hellmouse

This is an interview from 2017 with Irina Dvorovenko (Evgheniya Morozov in season 5). I had no idea that was a principal ballerina with the American Ballet Theater before retiring in 2013! She talks a little about her own experience growing up in the USSR. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/arts/dance/irina-dvorovenko-the-americans.html

Interesting point. Paige was insistent about being told the truth about many things, but there were some things she really didn't ask about. After Elizabeth killed the mugger, she basically told Paige that she did not know how many people she had killed, which has to mean it's a big number. But Paige never asked anything more. She never asked Philip if he had killed anyone. For all her fascination with their relationship, she never asked how they met or when they got married or anything like that. To me, that would have been something she'd be curious about, even before finding out they were Russian spies. There might have been some part of her thinking that didn't allow her to ask questions she really wasn't sure she wanted the answers to. There may have been some new information about her parents that she did not want to know.

Paige's actions at the end are similar. She's less mature and self aware than Nina, but she too is making a choice that is entirely her own. I've thought that there could be an element of self-punishment or penance in what she is doing, although later I decided that was me applying my own Catholic childhood to her, and so might not be correct. But there is something both freeing and self-destructive in Nina's decision and in Paige's choice too. I think Nina regretted it in the moment her sentence was read out. I think Paige will have regrets too, but both of them made a choice to take a very different path than the one laid out in front of them by the authorities in their lives, one that required them to be something they, for whatever reason, could no longer be.

They have listed some of the outfits Elizabeth wore in season 4, when they were hiding Keri Russell's pregnancy. Based on the sizes, she was still so tiny! A Kid's Large vest in S4E08 (when they were playing hockey after the seven-month time jump) and an XS sweater and 12 petite pair of pants in S4E13. Wow. And they listed Philip's old-man-in-McDonald's-en-route-to-Canada outfit, and Elizabeth's S6 smoking sweater. I wonder if it will smell like cigarettes. They should have included a flowerpot filled with butts too, lol.

Not to mention the fact that Philip and Elizabeth don't know that Stan is confronting them alone. They would at least think that there is a boatload of backup on the way, and "let's not waste time here, we gotta boogie." I agree that the idea of people having a long conversation with someone pointing a gun at them doesn't make sense. But the only thing that makes this situation slightly different is that Philip and Elizabeth are KGB officers who have handled all kinds of situations with angry people before. They've murdered people. They have talked their way out of situations. They're constantly assessing their options as a situation unfolds. They are not going to surrender without every effort to get out. In this case, Philip decides that the weapon best suited to disarm Stan is emotional honesty and manipulation. He is like a gambler placing a bet that Stan will not shoot, that Stan is susceptible to appeals to his emotion, and that there aren't 100 FBI agents outside the building. He gets an unexpected assist on the emotional side from the things Paige says, who is transparently a poor liar and therefore more believable. Elizabeth wisely keeps mostly quiet since she is more likely to provoke Stan's anger. Philip knows that his bet is paying off as Stan gradually lowers the gun. Should it have worked? IDK. But it did.

Two things that struck me after watching the finale again: 1) I liked that Philip was the one who went into the McDonald's and Elizabeth stayed in the car. It was his last moment of ultimate Americana. That McDonalds was the most McDonalds-looking McDonalds I've ever seen. The sign was so bright and big. The building itself brightly lit, while all around it was darkness. It was so American. It's the equivalent of the U2 song in terms of familiarity. It was almost like an ad for McDonald's, with that happy family sitting there, probably eating happy meals. It broke my heart to see old-looking Philip look over at them. But it was also a reminder that his family is not young anymore, and they wouldn't be even if he were staying in America. Kids grow up. Families change. That happy family has its own secrets and future joy and pain ahead. Some part of him recognizes that. And as he said to Paige, he lets himself feel it, rather than denying the feeling. 2) I liked that Elizabeth was the one driving the car when they crossed the border into Russia. She paused before going up to the gate, and they looked at each other, and to me, it seemed like they were acting as they did on their operations. They had a mission to complete - to get the info to Arkady - and they were going to do it. They were together, and they were in agreement about what they were doing. But she was the one driving. That seemed fitting to me. Also the shot of the crack in the pavement as they entered the USSR seemed symbolic of the break with the past and the damage done. The road doesn't end and neither do their lives. But it's not new or smooth or easy.

