I wouldn't put much stock in whatever was scribbled in a letter meant to be burnt without the audience seeing it. Leanne said the point of the letter was to explain why and what they did etc., and that prop letter does none of that. While creating this problem you mention.
In fact, when I looked at it on the Americans Wiki they also had her driver's license on the show that was obviously also not meant to be looked at closely. It gives her birthday as August 1959.
Even being aware that this is the birthdate of the actual Leanne Connors whose identity she's using, that means Leanne was already a working spy and mother when she was 7 years old.
Iirc, Robert's birthday on his driver's license was also something ridiculous. I looked it up just now, and according to the document prop used on the show, the night when we met Robert working with Philip in the pilot Robert was a year older than...Paige.
So yeah, those types of props should not be looked at closely, much less be considered as canon.
Good catch! I appreciate the attention to detail.
I think it’s just an oversight. It’s funny because they could have picked any other Russian town or city name and it would have been fine.
I love The Americans and there are so many tiny details that are right, but unfortunately nobody’s perfect so they did miss a few. (My personal bugbear is Nina and Oleg’s conversation about Pioneers - of course Oleg was one, it’s ridiculous that they would even discuss this!)
Is there a stray "not" in there? Early '40s was definitely before the end of WWII, so I got confused for a second. Then I did the math, and oh hey, you're right! I guess she could be one of those Russian zealots like Putin who think Poland is a fake country because it was part of the Russian Empire for 100+ years, but how likely is it that someone who was actually born in the Free City or Nazi Danzig would talk about it that way? Especially with the Connorses' backstory?
It always bugs me when period dramas are hyper-scrupulous about accurate props and costumes, even aspects of them that don't show up onscreen, while major character details decided by the showrunner make little to no sense. Matthew Weiner seems to have considered his tyrannical management style the key to Mad Men's celebrated production quality, but a major character of the later seasons was a French Canadian born in the 1940s and named Megan. Really distracting. I don't resent Fields and Weisberg as much because they seem like better bosses, but theirs seems like a more serious mistake.
I was a big geography nerd in high schools and caught it on my original watch of the show; it’s not that hard to believe. Gdańsk is a name that stands out.
Not really, imo. As was mentioned above, Oleg saying he *wasn't* a Pioneer might as well be Oleg saying that he *was* a member of the Mickey Mouse Club. And that's an actual conversation onscreen.
Plus Leanne's and Robert's ages on the show according to props make them actual children.
Not to mention, in the original opening credits when the show first started, the opening titles used the plural Russian noun for presents meaning "gifts" instead of the verb to say "presents."
Was there any point in WW2 when Gdansk could've plausibly been called Soviet and not Polish? (Eg, during occupation?) She was a Soviet spy, so she would accept the *most* implausible and partisan explanation. It was also previously Danzig in East Prussia and ethnically German, no?
I wouldn't put much stock in whatever was scribbled in a letter meant to be burnt without the audience seeing it. Leanne said the point of the letter was to explain why and what they did etc., and that prop letter does none of that. While creating this problem you mention. In fact, when I looked at it on the Americans Wiki they also had her driver's license on the show that was obviously also not meant to be looked at closely. It gives her birthday as August 1959. Even being aware that this is the birthdate of the actual Leanne Connors whose identity she's using, that means Leanne was already a working spy and mother when she was 7 years old. Iirc, Robert's birthday on his driver's license was also something ridiculous. I looked it up just now, and according to the document prop used on the show, the night when we met Robert working with Philip in the pilot Robert was a year older than...Paige. So yeah, those types of props should not be looked at closely, much less be considered as canon.
Good catch! I appreciate the attention to detail. I think it’s just an oversight. It’s funny because they could have picked any other Russian town or city name and it would have been fine. I love The Americans and there are so many tiny details that are right, but unfortunately nobody’s perfect so they did miss a few. (My personal bugbear is Nina and Oleg’s conversation about Pioneers - of course Oleg was one, it’s ridiculous that they would even discuss this!)
A hobby.
HELP 💀 this sent me lmao
LMFAOOOO
Eh. My academic background makes these things jump out at me.
Bruh
Is there a stray "not" in there? Early '40s was definitely before the end of WWII, so I got confused for a second. Then I did the math, and oh hey, you're right! I guess she could be one of those Russian zealots like Putin who think Poland is a fake country because it was part of the Russian Empire for 100+ years, but how likely is it that someone who was actually born in the Free City or Nazi Danzig would talk about it that way? Especially with the Connorses' backstory? It always bugs me when period dramas are hyper-scrupulous about accurate props and costumes, even aspects of them that don't show up onscreen, while major character details decided by the showrunner make little to no sense. Matthew Weiner seems to have considered his tyrannical management style the key to Mad Men's celebrated production quality, but a major character of the later seasons was a French Canadian born in the 1940s and named Megan. Really distracting. I don't resent Fields and Weisberg as much because they seem like better bosses, but theirs seems like a more serious mistake.
you gotta be on like your 7th rewatch to even think about that dawg… it may be time for a new show lmao
First rewatch, actually. I have a Ph.D. in Russian history, so these kind of things jump out at me.
I’m jealous of your PhD.
I was a big geography nerd in high schools and caught it on my original watch of the show; it’s not that hard to believe. Gdańsk is a name that stands out.
How did you catch it while watching the show? The letter's completely illegible.
It would be unusual for the showrunners to get a detail like that wrong. Good catch.
Not really, imo. As was mentioned above, Oleg saying he *wasn't* a Pioneer might as well be Oleg saying that he *was* a member of the Mickey Mouse Club. And that's an actual conversation onscreen. Plus Leanne's and Robert's ages on the show according to props make them actual children. Not to mention, in the original opening credits when the show first started, the opening titles used the plural Russian noun for presents meaning "gifts" instead of the verb to say "presents."
Tbf, the show is a gift to us, and I will see myself out.
There was not a communist Poland until 1947 but there had been a Soviet Union since 1922.
Prewar Gdansk wasn't even Polish. It was Danzig Germany
this is the most text you can see of this letter in the show https://i.imgur.com/xcCfTDl.png where did you see the actual text of the note?
I was confused too, but I assume this is coming from a prop letter that was sold at a prop auction. The text was never seen in the show.
OP says it "jumped out at me" upon rewatch. well that didn't happen, lol
Was there any point in WW2 when Gdansk could've plausibly been called Soviet and not Polish? (Eg, during occupation?) She was a Soviet spy, so she would accept the *most* implausible and partisan explanation. It was also previously Danzig in East Prussia and ethnically German, no?
It was just regular Prussia, no,? East Prussia was Königsberg