hellmouse

I saw that as them choosing to believe something in order to survive. I don't think they're sanguine, and I think it will be an issue they return to for the rest of their lives. But right now, still in shock at having to leave their children, but facing the reality that they cannot change it, they need to decide that their children will be okay. Otherwise, they cannot move forward. So they do some rationalization. Logically, Paige and Henry are young, but they are not children of ten and thirteen as they were in the pilot. Henry has shown independence and self-sufficiency, and they hope that Stan will be in his life in some way. Paige... it's hard to know what they imagine will happen with her. But she is an adult and they would have to allow her to make her own decisions (no matter how bad) as an adult anyway. I think they'll have this debate in their heads for the rest of their lives.

That could work. Helsinki to Moscow is a much shorter drive than Berlin would be. IIRC, Finland was not part of the USSR so they could probably fly from Montreal to Helsinki, then drive to the border. This is now my accepted head-canon!

Elizabeth's reaction seemed to me to be entirely instinctive, rooted in her role as their mother. She wants to gather her children and get them to safety, which she believes is with her. It's not logical and she knows it once Philip breaks it down to her.

The one big question I am still wondering about is logistical and really has no bearing on the plot, but I do wonder how long it took Philip and Elizabeth to reach the Soviet border. Assuming they departed from Montreal, where did they fly to? Could they fly directly from Canada to an Eastern Bloc country? I feel like that would have been tricky without a visa. Maybe they needed to go somewhere like West Germany and then drive the rest of the way? It's almost 1,000 miles from Berlin to Moscow. That's a long drive. Perhaps the border crossing was not in Russia proper but in Belarus or Ukraine. Presumably they were able to communicate with Arkady once they were in a Soviet state. I also wonder how far they drove before meeting Arkady. I was a little surprised he didn't have a driver, although maybe he didn't trust anyone else at the moment. It was nice to see him picking them up and shaking their hands. They were incredible spies for the USSR. Think about how many other illegals were killed - Rob, Emmett, Leanne, William, Harvest - and that's just the ones we know about. Not only did Philip and Elizabeth last a long time in the field, with many many operational successes, but they made it out alive. Impressive. It was almost like a father picking up his kids who've been away at camp, and they fall asleep in the back seat because they're so exhausted and they feel safe enough to be able to relax.

I was glad to read this answer. I for one do not want to see a spin-off with Paige or Martha or any other character. But OMMV of course!

The last scene of the two of them looking out onto Moscow made me think to myself "be careful what you wish for". Because I wanted them to escape and I wanted them to be together. I predicted they'd end up in Russia without their children (although I thought they'd choose to leave both children, rather than having one abandon them!), and here they are. But without their jobs as spies and travel agents, without their American children, without their operations and disguises, who are they? They were young people, malleable, poured into a mold of married Americans. And they made it work; they fit themselves into that mold to the point where it is how they are shaped now. But now the mold is removed. Does the material retain the shape? Does their relationship hold together? Will it crumble? The fact that Elizabeth took their Russian wedding rings is a good sign that they may be able to make it work. And really, no one else can ever understand what they have experienced. But imagining the day-to-day practicalities of their new lives is tough. Will they resent each other for choices made in the U.S? Will they finally meet Mischa - and is that something Elizabeth would be happy about, knowing that her own children are gone? I could see them both doing work for the KGB - they would make excellent trainers and consultants on anything related to Americans. I think Elizabeth might enjoy that, but would Philip? I see some difficult times ahead of them. I hope they are able to stay together, and love each other. I guess I am sentimental. I also hope they get to work with Arkady because I've always thought he's awesome. But it's not going to be easy.

