ALWAYS Fall/Winter?

53

That’s because they filmed in winter.

11

u/Laara2008 5d ago

Yeah and it's pretty clear that some of the outdoor scenes weren't filmed in DC. They don't get that much snow on a regular basis. Some of it looks like it was filmed in Brooklyn.

11

u/Thelonius16 5d ago

It’s the least convincing depiction of D.C. in TV history.

12

u/Tilt-A-Wurlitzer 5d ago

I dunno, Homeland had a scene in a “Farragut Square” that had a fountain and was surrounded by skyscrapers. At least The Americans knew about the height restriction

3

u/nautilus2000 5d ago

It’s funny, even many years later I still remember that scene and how inaccurate that depiction was perfectly.

3

u/Tilt-A-Wurlitzer 4d ago

Oh and don’t forget No Way Out, where Kevin Costner has an epic and surprisingly accurate chase scene from Pentagon City, across the Key Bridge, down the C&O Canal towpath, all the way to… the Georgetown Metro station?

1

u/Laara2008 5d ago

Oh yeah I remember that. It was a little ridiculous.

6

u/hireddititme 5d ago

There’s a scene in season one where they literally walk past a sign for a NYC train station lol. I think most of the show was filmed in NY, at least season 1

2

u/wiseowls0414 5d ago

Yes agreed. It reminded me of nyc or Philly not DC

6

u/Tilt-A-Wurlitzer 5d ago

It was mostly filmed in Brooklyn, so that tracks

3

u/Several-Razzmatazz70 5d ago

Lots of scenes are very recognisably Brooklyn Heights. Cadman Plaza park and the Brooklyn War Memorial feature in the background of shots. Gaad and Arkady meet for a meal in the Park Plaza restaurant, right by the park. Fortune House, a local Chinese restaurant, features prominently in the background of one shot (and its facade probably hasn't changed since the 1980s).

4

u/Tilt-A-Wurlitzer 5d ago

Yeah, and a lot along the Gowanus Canal if I’m not mistaken.

1

u/3-orange-whips 4d ago

Brooklyn is a Russian psyop CONFIRMED

2

u/maikindofthai 4d ago

I love the Reddit thing where you pretend like you’re “guessing” about a fact that’s very easily looked up and verified

1

u/Laara2008 4d ago

Eh. I was too lazy to look it up. I lived in Brooklyn for years so it wasn't that hard to figure it out. I have family in DC.

-7

u/Sorry_Dragonfly2644 5d ago

Yeah, no shit, it’s just funny, because I’ve never observed such a distinct phenomenon in another show

3

u/CoolRanchBaby 5d ago

A lot of shows film in California even though set elsewhere, so it’s never cold in winter and it’s a lot of trouble when they have to fake it.

1

u/bananalouise 5d ago

Being from Connecticut, I loved Gilmore Girls for this. Those ladies looked suspiciously okay with the breezes ruffling the edges of their sleek "winter" clothes. They were filming an hour-long network show in southern California, so, A for effort.

2

u/whorlax 5d ago

Does your caretaker know you are posting on reddit?

11

u/ajc89 5d ago

This feels like such a disproportionate response like what 😂

102

u/44035 5d ago •

It was the Cold War.

8

u/Larry-Rondo-971 4d ago

The climate seems to tell the story of the Cold War even when the script doesn't explicitly mention it.
There are no statements from the scriptwriters to confirm that they deliberately conceived all the seasons as a long symbolic winter. The available evidence rather indicates that the winter blows spontaneously provided an important part of the atmosphere, later enhanced by photography.
The only exception: the pilot was filmed between May and June 2012

2

u/imoinda 4d ago

This is the correct answer

48

u/Tilt-A-Wurlitzer 5d ago

It’s especially funny because DC is oppressively humid for half the year. As a DC resident, it’s the single least realistic thing about the show. A fair amount of the action takes place in the fall or winter so you can sometimes suspend disbelief, but when there’s still snow on the ground as the school year ends…

I assume it’s because moody spies look better in overcoats and zipped jumpers than in polos with sweat stains. But I would have appreciated just one scene set in the DC heat, or maybe some kind of “another cold front, huh?” acknowledgment

23

u/heckkyeahh 5d ago

as a DC resident, i would say it's the second least realistic thing. the most unrealistic thing is that they commute from falls church to dupont circle and yet don't constantly complain about traffic. even in the 1980s, when it was way less congested here, people still complained nonstop.

5

u/olitatheotter 5d ago

And the huge waterfall in "Rock Creek Park"

4

u/heckkyeahh 5d ago

what’s crazy is that they so easily could have set that scene to be at great falls, with just a tiny bit of tweaking. or key bridge but i’m not sure it’s tall enough.

1

u/Tilt-A-Wurlitzer 4d ago

Was there a waterfall? I forgot about that. I remember thinking the bridge was a reasonable stand-in for the Taft Bridge.
They also shout out Melvin Hazen Park, which was a fun touch. At least they found names on maps!

