Yeah I could agree there. Though Philip was starting to redeem himself and Elizabeth did by killing the assassin. They were both turning around and then the show ended.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
The Americans - S6 - The Final Season of the Keri Russell / Matthew Rhys spy drama - FX Wednesdays
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
Yeah I could agree there. Though Philip was starting to redeem himself and Elizabeth did by killing the assassin. They were both turning around and then the show ended.
OP
OP
- NY Mag: An Oral History of The Americans Series Finale
- Brian Grubb: 'The Americans' Anxiety Report: Won't Somebody Please Think Of The Children?
- Onion A|V Club interview: The Americans showrunners have a few topics they really don't want to discuss
- Brian Grubb: 'The Americans' Anxiety Report: Won't Somebody Please Think Of The Children?
I thought it was a masterful finale. Just wonderfully somber and powerful. I was relieved to see that nobody died because honestly, that feels like such an easy conclusion to write these days. I think having things play out the way they did not only seemed more believable to me, but sort of more tragic as well.
Imagine being Stan and chasing these suspicions while a part of you is praying that you are off base, only to reach that garage and have all of it confirmed. What a moment. He had spent so much time with those kids! His son sort of dated Paige and of course he spent all that time serving as a sort of mentor to Henry. Then think about all those family gatherings and dinners they had shared! Finally seeing the reality of the situation after YEARS of friendship and bonding would have been devastating for anyone. I really appreciate that scene playing out the way it did.
As for Paige, nobody knows anything about her work aside from Stan, and he's not saying anything. The FBI might ask about where she went when they began watching her building, but she had already left. She could have been anywhere, she's a college student. I like to think that after denying any knowledge of her parent's activities, she can talk to Stan and begin the healing process there. If Stan is going to take care of Henry, I don't think its out of the realm of possibility for him to take Paige under his wing in some way as well.
As somebody else already said, I like to think Oleg will be alright. He has powerful allies back home and I'm sure that government will appreciate his efforts to ensure Gorbachev's survival. With all the change that comes in just a couple of years from the end of the show, I think at worst he does a couple of years in prison before receiving a pardon.
As for Philip and Elizabeth, obviously there is a stunning amount of emotional damage they need to recover from. In terms of basic survival, I think the government will have a place for them, even if its just some mundane thing like Oleg's Transportation gig. Perhaps they even go on to train young spies, who knows. The big thing for them is the question of seeing their children again and I like to think that definitely happens again with Paige, but I'm not so sure about Henry. He may never forgive them. Even if he does, years will pass before a meeting becomes a possibility and that is going to exact a toll on Philip and Elizabeth. So at best, they wrestle with tremendous guilt and longing for years and then they may still never get closure with their son.
It was a fitting end that felt true to the spirit of the show. I really liked that series and feel it has gone terribly under-appreciated for the extraordinary gathering of talent across the board that it was. It will be missed!
Imagine being Stan and chasing these suspicions while a part of you is praying that you are off base, only to reach that garage and have all of it confirmed. What a moment. He had spent so much time with those kids! His son sort of dated Paige and of course he spent all that time serving as a sort of mentor to Henry. Then think about all those family gatherings and dinners they had shared! Finally seeing the reality of the situation after YEARS of friendship and bonding would have been devastating for anyone. I really appreciate that scene playing out the way it did.
As for Paige, nobody knows anything about her work aside from Stan, and he's not saying anything. The FBI might ask about where she went when they began watching her building, but she had already left. She could have been anywhere, she's a college student. I like to think that after denying any knowledge of her parent's activities, she can talk to Stan and begin the healing process there. If Stan is going to take care of Henry, I don't think its out of the realm of possibility for him to take Paige under his wing in some way as well.
As somebody else already said, I like to think Oleg will be alright. He has powerful allies back home and I'm sure that government will appreciate his efforts to ensure Gorbachev's survival. With all the change that comes in just a couple of years from the end of the show, I think at worst he does a couple of years in prison before receiving a pardon.
