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The majority of the drama on The Americans doesn’t require explicit statement. It’s a show where names, dates, ideologies, and politics can be rattled off at a blistering clip, and just keeping on top of all that business requires much of your attention. But the period and plot details are usually in service of the character drama that the show, and viewers are more invested in. Any synopsis of The Americans will tell you the facts of a given episode, but it’s the performances, direction, and other formal elements unrelated to plot that give the story its emotional and dramatic heft.

“One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov” is a low-key episode of The Americans, (especially compared to last week’s parade of closet skeletons), and it’s one where most of the action is happening between the lines. With just two episodes remaining in the season,...

Wondering how to get ready for the big show? Clear your schedule (no, really, your entire schedule) for a nonstop day of food, drinks, and all the TV episodes you need to watch to be an Emmy expert.

8–9 Am

You’ll need energy for this, so kick off the binge with orange juice, black coffee, and Orange Is the New Black standout episode “Lesbian Request Denied.”

9–10 Am

Time is a flat circle. Also a flat circle: pancakes! Eat some with True Detective episode 4, “Who Goes There.”

10–10:05 Am

Bathroom break: Debate Matthew McConaughey versus Woody Harrelson. Realize there is no right answer.

In our new prediction slugfest, Gold Derby Editors agree that Allison Janney ("Masters of Sex") is the frontrunner (and has been since last year) in the Emmy race for Best Drama Guest Actress, but that Jane Fonda ("The Newsroom") and Kate Burton ("Scandal") give great performances in their episode submissions and could dethrone Janney. Senior Editor Daniel Montgomery and I battle it out mano-a-mano-style in our latest video (watch below) as we analyze the episodes submitted to Emmy judges as examples of their best work from the past TV season. -Break- Janney entered "Brave New World," Fonda tried her luck with "Red Team III" and Burton went with "A Door Marked Exit." The other nominees are: Kate Mara for "House of Cards" ("Chapter 14"), Margo Martindale for "The Americans" ("Behind the Red Door") and Diana Rigg for "Game of Thrones" ("The Lion and ..."...

In our new prediction slugfest, Gold Derby Editors agree that Allison Janney ("Masters of Sex") is the frontrunner (and has been since last year) in the Emmy race for Best Drama Guest Actress, but that Jane Fonda ("The Newsroom") and Kate Burton ("Scandal") give great performances in their episode submissions and could dethrone Janney. Senior Editor Daniel Montgomery and I battle it out mano-a-mano-style in our latest video (watch below) as we analyze the episodes submitted to Emmy judges as examples of their best work from the past TV season. Janney entered "Brave New World," Fonda tried her luck with "Red Team III" and Burton went with "A Door Marked Exit." Other nominees: Kate Mara for "House of Cards" ("Chapter 14"), Margo Martindale for "The Americans" ("Behind the Red Door") and Diana Rigg for "Game of Thrones" ("The Lion and the Rose"). -Break- ...

Girls, “Two Plane Rides”

Written by Lena Dunham

Directed by Lena Dunham

Aired March 23rd, 2014

Do you remember how last season’s Girls run ended? Well this season things culminated in an entirely different tone. This time, there were no grand gestures or fireworks. Season three isn’t quite as dark as season two, but man is the finale rough. If the season two finale frustrated fans because it suggested that Hannah might be too dependent on the man in her life, the season three finale seems intent on underlining that Hannah’s ready to move on, with or without Adam. And she isn’t the only one moving on, but she seems to be the only one moving in the right direction: Hannah gets into the country’s best grad school, Adam gives a truly “bad” performance in his Broadway debut, Marnie finds herself in another destructive relationship, Shosh...

