jamesf said:

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A good review of the finale here, from Alan Sepinwall:

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It's not what I expected, or maybe even wanted, but it also felt right, and the slow and painful deployment of each new development left me riveted. Even the long driving montage at the end felt pregnant with suspense, because there was always the possibility of something bad happening at the border crossing, or when they made it to Arkady, given the continued existence of Claudia's anti-Gorbachev faction.

At the beginning and at the end, The Americans was the story of a marriage and a family. The marriage survives the story; the family does not. Maybe years in the future, I'll look back and feel as if I needed more out of the conclusion, even as each individual moment was spellbinding. Or maybe it'll be as Elizabeth says to Philip, speaking to him in her mother tongue for possibly the first time since Father Andrei married them years earlier:

"We'll get used to it."

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Pretty good recap, thematically, but he goes back to the idea of future Elizabeth regretting her decision (to stop the attempted sabotage of the talks) a few times, and it kinda ticks me off. It's the typical Hollywood whitewashing of the reality of the Soviet Union. Perestroika was a godsend for the Russian people, and even under the pseudo-dictatorial oligarchy of Putin, they are happier than they were in the USSR. Also, he's wrong that Philip "convinces Stan to betray his country," he convinces them to not do his job, but it's actually in America's best interest (the reference to the chance for peace) and out of deference to the friendship and in the knowledge that they'll be leaving and never coming back (i.e. can do no harm to America).

Count me in with those that thought they would have passed a McDonalds (or one under construction) while driving in Russia.

I also loved the last scene with Renee. I'm glad they didn't have her do a full-on smirk.

I'm guessing that since Stan (and maybe Henry and Renee) are the only ones that really know about Paige, she keeps her identity and moves away to work for a NPO or something.

Man, nearly 12 hours later I still don't know how I feel about that finale...

Part of me wanted fireworks, a shootout, or someone getting killed. However, part of me also knew that these show runners were not going to go the banal, cliche route. As others have alluded to, this show has always been a slow burn, and the finale stayed true to that. Also, what a great use of "With or Without You", that entire montage was very well done. I genuinely thought Elizabeth was going to get made by the border agents, but then the chorus swelled again and we see Paige standing outside of the train. My jaw dropped at that sight.

I was also waiting for Arkady to whack P&J in the woods a-la Silvio and Adriana but I'm glad that didn't happen either.

The scene between the Jennings and Stan in the garage was some of the best dialogue I've heard in a show. The pacing, writing and delivery were all great. That really was a gut punch seeing ~10 years of friendship dissolve so quickly and the emotion of feeling betrayed was done so well by Noah. He started off as racquetball competition, then turned to a confidant and drinking buddy, and then turned into a surrogate father for P&J's two kids.

"You were my best friend"
"You were mine, too"

I wasn't upset Stan let them go. I thought it was a very fitting end to their relationship as neighbors. Stan knew killing them wouldn't change anything, and he knew they weren't going to come in willingly. He bought the Soviet Spy story and I interpret, empathized with how sh***y their lives were the last 20 years (remember Stan saw his life nearly crumble as an undercover agent), and wanted them to have a future and a fresh start.

I love the mystery surrounding Renee. I think as the camera held onto her face while she watched the Jennings' home get ripped to shreds we were all convinced she wasn't who she let off to be. I was honestly half expecting her to walk into Claudia's apartment as Paige started slamming vodka, but I'm glad she didn't.


This show is probably in my top 5 drama's all-time...for comparison sake it's usually in this order:

1. The Sopranos (#2 Finale)
2. BB (#1 Finale)
3. The Wire (#5 Finale)
4. Justified (#3 Finale)
5. The Americans (#4 Finale)

(If GOT continues on it's raucous tear as it finishes it'll surely be in the top 5)

I think the garage scene went down the best way possible (writing-wise). Often, movies have the "good guy" mosey in close to the guy with the gun and use ridiculous martial arts to subdue him. That is 100% lame very time. I'm extremely glad this show was smart enough to not do that. A guy like Stan is not going to let any of them get close enough. It also would have been lame if P or E shot Stan with some sort of hidden gun that they never used the rest of series. They knew Stan had them and there was nothing physically that they could do about it.

And the dialog is 100% believable. Stan is pissed as hell and tells them twice to get on the floor. If Phillip had complied it would have been over. But without saying so, Phillip removed that easy choice by making Stan choose between shooting them in cold blood as they walk to their car or let them go. Stan loves Henry. He's not going to be the guy who shoots his family for that. P and E were NOT going to lay down, and Stan was not going to shoot them without provocation.