As for Philip and Elizabeth, obviously there is a stunning amount of emotional damage they need to recover from. In terms of basic survival, I think the government will have a place for them, even if its just some mundane thing like Oleg's Transportation gig. Perhaps they even go on to train young spies, who knows. The big thing for them is the question of seeing their children again and I like to think that definitely happens again with Paige, but I'm not so sure about Henry. He may never forgive them. Even if he does, years will pass before a meeting becomes a possibility and that is going to exact a toll on Philip and Elizabeth. So at best, they wrestle with tremendous guilt and longing for years and then they may still never get closure with their son.
It was a fitting end that felt true to the spirit of the show. I really liked that series and feel it has gone terribly under-appreciated for the extraordinary gathering of talent across the board that it was. It will be missed!
The Elizabeth dream was about her finally able to see. And what she saw was her two children. She finally realized that the most important things to her are her children but by then it was too late.
OP
OP
Not yet, thanks!
In a bit I'll link a few more reviews that have popped up this morning, as well.
The scene when Elizabeth realizes they have to leave Henry is one of the most powerful family drama scenes ever on tv. Just seasons of build up paying off for that. She got so deep into the work, she forgot her son had become a footnote in their life. I was in shock the moment Phillip said it.
also, i'm not an FBI agent so I can't speak on the issue but I don't think I would've been able to shoot and arrest the Jennings at that moment either. It was far too overwhelming.
also, i'm not an FBI agent so I can't speak on the issue but I don't think I would've been able to shoot and arrest the Jennings at that moment either. It was far too overwhelming.
Keri Russell's little gasp was just perfect. One of the best pieces of acting in an already fantastically acted final.
OP
OP
OP
OP
That certainly doesn't account for all the innocent lives they robbed/destroyed over the years. At least their kids are still alive and and they still have each other, I'd say that was a great ending for them.
Edit: One or both of them should've been killed off or at least arrested.
"
Weisberg: We liked that scene. It moves us, which is the main thing. Having them leave in that final journey they take, you don't want them to be dancing out of the country. It isn't about a shoot-out. It's about whatever the emotional shoot-out is for them. So we were really trying to explore what was going to be in her heart, and what's going to be on her unconscious as she makes this final journey. And, you know, dream sequences are so broad. We've only done a couple in the whole six seasons of the show, in part because it's so easy to fuck them up, and to have them feel false or contrived. It's just very, very tricky.
We had this whole thing going with the artwork, which felt very true to things that have been going on this season. And then we started to think about, she's leaving her country, and leaving her kids with her husband — what would her unconscious conjure up for her in that final restless sleep on the airplane? And we hit on this idea [of her] first true love, at a time when she was in love with her husband. And it just rang true to us. It was both sad and not sad. And, in a funny way, affirming of her love for Phillip. Because she's both letting go of it, but her unconscious is hanging on to it. And because she's leaving her kids, it's referring back to when she was pregnant with Paige. She didn't know if she wanted the kid or not, but other than that, it seemed to hit all those notes.
Fields: Once the Gregory dream came, it came pretty fully formed. We built an entire season where Elizabeth was being triggered by an artist, and I don't think I'd ever consciously thought about the fact that her first love was an art collector. We've got art in a way that she didn't understand way back then. But it's good that clearly something is working there on her subconscious."
Has anyone mentioned this? If you're right this is pretty cool.
Loved the finale, but man do I feel bad for Stan. The man just had his whole world shattered and he will never be the same, he will forever question if the relationships he has Renee or any other woman is just an act to get access to information.
The garage scene was just incredible, it felt like it could have gone in so many directions.
This was the happiest ending these characters could have gotten going into the episode, Paige and Henry got a chance to live their lives without the lies of their parents, Oleg paid the price for his homeland, Stan finally got to know the truth and Phillip and Elizabeth fled the US all while getting McDonalds.
The garage scene was just incredible, it felt like it could have gone in so many directions.
This was the happiest ending these characters could have gotten going into the episode, Paige and Henry got a chance to live their lives without the lies of their parents, Oleg paid the price for his homeland, Stan finally got to know the truth and Phillip and Elizabeth fled the US all while getting McDonalds.
