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.

The writers didn't INTEND anything, as you can see if you read that article. They didn't want to face the nearly inevitable ends for anyone so they left it up to the viewers. You can have relationships in prison. Or in a group home. Or in the country that's destroyed in large part because of your actions. I think the writers intended the very thing that frustrates you and many others - they left "what happens" open-ended. The thing they were careful to show was the status of relationships: who is together, who is alone, etc. I would love to know what they think will happen to each character, but for me, it also is very true to my experience watching the show to not know what happens next. For me, it's consistent with the tone of this particular show. I forget which article I read, but I will look for it - it was about the different types of series finales and the frustration/satisfaction that each provokes in the viewer (and of course, all viewers are different). I think the examples it cited were shows like Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos. I will post it if I can find it!

The only thing I remember about his mother was the story he told Paige - that he had a job making rakes, and the boss didn't pay him. So his mother went to the boss and got all of his pay. But who knows when that was. Knowing how grim his life was, he could have been making rakes at the same agr he was when scraping the porridge pots. Maybe after his father died his mother sent him to live with relatives in a city so he could have a better education because he was so smart, and so he lost contact with his mother and brother. Or maybe after he killed that boy with the rock his mother sent him away so he would not go to prison for murder. Maybe that was part of why the idea of Henry going away to school made him sad. WHO KNOWS. Grr. .

I don't think these have been posted yet. Collider: A long interview with some quotes I hadn't seen before: The Americans’ Stars and Showrunners Break Down That Epic Series Finale Variety: A review by Caroline Framke, who used to be part of the Vox review team: The Americans’ Finale Was Surprising and Brilliant for What It Didn’t Do Vulture: A close read of the garage scene in the finale: The Blistering Vulnerability of The Americans Finale’s Garage Scene

I had the same reaction going back and rewatching Season 1. I am not an expert on the intelligence agencies at all, but I find it SO hard to believe that the head of FBI counter-intelligence decides that they're going to murder the KGB Rezident, in Washington DC, and plans it with a bunch of FBI and CIA agents at a freaking barbecue. The responses in later seasons were much more plausible and had more emotional weight. Everything you say about Amador was my reaction too upon rewatch. He didn't bother me as much the first time I watched the show. But seeing how the show developed, he really just doesn't fit. His character is flat and one-dimensional. The fact that Stan murders someone in retaliation for his death makes Stan seem dangerously unhinged. The fact that Amador had a photo of Stan in his house made him seem kind of unhinged too. They had to insert flashbacks to even establish the fact that he wore a ring that everyone remembered he always wore.

There's even a scene where Philip talks about Gregory with respect - about how if anyone could tell whether an FBI team was surveillance or support, it would be Gregory. So it implies that they've worked together before, and he thinks Gregory is good at what he does. It's interesting to see how Philip reacts every time Gregory's name is even mentioned after the revelation. Whenever Elizabeth says "I'll signal Gregory", Philip looks conflicted. Like, he knows that yes, Gregory will do a good job, as he always has done, but he also must be thinking of all those times Gregory has been involved before, when Philip had no idea just how much more it was between him and Elizabeth.

I think he was devoted to the cause, and cared deeply about doing a good job. Once they had children, he probably not only loved them but felt loved in return. Honestly, lots of married couples can fall into a rut where they are not intimate but they are connected simply because they live together and share children. But I think you're right that it must have been very painful for him. We see that in that episode where she announces that she's ready to have children. The look he gives her makes it seem like this was something he had tried to broach with her before, and always been rejected. And then in the episode when Gregory tells him all about how Elizabeth confided in him - the look on Philip's face is one of excruciating pain. And to bring it back on topic, that scene - between Philip and Gregory - is one I didn't really appreciate the first time I watched it. I didn't understand just how devastated Philip was as he listened to Gregory because I didn't understand how much he loved Elizabeth. On rewatch, his reaction in that scene is really powerful.

I doubt that they would really want to talk about it, but I've always thought that Stan and Philip could have an interesting conversation about the desire to exfiltrate a source in order to protect her; encountering resistance from their bosses; and ultimately the decision to do it anyway (Philip) or not do it (Stan). Philip accomplished what Stan wanted to do, even though Stan was the one who was actually in love with the agent he was running. Stan's actions might have been constrained by the fact that it's happening in the US and he therefore is more beholden to the law (although he murdered Vlad so IDK), whereas Philip is operating on enemy soil and so is already breaking the law. He's literally an illegal. Just as in the garage scene, the stakes are higher for Philip because his life is on the line and Stan's isn't. To bring it back to Renee, I do find myself thinking that she is a spy. But I wonder if she knew that Philip and Elizabeth were also spies, or if she was in the dark about them as well. She never did anything to overtly help them. Is she surprised to find out that they were KGB? Her look at the house kind of reminded me of Tuan - there was some faint disapproval there, like if they'd done the right things they wouldn't have gotten caught. But I like to think that she's about to be caught too.

This quiz is funny. I got them all right, which maybe fits better in the "you know you've been watching the Americans too much" thread, lol. Who said it? Philip and Elizabeth From The Americans or Philip and Elizabeth From The Crown?

One scene that always made me laugh was in S4 E1, Glanders, where Philip and Elizabeth talk about Henry's cologne and how disgusting it is. It's probably the only light note in that entire episode.

Yes, and it reminds me of back in the very beginning of the show, when Elizabeth described Paige as "delicate somehow". At the time, I took that in as Elizabeth talking about her daughter but really saying something about herself. She had just said that Henry was like Philip, he could adapt to anything. So I thought, aha, the audience knows that Elizabeth isn't aware that Paige is like her and therefore that she herself is delicate in some way. But now, I think Elizabeth was right. Paige was delicate. Elizabeth herself is not delicate. Later, when she does start to think that Paige is like herself because she's strong and cares about social issues, Elizabeth seems to forget her original assessment, which IMO, was accurate. Paige has a fragility that neither of her parents have.