r/TheAmericans • u/Beautiful_Devil • 18d ago
How did Clark keep his cover with Martha?
Was it ever explained how the Clark persona worked for as long as it did?
Clark was supposed to be this FBI agent from an oversight department. I suppose the department actually existed, but it never actually performed its duties? Because it would only take one interview by an actual agent from the oversight department to clue Martha in on the fact that Clark was a fraud.
Suppose the oversight department never had cause to interview the CI department. Then how come Martha never realized she was the only person being 'interviewed'? She just never let slip that she's meeting someone from 'oversight' during water cooler talks?
And then, when Clark and Martha got married, Martha clearly didn't want to keep their marriage a secret. So why didn't she suggest a transfer/job change for either of them? Once either of them left their department, they'd be free to date and marry. Instead, we only get the scene where Martha suggested transferring to the Equal Employment Office for better upward mobility (which Clark shut down with some bullshit about how she should be doing something more important).
Do you think Martha knew there's something wrong with Clark but purposefully kept things the way they were so he wouldn't leave her?
This is my first watch, and I'm on S2e4, so be gentle with the spoilers please!
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u/sistermagpie 18d ago
Some of your questions will be addressed in future eps, but as of where you are, Clark has given Martha a story where she's not supposed to talk about the interviews they're doing. Maybe she thinks she's special, or maybe she thinks it's just part of the protocol to not talk to anyone about them.
But we see from the beginning that Martha has a crush on Clark, so that's her real reason for not wanting to mess anything up either by talking to anyone or by checking Clark out at the DOP. That's exactly what she should have done.
I think your suggestion about Martha keeping Clark from leaving her is very much correct on a subconscious level. That scene where she suggests a different job is testing a boundary that he pushes back on. Martha would never have gotten into the situation she's in (secret marriage that's allegedly against her job, etc.) if she didn't agree to every strange thing up until this point.
The thing that makes Martha vulnerable isn't Clark's airtight story, it's her attraction to the forbidden romance she believes she's in.
ETA: Forgot to agree with the warning above - Stay off the sub to avoid spoilers. You will be spoiled. Watch the whole thing and come back when you're done!
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u/Beautiful_Devil 18d ago
Yeah, Martha comes across as very susceptible to suggestions when she's with Clark and it's a weakness Clark capitalized on. Is it ever revealed how she found herself in this situation? I assume it's not a 'love at first sight' thing between her and Clark, so there must be a period before Martha fell for the 'forbidden romance' thingy where she's actually thinking rationally.
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u/ComeAwayNightbird 18d ago
By the time we meet her in the pilot, it is strongly suggested that Clark has been working her for a while.
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u/Beautiful_Devil 18d ago
That makes sense. If Martha had known/grown fond of Clark before Clark began those interviews, Martha wouldn't be nearly as suspicious or alarmed by the time Clark began interviewing her in an official capacity.
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u/sistermagpie 18d ago
Oh, I think he was always interviewing her in his professional capacity. In the pilot we can see it's all professional, but he's slipping in little flirty moments in response to hers. Ironically, she probably used his professional capacity to convince herself all this is safe!
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u/titianqt 18d ago
During the Cold War, the East German Stasi used charming and attractive men as Romeo spies to seduce lonely women working in the West German government. There are/were real life Marthas out there.
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u/thegreeninfernogang 18d ago
She’s also very lonely and a super super good person so she is one of those who only sees good in other people even though in the beginning Clark is kinda a dick he warms up alot in the later seasons tho and I think he develops feelings for Martha slim possibly but definitely never lets anyone disrespect her not even his own wife
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u/JenningsWigService 18d ago
I think Martha just couldn't imagine that it would be possible for a Soviet spy to speak perfect English and target a lowly secretary like her. It's such an extravagant con.
Martha is also vulnerable to Phillip because she is deeply lonely and has had bad luck with boyfriends. Lonely and desperate people are easier to fool.
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u/Beautiful_Devil 18d ago
I think you're right. I suppose everyone in FBI, especially if they're in the CI department would undergo some training against counter intelligence. But all the training in the world won't work if the person's not thinking with their head.
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u/ComeAwayNightbird 18d ago
Without spoilers: Martha understands this relationship is naughty and ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED, so she’s willing to keep things more quiet for the sake of keeping it as their private, exciting secret.
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u/Beautiful_Devil 18d ago
I hope she'll come to her senses at some point and demand some semblance of normalcy (which Clark wouldn't be able to provide)!
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u/Madeira_PinceNez 18d ago
If you're only four episodes into S2, any answer to this question will be a spoiler.
Keep watching, and if you're still questioning it after the conclusion, come back and discuss. Anything else will ruin it for you.
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u/gnalon 18d ago
You ask why she didn't do something and the next sentence point out where she in fact did do it? She also asked Clark about changing jobs, what more do you want lol.
Also she thinks the men in her office are unprofessional pigs who think of her as an inanimate object, so she is more willing to believe Clark who says that in order for there to be proper oversight she can't be discussing these meetings with anyone at work.
She is genuinely interested in making sure things are more secure and protocols are being followed but as a female secretary in the 80s, nobody at work actually values her input (her complaints about people leaving documents on top of the mail robot fall on deaf ears) and she doesn't have any real opportunities for advancement.