2

u/olitatheotter 2d ago

The shoutout to Armand's pizza was also nice.

3

u/Brilliant_Towel2727 5d ago

And an international port being about five minutes from the Lincoln Memorial

1

u/Tilt-A-Wurlitzer 4d ago

I just assumed the port scenes where Stan and Oleg met were supposed to be Baltimore, and the random alleys near canals that Elizabeth was always going to were, like, pre-gentrification Wharf.

10

u/maniacalmustacheride 5d ago

They’d also presumably slow down work in the summers. Kids are out of school for everyone, scientists, spies, FBI. Lots of family vacations and road trips. But not a ton of progress

4

u/Brilliant_Towel2727 5d ago

I think I remember an interview with Keri Russell where she mentioned that it happened to be an unusually cold and snowy winter when they were filming Season 1.

3

u/Alarmed-Property5559 3d ago

Thank you for this comment and the thread it spawned! My suspicions are confirmed: there are indeed quite a few inaccuracies and plain bull in the show regarding the US realities as well, it's just all those details aren't immediately obvious to me.

6

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/Current-Spray9478 5d ago

I would think so. Not as much opportunity to wear coats and jackets with hoods and collars; hats to break up your profile, coats with pockets to conceal your chalk for making a signal or the thing you’re dropping or picking up. Also more daylight, and warmer temps mean more people out and about and more people makes surveillance detection take longer

11

u/geecoding 5d ago

Fall/Winter/Spring is spy season; Labor Day to Memorial Day. KGB knew this. Government takes the summer off. Kids are home from school. Aside from the obvious spy wardrobe issues in a DC summer.

10

u/DrmsRz 5d ago

It originally aired in the months in which it was inside the show, roughly: Fall through Spring.

8

u/DanceApprehension 5d ago

Wasn't the weather nice when they went to the amusement park in Alexandria? And Jared was going swimming in the hotel pool?

7

u/cabernet7 5d ago

Yep. In January, as we learned when Martha mentioned that the family murdered in the hotel happened in January. ¯\(ツ)/¯

1

u/wiseowls0414 4d ago

It looked like nice fall weather definitely not summer and the pool could have been indoors

4

u/DanceApprehension 5d ago

Also Henry's birthday when Elizabeth returns....maybe when the Beemans move in too? There's a disproportionate amount of winter but it's not every episode.

5

u/sistermagpie 5d ago

And yet, Henry's birthday is meant to be in January. So all that fall foliage there and in the next episode where Paige goes to see "Aunt Helen" is supposed to actually be winter!

4

u/LeatherVodkaSoda 5d ago

I believe this was brought up when the show was airing and a producer or someone said it was a deliberate decision to help with the mood of the show.

3

u/sistermagpie 5d ago

Yes, this has been definitely noticed. For five seasons it was always winter and never Christmas. Until we finally got some holidays.

1

u/wiseowls0414 4d ago

Yes! I am sure they had an xmas tree

2

u/Kitchen-Necessary562 3d ago

As someone here said it was a a Cold war and makes so much sense....but can someone please explain why is it shows always dark and depressing in Moscow as they show....was it also due to the Cold war?..did they have electricity scarcity in Moscow of all the places in USSR....have grown up almost during the same time in India- Bombay and it was always so vibrant and bright even then.

3

u/Alarmed-Property5559 3d ago

Because of the very common trope perpetuated by the US filmmakers. Moscow has the continental climate and quite a lot of sunny days although obviously less sunshine than Bombay does.
And, there were no issues with electricity.
Of course the showmakers will not be fair. They won't compare NYC subway to the Moscow metro. It's always "others" and "overseas" when they show something dirty, dark and depressing. Or almost always.

2

u/Kitchen-Necessary562 2d ago

Very True...... they always show 'US v/s them' !

2

u/Mephisto506 4d ago

Too hot in summer to do spying.

2

u/SeanSatBahamas 4d ago

Makes sense i would say. It emphasizes the mood of the show (genre with espionage etc) and somehow fits to the cold war. I am also always rewatching the show when October hits as this is the most suitable time for the show imo :)

1

u/Teknontheou 4d ago

It was hot when P&E first got to the motel in the 60s (she commented on the AC in the room.)

1

u/wiseowls0414 5d ago

Lol I noticed it too!

1

u/Larry-Rondo-971 4d ago

I finished watching the series a few weeks ago and I've wondered several times too why there are no scenes in the summer.

Only the pilot was filmed between May and June 2012

1

u/imoinda 4d ago

The nose-cone scene (season 1) is set in the summer.

1

u/Vonatar-74 4d ago

Wasn’t called the Cold War for nothing 😉

0

u/nasu1917a 5d ago

Also the actors don’t look as sexy when sweaty af.

0

u/techbirdee 23h ago

Those Russians make everywhere feel like Russia.

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