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The Americans (1 Viewer)

pantherclub said:
Uruk-Hai said:
I'm not a Cold War history expert, so I don't know what really happened.

But I have to think guys like Oleg have big-time value as trading chips. Especially since the Gorby faction wins out and he was working for them. The US could use Oleg to get their own Oleg-y guy out of some gulag.
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In my very little understanding of that time in spy history but the US had a far less success rate in infiltrating the USSR. 
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Maybe not in Russia but in the USSR, especially in the Baltics and Caucasus, they did quite well. Not to mention all the work done in tertiary nations like Nicaragua, India, and in the Eastern Bloc. 

Oleg in this scenario probably would have been held a matter of months and then released as a matter of goodwill because he was working against Stalinist ideals, and for the benefit of a guy we liked. 

 
Murph said:
Torn on this one. Stan letting them go didn't ring true to me. On the other hand Paige getting off the train was phenomenal. A scene that will stick with me for a long time.
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It worked for me. Stan loved the Jennings family, and Stan had acted on his emotions vs complete loyalty to his job in the past. He did it with Nina and Oleg. His connection with the Jennings ran much deeper than that of Nina and Oleg. The confrontation in the garage was such a mix of emotions. Stan's angry interrogating words turned to words of emotional hurt once Philip took off his mask and released confessions of his true self. I think Stan felt Philips pain of having to abandon his son as a consequence of serving his country. That loss is greater than going to prison. Philip and Stan both felt guilt about their work and questioned the validity of it in the past, causing both to leave it (P being a full time travel agent and Stan moving to the crime unit), but only to be sucked back in. I remember Stan telling Renee he was thinking about quitting the FBI, because it felt $hitty and he was tired of feeling that way. During Stan's and Philip's exchange, you could tell that Philip too was sad about the end of their friendship. All the actor's did such a great job with their facial expressions and body language. That has been the case throughout this series.  Anyway, I think in the end what finally swayed Stan the most was when they asked him to take care of Henry. Stan has always had a nurturing nature about him, and he was like a second dad to Henry. Them asking and trusting him to take care of their kid struck at a cord with Stan. Through all the betrayals and lies, there was genuine love. Maybe if the FBI ever got that message decoded it would give Stan some peace knowing that P & E were telling the truth about it, and they were acting on the right side of the law (as was Oleg). 

 
simey said:
It worked for me. Stan loved the Jennings family, and Stan had acted on his emotions vs complete loyalty to his job in the past. He did it with Nina and Oleg. His connection with the Jennings ran much deeper than that of Nina and Oleg. The confrontation in the garage was such a mix of emotions. Stan's angry interrogating words turned to words of emotional hurt once Philip took off his mask and released confessions of his true self. I think Stan felt Philips pain of having to abandon his son as a consequence of serving his country. That loss is greater than going to prison. Philip and Stan both felt guilt about their work and questioned the validity of it in the past, causing both to leave it (P being a full time travel agent and Stan moving to the crime unit), but only to be sucked back in. I remember Stan telling Renee he was thinking about quitting the FBI, because it felt $hitty and he was tired of feeling that way. During Stan's and Philip's exchange, you could tell that Philip too was sad about the end of their friendship. All the actor's did such a great job with their facial expressions and body language. That has been the case throughout this series.  Anyway, I think in the end what finally swayed Stan the most was when they asked him to take care of Henry. Stan has always had a nurturing nature about him, and he was like a second dad to Henry. Them asking and trusting him to take care of their kid struck at a cord with Stan. Through all the betrayals and lies, there was genuine love. Maybe if the FBI ever got that message decoded it would give Stan some peace knowing that P & E were telling the truth about it, and they were acting on the right side of the law (as was Oleg). 
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I don't necessarily disagree with any of this. But in the moment it still felt wrong to me.

 
roadkill1292 said:
Bash away if you must but I thought Paige in that short brown wig was hot as balls.
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From the article just linked: 

 “Paige wore a few minor disguises this season, but her first significant one came into play while the family was on the run — and it made sense that Philip and Elizabeth donned ones they’d never used before, under the circumstances — and it made her look uncannily like Velma from Scooby-Doo.”

:lmao:  

 
Murph said:
I don't necessarily disagree with any of this. But in the moment it still felt wrong to me.
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That's cool, but I don't think it's inconsistent with Stan's character throughout 75 episodes. Every single time he had to make a tough choice between heart and duty, he chose heart. The KGB kid he thought killed his partner (actually was Philip) & he blew away, Nina, Oleg, Henry when his parents were always gone, helping Renee get an FBI interview (mixing work and pleasure rarely works) - those were all emotional moves at the expense of doing the correct professional thing. 

 
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Doctor Detroit said:
From the article just linked: 

 “Paige wore a few minor disguises this season, but her first significant one came into play while the family was on the run — and it made sense that Philip and Elizabeth donned ones they’d never used before, under the circumstances — and it made her look uncannily like Velma from Scooby-Doo.”

