Many Intimidating Parents of Americans

American, “March 8, 1983.”
Photo: FX

fan of American I was pleasantly surprised to hear reports that the critically acclaimed but underrated drama was renewed for a fourth season, and that the FX president liked it so much that he wanted to run it for five. It’s a tragedy, a spiral of doom that continues to drag its characters down a moral abyss, and as such it seems constitutionally unpopular. Even when you admire it, you wince a little.

Last night’s third season finale plunged viewers deeper into the darkness, showing the many ways the primary nuclear family was irrevocably broken, and broadening the definition of family to include the organizations in which the parents work and the , to include the country in which the family works. Fund those institutions.

The title of the episode is “March 8, 1983”. Written by creators Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields and directed by co-executive producer Danielle Sackheim, the film was named after then-President Ronald Reagan for the National Evangelical Association. It was named after the date he gave the cage-rattling speech. He warned against representing the two countries as two sides of the same coin, calling the arms race “a struggle between good and evil, between good and evil,” and calling the supporters of Soviet expansion “evil in the modern world.” “Focus on.” The speech is played after the final scene of the episode. This scene cross-cuts between Philip pausing and confessing his moral distaste for his and Elizabeth’s darker behavior. Her daughter Paige (Holly Taylor), a devout Christian, tells the pastor that her parents were Soviet spies (“They are liars and they are trying to make me a liar”). Reagan’s proclamation interrupts Philip just as Philip seems to be about to tell Elizabeth—always the more stubborn and focused person in the couple—that he no longer accepts murder and lies. There’s no reason why you can’t and is worth doing so many horrible things.

Reagan’s “evil” narrative at first behaves like an outspoken political denunciation, supporting the president’s absolutist views on the need for anti-communist military operations and a nuclear arms race (most of which were decimated six years later). It ends with the collapse of the Soviet Union, which never leaves the viewer’s mind). And, of course, that particular household serves as a reminder why Philip, Elizabeth, and every other Soviet agent in the United States do all the tough things they do. Audience and the target it attacks.

But it has another dimension, the old-fashioned American The East-West conflict is the voice of any belief system that compels individuals to act against their innate moral compass (if they have one). This includes political and religious ideologies as well as the emotional power of parents to force their children to believe certain things and act in certain ways. Children are often asked to accept without question as a matter of faith.

use of words faith Intentional. Throughout the season, parallels were drawn between various religious organizations led by true believers and those that appear to be religious. It struggles to match the skeptical by any means necessary: ​​kindness, flattery, intimidation.of EST The group, which includes FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) and his ex-wife Sandra (Susan Meisner), functions much like Page’s church. The FBI office where Stan, Agent Guard (Richard Thomas), and other agents work.in the presentation of the program EST Christianity as a warm alternative to communist or anti-communist fervor and urging members to look into themselves and define their own character and soul, always aware of parent-child dynamics. The various children are approached by a father or mother figure, offering guidance and reprimands, and encouraging them to go out into the world to strengthen and expand their tribes, flocks, and organizations.

upon AmericanAnyway, like so many TV series, pretty much everything comes back to the family.Every agency and every individual character is defined at some point as either a parent or a child.More clarification in this episode , full of scenes of parent-child interaction, both biological (Philip and Elizabeth and Paige, Elizabeth and Paige and Elizabeth’s dying mother), and emotional (as Stan portrays Jennings’ continuously neglected son Henry). Philip is off while playing a board game with (killing a man), and figuratively (both FBI and KGB agents are reprimanded for carrying out an operation without the approval of higher ups).

The scene where Stan confesses his off-bookkeeping operations to Agent Guard feels like father and son. Like watching a capricious, uncontrolled son called onto the carpet by his father and tongued for repeatedly breaking house rules and disappointing the old man and all he stands for. After telling Stan, “It’s a day of great disappointment for all of us,” Gaad becomes expressionless and the government trades non-exiles for imprisoned CIA agents, leaving Nina corrupt. All his efforts were in vain, he said.

These scenes are echoed in Philip defending his wife and daughter’s impulsive trip abroad to his handler Gabriel (Frank Langella). Gabriel tells Philip, “You act like a child,” and “I was just taking care of you. He then tries to pull off the classic dysfunctional dad move, portraying him as the bad son and Elizabeth as the dutiful daughter: “And Elizabeth does everything the way you see it.” When you’re not looking exactly, you think something’s wrong with her. Who knows what’s wrong with her? Growing up.”

Entire seasons are filled with dark, distorted reflections of parenthood and scenes of defiance of parental authority, real or metaphorical. These include Philip’s tactical brawl with Kimmy (Julia Garner), the target’s daughter who is about the same age as Paige. Henry’s petty criminality, a cry for attention brought on by his parents’ neglect. And Nina’s torment in prison finally culminated last night in telling former seduction target and fellow inmate Anton (Michael Aronoff), “I can’t go on with this. I can’t buy my life back.” (In her life there have been two owners, or two competing sets of bad parents: the Soviet Union and the FBI.) The evil empire that everyone fears and resents. I have. From outside, by some authority. At some point you have to decide to rebel or give in, and both routes bring pain. In his 1971 poem “This Be the Verse,” Philip Larkin wrote, “They fuck you. Your mom and dad.” “They don’t know what they’re doing. They fill you up with the thoughts they had and add some extra stuff just for you.