I agree. In a video interview I posted in the media thread, Noah Emmerich said that Stan did in that moment what he was capable of doing and not what he was incapable of doing. And IMO at that moment, he was not capable of arresting his best friend with his wife and daughter. He wanted to. But he wanted NOT to even more. He may come to regret that choice over time as he thinks about it more as law enforcement officer. But as Emily Nussbaum points out so brilliantly (IMO) in her New Yorker review, Stan tells Philip exactly what angle to use "You were my best friend" and Philip uses it. I think Philip meant everything he said, but he also said it all as a way to ensure his family could escape. If he hadn't wanted to escape, he could have handled it differently. As Aderholt tells Father Andrei, sometimes you have to let down people who trust you, in order to serve a bigger purpose. And in that garage scene, Philip's purpose is getting his family to safety (and secondarily, getting the anti-Gorbachev coup information to Russia). He is far more skilled at executing this kind of manipulation than Stan is at defending against it, because Stan WANTS to believe. Stan is asking, as a person, for a good enough reason to not act in his official role. Philip gives him a good enough reason, and they get away. Stan may regret it in the years ahead. As you say, he doesn't know for certain in the garage that they were the ones committing all the recent murders. As the FBI pulls things together, he may question his choice. But in the moment, he let his friend go.

I think the confidence part was huge. They were lucky that the pre-planned passport photo disguises were sufficiently different from the photos and sketches the border guards had. Long-haired Elizabeth and younger, goatee-wearing Philip would have been less convincing.

I think one thing both Philip and Elizabeth had going for them is that they were very calm. Neither one betrayed any hesitation or concern. I think the agents are looking for behavioral tics in addition to physical resemblance. Philip looked older and even kind of puffier in the face (maybe he had a lot of salt on his fries at McD's) and Elizabeth held herself differently somehow; the angle of her head and something about the expression in her eyes made her seem different. Honestly, I thought Paige was the one who'd be in trouble. She looked guilty most of the time anyway! Maybe part of her thinking was that 1) she really didn't want to go to Russia; 2) she was imagining that Henry would react to being alone the same way she would; and 3) if she was captured on the train it would increase the chance that her parents would be captured too.

I thought Elizabeth saying "maybe we would have met... on a bus" was perfect. It's such a mundane idea, but coming from her, it seems like a wild romantic flight of fancy. And the underlying point is that she can't imagine her life without him. When she hesitates in saying what Philip might have done, I wondered if she was going to mention Irina and Mischa, and I was really glad she didn't. Better to imagine meeting on a bus.

A bunch of short interview clips from the FX event last night. These are all from Gold Derby. I don't know the interviewer's name, but it's clear that the actors/showrunners know him and that he's a supporter of the show. I hope there will be longer interviews at some point, maybe as part of Emmy campaigns! Joe Weisberg & Joel Fields Keri Russell & Matthew Ryhs Noah Emmerich Margo Martindale Brandon J. Dirden Keidrich Sellati Holly Taylor Another short interview from the FX event, this one with Entertainment Tonight. Less about their characters and more about "you guys are a couple IRL", although I did like the questions about whether Keri's children have seen clips of her on the Mickey Mouse Club. Keri Russell & Matthew Rhys React to Emotional Series Finale ETA - a good review of the finale from James Poniewozik at NYT: 'The Americans,' At Last, Lets Us Exhale

You don't want to turn off the TV and go to bed because that means the show is truly over and you are not ready to accept that, so you watch the finale for a third time.

Really interesting, lengthy interview with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys at Gothamist. I don't want to pull quotes so as not to spoil it for those who still haven't seen the episode, but it's a good read. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys Reflect On The End Of 'The Americans'

I know! I wonder who the singer was.

Spoilers for the finale. I thought I'd start collecting some of the reviews and recaps. Interview with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys (NYT): The End of ‘The Americans’: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys on the ‘Devastating’ Finale Interview with Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields (Sepinwall/Uproxx): ‘The Americans’ Creators Explain (And Don’t Explain) The Show’s Emotional Finale Interview with cast, crew, writers, producers, etc about the finale (Vulture): An Oral History of The Americans Series Finale Vulture: The Americans Series-Finale Recap NYT: The Americans' Finale: The Damage Done AV Club: The Americans ends as it lived: Tense, affecting and one of the greats Vox: The Americans seeks a new “START” in a tremendous series finale I haven't read these all yet so I haven't pulled out any quotes but I'm sure they are great.

