Emmy Episodes: The Americans

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the third year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

The Americans: Season 6, Episode 7 “Harvest” (B)

Now we’re getting somewhere, seeing an operation in motion that definitely didn’t go as planned. Philip showing up at Stan’s and spinning a story that the business is failing, he seemed to think he bought it, but the later news about the FBI’s disaster in Chicago shows that Stan is completely onto them, realizing that there’s plenty that doesn’t add up about what they tell them and a whole lot of room for suspicion. Fishing for clues from Henry only set off more alarms, and though we didn’t see him find anything definitive, he’s getting very close. Elizabeth seemed relieved that Philip showed up to help her in Chicago, and the two of them work well together. Their driver and Harvest himself getting shot was not part of the plan, and there’s nothing like dismembering bodies together to help get the spark back in a marriage. What was most telling about the state of things is that, even though Philip coldly stepped right back into the role that he’s supposed to have been playing for years now, Elizabeth clearly thinks that he made a mistake by ever committing to it. As Paige expressed that she was ready to die and that she hoped to one day find a partner like her parents found each other, Elizabeth explained that Philip was never cut out for this while simultaneously giving Paige the green light to apply for an internship with the State Department and start on a mission that I can’t imagine we’ll get to see completed with just three episodes left in this show’s run.

What I’m Watching: Longmire

Longmire: Season 3, Episode 8 “Harvest” (B+)

So much for last week’s cliffhanger ending, since that was resolved almost instantly with no lasting damage to Walt. But this episode had just as much intrigue to offer, related both to its crime-centric plot and its main characters. Finding bodies with missing body parts is never a good sign, but it was the people who were still alive who were far more volatile in this hour. Seeing a wife and daughter arm up and prepare to defend their property until the bitter end upon hearing the news that the patriarch of the family had been found dead was cause for concern, and when the man who had the best reason to kill him came looking to collect with his bulldozer, it was obviously that things had escalated in a disconcerting way. Nick’s attitude towards decency was rather disturbing, but what was most shocking about this episode was Walt’s decision to forget what he learned about what actually happened. It’s rare that he won’t serve justice as it is traditionally spelled out, but in this case he seemed to see no value in robbing the family of much-needed money and imprison a man who was just trying to help a friend who was dead anyway. Vic was rightly furious first with Sean and then with Branch for reading her private files, and it was a rough hour for her, disappointed by Walt’s refusal to put a fight about her resignation and rejected by Sean after joking about having to pretend to be weaker than she is. Branch is spiraling out of control, but what’s truly worrisome is that Bridges is in fact on his trail, and no one believes that he’s actually on to something.

What I’m Watching: Smallville

Smallville: Season 10, Episode 7 “Harvest” (F)

Why, after this major revelation, do we have to have a pathetic episode which once again invokes the crutch of meteor-infected populaces and puts Clark in a situation where he no longer has his powers. It’s as if it’s only worth watching the first two and last two minutes of any given episode of this show since everything in between is just crap. While this show has seen its fair share of regrettable plotlines recently, they’ve been far more impressive and imaginative than this, and the regression is lamentable. This concept has also been executed in a much more compelling manner – the “Our Town” episode of “The X-Files” comes to mind immediately. I’m perplexed as to how Lois managed to escape the clutches of the townspeople, don some of their clothing, and locate Clark in the span of one commercial break when we saw her being carried away to be burned at the stake only moments earlier, and that convenient plot hole was pretty much all that was carrying the episode. Let’s focus more on Lois expressing her awe at Clark using his powers, and get these two out of Amish country, stat, never to return. On the subject of old plotlines being dredged up for no reason, why is there such a focus on Lex? As I’ve said before, it’s mainly disappointing because Michael Rosenbaum (almost) definitely won’t be back on the show, and mainly because we’ve been here already. This show – this universe – made a decision to kill off Lex, and bringing him back, even as a rapidly-aging clone, is pretty much cheating.