I thought that there would be no way that the writers could get Stan alone with them after they were outed, but the way the writers set that up was perfect. Stan couldn't pull both himself and his partner off of surveillance of a designated target to investigate a hunch that his boss already discounted. And to have the entire team spread out to watch various known houses/garages was a perfect way to make sure they didn't work in teams of 6 or so.



I was thinking about this show all night. I haven't done that since Breaking Bad.




My order is:
1) BB
2) The Wire (would be 1st without the final season)
3) The Americans (finally a spy show that is not like James Bond)
4) Sopranos (the finale was lazy and pisses me off)
5) Firefly

Once GOT is finished, I suspect it will come in #3 or #4 (it is getting a little cliche towards the end). I haven't seen Justified, Fargo, or a few others that people seem to rave about. Maybe someday.

I thought it was fantastic. I thought the best part was how extremely real the characters were and how it ended. It wasn't something that turned into a death-filled shoot'em up. All of these people made gut-wrenching decisions that, if an actual person was in their place vs. it being a tv character, I would expect many people to make.

Henry is all American. Completely unaware of his parents and sister. He stays and is raised by Stan.

Paige is caught in the middle. If you look closely in the corner of the shot where she sits on the bench at the border it is painted "The Gap". Meaning she is literally caught between two realities. At the end, she is an American girl drinking Russian vodka.

The Jennings, despite their hesitation, are really Russians. They have no where to go except Russia and they will "get used to it."

I found the final status of Stan to be ridiculous to the point of laughter. If you have worked with any spooks in real life, they are very distrustful of everybody. Stan was a leader in counter intelligence, yet slept with a Russian, threatened the agency with releasing information to protect his Russian friend that had returned to USSR, had a Russian defector and his wife killed on his watch and, oh yeah, was best friends and neighbors for years with the deep cover Russian operatives that just escaped. Now that they have safely returned to the Motherland after numerous murders on American soil, lets's let Stan be the guardian of the son they left behind. Oh, about his hot wife that we just hired, should we maybe rethink that decision?.....I enjoyed the show, but found the finale disappointing.

Agristotle said:

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I found the final status of Stan to be ridiculous to the point of laughter. If you have worked with any spooks in real life, they are very distrustful of everybody. Stan was a leader in counter intelligence, yet slept with a Russian, threatened the agency with releasing information to protect his Russian friend that had returned to USSR, had a Russian defector and his wife killed on his watch and, oh yeah, was best friends and neighbors for years with the deep cover Russian operatives that just escaped. Now that they have safely returned to the Motherland after numerous murders on American soil, lets's let Stan be the guardian of the son they left behind. Oh, about his hot wife that we just hired, should we maybe rethink that decision?.....I enjoyed the show, but found the finale disappointing.

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How many spooks have you worked with in real life?

Sasappis said:

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She doesn't have a job there yet and the logical inference is that she will not.

Stan s career is also certainly over as well.

Henry is also 17 so there is no issue with his guardianship. Stan will just be there to take care of him. Again, two people who have had their lives destroyed by Philip and Elizabeth.

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Stan's career is not over unless Aderholt throws him under the bus. He brang up his suspicions to Aderholt and was ignored. I suspect he will leave the counter intelligence division on his own for good. Both for his sanity and to make sure Renee is really not an illegal.

Ol Jock 99 said:

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My only real issue is I just can't see Stan letting them go. Not after what they've done. Not after brutually killing his Russian agents in front of their kid.

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I think this was where one of Philips lies in the garage fooled him a tiny bit. There was the doubt in Stans mind... did they do all those killings...

And Stan could tell that Phillip's explanation of their friendship was accurate. Stan moved across the street to them, and they became real friends. Stan wasn't targeted by Phillip.

Also, Stan probably thought that only Phillip was capable of killing those people. Hell one victim was a professional hockey player and he was killed hand to hand with a knife. The fact that Paige was the one to say that Phillip had retired long ago probably sold Stan on the fact that neither of them had killed anybody.

So at that point Stan had the choice of letting them go or killing his friend(s) in front of their daughter merely because that friend refused to lay down.

Kind of a silly question.

Agristotle said:

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Kind of a silly question.

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Not really. Perhaps you worked in the intel business.



Either way, my point will be this: This is the most accurate representation of human intelligence of any fictional show I have seen. The primary embellishment being that they portray stuff that usually happened to different people over a long period of time as happening to one couple in a span of 10 or so years. I would be surprised if they didn't have any real former intel people as advisors to the show.