Last night on Jimmy Kimmel, Keri Russell said that she and Matthew Rhys were going to watch the finale with an audience. It could just be with a group of friends, but maybe they will be at your theater! Enjoy the evening. It sounds like great fun. ETA - just saw a picture of Ms Russell on twitter and it appears that she is in LA. So she won't be with you. Still, you are with fellow comrades!

I think he's just being silly. He's deflecting away from having to talk about the actual ending.

I had never watched Brothers & Sisters, but I did after starting The Americans, and then of course looked for all the bloopers, interviews etc. I remember watching that video and thinking how thoughtful he was to give Sally Fields his jacket because she was cold. He really does seem like a basically decent person, as does Keri Russell. IMO it is always a good sign when people stay friends with former colleagues and both of them have done so.

I can only imagine her reaction upon reading the lines where she declares that she wants to be an FBI agent. It reminded me of Paige's ambitions to be a Christian or a spy - but that feels normal for a teenager who's exploring what they want to do. It is less usual for a successful 40 something professional to out of the blue declare they want to do the same job their spouse does. A lesser actress would have probably struggled with that. It made me think Renee was dumb but it didn't make me think it was bad acting. So that's good I guess!

I think they put it in the story line to make the stakes incredibly high. She gets a secret mission that includes suicide by cyanide if she is captured. She can't even tell Philip about it. But finally she does tell Philip about the mission and the cyanide. And then we see someone take the cyanide - Harvest. We see the effects of it on his face, and how quickly he dies. We see Philip toss the empty cyanide locket in the bag. And then Elizabeth finds out the mission is basically part of a coup and she is being lied to and used toward that end. I don't think she'll consider herself bound by the terms of that mission anymore. If we hadn't seen the effect of the cyanide on Harvest, I'd be more concerned that E or P would take it tonight. But as I said, it could be someone else taking it. And of course I'm just guessing!

I don't think Elizabeth will take the cyanide. I think she'll choose uncertain life rather than certain death. She'll choose living for her husband and family rather than dying for Claudia's mission. Someone else might take it, but I don't think it will be Philip or Elizabeth.

From Quartz, A Fond Farewell To One Of The Great TV Dramas Of The Decade From TV Ate My Wardrobe, Saying Goodbye to The Americans

I've been thinking about what a fascinating character Kimmy is in terms of illuminating truths about Philip and Elizabeth's relationship. We've seen Elizabeth feel insecure/threatened sexually by Annelise - she says "you never said she looks like that" when seeing her photo. Philip actually is or pretends to be oblivious "she's not always dressed like that" which seems to reassure Elizabeth. Annelise is not a threat. Elizabeth is more deeply threatened, emotionally, by Martha. She recognizes the qualities in Martha that she herself can't bring to her relationship with Philip. Her insecurity actually brings out a wondering kind of generosity, when she considers whether Philip would be happier with Martha. Philip reassures her - "Are you crazy? It's not like that at all. I'm in love with you" - which reassures her. Martha is not a threat. But Elizabeth is both emotionally and sexually threatened by Kimmy. Emotionally, she sees a girl the same age as her own daughter. Kimmy's vulnerability to Philip's "Jim" persona is part of what solidifies Elizabeth's belief that they need to tell Paige about themselves. She sees Kimmy as someone whose father is keeping a secret from her, and as a result, she's out looking for a father figure in a boyfriend. In addition, and more confusingly for Elizabeth, I think there are aspects of herself she sees in Kimmy. At a very basic level, this is a young girl who is vulnerable to being used by adult men. When Elizabeth was that age, she was just a few years away from joining the KGB and being raped and then trained in using sex and seduction as a tool. I think this is why Philip's relationship with Kimmy has always been uncomfortable for Elizabeth. It's not just her age. It's that thinking about a girl that age being manipulated reminds Elizabeth at some unconscious level of herself. The first few times Philip is out with Kimmy, Elizabeth waits up for him. She even goes out to the garage to smoke. She seems relieved when Philip doesn't sleep with Kimmy. His reluctance to do it, and his skill at coming up with plausible reasons why not to do it (and thus continue his spy mission) reassures her as a wife, as a mother, as a spy and IMO as young Nadezhda. Philip is a man she can trust. She has made the right decision in trusting him. When Kimmy comes back on the scene in Season 6, Elizabeth seems less troubled by the idea of Philip sleeping with her. In fact, she's basically ordering him to do so. "She's not a kid anymore." He does it, thus proving his commitment to Elizabeth and the spywork. It disgusts him, but he does it. When he refuses to go through with the whole ridiculous Bulgaria scheme, Elizabeth throws the sex in his face "you just wanted to fuck her". He's like Timoshev , taking advantage of a "perk of the job". He's not the man she can trust. And he doesn't reassure her this time. He says "You can think what you want". Elizabeth needs to know that she comes first with Philip and he has always given her that, until now. Now she's just angry at him and it isn't until the phone call at the end of Rififi - "What's happened to you" - that she starts to believe he is still committed to her. Philip and Elizabeth fight about Martha; they fight about Paige; they fight about their work. But with Kimmy, it's all of that. It's not just a fight about spycraft, or a young girl, or a sexual mark, or a daughter or parenting. It's a wife ordering her husband to have sex with a daughter-figure in order to advance a work objective. It's a wife and real daughter arguing about who she should and shouldn't sleep with. Philip is horrified to think that he may not be the only one getting orders about who to sleep with. And as he's always pointed out, things change. Even if Paige is not being told to have sex with someone now, she may very well be told to do so at some point. And having just slept with Kimmy, he's not just thinking of it as Paige's father. He's thinking of it as a man who was able to use a young woman for his own ends. Will that happen to Paige? Kimmy has been such a powerful character and I admire what a tremendous job Julia Garner, the actress has done with it. A lesser performance would not have yielded so much insight and poignancy.