Now that the 2013-14 TV season has hit the fan, Gold Derby's users have been busy casting their votes for the top 30 drama episodes. It's all for the purpose of narrowing down the field for the Best Drama Episode category at the 11th Annual Gold Derby TV Awards. After weeks of calculations, the votes have been unburied and the results are in. In all, 17 different shows are represented in our list of 30 episodes, with a quartet of dramas -- "The Americans," "Breaking Bad," "The Good Wife" and "True Detective" -- all tying for the lead with three episodes apiece. Scroll down to see if your favorite drama episodes made our list. (Click here for our corresponding list of the Top 30 comedy episodes of 2013-14.) -Break- You decide: Vote for the 11th Annual Gold Derby TV Awards! 3 episodes "Behind the Red Door" Synopsis: A dangerous Naval officer becomes the...

The Americans Season 2, Episode 6 “Behind the Red Door”

Written by Melissa James Gibson

Directed by Charlotte Sieling

Airs Wednesdays at 10pm Et on FX

For a season that opened with a family being brutally murdered in their hotel room, “Behind the Red Door” reaches new levels of darkness for The Americans, a display of just how ugly things can get when love is involved (and when its in the dangerous minefield of espionage, multiply that potential ugliness by about a thousand). Openly dramatic but also intensely intimate, “Behind the Red Door” is not only one of the best episodes of The Americans this season, but in the series.

The Americans begins teasing much larger ideas for season two in “Behind the Red Door”, introducing Laric as a very savvy (and very gay) wild card for Elizabeth and Philip to deal with. He’s tied up in some deal about Nicaraguan rebels being funded (or armed?...

“We’re all spies,” Nina tells Stan near the end of “Behind the Red Door,” when he asks her if she has any idea how Oleg found out about the backstory of her becoming a double agent. Everybody on this show is a spy. They are also — if this is not a redundancy — actors. The Americans has always kept this at the forefront of its mind, but from the opening of season two, with its dual mentions of The French Lieutenant’s Woman, it became clear that performance would be a major theme this season. And it has been, arguably eclipsing what series creator Joe Weisberg and co-executive producer Joel Fields said would be the show’s focus: family.Performance as an activity linking almost every major character: This was established in the shot that gives the episode its title. “Behind the Red Door” refers to the red door that Stan’s wife,...

Of all "The Americans" episodes in this excellent Season 2, "Behind the Red Door" might best encapsulate the passion, fear and danger of espionage. It's hard to remember sometimes that these are people who have literally given up everything for a cause -- and that makes them some of the most fascinating and dangerous people on the planet.

Even in this fictional version, it's fascinating to watch them try to change the world.

The most dangerous game

Philip and Elizabeth are finally ready to target Marshall Larick, the military guy who they suspect may have killed Emmett and Leanne. Unfortunately for them, Larick is both highly intelligent and rather angry about this whole being-blackmailed-by-the-communists-because-he's-gay thing.

While Larick is quite convincing about not being the killer, he also lets slip that he's involved with the training of Nicaraguan Contra leaders on Us soil. It's safe to say that the Soviet Union wants...

I'm sorry, were there missions Philip and Elizabeth attended to in this episode ("Behind the Red Door")? Because it was pretty damn hard to concentrate on their interrogation of Emmett and Leanne's alleged killer or his involvement in a U.S.-funded Nicaraguan-Contra training program when Elizabeth insisted on having rough sex with "Clark."

'The Americans,' A to Z

"Door" offered no shortage of plot-driving narrative, but the more important scenes tended to focus on the overriding themes of family and marriage. Martha's loose lips about Clark's "wild...

A review of tonight's "The Americans" coming up just as soon as I quit the volleyball team... When you're married to the same person for a while, you may feel the itch to experiment. Go to new restaurants, maybe. Or vacation in the kind of place you've never been to. Or take more walks together. Or, of course, try some new things out in the bedroom. But when your "marriage" is as complicated and fraught as the one of Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, the experiments become both bolder and more problematic, which is how we wind up with Elizabeth's spectacularly ill-conceived plan to have sex with Philip-as-Clark. I knew this would not be dropped the moment Martha raised the idea of Clark being an animal in the sack, and for a while in "Behind the Red Door," Elizabeth's desire to experience the same thing played almost as comedy.

