The Americans (TV Series) Comint (2013) User Reviews

Interesting gender politics and character moments

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 2 January 2021]

Elizabeth assesses the mental state of a KGB agent and the subsequent events require action from an FBI mole.

I enjoyed this one for the gender politics, its depiction of how intimate relationships are used to extract information and the development of several characters.

The plot isn't too complicated and is driven by another espionage related McGuffin, but you have to pay close attention to what is happening and being said, particularly in relation to the events involving the KGB agent we see at the start.

This opening sets the tone for what is to come, particularly around the use of sex as a weapon during espionage. There follows a number of scenes along this theme and they are done in a compelling way, with some focus on the aftermath, particularly the reaction of males to what the female characters have done. In fact the gender politics are are particularly apparent in this one, with the Russian female characters efficiently getting difficult jobs done whilst rejecting sympathy and support from males.

The above provides plenty of character development and insight into the main protagonists and their relationship, whilst also looking closer at some of the supporting characters. This has me intrigued about what will happen to them as the series goes on.

Kerri Russell hands down MVP in this one.

[axlrhodes · 9/10 · 6 December 2021]

The gob-smackingly phenomenal Kerri Russell wins the MVP in Comint. I delayed watching The Americans for years, as I felt like the 'undercover operatives' thing had been overbaked, but I'm glad I finally made the effort. It keeps pushing the boundaries of the dynamic between Phillip and Elizabeth. They must sleep their way to information, despite growing feelings for each other. The danger they're both in and how emotionally compromised they are because of how ingrained they are in US life, in each other's lives. I love how we as viewers aren't privy to the depths of their capabilities until a cold-blooded Elizabeth pops a bullet in someone's head at point blank range. We know she's an assassin but it's still a shock, because the writing is magnificent and the delivery is pinpoint from Russell who is deeply alluring and devastating in one go.

Good

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 25 May 2013]

Comint is a good episode. These are the following reasons why: One see how emotionless, cold and professional spies can be. Liz can have sex, extract information and get abused with no emotional attachment. The hunt for the F B I decoder is a hart pounding experience. The F B I shows how you play with a marks emotions and create a mole. I wonder watching Comint if the agents are adrenaline junkies? I also wonder if there is a few social paths are in the spy games? Comint episode explains the term cold war. There is a war going on where people are killed and undermined, but the war is fought covertly! Worth watching! I give Comint a seven out of ten.

The Americans COMINT

[dalydj-918-255175 · 2 March 2013]

I have made fun of the show for using bad disguises but lately the show has been doing a better job and in this episode I was unaware of what the actors looked like while in disguise. The show may have had some small scenes of Claudia early but the show is easing her in more and more which is nice as Margo is playing the character so well and she with Russell make for some small sweet scenes compared to Philip and Claudia which is just not as interesting. Stan and the whole part of the FBI is just bad and the part of the show I do not care for. Now Nina may have been found out hopefully she is done and I no longer have to care for her character. The best scene of the episode was probably the hard sex scene Elizabeth had even if what I was watching was so hard to watch. Overall an average episode and at least this episode is watchable.

EPISODE GRADE: B- (MVP: Kerri Russell)

emotional distress from everybody

[belaidinazim-57060 · 9/10 · 9 December 2022]

Elizabeth seduces an asset to gather an intel, but she ends up beaten with a belt. She kept her cool which is impressive because I wanted to beat this man myself. When Philip knew about this, well he didn't keep his cool, which resulted in a clash between him and Elizabeth. She says that he isn't her dad, and he says, "you're my wife". Obviously, this is as a tough of a situation between couple as it gets, normally this isn't a debate, but we are talking about KGB here, they use sex all the time to get information, and sometimes these things happen. However, even though they know that. Philip also knows that she could have killed him if she wanted, it still causes and will cause more psychological problems. It is a messed-up situation that even us as viewers don't know the solution, that's why I think this relationship may be the most interesting in all tv shows I watched.

Meanwhile, an agent crumbles under emotional distress and threatens to topple a valuable network of KGB informants. I won't bother you with that story because it was obvious they are going to kill him, they made it pretty clear in the previous episodes that anyone who threatens their exposure will be killed.

On the other hand, Stan is clearly getting emotional with his informant when he said "you're a beautiful smart.... woman", he also felt so much guilt when he found out she used sex to get the information, that relationship should be interesting too. All of this led to KBG realizing that there is a mole inside, but they don't know who, which will bring doubts all over the place including Elizabeth and Philip.

Too many layers to this show. So, I am so excited for the rest of the show.