The Americans

Things are very topsy turvy at the office!

j_r said:
Things are very topsy turvy at the office!

 Yipes! Was that a stunning turn or what!?

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/arts/television/the-americans-end-season-finale.amp.html

NYT readers have interesting ideas about how it will end. I’ve never hoped for just 3 more episodes of a show before. It’s too rushed this ending. 

I read an article that the couple that inspired the show were deported and their sons are suing the Canadian govt for the right to remain citizens, of course after the US summary revoked their citizenship. 

Isn't it interesting that many Times readers seem bent on punishment for Philip and Elizabeth, as if the show owes viewers justice for all the violence and killing. I don't see any reason to think it will end that way.

I wonder how Russian viewers who lived through the Cold War would write the ending. 

j_r said:
Isn't it interesting that many Times readers seem bent on punishment for Philip and Elizabeth, as if the show owes viewers justice for all the violence and killing. I don't see any reason to think it will end that way.
I wonder how Russian viewers who lived through the Cold War would write the ending. 

A show such as this ending with no sort of justice would be completely unrealistic. Someone will pay with their life, just not sure who. 

ElizMcCord said:

completely unrealistic. 

"We did our due diligence and we ran every single possible other ending of the show through our brains to see if there was a better one, but this was still the one that we loved the best and seemed to be the most natural and true ending of this story."

-- Sepinwall interview with Joe Weisberg (CAUTION: Spoilers)

SPOILERS

----------

----------

----------

Lots of story threads left up in the air.  What happens to Renee after Philip tips Stan off?  Does Paige continue in her professional role as spy or become a civilian in the US?   Does Stan "adopt" Henry?   Does Stan help the dropped note get passed back to Moscow?  The 10 minute garage scene was amazing acting and it forms a connection with the Russian movie Philip rented and watched in the previous episode ("Garage").  The finale was as good as 70 minutes could permit.

Suggest you read the NY Times article today.

ElizMcCord said:

j_r said:
Isn't it interesting that many Times readers seem bent on punishment for Philip and Elizabeth, as if the show owes viewers justice for all the violence and killing. I don't see any reason to think it will end that way.
I wonder how Russian viewers who lived through the Cold War would write the ending. 

A show such as this ending with no sort of justice would be completely unrealistic. Someone will pay with their life, just not sure who. 

Excellent recap by Mike Hale of The Times.

My answers to @dave's spoilers:







Stan will never trust Renee; their marriage is over. Stan has accepted the role of guardian: his first stop was the boarding school in New Hampshire. Paige passes New Hampshire and heads straight to Claudia's; she will stay in the business. Stan does not pass the message but economic conditions in Russia set the stage for the end of the Cold War. 

SPOILERS

I'm not sure what to make of this finale. Suddenly Elizabeth loves Henry and Paige? She's crying about leaving Henry behind? What about the dream in which she was with Gregory and saw Erica's art on the wall? Stan folds easily?

Ok I'm going to say it - I'm not a fan of the ending. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the finale as acted/written etc. My biggest problem is Stan - I just can't swallow that he stepped aside like that. If there is one thing we believed about Stan, it's that he loved his country first, he sacrificed his first marriage and his relationship with this son because of it.

eliz said:
Ok I'm going to say it - I'm not a fan of the ending. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the finale as acted/written etc. My biggest problem is Stan - I just can't swallow that he stepped aside like that. If there is one thing we believed about Stan, it's that he loved his country first, he sacrificed his first marriage and his relationship with this son
because of it.

And his lover...

I thought this last season was outstanding and the finale was excellent. The confrontation in the garage was very well written and acted. I will really miss this show.

eliz said:
Ok I'm going to say it - I'm not a fan of the ending. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the finale as acted/written etc. My biggest problem is Stan - I just can't swallow that he stepped aside like that. If there is one thing we believed about Stan, it's that he loved his country first, he sacrificed his first marriage and his relationship with this son because of it.

 I didn’t buy it initially either, but the garage scene, the heavy decision to leave Henry, Philip telling him about Renee, those were incredibly moving. Enough to soothe my annoyance lol. I’m okay with it. It was a good ending. Stan got to say goodbye. 

shoshannah said:
SPOILERS








I'm not sure what to make of this finale. Suddenly Elizabeth loves Henry and Paige? She's crying about leaving Henry behind? What about the dream in which she was with Gregory and saw Erica's art on the wall? Stan folds easily?

I think she always liked the kids - she just loved Mother Russia more...

Scully said:

shoshannah said:
SPOILERS








I'm not sure what to make of this finale. Suddenly Elizabeth loves Henry and Paige? She's crying about leaving Henry behind? What about the dream in which she was with Gregory and saw Erica's art on the wall? Stan folds easily?

I think she always liked the kids - she just loved Mother Russia more...
 

 You know what got me? That scene when Paige confronts her about the killings and sex. “What was sex? It was nothing”. When her kid was looking for some meaning of life, she got zip. Basically she’s set a sociopath loose lol. Watch out for Paige in The Americans circa 2016. 

ElizMcCord said:

Watch out for Paige in The Americans circa 2016. 

 OMGOMGOMG Paige is Natalia Veselnitskaya! This explains everything.

I think the ending was exactly right, and about what I expected. 

I never doubted that they both love their children. I think that aspect of the show can be seen as a huge metaphor for the act of raising kids in a world that changes as fast as it does now. Our kids are growing up in different countries, different worlds than we did. When do we protect them and when do we tell them the painful and difficult things that we know about the world? In what ways to they know better than we do what's best for them? 

Stan was unlikely to kill Philip face to face like that. I think Stan questioned the ways in which he allowed the job, and his sense of duty, to come between him and his family and eventually regretted it. 

I just saw Oleg on Shooter with Ryan Phillipe and Omar Epps. He didn’t rot in FBI prison afterall. 

Great interview with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in today’s Arts section. 

Great interview with the cast & crew about the last episode: 

http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/the-americans-series-finale-oral-history.html

“ Renee serves a very specific function in the narrative. Her purpose has been to stir up intrigue. Whether or not she’s a spy, that’s for the audience to decide. I know, but I will never tell. I was told at the very beginning. Whether or not that changed, or went to a different incarnation, that’s a whole other story. But [Joe and Joel] are very smart writers. She was there for a reason. When the audience goes back and rewatches these episodes, they will be able to find clues which will better inform them as to who she really was”.  

Damn it! Is she or isn’t she a spy? I have to know lol. 

Coffeegretchen said:
Great interview with the cast & crew about the last episode: 
http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/the-americans-series-finale-oral-history.html

 Excellent. Thanks for sharing.

I'm going to miss talking about this show.

shoshannah said:
I'm going to miss talking about this show.

 What will we watch next?

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

shoshannah said:
I'm going to miss talking about this show.

 What will we watch next?

 I'm going to watch it again. From season 1, episode 1.