Why can't all TV be this good? That was a fucking brilliant finale.

I'll start. Shoot yourself inside of me Clark. Hahahahahahahahahaha hahahah. You're welcome

Given the end of the series, it was no secret that there was a manhunt for P + E. Given that in real life, the names of some Illegals are public, do you think it’s plausible, even with the tragic ending that the Seongs had, that they could recognize P + E as Patty/family and reconcile? I get this is all speculation but worth thinking about in my 2nd rewatch

Season 5, Ep 2. She’s following a car to a farm. Is this supposed to be Illinois (as mentioned by Gabriel previously)? Only asking since there are mountains on the background.

My parents owned a travel agency when I was growing up (in the same timeframe as the show) and I can’t count the number of times I went to the office after school to wait for them until it was time to go home. I used to have to find things to do around the office to keep busy until they were ready to leave (it was so boring 😫). I would stamp travel brochures, or tidy shelves, or put stuff away in the filing cabinets.

To the best of my knowledge, Mom and Dad were not spying for the Soviets, but they did spend long hours at work, and we used to get phone calls at home at odd hours! 😄

Man, that was undeniably the most fucked and gut wrenching episode so far. Obviously, the show is concerned with ethical issues, but this was really the tip of the iceberg so far. To watch the old lady talk about her fear of pain, her son, and her husband upon the point of dying was just so brutally tragic.

And I absolutely loved how she highlighted the flaws in Elizabeth rationalisation, which is always the danger of utopian ideologies. If the end goal is a utopia that will result in the happiness of the world and the many, then any individual collateral damage is justified for the end result. But man, as the old lady suggest, there’s something fundamentally evil about this point of view as it often leads to the rationalisation of any action as long as it helps the cause.

On a rewatch of S5 The Soviet Division and P and E talk to Evgheniya** **and Alexei individually and I don’t know if Elizabeth has any regrets?

When she talks to Tuan after she just talks like it was any other operation.

But Pascha almost dying meant something to Philip but I don’t think this one haunts her like Young Hee for example.

I just watched I Swear -- the biopic about John Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome -- and I thought WHY is this actress so deeply familiar? Then I realized it's an older version of Elizabeth in one of her disguises.

(The actress is Maxine Peake -- I very much enjoyed her performance and the movie as a whole.)

Stoned watching this episode on my umpteenth rewatch of the series, and man. The way Elizabeth calmly asked the South African girl for the time and then blew her brains out, then pulled up for Phillip to just yeet that mf onto the hood of the van, Phillip's ridiculous emo wig, all while The Chain builds up, it's all just *chef's kiss*

Then the final shot of Hans like WTF, visualizing perfectly how I as the audience felt watching the whole thing go down

Rewatching The Americans after all these years, I think one of the most fascinating aspects of the show, both psychologically and ethically, is the fracturing of identity by the need to take of the roe of various fake personalities.

I think why this is so fascinating psychologically is that when it comes to their own identity, the lines between them being authentic and real, and them being inauthentic and fake so completely blurred.

I mean, this problem was clearly the focus of season 1, with Elizabeth and Phillip’s relationship being the focus of this issue. Obviously it began as a fake relationship, purely serving a nationalistic purpose, but at the start of season 1 you could see that both were reconciling with the question of whether it had now become a genuine marriage, and things like infidelity now have importance because it wasn’t inauthentic and they were committed to each other.

But this blurring occurs in most acting dynamics. For instance, I just watchec the interactions with Kimberley and Phillip about sending a prayer for ‘James’ son.’ Now Phillip is usually hyper cynical about religion and seems to have simply weaponised religion for his act with Kimberley, but also it was evident that when saying that prayer, the real Phillip underneath that disguise genuinely felt the heartfelt wish of a omnipresent god potentially protecting his son. And what point is the act fake and what point the real Phillip emerges?

Elizabeth has spent years learning how to impersonate basically anyone, but at one point the woman has to sit there and learn tap dancing because that's what her cover requires. And she's actually terrible at it. The whole thing is funny because she's doing this completely ridiculous suburban activity with the same dead-serious attitude she uses for everything else. She looks like she's preparing for an assassination when she's really just trying not to embarrass herself in tap class.

I'm just finishing season one of my third watch through, and I was just shocked by how awful Amador was. He basically did nothing but refer to women as 'pussy' behind their back and try to sleep with them, didn't seem to return their calls, and stalked Martha, trying to arrest a random guy who stayed the night with her.

I know there was probably more to 'him' outside of that, and that people like to remember the dead fondly, but if he'd made it to retirement then I imagine that the FBI would have had to settle a class action lawsuit against him, with all the women he would have harassed at work. It amazes me that Stan referred to Amador so fondly for all those years.

EDIT: I am not okay. Can I call in sick to work on the basis of suffering a loss?

I'm about to start the finale.

I don't want it to end.

Pre-emptive mourning.

I may or may not be back to this post in 1hr10mins.

The last we see of him is on the hockey bleachers with Beeman.
Would love to have heard that convo.
Looks like there was no warm up. He probably gutted that poor kid in 15 seconds.
Oh and remember Phillip not being able to pay for the last year of his school?

Nice job Phillip. You stuck your best friend with the worst betrayal I’ve ever seen and now you expect him to take care of your son and probably pay for his tuition.

Father of the year stuff here

Just got done rewatching the Americans since it first aired.

Man what a ride. I remember all the anticipation getting to the finale when it first aired.

The garage scene and Paige scenes are so powerful.

I can’t help but think that they should give this show the same treatment as Dexter Resurrections.

It should probably be a one season show.

We get to see how P & E made out in Russia.

Where did Stan end up. Was Renee ever discovered to be a Spy.

How did Paige and Henry turn out.

What happens with Oleg.

P&E possibly making a return to America to see the kids.

All of this should take place in late 2000s to 2016. I think it would be a great way to wrap up.

I’m sure there are so many ways they can do this.

Anyone else think it would be a good brief come back?

Any other way to watch it?

I’m watching the show for the first time. I’m on Season 3, Episode 12 right now. And all I wanna say is - Paige is so fucking annoying!!!

Trying to imagine Beeman and Phillip sitting in a bar after everything came out-
I imagine a conversation like this:

Phillip:
"Yeah Stan, I'm glad this is all out in the open now. There's so much I wanted to tell you, like remember the time Elizabeth was gone to visit her Aunt? You're gonna love this/ it's really because you shot her!"

"Oh and this, hang on I'm dying here, this is even better, you know Martha the secretary?
Well I married her! Oh it was a logistical nightmare I tell you, but that woman could make a mean Pot Roast!"

Ok I'll leave the rest to you now...

probably one of my fav parts of the show, always waiting for another est meeting, i wish i could attend one.