"We don't kill people". I just don't get how nobody, not even Stan, calls bullshit on that. Pastor "I know what spies do" Tim, Paige, fucking Stan just being cluesless or not challenging them is just baffling.
The finale rubs me the wrong way, it just comes across as a conclusion to different type of characters, to characters we actually want to root for or worth rooting for. The finale doesn't paint Philip and especially Eliz as what they are : Monsters. They get to start fresh with a "bittersweet" but hopeful ending. They are some of the most despicable people I've ever seen on tv. WW and Vic Mackey are chumps compared to them but still mostly got what they deserved.
The finale rubs me the wrong way, it just comes across as a conclusion to different type of characters, to characters we actually want to root for or worth rooting for. The finale doesn't paint Philip and especially Eliz as what they are : Monsters. They get to start fresh with a "bittersweet" but hopeful ending. They are some of the most despicable people I've ever seen on tv. WW and Vic Mackey are chumps compared to them but still mostly got what they deserved.
Of course he knows they're lying. So does Paige, but she's the last one to say a damn thing when she would very much like to not die.
Bittersweet is an understatement
There's nothing bittersweet about it. It's rock bottom for them. Just above being dead.
OP
OP
Yeah, just saw that. It's a cool juxtaposition, and as MZS points out, it'd be interesting to see if it's intentional.
Agreed--what a way to start the episode, too. And then on the phone with him later, where she can only weakly ask if he's hanging out with his friends. And she tells him she loves him, but he doesn't answer. That conversation was so awful.
I love that this finale was everything that I hoped for yet nothing I expected. The scene with Stan and the Jennings was just incredible.
I also loved Paige's decision in the end - she finally stood up for herself and made a decision to control her own life. There's nothing for her in Russia, and she's willing to face the risks of staying back in the US even if she might get in trouble with the FBI.
Also: I get why no one hurt or killed each other in the garage. Sure, Philip and Elizabeth were ruthless killers throughout the series, but they were always doing so because they thought they were fighting for what's best for their country.
By the last episode, that excuse was no longer there. Before that, they would kill for their country and/or for self-preservation, but at that final moment in the garage, their only excuse for killing would be for self-preservation, and it would utterly destroy Paige and Henry along the way. In addition to Stan, who's genuinely their friend.
I also loved Paige's decision in the end - she finally stood up for herself and made a decision to control her own life. There's nothing for her in Russia, and she's willing to face the risks of staying back in the US even if she might get in trouble with the FBI.
Also: I get why no one hurt or killed each other in the garage. Sure, Philip and Elizabeth were ruthless killers throughout the series, but they were always doing so because they thought they were fighting for what's best for their country.
By the last episode, that excuse was no longer there. Before that, they would kill for their country and/or for self-preservation, but at that final moment in the garage, their only excuse for killing would be for self-preservation, and it would utterly destroy Paige and Henry along the way. In addition to Stan, who's genuinely their friend.
Watched the finale again. That garage scene should straight up go down as one of the all time great television moments.
But I also laughed because this exchange...
"My stomach hurts."
"You're leaving college, with both your parents, because your stomach hurts."
"I'm sick."
...was like right out of "Steamed Hams" lol.
But I also laughed because this exchange...
"My stomach hurts."
"You're leaving college, with both your parents, because your stomach hurts."
"I'm sick."
...was like right out of "Steamed Hams" lol.
bittersweet might be the wrong word but in no way is it rock-bottom. Getting back to Russia was always gonna happen, Liz wanted it the most. Thinking about what could have been if they didn't become spies(working in a factory), implying that she/they have no regrets about the shit they've done.
Then the pretty view to Moscow, the melancholic but slightly hopeful music, their "uplifting" talk about how their kids aren't kids anymore, how they're gonna be ok, how they'll remember them. It's melancholic but nothing more. Contrast this with the misery of the Shield's ending, it's day and night.
That scene and the train pulling away with Paige standing outside had me just mouth wide open
Stan & Philip were masterful in that confrontation
Well said, I agree.
