In these three episodes, "Arpanet", "New Car" and "Martial Eagle", most things are not going as the Jennings had planned. Their son breaks into a neighbor's house to watch video games. Their daughter has found religion and gives all her savings to a local church. The propeller blueprints they stole were fake and resulted in the deaths of 160 sailors.
Larrick says he's been transferred to Nicaragua but can get them access to the contra program before he leaves. Lucia wants to kill him for all his past transgressions. Elizabeth says they need him alive for the good of the mission. But Lucia goes to his house instead. He overpowers her and calls Liz. Elizabeth has to helplessly watch as he strangles Lucia.
Oleg trains Nadia on how to pass the FBIs polygraph test. I still think Stan is either the biggest sucker in the world or he has something up his sleeve. I hope it's the latter of the two. Meanwhile Mrs Beeman says she's leaving him to spend time with a man she met at EST. What a great counterintelligence agent you must be Stan! He really has treated Sandra badly. And did you notice that Sandra was listening to Dr Ruth while packing? That was a great addition.
Phil gets a Camaro Z-28. That was funny. Me thinks someone is liking the USA a little too much. And Liz forcing Paige to clean house in the middle of the night and lecturing her on what it means to be a grown up was entertaining.
I previously thought Phillip/Clarke was trying to speed up his mission with Martha and that 's why he played her the faked tapes. Remember the one where her coworkers call her ugly and say they'd only do her if they were really drunk and she had a bag over her hear? But now I'm not sure of his rationale. Was he just trying to hurt Martha?
Phillip also makes a late night visit to Paige's church. He was so angry I was worried he would kill the reverend. Dude, get some therapy. I thought Elizabeth had done just that (sorta) when she shows up at an AA meeting. Nope she's pumping her sponsor (who works in a high security department at Northrop) for info.
The mentioning of stealth, ARPANET, and Nicaragua all helped integrate the show into what was really happening in the 80s. The scene of Phillip and Elizabeth watching Reagan's speech was an especially good one.
I'm not sure of the death toll in these three episodes. There is Lucia (killed by Larrick), computer tech guy who surprised Lip, septic truck driver (died from exposure while tied to a tree), and Numerous casualties at Martial Eagle.
Favorite Quotes:
"Get that body out of my house"- Larrick to Liz
"You respect Jesus but you dont respect us?"- a ballistic Phillip before he starts ripping pages out of the Bible.
"No one ever imagines they will betray their country."- Stan to Fred (one of the stealth scientists).
Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). Excellent acting by Matthew Rhys. He better get an Emmy for this season.
TV: Heavy On Sci Fi, Horror & Adventure; Light On Reality
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