A thread for The Americans on FX

That was the end. And yes, SO GOOD.

Thanks Johnny!

Yeah how do you make a silent sequence of a guy taking a silly wig off so tense?

but if they kill her - which seems inevitable - wont the fbi investigate and find out about her "marriage" to "clark"?!?

Yeah, but so what? They won't be able to find out who "Clark" actually is.

I always find Pastor Tim's appearances a bit confusing, as he looks a fair bit like Phillip in disguise.

There's so much plot to be resolved in the finale - Kimmy, Nina/Stan/Oleg, Clark/Martha, etc. - that I have no idea how or even if they'll cram it into 45 minutes.

Excited for the finale. Finding the story lines with Paige and Martha this season really emotionally gripping.

xp wouldn't be surprised if FX gave them extra running time for this episode - as a network they have a recent history of allowing like one or two notably long episodes per season (fargo, the bridge, louie and the Americans have all indulged this liberty)

...or not! FX schedule online doesn't indicate a longer-than-usual length. so in that case I share that concern.

i don't really expect them to try to wrap up all the storylines, this is the kind of show that likes its subplots to gestate for a long time

It's been renewed surely? They don't have to tie everything up this season!

xp

It's been renewed for season four, and it seems as if they are already assuming they'll get a season five. Apparantly, the network-boss really likes the show, which seems logical, as it's awesome.

And the last few years, subplots have carried over at the end of seasons. Annelise's story was only resolved early this year (shutter). I think the difference this year is, even the little plots that actually haven't meant a thing - such as the babysitter - are way more tense and captivating than usual.

the zinaida plotline is increasingly interesting too.

i read somewhere that the makers originally had a five-year plan (naturally!) for the show

Intrigued by the title of tonight's episode (which I won't post here lest it be considered a spoiler).

Fun interview with Holly Taylor (Paige) in which she, among other things, talks about watching Felicity: http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/qa-holly-taylor-of-the-americans-on-her-characters-pivotal-season-watching-her-tv-mom-on-felicity-and-where-they-hide-the-wigs/

We "discovered" this show before xmas - binge-watched the first two seasons, been watching each ep of s3 as soon as we can... the wait till season 4 is going to be AGONISING i bet

yeah we p much have Landgraf alone to thank for the show's continued existence 'cause NO ONE watches it.

Wish he could've saved Terriers a few years ago, but this will more than suffice.

The ratings on Terriers were even more ridiculously awful iirc, like almost surreally terrible

he said on a podcast interview that ratings were under 300,000 for most terriers episodes after the first couple, and also conceded that his marketing staff did a terrible job with it

i do love that show though. also loved the bridge but that had a rough first season before getting great in the 2nd and by then the ratings were completely fucked

the americans has an unassailable rep among critics and even with slowed down ratings in its actual timeslot prob gets a lot of on-demand viewings as backup

i took the wig coming off as "here's the deal and are u gonna ryde or die?"
like martha's been going along with this as best she can without looking it in the eye, dude clearly sincerely loves her and is equally willing to kill her if he absolutely has to which is scary as fuck
i've said it before but the actress playing martha is amazing; one of the real highlights of TELEVISION RIGHT NOW is watching her equivocate so that she can keep her dream
i really really hope they don't kill her

I could see him having to kill her as being what finally tips him over to defecting

Shit, my cable dropped out during the scene with Stan and Agent Gaad and the dvr quit recording at the same time. I have to wait until tomorrow and rewatch on demand because there's no way I'm going to pick it back up tonight having missed about 15 minutes in the middle. COMCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST!

yipes at this cliffhanger

deceased now, show killed me

so weird to have no Kimmy or Martha in the finale, and so much time alone with Philip. super moody and upsetting. shot of the ep = Paige praying for her grandmother.

i feel like the showrunners are looking at this series less in terms of season by season and more in terms of as a whole. i have no other answer why there's no culmination to the martha storyline that doesn't involve her presence in the episode, especially after the last episode's gut punch of an ending..

and yeah, they moonwalked away from the Kimmy storyline when they had reached a point where the only plausible story development left was for philip to fuck her or cut her loose and i'm not sure i wanted to see either of those outcomes.

yeah this was definitely a finale made by people who had assurances they'd be back

learning from interviews that the wig scene was originally at the top of ep 13 makes a lot of sense.

Of the three season enders so far, this one was definitely the most low-key, but ultimately the one with the highest stakes. I love that the writers don't urge you to be saying "OMG PAIGE NO" and instead are just laying it out there for you to say "Yeah, I kind of don't blame her" because she's 15 and her parents aren't who everyone thinks they are and she's the only one who knows. That must be melting her brains.

it's a mugs game to prognosticate BUT i would lay money we get a scene of pastor tim wanting to talk to the parents along the lines of "i'm afraid paige is a very troubled girl... she told me she thinks you are russians; is everything okay around the house" - lengthy awkward moment - parents get to spring the "no one is trustworthy" bomb on paige and that might push her away from the ministry and into secret russian spy bidness or maybe into beaman, who knows

I got the sense that Philip and Sandra might get really close next season which may end up causing friction between Philip and Stan (if Stan were to find out).

Oh hell I had not even considered that she might go to Stan.

I was not expecting the Philip/Sandra scenes (nor Philip's earnest interest in...anything, really), but anything that gives Susan Misner something to do is a plus.

I love that Stan is basically Vic Mackey now - "Don't worry about what these bureaucrats think; you just get out there and do what needs to be done."

yea stan's intersection with middle reagan era military/justice department/CIA types who results tied to ideas of ideological supremacy (these being the architects of iran contra) does not bode well for his sleeping problems :/

*who highly value

Gah, waiting a year for this to resume hurts more than most.

only this show would, instead of wrapping up its gazillion subplots in its finale, ignore most of them and introduce a completely unexpected new one. what is philip doing with sandra! is he at those meetings 4 real or is he targeting sandra (and why, if so)...

and of course still drop that bombshell cliffhanger too. PAIGE. i love how this show constantly returns to asking its characters where they draw the line: paige isn't particularly patriotic, which i guess they gambled on, but they hadn't realised that lying was a no-go area for her...

they've used that technique in the final scene before, cutting between different tableaux of characters while relevant words come out of a tv, it's tremendously effective. sucks you right in and makes you tense.

also lol @ their daring, last week's cliffhanger was such a POW moment as well and they have the confidence to just spend one line furthering it

i have no other answer why there's no culmination to the martha storyline that doesn't involve her presence in the episode, especially after the last episode's gut punch of an ending..

I kind of love that they did this - what an unexpected, low key but very haunting finale. Up there with the best episodes they've done.

this show... this show...

HOW long till s04???

January or February 2016.

We finished season one and started season two. It's great, we're really into it, but halfway through S2E1 my wife asked "don't their kids wonder why they don't have any grandparents, cousins or uncles and aunts or anything?" No need to spoil it for me, but I am curious if they ever address this.

Yes, they do

also, i don't think a lack of an extended family around you is that unusual in the first place - if there's any implausibility in the family set-up it's the parents' own unpredictable comings and goings and absences

That too! But at least as far as I've seen so far at least one kid is suspicious if that.

Anyway, we don't have a single relative anywhere near where we live, but my kids (younger than the TV kids) are acutely aware of our extended family, many of whom they see only once every few years. So interested to see how they handle it. Maybe they're all played by Margo, a la Eddie Murphy. This is your Fat Suit grandma, in from Nebraska.