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The Americans (1 Viewer)

I watched the first four seasons of this show and loved it. Then I got a few weeks behind on Season 5 after watching the opener, and after seeing the middling reviews I just couldn't find the time and motivation to watch the rest.

I'm considering jumping back in with Season 6 to see how it all ends and just catching up on Season 5 via episode recaps and whatnot.  Does this seem doable?  Or should I wait to watch the final two seasons when I have more time?
I think the middling reviews of Season 5 were because, in comparison to the previous seasons, it wasn't as good, but it was still better than the vast majority of stuff on TV. I enjoyed it. Plus, Keri Russell gives me the horny. 

 
I think the middling reviews of Season 5 were because, in comparison to the previous seasons, it wasn't as good, but it was still better than the vast majority of stuff on TV. I enjoyed it. Plus, Keri Russell gives me the horny. 
I hope we get some ### shots this year again.  She seems almost hotter now than back in the day.  Maybe its just because I'm older as well.  

 
Previews for the season make it look like Paige is a bit more involved in actual missions.  Will be interesting to see how far they go there.
I just binged s1-s5 over the last few months and this seemed rather obvious to me during s5 especially the last scene we saw. If they didn’t/don’t incorporate this, I’d actually be pretty disappointed. 

 
I watched the first four seasons of this show and loved it. Then I got a few weeks behind on Season 5 after watching the opener, and after seeing the middling reviews I just couldn't find the time and motivation to watch the rest.

I'm considering jumping back in with Season 6 to see how it all ends and just catching up on Season 5 via episode recaps and whatnot.  Does this seem doable?  Or should I wait to watch the final two seasons when I have more time?
Doable, sure. Like I just mentioned in the previous post, I recently watched s1-s5. I think not having a long break before s5 made it better for me. It wasn’t as good as other seasons, and the finale was not an insane episode, but I still enjoyed it and wouldn’t tell anyone to skip it. There is less action overall during s5 and it’s more about tension, coping, etc. There was some character closure (Martha comes to mind first, that was great to see) and I think s5 sets up the final season well. I haven’t read much of this thread, but my guess would be Paige’s character gets bagged on the most, but I really enjoyed her development during s5. 

 
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I watched the first four seasons of this show and loved it. Then I got a few weeks behind on Season 5 after watching the opener, and after seeing the middling reviews I just couldn't find the time and motivation to watch the rest.

I'm considering jumping back in with Season 6 to see how it all ends and just catching up on Season 5 via episode recaps and whatnot.  Does this seem doable?  Or should I wait to watch the final two seasons when I have more time?
You can definitely skip S5, which was a mess that had little impact on the overall storyline that you won't be able to pick up on from recaps and even what they show in S6.  There is one exception, though.  You should watch "Dyatkovo," a late-season S5 episode that is one of the best episodes of the entire series.  In fact, from that episode alone you'll probably know just about everything you need to for S6.  

 
I think it makes sense that this is where it's been headed the whole time: Philip vs Elizabeth. They've always had competing ideologies, and now those philosophies are placed in the context of "new Russia vs old Russia." Factor in Paige, who is being sold that Russia is modern and "Western," even while her handlers work to ensure there is no peace with the West. Not to mention the timely "is Russia our friend or enemy?" debate in a show that takes place 30 years ago.

 
I watched the first four seasons of this show and loved it. Then I got a few weeks behind on Season 5 after watching the opener, and after seeing the middling reviews I just couldn't find the time and motivation to watch the rest.

I'm considering jumping back in with Season 6 to see how it all ends and just catching up on Season 5 via episode recaps and whatnot.  Does this seem doable?  Or should I wait to watch the final two seasons when I have more time?
So I went ahead and did this through a combination of vulture.com and the Americans wiki fan pages.  I think it worked well.  Kind of a fun read actually.

The craziest part of it, though, was my discovery that the actor who plays Pastor Tim also plays Dollar Bill on Billions. I read it a half-hour ago and I still feel lost and disoriented.

 
I think it makes sense that this is where it's been headed the whole time: Philip vs Elizabeth. They've always had competing ideologies, and now those philosophies are placed in the context of "new Russia vs old Russia." Factor in Paige, who is being sold that Russia is modern and "Western," even while her handlers work to ensure there is no peace with the West. Not to mention the timely "is Russia our friend or enemy?" debate in a show that takes place 30 years ago.
They've played around with this a few times in earlier seasons, with both Claudia & Gabriel probing to see if one could be pitted against the other. The resentment and disgust Elizabeth seemed to show toward Philip in the last scene of this episode makes this time different, I think. She's wobbling badly now.