:lmao:  
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The groin wants what the groin wants.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
That's cool, but I don't think it's inconsistent with Stan's character throughout 75 episodes. Every single time he had to make a tough choice between heart and duty, he chose heart. The KGB kid he thought killed his partner (actually was Philip), Nina, Oleg, Hnery when his parents were always gone, helping Renee get an FBI interview (mixing work and pleasure rarely works) - those were all emotional moves at the expense of doing the correct professional thing. 
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I think arresting them is the emotional move. It's vengeance for a brutal betrayal of trust over many years.

Letting them go is the correct move- assuming he understood what Oleg was telling him about Gorbachev.

 
Doctor Detroit said:
Maybe not in Russia but in the USSR, especially in the Baltics and Caucasus, they did quite well. Not to mention all the work done in tertiary nations like Nicaragua, India, and in the Eastern Bloc. 

Oleg in this scenario probably would have been held a matter of months and then released as a matter of goodwill because he was working against Stalinist ideals, and for the benefit of a guy we liked. 
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This was my take ... it's a happy ending for the true "good guys" in some ways... while Stan will always be conflicted, he understands the weirdness with which he lived and can be more of a true dad to a Henry... and Henry, the most innocent of all, gets a dad.

I assumed Oleg would be home soon as you suggest. 

And while we are left with Paige all alone, is this not a far better future for her than slowly being sucked into a life that she really didn't understand? 

As someone mentioned, Philips son will get to have time with his father as well. 

 
To me Paige decided to get out the second they decided to leave Henry behind. To me that’s part of an instinctive reaction to protecting a sibling, and to just realizing that these two people would always put other interests ahead of their own children. Kinda deep stuff. 

 
Murph said:
I think arresting them is the emotional move. It's vengeance for a brutal betrayal of trust over many years.

Letting them go is the correct move- assuming he understood what Oleg was telling him about Gorbachev.
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Don't know what to say, my friend. Maybe we're just arguing semantics. "Duty", to me, means that he had to arrest (or kill) them. He had no authority to make the call, officially, that what Oleg and Philip were saying means he had to let Philip go.

I thought letting them go rang true to everything he'd done before. He could have gotten that message to the USSR by another means if he had wanted to. 

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Don't know what to say, my friend. Maybe we're just arguing semantics. "Duty", to me, means that he had to arrest (or kill) them. He had no authority to make the call, officially, that what Oleg and Philip were saying means he had to let Philip go.

I thought letting them go rang true to everything he'd done before. He could have gotten that message to the USSR by another means if he had wanted to. 
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Yeah I think it’s within reason, given all the variables, that Stan let’s them go. The trump card was Henry, he would have possibly wrecked his whole life at 17. 

Now Stan getting an undecoded message through back channels to the Soviets even if he believed Oleg, no way. Stan wasn’t ever doing that. 

 
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Great finale to a great series.

Didn't foresee how it would all play out but I liked how the writers handled it.

For the life of me I can't decide if the girl who played Paige is a good actress or not. She's so emotionally restrained/limited in that role, but I suppose that's what they were looking for.

 
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Ok so apparently my block and neighbors house was on the finale. Haven't watched a single episode of this but want to see my block and if my house is on the show. I do remember them filming on my street a few months ago. Debating if just watching this finale as not sure I have time or effort for an entire series. 

 
Redwes25 said:
Ok so apparently my block and neighbors house was on the finale. Haven't watched a single episode of this but want to see my block and if my house is on the show. I do remember them filming on my street a few months ago. Debating if just watching this finale as not sure I have time or effort for an entire series. 
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As I'd mentioned, they filmed a bunch in Glen Cove, NY where I lived until last year having moved to Texas.  A lot in NY State which always bothered me a little because public parks or other visuals would be very NY to me even though it's supposed to be DC area.

 
The_Man said:
What do we make of the scene with Paige back in Claudia's apartment, slamming vodka? Is that a hint she's going to continue the work of Claudia and her mother? Or is that she's the same kind of strong, independent woman they both were, and is now going to live life on her terms?
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Only place she knew she was 100% safe?

 
The_Man said:
Interesting - to me, Stan affirmed that a human relationship with someone could be more important than job or national loyalty, and that was the right decision for him. As a human, he'd rather let the Jenningses walk rather than kill them, and those were the only 2 choices he had at that moment. But i can also understand your point of view.

Another thing about Stan - in the last 2 episodes, twice he said he didn't care who Russia's leader was: once to Oleg, once to Phillip and Elizabeth. What do you make of that? Does it reflect short-sightedness about the difference Gorbachev could make? Or was it about his allegiance to the US being so complete, that it was fully irrelevant what was motivating his Russian adversaries? Regardless, that scene in the garage was incredible drama. 
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IMO, It took Elizabeth and Phillip telling Stan how important that message was to get back to Russia for it to register.  

 
Don't think we've discussed it yet, but how awesome was Phillip/Elizabeth's quick reaction to whether they killed the other FBI agents.  That had to be played perfectly for both Stan and Paige.