Regarding Stan letting them go.. he used his judgment to determine that they personally didn't kill anybody. And since their story matched exactly what Oleg had already told him, he thought they were against those who were responsible for the murders. It wasn't a "oh.. they murdered people.. but I like them as friends" thing at all. If he thought they had killed anybody, he would have not let them leave.

You're absolutely right about a lot of the tradecraft being accurate. I just found the contradictions in Stan's case to be too much. I hope for his sake there wasn't a security camera at the exit of the parking garage.

Agristotle said:

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You're absolutely right about a lot of the tradecraft being accurate. I just found the contradictions in Stan's case to be too much. I hope for his sake there wasn't a security camera at the exit of the parking garage.

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Lot's of intel people have been compromised by having affairs with foreign agents, Americans included. Clearly Stan screwed up there. I do not remember if the FBI discovered that screw up or not. And he did get booted out of counter intelligence when he protected Oleg. Aderholt went and brought him back. And it's not like the Jennings are asking Stan to protect Henry from death squads or anything. Who else would they want to take care of Henry? And again, Stan did not know they had killed anybody. He wouldn't have let them go anywhere if he did.

Interesting juxtaposition and foreshadowing (in retrospect i guess - lol)....


Top pic is Ep 3. E in the house of the cancer lady.

Bottom is Ep. 10 E as seen through the window of the train watching Paige leave them

Did anyone have Dire straits and U2 guessed for the montage songs? 2 of the biggest albums of the late 80s. I thought they were good choices but I wished they hadn't edited the ending of With or without You so much - that threw off the impact of the scene for me a little

FancyKetchup14 said:

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This show is probably in my top 5 drama's all-time...for comparison sake it's usually in this order:

1. The Sopranos (#2 Finale)
2. BB (#1 Finale)
3. The Wire (#5 Finale)
4. Justified (#3 Finale)
5. The Americans (#4 Finale)

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I like Justified, but it was not better than The Americans

So had the coup against Gorbachev failed already by the time they were exfiltrated? I was kind of surprise that they would be welcomed with open arms after everything thats happened this season.

I felt extremely underwhelmed after immediately watching it, but after sleeping on it I think it was pretty great.

Staring at a McDonalds in Russia with a shocked and defeated look on their faces would have been a great addition.

I think they made the McDonald's point well. Phillip could have been in any random diner. A Russian McDonald's at the very end would have had people accusing the show of copying the Mad Men finale

Here is an interview with the producers on last nights episode:
http://tvline.com/2018/05/30/the-americans-recap-series-finale-season-6-philip-elizabeth-russia-fx/

A few excerpts:

TVLINE | You left the question of whether or not Renee is a spy unanswered. Was that to leave Stan wondering about who he's sharing his bed with?

WEISBERG | Well, that's certainly something that's going to hang over his marriage a bit, one would think. To us, in a way, we thought that [revelation from Philip] was a powerful thing to give [Stan], in terms of his own struggle, but also in terms of who Philip had become, and where their relationship was at. Philip wasn't going to walk out of that garage without telling his friend what he thought might be possible there, even if he wasn't sure.


TVLINE | So why did Stan decide to step aside and let the Jennings family go, when he had them cornered?

FIELDS | You know, that falls into the category of questions we want to let the audience come up with their own answers to, rather than impose our own on it. We can certainly give you an answer. We have answers. But we want to sort of let the story speak for itself on that one. People will come up with different answers, and their own interpretations of where Stan's at, and what happened during that scene to bring him to that point.

TVLINE | What kind of consequences is Paige facing now, after having stepped off that train?

WEISBERG | Well, first of all, the consequences she's going to face for everything that's happened, on an emotional and personal level, are obviously extreme. But the question of whether or not she's going to face legal consequences, I think, is a little bit muddy. I don't think we know the answer to that. It's possible that the FBI may not have evidence about anything she's done that's clearly a crime. So she may not be in any kind of extreme legal jeopardy, as long as she doesn't walk herself into a corner. We don't think that it's clear she's headed to jail.

TVLINE | Oleg might be the one to face the most consequences from all of this. It was really kind of heroic of him, though, right? He was willing to spend the rest of his life in prison because this was that important to him.

FIELDS | Yeah, that's a high price he paid. That's something you try not to think about when you take those risks. But ultimately, there he is. He's left a lot behind, and he and his family are suffering a lot. For me and Joe, that's our sweet spot: making everybody suffer. [Laughs]

InternetFan02 said:

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I think they made the McDonald's point well. Phillip could have been in any random diner. A Russian McDonald's at the very end would have had people accusing the show of copying the Mad Men finale

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I don't see that correlation at all.