Brilliant show, I loved the attention to detail, the realism both in plot and character. Such a brutal tale the writers told over several years.
I keep thinking of all the people they murdered, year after year, so much misery and destruction, and all for nothing. They gave birth to two kids, raised them then abandoned them. Just brutal all around, and yeah like Tetra says above, the writers let the Jennings off easy when all is said and done.
Looking forward to whatever the showrunners work on next.
OP
OP
Philip and Elizabeth should 100% without question face legal retribution for their crimes, but them getting to go back to Russia doesn't feel like the writers letting them off the hook to me--not completely, anyway. History likely won't be kind to Philip/Mikhail and Elizabeth/Nadezhda down the road (I mean they were on the losing side from the get go). They left one kid behind and the other just couldn't go through with the plan. A family is broken. A friendship is destroyed. They're exhausted and broken on various levels, and this is speculation on my end, but they'll probably spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulder.
They're alive. They're not captured. But they lost.
They're alive. They're not captured. But they lost.
Just finished watching the finale. So much tension, I could barely take it. I still feel the pressure on my shoulders. Nobody died and yet the end was so sad. Elizabeth's realisation that they have to leave Henry behind, the garage scene with two broken friends, the McDonalds' short scene with the happy family inside the broken family outside, the train passing by Paige, Stan breaking the news to Henry, Paige drinking vodka alone in an empty flat ... so much to take in. Unbelievable acting and filming. So damn good.
I was still convinced that they will get shot somewhere up until they met Arkhady. I thought Philip will get shot getting out of McDonalds or watch his wife and daughter getting shot. Or that they will be shot at the border by the Russian soldiers (as traitors under orders from the rogue KGB faction). In the end I'm happy they weren't, but even so it's pretty damn sad.
And Stan will find it difficult to trust anybody anymore.
Amazing finale for an amazing show. I'm sad it ended.
I was still convinced that they will get shot somewhere up until they met Arkhady. I thought Philip will get shot getting out of McDonalds or watch his wife and daughter getting shot. Or that they will be shot at the border by the Russian soldiers (as traitors under orders from the rogue KGB faction). In the end I'm happy they weren't, but even so it's pretty damn sad.
And Stan will find it difficult to trust anybody anymore.
Amazing finale for an amazing show. I'm sad it ended.
Last edited:
Stan is the real loser in the finale. The last bomb Philip dropped about Renee just left him gutted. Kinda like me now that the show is over.
I would say Philip is too. He never wanted to go back to USSR, he lost his son and his friend. No line dancing anymore. He only has Elizabeth now and I'm not convinced he totally forgave her for what happened this season.
Excellent point. But at least he doesn't have to worry about if his wife is a Russian spy.
That was so damn good. Really happy they didn't go with a bombastic ending or have anyone die or anything. Also happy that they left Renee's identity ambiguous.
Anyone post this yet?
Oh shit! :O Nice catch
Paige has deniability. She didn't get on the phone, she could say her parents took her out to dinner and left, Stan would never tell on her as it would implicate him, and she is back in the city like nothing happened. The only problem is the preacher, but he was vetted by Stan. Am I missing something?
OP
OP
Not that I make a habit of reading youtube comments, but it's cool to see so many in the last 24 hrs referring to The Americans here:
I hope they upload a few of the critical scenes soon. Would be nice to have the garage scene, the Henry phone call, the U2 montage, etc... on youtube at some point.
I hope they upload a few of the critical scenes soon. Would be nice to have the garage scene, the Henry phone call, the U2 montage, etc... on youtube at some point.
Paige can just say to FBI interrogators her parents revealed to her they were spies a night ago, and that they had to leave, and being a young confused teen she went along with them for the ride, then promptly got off the train the first chance she could get. Just make herself out to be a victim.
Of course, as mentioned above, she's proven how lousy she is at the spy game lol...
Of course, as mentioned above, she's proven how lousy she is at the spy game lol...
She doesn't even need to go that far. See my previous post.
