all.  It's science fantasy.

But who cares?  Labels are not the most important thing in this or any reality.  That would be the contents in the package, the narrative that the labels seek to describe.  And whatever you want to call it, Counterpart is one superb spy-ride of a story, and I'll be back here with a few thoughts on the season finale after it's aired two weeks from today.

See also  Counterpart 1.1: Fringe on Espionage ... Counterpart 1.2: Two Different Worlds ... Counterpart 1.3: Identification and Pandemic ... Counterpart 1.4: The Switch ... Counterpart 1.5: Ménage à Alternates ... Counterpart 1.6: Alternate Prince, Funeral, and Clear Clare ... Counterpart 1.7: Spying Across Dimensions ... Counterpart 1.8: Conversations

   

The Americans 5.10: That Pastor, Again

The most interesting part of The Americans 5.10 last night - which, like House of Cards and Designated Survivor is becoming ever more like our reality off the drama screen, given who is actually in the White House - featured Paige bringing home photos of Pastor's Tim diary.

In particular, the part of the diary in which Tim writes about how abused Paige seems, worse than a victim of sexual abuse, was outrightly shocking.  No wonder Paige is upset about this.

And now Philip and Elizabeth will be, too.  With the big question of: what will they do about it?

The two are caught between a rock and a hard place regarding that worse than pesky pastor.  If they do anything to harm him - such as killing him - that would undoubtedly provoke out-of-control reactions from Paige, i.e., actions that her parents cannot control.

But is getting him out of the country enough?  Should Tim ever share his concerns with any authority, that could well be the end for Philip and Elizabeth.  And, given the intensity of his feelings, isn't it just a matter of time before he lets someone else know about Paige and her family?

Paige has been a ticking time bomb for Philip and Elizabeth for a while now.  They dodged a bullet with Paige and Stan's son.   But what Tim wrote in his diary is far more dangerous.

Based on the killings in Russia these days in our reality, it's pretty clear what Putin would do.   But that's reality.  In the fictional world of The Americans, will the writers come up with something better?

See also The Americans 5.1: The Theft ... The Americans 5.2: Oleg and Stan ... The Americans 5.3: Cowboys and Bugs ... The Americans 5.4: Dating, Soviet-Spy Style ... The Americans 5.5: Wrong about the Bugs ... The Americans 5.7: Gabriel ... The Americans 5.9: Gabriel and Martha

And see also The Americans 4.4: Life and Death ... The Americans 4.6: Martha, Martha, Martha ... The Americans 4.8: Whither Martha? ... The Day After The Americans 4.9 ... The Americans 4.10: Outstanding! ... The Americans 4.11: Close Call ... The Americans 4.12: Detente and Secret History

And see also The Americans 3.1: Caring for People We Shouldn't ... The Americans 3.3: End Justified the Means ...  The Americans 3.4: Baptism vs. Communism ... The Americans 3.6: "Jesus Came Through for Me Tonight" ...The Americans 3.7: Martha. My Dear ... The Americans 3.8: Martha, Part 2 ... The Americans 3.10: The Truth ... The Americans 3.12: The Unwigging ... The Americans Season 3 Finale: Turning a Paige

And see also The Americans 2.1-2: The Paradox of the Spy's Children ... The Americans 2.3: Family vs. Mission ... The Americans 2.7: Embryonic Internet and Lie Detection ... The Americans 2.9: Gimme that Old Time Religion ...The American 2.12: Espionage in Motion ... The Americans Season 2 Finale: Second Generation

And see also The Americans: True and Deep ... The Americans 1.4: Preventing World War III ... The Americans 1.11:  Elizabeth's Evolution ... The Americans Season 1 Finale: Excellent with One Exception