 
Just watched the first of season six... wow, that was great.  Let's hope this goes out with a bang... very curious to see how they treat the falling of the wall.

I enjoyed watching how entrenched the KGB was, through todays lens. The wall fell, perestroyka,opening of travel and freedoms. But, the KGB held on patiently through years of 'reforms' before grabbing back and consolidating power when they first truly could, led by Putin et al (now THERE is a deep state, folks).

Interesting to watch the evolution of the show considering the context of the times in which we live. Russia had been, let's be honest, overlooked and to a degree forgotten about. We had bigger fish to fry in our minds (Romney on point there). We watched the first few seasons of this show in one world regarding the role and prominence of Russia in our lives (perception and reality to varying degrees) and suddenly an overlooked historical adversary is right back in our collective mindset as the show ends.

 
Elizabeth's body count is going through the roof this season. Wonder if someone has been keeping track throughout the whole series?

 
I just caught up with s6 this weekend.  I really like how this season is going. I thought for sure there was going to be a mention by Burov (sp?) to Phillip about Stan as they were walking through that park.

 
The craziest part of it, though, was my discovery that the actor who plays Pastor Tim also plays Dollar Bill on Billions. I read it a half-hour ago and I still feel lost and disoriented.
Wow. I'm usually really good at catching stuff like this but had no idea either. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum, both in personality and hair. 

 
I'm enjoying the season but am a bit lost on the storyline with the woman and her former hockey player husband. Can anyone recap it for me?

 
Finally finished the first 5 seasons of this show. Officially behind on season 6 now but am looking at catching up on it. Sux that Amazon Prime charges for this season but it is what it is. 

 
This season is awesome. It seemed like they were dragging things out last season, but now I don't know how they're going to wrap everything up in the time remaining. 

 
PlasmaDogPlasma said:
This season is awesome. It seemed like they were dragging things out last season, but now I don't know how they're going to wrap everything up in the time remaining. 
They have exactly 0 seconds available to devote to the travel business stuff.

 
I'm enjoying the season but am a bit lost on the storyline with the woman and her former hockey player husband. Can anyone recap it for me?
I'm hazy on all the details, but the husband was using hockey as a cover to courier stuff back and forth to Russia. Stan and his partner found the woman, who worked for the Soviet TASS news agency, and convinced her to get her boyfriend, the hockey guy, to help the FBI, and it turn she got protection for her and her son. The FBI would have hockey guy go into a bathroom stall and hang his courier bag on a hook, then an FBI agent in the stall next door would X-ray the contents of the bag. However, after some years of this (leading to this season), the woman and her husband started having marital problems, and the woman started confiding in another guy at TASS, including the courier stuff. That spooked the FBI, which decided to yank the woman, the husband and their kid and put them in witness protection. But the Russians got wind of that and tailed Stan to find the safe house the hockey guy was staying. 

 
Will be interesting with Phillip and his Teenager love interests trip to Greece.. He will be trying  to convince her to travel with him as a different persona while at the same time not trying ... :popcorn:  

Also loved his interaction with Paige.. You think your tough?? Come at me!!! 

Kicks her Bleep, "drops the mic" and walks out the door. 

 
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Will be interesting with Phillip and his Teenager love interests trip to Greece.. He will be trying  to convince her to travel with him as a different persona while at the same time not trying ... :popcorn:  
Did you miss the end of the episode? Philip's not going to Greece.

Or, am I misunderstanding your post?

 
Did you miss the end of the episode? Philip's not going to Greece.

Or, am I misunderstanding your post?
Hmmmm. :mellow: .. I kind of took that call to Kimmie that he still was going to be " the guy" and wanted her to ignore anyone that attempted to talk her into going with him. That way he could still look like he tried, while still protecting her... Did I miss him telling Elizabeth that he won't  be going?

 
Will be interesting with Phillip and his Teenager love interests trip to Greece.. He will be trying  to convince her to travel with him as a different persona while at the same time not trying ... :popcorn:  

Also loved his interaction with Paige.. You think your tough?? Come at me!!! 

Kicks her Bleep, "drops the mic" and walks out the door. 
I think he's still going to Rome to satisfy Elizabeth, but I don't think he's going to convince Kimmie to meet him any more.  He said that on the phone.

