A thread for The Americans on FX

Ha, us too!

yeah just rewatched it... our copy ended with phillips talk to paige about having a dog and boyfriend ... it did seem odd ! now i'm like ohhhhh ok.

Just caught up with the finale too. It didn't disappoint, and I think we're set-up for quite a final season. Despite all their efforts it seems because Isaac Breeland will be head of the Soviet div, they have to stay. If I was Philip, seeing how tortured he is, I'd still say: 'fuck this shit, I'll rather defect', but it's a clever plot-twist. Though they could've done better with the most important 'news' of the episode being buried in a murky recording tbh.

Not sure what staying means for Henry: will he be allowed to go now anyway? (good suggestion up here that he might seek refuge/help from Stan). I think Stan's last season will be way more interesting than this one, too. Something tells me he and Oleg will cross paths again, either to do with his new 'girlfriend' or not. Not sure if they are to help each other or confront each other though. Or both.

One thing I'm still not clear on: If the Center wanted Alexei and his family back to Russia, why will he be locked up should he return? I must have missed something as I'm still not very clear about this whole story line. Is he going to be sad and alone in America next season? (will we even see them again?)

They don't want Alexei back in Russia, just Evgheniya, because she's having an affair with the CIA's new head of its Moscow office. So they want her to go back there and continue the affair. That's why they sent someone to tell her that she won't be punished if she goes back.

Ahhh you right, I blanked on that last night, thanks.

I'm delighted that Martha's going to be allowed to adopt a child. It's a good ending for her, unless someone figures out a way to use the child as leverage to get her to do something unpleasant.

Yeah, though I'm not at all sure this is the 'end' for her. They didn't invest in her story all season, but they keep bringing her up every now and again.

Can imagine her and Gabriel leading sort of parallel sad to be in Russia lives. Wouldn't be surprised if they crossed paths again, perhaps after the fall of the wall, for a "now what?" moment.

Can also easily see Oleg defecting. The way the wheels are turning, I can also see his powerful dad pulling strings to get him out of the country, to his own detriment. There'd be a symmetry with his wife's stint in prison, too. For that matter, I can see Oleg getting back to the USA, meeting up with Stan, and tipping him off to all sorts of shit before vanishing for good. Or for that matter, tipping off Stan before Elizabeth kills him at Russia's behest. OR, further, Philip forced to face down Stan at some point. Lots of directions to go in, not least because this season was little more than slowly turning gears.

The fall of the wall is still a good five years away. I wonder if they're going to try to cover that much time in the remaining 10 episodes.

I mean, maybe that's something they can finally do now because Henry and Paige are "adult" enough that they can be aged with makeup or haircuts or wardrobe. It's really hard to make an 11 year old look 19.

We're still only in 1984 though, right? (seeing Reagan's 'We begin bombing in five minutes' gaffe) That's still five years from the fall of the wall. Would be something if they leap forward five years for the last season. Paige already fully the third Jennings spy, Henry finishing his education and still clueless about it.

xp

they can just fast forward. five years is nothing.

I mean, Henry can go to sleep away school, Paige can go on a mission to South America. kids gone, no problem.

They don't want Alexei back in Russia, just Evgheniya, because she's having an affair with the CIA's new head of its Moscow office. So they want her to go back there and continue the affair.

But they didn't find out she was having the affair until partway through the season. So why were they nosing around the family before that?

I'm more interested in them fast-forwarding by six months to a year - the last series will be about them (and the centre/FBI) coming to terms with what the Gorbachev era means.

That does seem to the the logical direction.

Or, you know, everything going bad right before the great thawing.

Or maybe it will end in summer 2016, with an old Philip and Elizabeth, in grey mustache and wig, hobbling fake intel to Trump's people.

Carter Page is Henry!

Finished the first season. Truthfully, it's been a bit of a slog--took me a month, with lots of breaks. I liked Amador, but he's gone. I realize that liking characters here is beside the point, but that does figure in for me. The music hasn't made much of an impression; the extended episode-ending song when Gregory was killed was pretty good, I guess (didn't recognize the song). The French Lieutenant's Woman was used well. The period details leave me cold, which is a function of my antipathy towards the period. I started the second season yesterday, but at some point soon I'll need to connect with it to keep going.

That was "To Love Somebody"? I need to pay attention.

it improves on the second season and then gets better exponentially going forward until the most recent season

I just realized I never even watched the last few eps of the last season :/

hoping it rallies in the final season

xpost Yeah, like "The Shield" the stress just keeps getting amped. I have no idea what they were going for, but this most recent season had the least happen, and just when you thought something was going to happen, it more or less wraps up with nothing happening. I'm sure lots happened, of course, but it doesn't really advance much.

