Source: tv.com

Title: Born Again

Episode M.V.P.: Holly Taylor
Paige Jennings could have been insufferable. Instead, Paige is complex, she’s interesting, and she’s important—not despite the fact that she’s a teenage girl who cares deeply about things but because of that. Part of the credit for that needs to go to the writers, who have created such a strong character in Paige. But part of the credit also needs to go to Taylor, who just had her finest hour in “Born Again.”

Yes, Paige rolls her eyes at her dad’s “be true to yourself” speeches, but the impressive thing about Paige is that she rolls her eyes because—at this point in her life—she doesn’t need that speech. Paige is driven by the courage of conviction that Taylor brought to life so beautifully in Paige’s two scenes with her mother in this episode. What was so impressive about what Taylor did in those scenes was her restraint and gentle touch. Like the cast of fantastic adult actors around her, Taylor didn’t reach for the dramatics. Instead, she played Paige’s faith and desire for her mother to understand her beliefs with a simple honesty and sincerity that reminded me how young this character really is.

This episode focused heavily on the similarities between Paige and Elizabeth—their passion, their belief in fighting for what matters to them, their desire to affect change—but it also focused on their differences. And one of the biggest differences is Paige’s innocence. Sometimes innocence can come off as annoying in the media, but Taylor has made Paige anything but annoying. In this episode, she showed Paige’s innocence through an openness fueled by belief. When she talked to Elizabeth about praying, there was no sense of preaching or moralizing, just a daughter sincerely trying to help her mother because she believes prayer genuinely helped her. And much like Philip with Kimberly, what makes Elizabeth’s development of Paige as an asset so troubling is the way she’s going to have to corrupt that innocence.

The final scene between Elizabeth and Paige was such a great showcase for Keri Russell, but Taylor matched her every step of the way. Taylor made me feel Paige’s confusion and hesitation to embrace what her mother was telling her—because no teenage girl wants to hear they’re just like their mom. Taylor played that scene perfectly because Paige has no idea that this means so much more to Elizabeth than just a walk down memory lane. To Paige, this is her mother telling her they’re a lot alike but she still knows what’s best because she did braver things for her beliefs. And to Paige, that hurts—just like we know it hurt Elizabeth to feel like Paige wasn’t accepting what she was trying to say.

In typical The Americans fashion, this moment relied heavily on the facial expressions of its actors in order to create emotional depth, and Taylor brought a depth to her work in this scene that proved to me she’s been taking lessons from Russell and Matthew Rhys—two of the best to watch and learn from—and the lessons are paying off.

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Source: http://www.soundonsight.org

Title: Salang Pass

Episode M.V.P.: Matthew Rhys
“Salang Pass” was an episode that focused heavily on Philip and his many aliases. As such, it relied heavily on the versatility of Rhys. Like last week’s “Dimebag,” what made Rhys’s work so impressive in this episode was his ability to show the cracks in Philip’s exterior as both Clark and Jim in ways subtle enough for the audience to see them but to still make it believable that both Martha and Kimberly wouldn’t be able to notice something was amiss. For example, the scene with Martha where they were looking at potential foster children asked for such nuance from Rhys, as he had to show Clark still holding back from the idea while also showing Philip’s deep nostalgia for simpler times with this own kids just under the surface of his alias.

That same dichotomy between the persona Philip was projecting and his real emotions was never more evident than in the juxtaposition of his scenes with Paige and Kimberly. His shopping trip with Paige was filled with the kind of warmth and realistic fatherly behavior Rhys gives to every moment between Philip and his kids. And that same silly sense of humor and parental warmth worked its way into his final scene with Kimberly so perfectly that it took my breath away. As she talked on the back porch about the big rake and small rake, you could see the same pull between detachment and paternal nostalgia that he brought to Clark in the beginning of the episode. And when they had their food fight, Rhys made every beat feel like the kind of fun a dad would have with his kid rather than making it anything remotely sexual. That same sense of paternal care was brought to the heartbreaking moment of him carrying Kimberly up the stairs.

In the hands of a different actor, that whole sequence in Kimberly’s home could have been sexualized, making it difficult for us to ever root for Philip again. However, Rhys has done such a brilliant job showing that Philip’s natural instinct toward Kimberly is that of a protective father, which makes his interactions with both her and with Paige more fascinating than ever. And it makes it even more tragic to think about the possibility of him having to sleep with Kimberly, because we know that’s the one act he might never be forgive himself for committing.

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