Cardinal (The Americans)

"**Cardinal**"
"Cardinal"
The Americans episode
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 2
Directed by	Daniel Sackheim
Written by	Joel Fields; Joe Weisberg
Production code	BDU202
Original air date	March 5, 2014
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearances
	Richard Thomas as Frank Gaad; Lev Gorn as Arkady Ivanovich; Costa Ronin as Oleg Igorevich; Aimee Carrero as Chena; Erik Jensen as Bruce Dameran; John Carroll Lynch as Fred; Anthony Arkin as Stavos; Nick Bailey as Carl;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Comrades"	Next →; "The Walk In"
	The Americans season 2
	List of episodes

"Cardinal" is the second episode of the second season of the American television drama series The Americans, and the 15th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on FX in the United States on March 5, 2014.

Plot

Elizabeth stays mainly close to home to keep watch over the neighborhood and the children. She only ventures out to drop them off at the movies, in order to help Lucia (Aimee Carrero), a former Sandinista-turned agent, with her asset's overdose. Meanwhile, Philip investigates Fred (John Carroll Lynch), the Connors' asset, only to be trapped by him in his house. Philip must convince him that they are all on the same side and in danger. Fred reveals information about a military project soon to be moved. Elsewhere, Nina tells Stan about a Rezidentura "walk-in" wanting to help them. Stan and the FBI learn the man is Bruce Dameran, an employee of the World Bank.

Production

Development

In February 2014, FX confirmed that the second episode of the season would be titled "Cardinal", and that it would be written by executive producer Joel Fields and series creator Joe Weisberg, and directed by Daniel Sackheim. This was Fields' sixth writing credit, Weisberg's seventh writing credit, and Sackheim's second directing credit.^[1]

Reception

Viewers

In its original American broadcast, "Cardinal" was seen by an estimated 1.46 million household viewers with a 0.6 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.6 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.^[2] This was a 24% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.90 million household viewers with a 0.7 in the 18-49 demographics.^[3]

Critical reviews

"Cardinal" received extremely positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.7 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "Elizabeth's new paranoia, Philip's big talk with Fred (while being held prisoner) and a bigger look at Nina's current situation made for another great episode of The Americans."^[4]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "That battle between what's emotionally real versus what's important to the mission is one that's been part of the series from day one, but the stakes of this season – and the parallels we're seeing in Stan and Nina's relationship – have only magnified that conflict. It's a great start, even if the intensity was, by design, lower this week than last."^[5] The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "Much of this episode is just taken up with making sure that all of the right pieces are in place for the season's story engine to go forward. If 'Comrades' was the explosion, the violence that lurks over everything that follows, then 'Cardinal' is just like that electric box in the floor, the one that doesn’t immediately suggest its danger but packs more of a punch once you explore it further."^[6]

Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Considering that the overwhelming majority of TV series, past and present, have no sense of global history at all, much less a point of view on it, The Americans' awareness of its fictional characters' place in the world seems all the more remarkable."^[7] Carla Day of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.7 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "This hour was a mixed bag of events. Overall, it played out slowly, but there was so much going on. At the end of the episode, it was hard to believe they fit in so many different stories and intertwined them seamlessly. Even Elizabeth's family time and then emergency call to help the new recruit with her Congressional aide fit in well."^[8]

References

^ "(#202) "Cardinal"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ Bibel, Sara (March 6, 2014). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Wins Night, 'Wahlburgers', 'Workaholics', 'Real World', 'Psych', 'The Americans' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ Kondolojy, Amanda (February 27, 2014). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Leads Night + 'Wahlburgers', 'The Real World', 'Workaholics' + More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ Goldman, Eric (March 5, 2014). "The Americans: "Cardinal" Review". IGN. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ Sepinwall, Alan (March 5, 2014). "Review: 'The Americans' – 'Cardinal': Jumping at shadows". HitFix. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ Valentine, Genevieve; St. James, Emily (March 5, 2014). "The Americans: "Cardinal"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ Zoller Seitz, Matt (March 6, 2014). "The Americans Recap: Paranoia Will Destroy Ya". Vulture. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
^ Day, Carla (March 6, 2014). "The Americans Review: The Cardinal". TV Fanatic. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

External links

"Cardinal" at FX
"Cardinal" at IMDb

[1] "(#202) "Cardinal"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[2] Bibel, Sara (March 6, 2014). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Wins Night, 'Wahlburgers', 'Workaholics', 'Real World', 'Psych', 'The Americans' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[3] Kondolojy, Amanda (February 27, 2014). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Leads Night + 'Wahlburgers', 'The Real World', 'Workaholics' + More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[4] Goldman, Eric (March 5, 2014). "The Americans: "Cardinal" Review". IGN. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[5] Sepinwall, Alan (March 5, 2014). "Review: 'The Americans' – 'Cardinal': Jumping at shadows". HitFix. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[6] Valentine, Genevieve; St. James, Emily (March 5, 2014). "The Americans: "Cardinal"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[7] Zoller Seitz, Matt (March 6, 2014). "The Americans Recap: Paranoia Will Destroy Ya". Vulture. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

[8] Day, Carla (March 6, 2014). "The Americans Review: The Cardinal". TV Fanatic. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

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v t e The Americans
Characters	Elizabeth Jennings Philip Jennings Stan Beeman
Seasons	1 2 3 4 5 6
Episodes	"Pilot" "The Clock" "Gregory" "In Control" "COMINT" "Trust Me" "Duty and Honor" "Mutually Assured Destruction" "Safe House" "Only You" "Covert War" "The Oath" "The Colonel" "Comrades" "Cardinal" "The Walk In" "A Little Night Music" "The Deal" "Behind the Red Door" "Arpanet" "New Car" "Martial Eagle" "Yousaf" "Stealth" "Operation Chronicle" "Echo" "EST Men" "Baggage" "Open House" "Dimebag" "Salang Pass" "Born Again" "Walter Taffet" "Divestment" "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?" "Stingers" "One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov" "I Am Abassin Zadran" "March 8, 1983" "Glanders" "Pastor Tim" "Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow" "Chloramphenicol" "Clark's Place" "The Rat" "Travel Agents" "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears" "The Day After" "Munchkins" "Dinner for Seven" "A Roy Rogers in Franconia" "Persona Non Grata" "Amber Waves" "Pests" "The Midges" "What's the Matter with Kansas?" "Lotus 1-2-3" "Crossbreed" "The Committee on Human Rights" "Immersion" "IHOP" "Darkroom" "Dyatkovo" "The World Council of Churches" "The Soviet Division" "Dead Hand" "Tchaikovsky" "Urban Transport Planning" "Mr. and Mrs. Teacup" "The Great Patriotic War" "Rififi" "Harvest" "The Summit" "Jennings, Elizabeth" "START"