[S5E7] In The Beginning
Even though The Americans still has a plentiful 16 episodes ahead of it before the series' intended conclusion in 2018, this week's episode, titled "The Committee on Human Rights," did feel like the beginning of the end for TV's beloved KGB family.
[S5E7] In The Beginning
However, I wouldn't be as excited as Philip and Elizabeth are over this new development, because even though Paige isn't crying over this loss, it doesn't mean she feels any sense of relief. As Philip attempts to comfort her in a later scene, expressing his empathy over feeling "different," Paige explains that her pain is something that's been embedded in her from the beginning, and that perhaps she's reached the point of no return, because she's always known there was something off about her and her family: "It's like a million times worse than that, Dad. I felt that way before any of this."
I still don't have any attachment to these kid characters, but Alicia's mission to round them up does bring a whole lot of zombie killing into the episode. Including a moment of zombie killing that could be the lead-in to something terrible happening. There have been irradiated zombies lurking around throughout this half-season, characters have been warned about them repeatedly. Morgan gives that dire warning again at the start of this episode. And then the thing that has been warned against happens. If the show goes down the road of having the worst case scenario play out after this, I'm going to be very upset. But with Morgan giving the warning at the beginning of the episode this event happens in, they have to carry it out, don't they? My interest in this show will take a plunge if they do. It would mean removing another major character who has been around since the early days of the show, and Fear needs to hold on to every remaining pre-season 4 character they have.
At the performance, Chuck heads in, and is unknowingly followed by Blair, who is unknowingly followed by Dorota. Charlie in a gold dress and Nate also arrive, and he assures her not to worry about Diana because she's in Paris. Charlie lies that she needs water and goes to see Diana at the bar, where she admits she doesn't feel right about stringing him along. Diana says her original plan was to just surprise Nate and catch him with Charlie to guilt him into staying with her but then a better plan came along. She sends Charlie along to go in with Nate. Max then arrives and meets up with Diana, who tells him Serena is already there but had to go in, but that he should go find her. She says she's wearing a gold dress and he won't be able to miss her. He heads in. Inside, Dorota sneaks up on Blair and startles her. Blair says she's desperate to expose Chuck, and Dorotaa reminds her deal with Serena. Blair says she promised not to undermine Chuck, and distracts Dorota by pretending to see a Polish film director. With her distracted. Blair sneaks off. Meanwhile, Serena arrives and says maybe she overdid it being fashionably late. Diana assures her that Max hasn't arrived yet and heads in to the performance while Serena waits. Before going in, she pays off an employee to keep an eye on Serena. Inside, Charlie asks Nate where they should head next. He sees Diana, and tells her he heard it's a better experience if they stay split up and he sends her on her way. He approaches Diana and asks why she's there. She says it's more important to spend time with Nate, and he replies that he's with someone else, Charlie. Diana lets it slip that she is seeing someone and planned on making him jealous and she hopes Nate isn't being used. Elsewhere, Serena is waiting for Max and beginning to lose hope on him showing up. The woman Diana paid off snaps a picture of her. Back inside, Blair corners Chuck in a side room. He tries to leave, but she doesn't let him. She begins to flirt with him and attempts to seduce him. He resists, but eventually gives in and kisses her while a shocked Dorota witnesses everything from a window. Elsewhere, Diana brings Charlie into a room of the performance and points out Nate, and instructs her to kiss him. She does so, but afterwards realizes it was Max. Across the room, Nate sees her kiss him and realizes he was being used. In the private room, Blair slaps Chuck and said she knew he was lying about being changed and she's positive now that she chose right with Louis. She runs off, and Chuck notices Dorota outside the room.
Rufus (to Dan about Lincoln Hawk's beginnings): What you don't know about the tour is how many times we played for a handful of people. In Marfa, Texas, our entire audience was a bartender. But that bartender he spoke to his friends, and they told their friends and soon we were selling out. It just takes one person to connect with your art, who feels like you directly communicated with them to start a groundswell. But you can't connect with that person unless you show up.
It was notable that the showstopper challenge deviated from the normal schedule beginning immediately after the technical round to allow the bakers' enriched dough to be proofed overnight if necessary. Brendan, Sarah-Jane and Ryan chose not to start their dough until the following day and worked on their flavorings instead. James and John both whipped up a sponge starter to enhance the flavors of their loaves.
In the beginning of the episode, the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) meets her daughter, Lady Rosamund Painswick (Samantha Bond), at the train station, a striking act in itself, as she is not the usual welcoming committee. The Dowager Countess explains they must tell Cora what they know about Edith, now that Edith has run away.
But the experience is beginning to break her spirit. She is anguished and very afraid; she does not know how much longer she can bear this. Janeway has the computer drop the force field. She goes to Seven's side and tells the former drone that her job is to hold on, even when she thinks she cannot, and leave the rest to her and the crew.
Actor Allusion: Huyang is called "professor" and he is voiced by none other than David Tennant, who was the 10th Doctor.
Air-Vent Passageway: The younglings and Huyang hide in the vents. Hondo Ohnaka, however, is wise to it and orders his men to drop smoke bombs into the vents.
An Arm and a Leg: Professor Huyang has two of his four arms shot off by a pirate. It doesn't slow him down.
Chekhov's Gun: Huyang tells Petro off for assembling his lightsaber wrong by putting the crystal mount backwards, which means it will explode when activated. Petro later uses this against a pirate.
When Huyang collects the younglings' crystals, Petro conspicuously keeps his, allowing him to ignite his lightsaber for the above gambit.
The younglings are briefly seen training with a practice droid at the beginning of the episode. When they launch their counterattack against the pirates, they lock two of them in with a whole cluster of practice droids, all turned up to their maximum setting.
Cliffhanger: Ahsoka is captured by the pirates, with the younglings left drifting in space.
Continuous Decompression: Ahsoka's whole plan is based on this: first she orders the kids to seal themselves in the cockpit and hold, then after she reboots the disabled engines, they tear the ship away from Hondo's vessel, rupturing the boarding tube, which causes the pirates to be sucked off the ship by the vacuum.
Cranial Processing Unit: Averted. Professor Huyang's head is knocked off by a blaster shot from a pirate, but all this achieves is to annoy him.
Downer Ending: Although the attack on the ship is successfully averted, Ahsoka has been kidnapped after being knocked into Hondo's ship. Hondo then has her knocked out and plans to use her as profit, since he didn't get the lightsaber crystals. The younglings are left on their own, drifting on a heavily damaged ship.
I Surrender, Suckers: Petro does this to a pirate after he, Huyang, Katooni, Byph, and Gungi are smoked out of the ventilation system. He hands his lightsaber (which, thanks to his inexperience, is set to explode when activated) to one of the pirates, who activates it, triggering a (sizeable yet non-lethal) explosion that gives the younglings and opportunity to run for it.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Petro talks his friends into launching a counterattack, despite Ahsoka directly forbidding it, after being smoked out. It ultimately achieves nothing except necessitating Ahsoka to put herself at risk, which results in her capture.
Strange-Syntax Speaker: Professor Huyang's speech is peppered with Yoda-like backwards sentences, as an indicator of how old he is.
Who Dares?: Huyang to a pirate who shot his head and primary arms off, following it up with a Badass Boast as his remaining limbs beat the pirate down.Huyang: How dare you! I've lived aboard this ship for a thousand years, and never lost a fight, and I'm not about to start today!
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