Some of these auction items make me laugh and others make me sad because I feel like the FBI went through the Jennings' home, and rather than forward their clothes to Russia back in 1987 they just held on to them for 31 years and are now selling them on e-bay. All those nice shoes and bags and silk blouses of Elizabeth's! This one made me laugh: Henry Jennings's black box with photos - the one with the photos of Sandra Beeman! They also have Stan's family photo album and Paige's bible. I wonder if the bible has the pages ripped out.

A few articles with quotes from the recent ATX festival in Austin. Short article at Deadline Hollywood: ‘The Americans’: Cast & Creators Joke Potential Spinoffs, Keri Russell & Matthew Rhys Talk Spy Love – ATX Longer article at Indiewire: ‘The Americans’ Finale: Cast and Creators Dig Deep for New Answers to the Series’ Wild Endings. Some good quotes from the cast about Stan and Renee, how Philip feels about being in Russia, why Paige got off the train. Pictures at Hollywood Reporter: On the Set of 'The Americans' as Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys Bid Farewell to Series. Pics from on-set filming of Harvest, mostly at the house location. A few quotes. I liked this picture.

I haven't seen this video posted. It's a panel discussion called "Reel vs Real with the CIA and FX's The Americans", moderated by Joe Weisberg. There are five panelists: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Costa Ronin and from the CIA, Martha Peterson, former CIA officer and author of the book “The Widow Spy” and Mark Kelton, former Chief of CIA's Counterintelligence Center. I found it fascinating. They discuss tradecraft, running agents, and the emotional toll of being a spy. Peterson and Kelton share real-life stories of their experiences (obviously not all of it!) and the actors answer questions about their characters and preparation, etc. I enjoyed seeing how the actors had questions for the real CIA officers, and the officers were clearly familiar with the show and seemed to be positive about it. They did point out that there is a lot more sex and violence on the show than in real-world spying, and also that real-world spies would never run as many simultaneous operations as they did on the show. But in terms of the emotional toll, they felt it was believable. It starts at the 49 minute mark, so unless you want to watch 49 minutes of a silent empty stage, I'd suggest starting there. Reel vs Real with the CIA and FX's The Americans

In one of their interviews, the show runners discuss the garage scene between Stan and Philip and how they moved part of it in editing. So I re-watched the scene and I am trying to figure out where Stan would have said it, and how much of what comes after that was moved as well. The scene has a few big components. In the first section, Stan questions Paige; tells them it's over and tells them to lie on the ground, then Philip says "we had a job to do". That starts the second section, which I put in the quote box. Then the third section is Philip explaining everything, and the final section is them driving away. I think that the Gennadi and Sofia chunk that was moved might be the whole part in bold, and it might have originally come right after Philip tells him "We had a job to do." So I think it might have originally been in this order, with the bold section moved up. It's the only place that makes sense to me. Obviously I'm just guessing, but if this is the original flow of the scene, I think they were right to move it. It makes sense that he is angry, then hurt, then angry again, which then leads to Philip's "con man aria" as Emily Nussbaum called it. What do other people think? Do you agree with my thought on where it might have been moved from? Do you think it matters?

I could see Paige wanting to be honest with the authorities as a way of punishing herself. I would imagine that she feels a lot of guilt mixed in with anger and sadness. Deciding to just be honest about everything, even if means going to jail, would be appealing to the judgmental part of herself. It would be a way to feel good and horrible at the same time.

It's funny because I agree about Renee and Stan's career talk being really clunky, but I thought it was because Renee's sudden dream of being an FBI agent seemed so bizarre and Stan didn't really know how to respond to her bizarre comment. I assumed the conversation was clunky because it was a strange conversation. it made me think Renee was weird and suspicious and Stan was married to someone who he really didn't know very well. But YMMV of course.

I don't think Stan has any idea that Paige was involved in actually doing spy activities. All he knows is that they told her they were spies when she was 16. But I'm sure Paige will tell him if he asks.

I just realized that Paige will probably be able to identify the headless woman for the FBI. She knows Marilyn died in the Harvest op in Chicago. If she sees that picture... oh my. She'll know that one of her parents chopped off someone's head and hands. Talk about a wake up call.

Article about Noah Emmerich's chances for Emmy nomination: 4 reasons Noah Emmerich (‘The Americans’) can finally sneak into the Emmy race I do hope he's nominated. His performance in the final episode alone warrants a nomination.