NBC’s Revolution continues to plant provocative seeds for new mysteries as Season 2 explores who the characters are when apart versus banded together. With Episode 3 airing tonight at 8/7c, TVLine offers some insight into the latest questions raised by the post-apocalyptic drama.

Related | Revolution Scoop: The Firefly Mystery, Aaron’s Resurrection and More Questions Answered

What Has Miles Stumbled Upon There Behind The Red Door? | Having epically botched what could have been his escape to freedom, Miles found himself the latest captive to be led behind the ominous Red Door at Titus’ compound. There, a sickly woman was hooked up to tubes and such.

If you haven’t yet seen last week’s season premiere of Revolution, go do yourself a favor and watch it, then come back. We’ll still be here. If you’re all caught up, then… Aaron. Did you think he was dead. I would have, if I hadn’t been spoiled. But what the heck is going on with him? That was crazy.

We have a little more information about that, in the form of a “Revolution Revealed” Episode 1 featurette with showrunner Eric Kripke, where we also learn a bit about being a Patriot. And for tonight’s new episode we have a TV spot plus a clip that is – well, you’ll see:

Featurette: Revolution – Season 2: Revolution Revealed Episode 1

TV Spot: Revolution – Season 2: How Many Secrets Can One Town Hide!

Clip: Revolution – Episode 202: What’s Behind the Red Door?

I love that. TV shows living...

Left: The anniversary bottle of the Red Door fragrance. Right: Elizabeth Arden's red doors have been a landmark on Fifth Avenue since 1910. Miss Arden circa 1930. It’s amazing to think that this year, Elizabeth Arden’s eponymous company, which she began with only $6,000 borrowed from her brother, is now 100 years old and a $1.3 billion global company. A lot has changed over the past century—women can now vote, and have careers—but they haven’t tired of finding new ways to make themselves look and feel beautiful, something Miss Arden banked on back in 1910. Ever the entrepreneur, Miss Arden not only created a beauty empire but is also credited with conceiving some of the most innovative marketing strategies of her day. Who knew that she was the first to incorporate her name into a beauty product (namely, Elizabeth Arden Ardena Skin Tonic), that she'd create the “makeover”, and that her...

Cinekink, the NYC-based erotic film festival, is bringing its unique brand of sexuality to Los Angeles for three steamy nights on Oct. 8-10.

The festival’s definition of “erotica” is clearly a very broad one that includes neo-burlesque performers, bored dominatrices, kinky judges, randy sheep-women, 9/11 enthusiasts and more.

The feature films that are screening — the documentaries Waxie Moon by Wes Hurley and My Sexuality: A Sensory Experience by Felicia Giouzelis; and the fiction films S&M Judge by Erik Lamens and Modern Love Is Automatic by Zach Clark — were all award winners at the 2010 Cinekink. The short film program on the 9th, collectively titled “Best of Cinekink/2010,” also features a batch of award winners, while the other programs are a mix of general 2010 festival favorites.

Regular readers of Bad Lit will have noticed that one of our favorite films of 2009, Modern Love Is Automatic, will be screening, so we’re thrilled about that.

The seventh annual CineKink Film Festival is set to undress for all kinky filmgoers in New York City on February 16-21. Included in the lineup are two fantastic, slightly dirty underground films, plus a full smorgasbord of sexy cinematic goodness.

The opening night festivities will begin on the 16th at the Kush Lounge (191 Chrystie St.) with music and performances, plus a screening of the lesbian ode to bestiality (sort of) The Sheep and the Ranch Hand, a beautiful and hilarious film by San Francisco filmmaker Loretta Hintz, and a newly found “lost” film by notorious ’60s radical, criminal and filmmaker J.X. Williams.

Then, on the 17th, the original museum of film, the Anthology Film Archives, will be transformed into an erotic museum when CineKink moves there for the duration of the rest of the festival.

But, on the 19th, don’t dare miss the wonderful S&M comedy Modern Love Is Automatic...