That's an interesting idea. If Elizabeth had been able to talk about it in a matter-of-fact way that answers Paige's questions, it might have repulsed Paige or it might have intrigued her. But Elizabeth doesn't want either reaction. She does not want Paige to know or even think about it. I think Elizabeth really wants Paige to be proud of her, as someone who is brave and strong and determined. Somehow Elizabeth must fear that Paige will not admire her if she learns that she uses sex that way. It just opens too many questions. Just as Paige wanted to know how many people her mother had killed after witnessing her kill the mugger, now she wants to know how many men she's slept with. And of course Elizabeth doesn't know the total for either. What can she say? It's almost impossible for Elizabeth to be open with Paige about honeypotting now. And even though she says that it doesn't matter to her, it doesn't seem entirely true. It's true that sex as an act is just another tool in her arsenal, but unlike the other things Elizabeth has taught Paige, she really doesn't want Paige to acquire this tool. I wonder if Elizabeth could have had that discussion before she and Philip decided to have a real marriage. Obviously Paige was too young, but Elizabeth might have had a different perspective on it then. I think back to Season 5 when for the first time neither Philip nor Elizabeth really wanted to seduce their marks in Kansas. Elizabeth even cancelled a trip out there. She didn't want to do it. Of course we saw in the opening montage of Season 6 that she is still using sex in her spy work. But it seems to be taking a toll on her.

In the same episode where he sleeps with Kimmy, he also spars with Paige. I wonder if in some way that is a similar reaction. He'll always be her father, of course, and is not going to relinquish that role. But there is a shift where now he initiates sparring with her. He doesn't have to work very hard to physically control her. It's a side of himself that we have always known but Paige has never seen. It's still not clear to me whether he walked away thinking she was well-trained or in over her head. They haven't really talked since then, nor has he talked about her to Elizabeth. After sparring with Paige, he ends everything with Kimmy, and tells Elizabeth what he's done. It's almost like his psyche rebels against mixing the role of father with the role of spy once sex enters the equation. He can be the father figure friend/spy with Kimmy but he can't be the father figure turned lover/spy with her. Not even for Elizabeth. We haven't seen Paige talk about sparring with Philip. I assume she doesn't know he went to Chicago to help with the Harvest operation. So she is really in the dark about her father. I wonder what the dynamics will be when the three of them are together. Is Paige still Elizabeth's spy-apprentice and will she see Philip as the third wheel? Or will Philip and Elizabeth unite as parents, putting Paige in a primary role of daughter?