A thread for The Americans on FX

they are committed to a cause that is much bigger than them

But Lois Smith has their number (the older woman at the repair shop Elizabeth kills): "That's what evil people tell themselves when they do evil things."

I love that they titled an episode "Amber Waves" after Boogie Nights.

clem, as a Canuck, it occurs to me that you may be not be familiar with 'America the Beautiful.

Thanks! I actually was half-kidding, assuming it must have come from somewhere else (haven't noticed a big Boogie Nights feeling anywhere else in The Americans). But I didn't know it was "American the Beautiful."

"America"...

"Do you want to hear about Lotus 1-2-3?"

Probably the most relatable moment for me in the whole show

About halfway through S5. One thing I love (and how it plays out from here): the enigma of Renee. One thing that grates on me (already mentioned): Elizabeth's phony laugh when working someone. Whether Young Hee, the wife of the agriculture dissident, or the guy from Topeka, it's the same every time and far more transparent than any of these people seem to realize.

Don't read this if you're not onto the last season.

Something that doesn't make sense to me: the idea that the travel agency could go under. Everything about the Jennings, including the travel agency, was fabricated from home. Couldn't they just get "the Centre" to wire them (or physically transport) whatever funds are necessary to keep it afloat?

This was something I wondered too. Is the idea supposed to be that they built the business from scratch with zero help from the USSR?

I think at some point Philip says something about the travel agency having been set up as a front.

In a way, though, it's irrelevant: the travel agency is central to their cover, so if the KGB wants to keep them viable, they'd finance its survival.

Finished this morning.

Some things I called attention to earlier in the thread didn't bother me as much this time. I said I wanted an a-ha moment; in a way, you do get one when Gregory's associate says "and she smoked like a chimney." (If you like a-ha moments; I do, many don't.) The confrontation in the garage did not seem as prolonged as on previous viewings, and Philip did not seem as grovely. Unforgettable line: "I don't know how to say this, but Renee might be one of us."

And the final shots of Paige at the depot are art.

And the final shots of Paige at the depot are art.

Genuinely my favourite final episode of the current era

I still feel like Phillip saying that about Renee was a last bit of manipulative malevolence on his part. I dont know if he knew or not - but I feel like he wanted Stan to suffer/forever be unsure or something?

Intriguing, but for me, it was done in good faith. Philip was always unsure about that--he asked Elizabeth, asked Gabriel, never got an answer. I think his friendship with Stan and regard for him was genuine.

You never do find out about Renee, but the last shot of her--looking over at the FBI searching the Jennings home, seemingly a little too interested--makes me think she was indeed "one of them."

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/301/611/b9a6412424d49ebbeaa9c33a63280a5a48-04-renee-the-americans.rsocial.w1200.jpg

Watching the Adam Curtis documentary on the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the ruination brought by shock capitalism, added a grim coda to the fates of Martha, Philip and Elizabeth. In my head, Philip managed got convince Elizabeth to use their spy/travel agent skills to slip through the porous border to somewhere less hellish. (I know, I know—it’s debatable whether they deserve that mercy, but still...)

finally finished the Americans. what a show. i loved Oleg coming back in season 6 but i felt the show lost a bit when Martha, Nina, Pastor Tim, Gaad, Gabriel and the rezidentura went away. almost like the show's worldview was collapsing inward to Philip and Elizabeth. the endings for the kids resonated really well but i wasn't convinced that Holly would choose to follow Elizabeth after the lies etc.

the art in season 6 was very moving. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/arts/television/the-americans-fx-final-season.html

this was also very good: https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/the-americans-series-finale-oral-history.html

Oleg, Nina, Pastor Tim, and Gaad were four of my favourites.

Really late on this, but we finally finished the series last well. I really enjoyed it, thought the ending was really great for the tone of the show.

I really had laugh, though, when Elizabeth went to Illinois (during the one subplot that I could have totally lived without) and we got to marvel at all of those mountains in the central Illinois distance.

I tried watching the first season a while back but the DVD that I got from the library turned out to be pretty damaged and at some point it just wouldn't play anymore, but I forget exactly how far I got. The last episode I remember is where they get the drop on some other agent trying to kill them and they all get stopped by a cop so then they pretend the agent is drunk and he sings some Kenny Rogers -- is that episode 7?

Also, it's been probably two years since my first watch, should I just restart from the beginning?