 
Koya said:
As I'd mentioned, they filmed a bunch in Glen Cove, NY where I lived until last year having moved to Texas.  A lot in NY State which always bothered me a little because public parks or other visuals would be very NY to me even though it's supposed to be DC area.
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Studio is in Gowanus so majority of filming has always been Brooklyn made to look like D.C.  

 
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Redwes25 said:
Studio is in Gowanus so majority of filming has always been Brooklyn made to look like D.C.  
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They filmed a number of scenes from Mr. Robot on Long Island / Glen Cove as well - recognised some of the streets in the suburban scenes where they were driving down the street (with or to get) Elliott

 
Koya said:
As I'd mentioned, they filmed a bunch in Glen Cove, NY where I lived until last year having moved to Texas.  A lot in NY State which always bothered me a little because public parks or other visuals would be very NY to me even though it's supposed to be DC area.
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My parents both grew up in Falls Church and they and my sisters’ families all still live there so I always got a chuckle out of how t was portrayed on-screen 

 
I think the writers for the show are leaving Paige's story open in case they want to revisit in the future (Anna Chapman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Chapman).  Paige could naturally fall into this character.  A change of name, backstory, and 20 years away from the DC area, she comes back as Anna Chapman.  They (she) could lie about the age to make it fit and there you go - another whole story of Soviet illegals in the US.

 
Sabertooth said:
Watched it last night.  I liked it.  Great series.  Great show.  Stan has to lose his job right?  
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Does anyone know that Stan let them go?

Now, I'm sure the FBI would have questions about how it took him 10 years (or whatever) for him to realize that his neighbor's (and best friend) were Russian agents. Maybe even his new wife. I'm sure that part of the investigation would get him fired; he'd probably be going to jail if it was known that he let them go.

 
themeanmachine said:
Very good final episode. I'm glad it didn't end with a shootout or some ridiculous race to leap across the border. And that it ended with Philip and Elizabeth together, since so much of the show revolved around their marriage. 

Many at the Centre are very unhappy with Elizabeth's recent actions - does she survive in Russia long enough to rebuild a decent life there?

Did Paige refuse to speak to Henry on the pay phone because she knew she would get off the train before crossing the border - didn't want the authorities to know she was with her parents if they were listening in, and wanted to be able to play innocent to Henry?
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I would think going back to Russia would be very bad for Phillip and Elizabeth. They may be hero's to some there, but they created enough (particularly Elizabeth) enemies that somebody is going to cap them.

I don't think Paige is strategic enough (maybe smart enough though) to come up with a plan like that. I think she ultimately saw the flaws in her parents and chose her life over their decisions. Now, I would assume the FBI would be interested in her so not sure if she would still need to stay out of the US, etc.

 
identikit said:
He's an FBI agent.
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Yep, no issues with that. He knows she is in college. It probably wasn't hard to find her.

I can probably find more argument that he happened to show up there as the parents got there. He was spending most of the day watching other places, so his timing was perfect.

 
cubd8 said:
Does anyone know that Stan let them go?

Now, I'm sure the FBI would have questions about how it took him 10 years (or whatever) for him to realize that his neighbor's (and best friend) were Russian agents. Maybe even his new wife. I'm sure that part of the investigation would get him fired; he'd probably be going to jail if it was known that he let them go.
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Paige wouldn't say anything so he isn't going to jail.

Aderholt brought him back into the investigation when it got hot, so he probably just goes back to what he was doing after some standard questioning (though they probably take that #### seriously, I certainly wouldn't know).

 
Del Griffith said:
I think she just wanted some good vodka.

But seriously, I don't see how she would want to continue spying, after Stan telling her that her parents are murderers. She'd want nothing to do with that life now.
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and Stan knowing she's a spy would make it awfully tough to continue

 
Koya said:
Meh, I petered out after the first 3 or so.  

Also just finished Cheers (which began around the start of the new year... only 30 min a pop. but like 11 seasons of 25 episodes each!)
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Cheers is one of our shows to watch during dinner. On the 3rd season now. MeTV just started The Odd Couple from the beginning so we'll add that to our rotation. We were watching All in the Family for a while and even though there are still good laughs in it, I just couldn't take the constant yelling in it anymore.

 
jamny said:
Cheers is one of our shows to watch during dinner. On the 3rd season now. MeTV just started The Odd Couple from the beginning so we'll add that to our rotation. We were watching All in the Family for a while and even though there are still good laughs in it, I just couldn't take the constant yelling in it anymore.
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Cheers is great. Enough running story lines but it's hardly TV you need to focus on every minute.

The Diane years with Coach are still the best, bar far.  Woody is great, but honestly Rebecca is arguably the worst major character of such a successful show that I can recall.  It's amazing how enjoyable the show was for those years, considering she was just a whining, pathetic, crying, look at me / woe is me caricature.

 
i haven't deleted the finale from my dvr yet, I plan to watch the parking garage scene and the train scene at least one more time.

 
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