One thing I'm having a hard time with--again realizing that it's not anything I should be preoccupied with, that I should just go with it--is how improbable I find the logistics of them leading this double life: in terms of running the travel agency, in keeping it from their family (which the final episode of Season 1 finally got around to, with the daughter poking around downstairs), and, maybe most of all, Philip's phony marriage to Martha. I mean, they're out past midnight killing people. The people in their lives don't seem to ask a lot of questions.

Well I guess their children have been fairly unquestioning so far because that's just what their parents do, and they don't really have any other friends who aren't fellow spies or US govt employees they're playing.

Understand your frowning Clemenza but would urge you to keep going if you can, you'll be rewarded imo.

Yeah, probably, especially because trying to keep things a secret is the prime mover of a show about secret spies. It's less about what they're doing - I mean, it's the more or less real world, we know how it ends, spoilers: Russia doesn't win the cold war - then it is about the difficulties of living their life and the toll it takes on them personally and professionally.

Took me a little longer than the Cold War itself to get through Season 2, but I did, and I'll stay with it for 3. Not loving it yet, but it did get better. Larrick was a good villain--reminded me of John Lithgow in Blow Out a bit. Also liked Burov, Kate, and John Carroll Lynch's character. Richard Thomas and the daughter--both of whom I found very bland for a long time--got better. I have trouble following all the plot detours but don't dwell on that too much.

Two things still bother me. The biggest is Philip/Clark's marriage to Martha, and the Martha character in general. Alison Wright is good; the character's gullibility I find borderline preposterous. She's married to this secretive guy with a toupée who drops in at his convenience, she's got a day-job where she's privy to lots of high-level intelligence, and--thus far, anyway--she seems blissfully oblivious to any possible connection.

I also find that Elizabeth's and Philip's undercover creations are almost too good sometimes. When Elizabeth was telling he story of abuse to the young soldier, or befriending the AA woman, she never stumbles for a split-second. I know it's her job, but I'm always thinking I'm watching Keri Russell the accomplished actress rather than an undercover spy.

"her story of abuse"

Clark and Martha having Tantric sex in Season 3's opener: am I wrong, or is that the first flat-out comedic moment thus far? Good sign. I find most of the good shows I've watched the past few years (and again, I'm still way behind) loosen up as they go along--realize that, even if serious, it's okay to joke around now and again.

imo the most hilarious Clark/Martha scene is when he’s going down on her, appears from beneath the covers, and we find out he’s kept his glasses on the whole time

were they fogged up? i seem to remember they weren't fogged up.

lol, I think so

Marathon Man and Affliction now have some company in the terrifying-dentistry department.

"Do you want a ringing endorsement, or do you want to know how the burgers are?"

Lots of good performances, of course, but Karen Pittman as Lisa--the Northrup employee Elizabeth's working on in Season 3--is the first time I've felt like I'm watching something exceptional.

AV Club reveals the final season will take place three years after season five finale.

Getting better, for sure (season three, episode 9). Walter Taffet's a great character--his interrogation style is unnerving--Lois Smith's death was harrowing, and Philip's "You're the problem" to Gabriel was an excellent episode-closer.

S3 & S4 are probably the peak concentration of the show doing what it does best, so enjoy the ride.

Yeah I didn't love it till season 3.

Got to the big episode immediately after I posted last night (and didn't know it was coming so soon--also the first time I watched three episodes in a sitting). Handled perfectly; you really experience it through Paige's eyes. Her relationship with her parents now reminds me of Sally Draper's with her father on Mad Men. (Hopefully that's self-explanatory--don't want to say too much for anyone who has this on their to-watch list.)

I'm at a point early in Season 4 where about six different people could send the whole house of cards tumbling down. Which is great.

aren't you glad you stuck with it?

Definitely--just finished the episode that ends with Roxy Music's "End of the Line." Easily the best use of music so far for me.

Stan's last-time-I-see-you speech to Burov was great. In general, Noah Emmerich's performance gets better and better with every season and every episode--by Season 4, he's my favourite character.

He sure has mastered the eye twitch.

Clemenza, you are going to be up to speed fully when the last series begins right? Awesome to have you on board for the weekly chatter!

March 28!

(xpost) I will be, definitely; finished Season 4 tonight, have 5 ready to go.

One thing I'm wondering--do they ever use pop music over the end credits? I'm watching bootleg DVDs. The quality's great, but each episode stops before the end credits roll.

Frank Langella and Dylan Baker are excellent. Best visual joke so far: Paige and William sitting at opposite ends of the couch when their fathers walk in the room. William's Anton Chigurh haircut's a little off-putting...The three kids are really good.

(Matthew, not William--Stan's son.)