 
I think he's done trying to satisfy Elizabeth. This episode was a turning point for him. For the rest of the series, he will be fully working the Oleg, pro-Gorbachev side.

 
snogger said:
Hmmmm. :mellow: .. I kind of took that call to Kimmie that he still was going to be " the guy" and wanted her to ignore anyone that attempted to talk her into going with him. That way he could still look like he tried, while still protecting her... Did I miss him telling Elizabeth that he won't  be going?
Maybe I misread the scene, then.

I took him telling her "if a guy asks you to go to a communist country with him, don't go" as meaning that Philip thought the Russians would send some random guy to do the job once it became clear Philip wasn't going. Otherwise, why phrase it that way? He could just go and not say anything and tell Elizabeth he tried. And why call her at all?

Plus, the way he said goodbye to Kimmy sounded final to me.

 
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snogger said:
Hmmmm. :mellow: .. I kind of took that call to Kimmie that he still was going to be " the guy" and wanted her to ignore anyone that attempted to talk her into going with him. That way he could still look like he tried, while still protecting her... Did I miss him telling Elizabeth that he won't  be going?
Maybe I misread the scene, then.

I took him telling her "if a guy asks you to go to a communist country with him, don't go" as meaning that Philip thought the Russians would send some random guy to do the job once it became clear Philip wasn't going. Otherwise, why phrase it that way? He could just go and not say anything and tell Elizabeth he tried. And why call her at all?

Plus, the way he said goodbye to Kimmy sounded final to me.
Again, I might be reading too much into it but here was my take...

He wants to protect Kimmie, so allowing some "random Russian guy" to take his place in Greece would place her in danger.

He is assuming he won't be alone on this mission. So, he will still go to Greece as a different Persona to try and talk her into going with him for the ears of others, while at the same time hoping his warning to her will make her run..

:mellow:

 
Maybe I misread the scene, then.

I took him telling her "if a guy asks you to go to a communist country with him, don't go" as meaning that Philip thought the Russians would send some random guy to do the job once it became clear Philip wasn't going. Otherwise, why phrase it that way? He could just go and not say anything and tell Elizabeth he tried. And why call her at all?

Plus, the way he said goodbye to Kimmy sounded final to me.
I saw it this way as well. However, it wouldn't surprise me if he changes his mind and goes to Greece anyway.

 
Maybe I misread the scene, then.

I took him telling her "if a guy asks you to go to a communist country with him, don't go" as meaning that Philip thought the Russians would send some random guy to do the job once it became clear Philip wasn't going. Otherwise, why phrase it that way? He could just go and not say anything and tell Elizabeth he tried. And why call her at all?

Plus, the way he said goodbye to Kimmy sounded final to me.
That's how I saw it. The plan was to use Philip to lure her to be kidnapped. If Philip doesn't do it, it'll be someone else, so he was warning her. Even more than that, though, is she could tell her father, who's in the CIA, about the older guy she's friends with who just gave her a cryptic warning about her Greece trip. That could cause other dominoes to fall if Philip has purposefully blown his cover.

Elizabeth has averaged one kill per episode this season. Even though she and Philip are the protagonists, we always knew they're horrible people. However, I find it difficult to "root" for Elizabeth now (and, with the series ending, I think that's the point). I basically want her and Claudia taken out.

 
As brutal as that episode was, I did chuckle once during Paige and Philip's fight. He leaned towards her and kind of stuck his chin out, and it reminded me of Ray Leonard doing that to Duran in their 2nd fight.

 
Elizabeth has averaged one kill per episode this season. Even though she and Philip are the protagonists, we always knew they're horrible people. However, I find it difficult to "root" for Elizabeth now (and, with the series ending, I think that's the point). I basically want her and Claudia taken out.
Eliz has the necklace. Someone important is going to bite it that way. Hopefully it’s her when she gets into a situation there is no way out of. 

 
That's how I saw it. The plan was to use Philip to lure her to be kidnapped. If Philip doesn't do it, it'll be someone else, so he was warning her. Even more than that, though, is she could tell her father, who's in the CIA, about the older guy she's friends with who just gave her a cryptic warning about her Greece trip. That could cause other dominoes to fall if Philip has purposefully blown his cover.
The bold is a Great point.. Would explain the "If someone tries to take you to a Communist country" comment... It was Phillip trying to trigger her to tell her Dad... Awkward conversation there.. "Hey, Dad, I slept with this man who is 10 years older then me and the next day he warned me not to go to a communist country with some guy" ... :mellow:

So, let's go off the deep end here..