So technically, Philip and Elizabeth could have had a role in "Russian collusion" , even if they're 80 now

This finale was great. I get those of you that wanted a 'shootout' of some sort being disappointed. In my opinion there was no need. The entire train scene may be one of the best television sequences I've ever seen. Elizabeth's face pressed to the glass from the inside looking out was perfect. I could go into detail on multiple areas but I'll just leave it at the fact I loved it.

I originally wanted lots of main characters to die. But I think what they ended up doing was better than all the scenarios I was thinking in my head. Maybe that's why I'm an engineer and not a writer. Not a single character died in the finale. I bet that if everybody on this board had to put down money, that nobody would have guessed that. Having Elizabeth die in Phillips arms or have Phillip kill Stan would have been low hanging fruit emotion-wise. But watching Paige stand there on the platform had more impact than either of those. I was shocked more by that than anybody dying, and those of us with kids know how devastating that would be.

Props to the actress that played Paige. She went from being nothing but background noise in season 1 to being a huge character by the end. I hope to see her in more stuff.

aTmAg said:

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I originally wanted lots of main characters to die. But I think what they ended up doing was better than all the scenarios I was thinking in my head. Maybe that's why I'm an engineer and not a writer. Not a single character died in the finale. I bet that if everybody on this board had to put down money, that nobody would have guessed that. Having Elizabeth die in Phillips arms or have Phillip kill Stan would have been low hanging fruit emotion-wise. But watching Paige stand there on the platform had more impact than either of those. I was shocked more by that than anybody dying, and those of us with kids know how devastating that would be.

Props to the actress that played Paige. She went from being nothing but background noise in season 1 to being a huge character by the end. I hope to see her in more stuff.

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Yeah for me it wasn't even wanting someone to die as much as it was simply expecting someone to die. And therefore I had my theories on it. But I'm not disappointed at all just surprised more than anything. I suppose that should be a kuddos to the writers for having the guts to do that.

I mean what great crime drama ever has ended with no deaths?

To me, the finale was too relatable. I got a kid going off to college and another one who might marry off soon. I'm bummed out enough as it is. I can't imagine knowing that I'll never see my kids again. I can't relate to going out in a blaze of glory, but I sure as hell can relate to the Henry and Paige situation. Maybe that's the genius of that finale.

I honestly didn't think any of the main characters would die. Just wasn't what the show was ever about, outside of Nina and her shocking death.
The show was always about Phillip and Elizabeth's journey together so their ultimate fate was intertwined, and they weren't going to orphan two kids and then roll the final credits. Phillip wouldn't have killed Stan (though I guess Elizabeth could have), and they weren't going to kill the kids, They did try and do the next best thing though with where they ended up vs the kids. You also knew though that glasnost was just starting, reuniting was not that far off in all likelihood.
They did as much as they could do while staying true to the whole 6 years.

The one thing we did miss though in the finale....Martha!

Just watched. Brilliant end to the show.

That is right. Philip can have himself a side piece.

Did nobody else pick up on the way Stans GF was sleeping with her hand under the pillow? And it was almost like Stan saw it too. You could see a twinge of doubt as to if she was about to go Basic Instinct on him.

oragator said:

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I honestly didn't think any of the main characters would die. Just wasn't what the show was ever about, outside of Nina and her shocking death.
The show was always about Phillip and Elizabeth's journey together so their ultimate fate was intertwined, and they weren't going to orphan two kids and then roll the final credits. Phillip wouldn't have killed Stan (though I guess Elizabeth could have), and they weren't going to kill the kids, They did try and do the next best thing though with where they ended up vs the kids. You also knew though that glasnost was just starting, reuniting was not that far off in all likelihood.
They did as much as they could do while staying true to the whole 6 years.

The one thing we did miss though in the finale....Martha!

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I never liked the character of Martha, but I think there should have been a gratuitous say good-bye to Martha scene. After all, that is basically what the scene with Olegs dad was and I could care less about him. I cant remember... when Philip said goodbye to Martha, did he take his disguise off? Has she seen him without the wig, etc? Wonder if she sees him in the grocery store someday would she even recognize him.

The more I think about this, the more I think they got it right with no deaths. Stan had to live so he could realize he was duped for years and experience that pain (and be there for Henry). Phil and Elizabeth had to experience the pain of leaving a comfortable life they have become accustomed to, leaving their kids, and finally making it back to Russia to see what they have been fighting for all these years.

This really was a good series and a great finale.

I think it only gets worse for Stan. In followup interviews they are going to show P and E's photo to witnesses in Chicago, and Stan is going to know that his friends were straight up murderers. Stan will retire.

This article had an interesting thought that perhaps, "The Americans" referred to only Paige and Henry all along.