OP
OP
- THR: Critics' Conversation: Tim Goodman and Daniel Fienberg on "Powerful" 'Americans' Series Finale
- THR: 'The Americans' Cast and Crew Talk Espionage Tricks With CIA Spies
- GQ: Now That It's Over: The Americans
- NY Mag: The Blistering Vulnerability of The Americans Finale's Garage Scene
- Slate: The Americans Perfected the Art of the Anticlimax
- NY Mag: The Tragedy of Henry Jennings in The Americans Series Finale
- Rolling Stone: 'The Americans' Exit Interview: Cast, Creators on Series Finale
- THR: 'The Americans' Cast and Crew Talk Espionage Tricks With CIA Spies
- GQ: Now That It's Over: The Americans
- NY Mag: The Blistering Vulnerability of The Americans Finale's Garage Scene
- Slate: The Americans Perfected the Art of the Anticlimax
- NY Mag: The Tragedy of Henry Jennings in The Americans Series Finale
- Rolling Stone: 'The Americans' Exit Interview: Cast, Creators on Series Finale
The finale was great, so tense and suspenseful without falling into the cliched trap of "kill everyone" or other pitfalls that many other tv shows like this end up doing.
You don't need a body count to have consequences or have your character face actual ramifications for what they've done. I liked that they focused it on the more emotional side rather then just killing off a character or two.
The fact that not only did they have to leave behind Henry, but Paige ending up making the choice to stay behind was utterly heartbreaking for them. They returned home but not as the family that they wanted to, in a place that now feels distant to them and unknowning.
It left it open enough to that you could think of where it might go from there, with Paige staying behind, and the cold war coming to an end so soon.
Then there was Oleg, who I felt the worse for, he was pulled back into it all and he paid the heaviest price. Maybe he'll get to return home sometime, but he is going to miss seeing his kid grow up and his wife looked utterly destroyed as well.
As far as Stan goes, man that was a rollercoaster for him. All of the people closest to him, not just the Jennings but Renee as well. I'm glad that he made the choice he did and I think both he and Henry will help each other through it all. Also I felt like with Renee, he just gave up. He didn't care if she was what Philip said she might be, he just said to hell with it all and would rather be with her then without her (which fits in great with the song choice in the episode, U2's With or Without You).
You don't need a body count to have consequences or have your character face actual ramifications for what they've done. I liked that they focused it on the more emotional side rather then just killing off a character or two.
The fact that not only did they have to leave behind Henry, but Paige ending up making the choice to stay behind was utterly heartbreaking for them. They returned home but not as the family that they wanted to, in a place that now feels distant to them and unknowning.
It left it open enough to that you could think of where it might go from there, with Paige staying behind, and the cold war coming to an end so soon.
Then there was Oleg, who I felt the worse for, he was pulled back into it all and he paid the heaviest price. Maybe he'll get to return home sometime, but he is going to miss seeing his kid grow up and his wife looked utterly destroyed as well.
As far as Stan goes, man that was a rollercoaster for him. All of the people closest to him, not just the Jennings but Renee as well. I'm glad that he made the choice he did and I think both he and Henry will help each other through it all. Also I felt like with Renee, he just gave up. He didn't care if she was what Philip said she might be, he just said to hell with it all and would rather be with her then without her (which fits in great with the song choice in the episode, U2's With or Without You).
OP
OP
Even with the Cold War ending it's not like Russia and the US stopped spying on each other. Part of me wondered if Paige would just take up the mantle of her parents and learn on the job.
I think a lot of that kind of stuff is intentional in this show. There's just too much of it for to all be coincidence.Yeah, just saw that. It's a cool juxtaposition, and as MZS points out, it'd be interesting to see if it's intentional.
I don't think so, I mean she has no contacts or anything left, her only link to that side aside from her parents was Claudia. She even went to Claudia's apartment but it was cleared out and she was gone, so she has no one to connect with in terms of her returning to that job.
I think she'll just end up making her own life, maybe try returning to Stan and Henry, explain all she knew and what she did and just move forward leading as normal a life as she can.
I could definitely see her years down the road (after the cold war is over) deciding to go over there to try and find her parents and let them know how things turned out with her and Henry/Stan.