Kimmie tells Dad, who sets a trap... Phillip tells Elizabeth he isn't going, Elizabeth can't go as she needs to run the US angle, so she sends Paige in Phillips place to befriend Kimmie... :oldunsure:

 
The payoff needs to be that Stan catches Philip and Elizabeth, or both. You can't have an FBI agent living next to Russian spies for the duration of the series and have nothing massive happen from it. Stan is going to go back into counterintelligence to investigate the murders of the hockey player and his wife. Stan's new wife and her suspicious angling to get a job at the FBI is going to come into play (likely as her role as a Russian). Elizabeth is running ragged trying to keep a dozen plates spinning, and she's going to make a mistake and stumble right into Stan. Maybe she and Stan are about to kill each other, and Philip has to decide whom to save: his wife to whom he's ideologically opposed, or his friend, the "enemy" he identifies with more.

 
The payoff needs to be that Stan catches Philip and Elizabeth, or both. You can't have an FBI agent living next to Russian spies for the duration of the series and have nothing massive happen from it. Stan is going to go back into counterintelligence to investigate the murders of the hockey player and his wife. Stan's new wife and her suspicious angling to get a job at the FBI is going to come into play (likely as her role as a Russian). Elizabeth is running ragged trying to keep a dozen plates spinning, and she's going to make a mistake and stumble right into Stan. Maybe she and Stan are about to kill each other, and Philip has to decide whom to save: his wife to whom he's ideologically opposed, or his friend, the "enemy" he identifies with more.
Still thinking Stan's new wife is an even deeper sleeper. So that might come into play.

Or maybe the hints at it have been a giant red herring.

 
Still thinking Stan's new wife is an even deeper sleeper. So that might come into play.

Or maybe the hints at it have been a giant red herring.
I think it has to mean something. There are only five episodes left. At this point, why bother with red herrings? Russian plant would seem obvious, so I wonder if it will be something else. No idea what, though.

 
That's how I saw it. The plan was to use Philip to lure her to be kidnapped. If Philip doesn't do it, it'll be someone else, so he was warning her. Even more than that, though, is she could tell her father, who's in the CIA, about the older guy she's friends with who just gave her a cryptic warning about her Greece trip. That could cause other dominoes to fall if Philip has purposefully blown his cover.

Elizabeth has averaged one kill per episode this season. Even though she and Philip are the protagonists, we always knew they're horrible people. However, I find it difficult to "root" for Elizabeth now (and, with the series ending, I think that's the point). I basically want her and Claudia taken out.
Is that excluding all the dudes she killed in the dark at the sensor factory?

 
Is that excluding all the dudes she killed in the dark at the sensor factory?
I guess that would make the average higher, but, at least on my TV, I had no idea what was going on in that scene because it was almost completely black. I think someone left the lens cap on. So I don't know how many guys she killed.

 
I guess that would make the average higher, but, at least on my TV, I had no idea what was going on in that scene because it was almost completely black. I think someone left the lens cap on. So I don't know how many guys she killed.
Not just your TV.. There was an article I read after that episode where the writers and/or directors were proud of having the darkest scene ever shown on TV.. Hated it myself :shrug:

 
Not just your TV.. There was an article I read after that episode where the writers and/or directors were proud of having the darkest scene ever shown on TV.. Hated it myself :shrug:
They must never have watched The Following.

Lucky them.

 
The bold is a Great point.. Would explain the "If someone tries to take you to a Communist country" comment... It was Phillip trying to trigger her to tell her Dad... Awkward conversation there.. "Hey, Dad, I slept with this man who is 10 years older then me and the next day he warned me not to go to a communist country with some guy" ... :mellow:

So, let's go off the deep end here..

Kimmie tells Dad, who sets a trap... Phillip tells Elizabeth he isn't going, Elizabeth can't go as she needs to run the US angle, so she sends Paige in Phillips place to befriend Kimmie... :oldunsure:
10 years older?  Try 20+.

 
Not just your TV.. There was an article I read after that episode where the writers and/or directors were proud of having the darkest scene ever shown on TV.. Hated it myself :shrug:
I hated it too. But then they followed it w such a great episode this week. To me, Philip is obviously done. Beating down Paige to try to teach her it’s not a game and she has no idea what she’s getting into, followed by finally bedding Kimmie and getting her where he wants her and then not only walking away in disgust but also warning her. So funny that Elizabeth has no problem with Page doing anything but then gets squeamish about her having sex. Oleg is in big trouble- he’s probably my favorite character at this point, though I hate the beard and jaunty cap. 

 

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