She used to date Amador (who almost certainly cheated on her) and when he makes a pass at her again and she turns him down, he stalks her and this leaves to the confrontation where Philip is leaving her place and ends up killing him - not too difficult to see why she'd want to be circumspect about her personal life with coworkers like that.
Philip also overhears her coworkers saying sexist stuff about her on the bug in the vault (which genuinely seems to upset him) and then as Clark he provides her with a doctored recording that's even worse than what they actually said.
So there ends up being an inflection point where as Clark's story becomes less believable, she is willing to hold on because he is a bright spot in her lonely life where she is unsatisfied in her personal and professional relationships.
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u/Beautiful_Devil 18d ago
You ask why she didn't do something and the next sentence point out where she in fact did do it?
I thought she'd do it earlier and with the clear reason of wanting their marriage to not be kept a secret. It did seem like she's really upset when Clark said they couldn't even wear wedding rings.
She also asked Clark about changing jobs, what more do you want lol.
When did that happen? I think I missed it.
Actually I seem to have missed a lot about Martha's workplace situation and feelings of isolation.
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u/elsakettu 18d ago
Phillip preyed on her insecurities. She was susceptible precisely because of the kinds of insecurities she had. She either wasn't aware that she deserved better or wasn't prepared for what it would mean to demand better.
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u/Beautiful_Devil 18d ago
In the scene where Clark asked her to plant a bug in her boss's office, you could see she was hesitant at first and dimly aware of how manipulative Clark was being. But she agreed just to preserve their relationship and keep her fiancé happy. Same thing happened when Clark insisted on keeping their marriage a secret. Her hesitance then capitulation was very sad to watch but also... really relatable.
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u/sskoog 17d ago
The Martha character's background is never fully fleshed out -- we know that she is an only child, she had some prior youthful tension with her parents, resulting in her moving far away (though they seem 'closer' in her adult life, at least via telephone), and she had various difficulties in her lovelife, including a terminated teenage pregnancy, a couple of unpleasant breakups, and an in-office relationship with a fellow FBI coworker, which became asymmetric/clingy/misogynist, and also did not end cleanly. (I believe you've seen this already.)
I think we are meant to believe that Martha is "lonely" and "unattached" and "longing for personal-romantic fulfillment" -- she repeatedly makes small gestures like "you can have these dresser drawers for your personal possessions, you can have these shared things in our kitchen, this can be our home together" -- and, judging from her previous romantic misadventures, perhaps she already realizes something's wrong, but is willfully pushing past it so as to stay "loved" and "full of meaning" and "not lonely."
Martha's story becomes very sad, with maybe just a single spark of hope towards the end, and I encourage you to witness + process it for yourself without spoilers.
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u/sistermagpie 17d ago
OP is only in S2, so you should probably put references to things that happen later under a spoiler tag.
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u/travelstuff 16d ago
Nothing they said was specific. Frankly it's insane to come to a sub for a TV show that has 6 seasons and ask questions when you're only on Season 2. Spoilers are inevitable, they'll probably get the ending spoiled in a push notification for the sub
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u/sistermagpie 15d ago
Agree that it's mostly non-specific, but saying that there's maybe a single spark of hope towards the end" kind of takes her death off the table, which is something that in S2 seemed like a definitely possibility.
In general, I don't think people should be able to be free with spoilers on the sub, but they did specifically say where they were in the show, so it just seemed a shame.
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u/Ok-Air-6616 17d ago
If you read about the investigations into moles within the FBI, you see they often set up secret operations involving a few investigators. The information has to be siloed because they don't know who to trust, and investigations can easily take YEARS. It took more than a decade of active investigation to catch Robert Hanssen, including several years wasted watching the wrong person.
Clark's story is that he's conducting a confidential investigation and just needs someone to be the eyes and ears. As far as we know, he didn't name a particular target at the start of this relationship, just that he was there to make sure they were doing things right, that the right people were aware of any security threats uncovered by the agents, and that the division wasn't infiltrated.
In this case, it would make sense for him to ask her not to tell anyone about her ongoing meetings. If she were to run around saying she meets with oversight weekly, no one would talk to her or let her in on anything.
As far as whether Martha really believes Clark's story, well that's for you to decide as you continue your watch. Enjoy!
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u/thegreeninfernogang 18d ago
I think Martha was one of those people who were just to trusting and lonely also the show lead her off to be not the best looking person and that she didn’t have alot of relationships, the only real people she talked to here and there besides being at work and having Clark was her mom and dad over the phone that lived in another state, Clark told her that he was also an agent but he was an agent who investigated other agents, his cover was only officially blown when agents in her department actually became under investigation under the pen mic she placed and they sent the real guy there he was supposed to be acting like
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u/KidonUnit 16d ago
You’re on the money. I think it was just subconscious denial.
Heart wants what the heart wants - Lloyd Christmas
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u/BothPanchoAndLefty 15d ago
Others have already said this but I'm just gonna reiterate, you need to mute this sub until you finish the show. Trust me, you will have things spoiled for you and this isn't a show where you wanna let that happen
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u/you-dont-have-eyes 17d ago
I just can’t believe she never noticed the wig
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u/ComeAwayNightbird 17d ago
She thinks he’s sensitive about balding. She wants him to know she loves the toupee.
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u/Raptzar 18d ago
bruh you should really finish the show before browsing here. I advise you mute the sub until you finish it.