Bretton

Interesting. The ending is already known by the show-runners. This is from their interview with Vox:

As slow as this season was, I was still surprised by how slow and relatively uneventful the finale was. I really thought they were going to turn it up in this episode, to whet people's appetites for next season. But, alas, twas not so! - The "Yellow Brick Road" sequence of long gazes kind of felt like a slightly misplaced play on the "Under Pressure" sequence from a few seasons ago. It was like the writers were quoting themselves, just not all that effectively. - The Oleg plot resolution was at least something to really chow down... oh wait, never mind. - Stan's facial expression after his roomie gf suggested he stay on at his job, while meant to appear ambiguous, I'm sure... to me came off like he definitely recognized what looked like a textbook play. So much so that I was left wondering if a spy, spying on a spy, would really attempt such a blatant ploy. I mean, really? - Lastly, I really wanted the Kimmie storyline to go away. Alas, that's not happening anytime soon it would appear. While I'm definitely looking forward to next season, I'd have to say that, unlike some on here, I'm not prepared to say I have faith that next season will really sizzle. One can hope. But after this season, one cannot know, nor even reasonably assume. But where there is life and a guaranteed next season, there is hope! Finish ye well, showrunners!

I agree with you. Religion has been handled really poorly, from a writing perspective, on this show. Paige's behavior was the latest tidbit of unreality on display. That whole scene was really poorly written.

Have we ever learned Philip's/Mischa's original Russian last name? I don't remember hearing it.

My takeaways: - Yes, like so many of you have pointed out, P&E going to Pastor Tim made ZERO sense. I'm not going to even try and defend that poor plot choice. - Oleg does definitely seem resigned to his fate. Question for me is: does the Oleg plot-line resolve (completely, I mean) next episode? It seems clear that his father will not do as asked. In other words, with only one son left alive, he will do all he can to keep Oleg safe. Does the bishop offer himself up to save the pawn? - I also find it unbelievable that P&E would just take Claudia at her word. Even ignoring her history with them ("You stupid bitch!" -- need I say more?), her entire response sounded like stalling for time. "I understand," she said. That's exactly what a service rep is trained to say to a frustrated customer - just before obfuscating in order to avoid providing a refund.

Okay, this comment brought me some genuine humor. You "have no doubt" even though you know you "rarely predict these things correctly"? Shouldn't your second thought give you "second thoughts" about your first thought? :)

Yup. And that's definitely the angle being played here. By the way, back in the day I had some Orthodox friends who would bend over backwards to explain away/justify the politicalization of the Orthodox Church in Russia in the 20th century.

Re: what will ultimately happen to P & E, what I find myself wondering about is to what degree the show-runners feel a kind of pressure to let these anti-heroes/ironic protagonists off "easy". Some on this forum say they look forward to justice coming in the form of something like a bullet to the back of the head. I just can't see that happening. At the very least both P&E will survive. I just don't see the show-runners having it any other way. But under what kind of circumstances, that I don't know. And I'm even more fascinated with this question: how long have the show-runners known how they want this all to land? Does anyone know if they've discussed this in interviews? Now that they're beginning the writing of the final season, I've got to believe they know by now. But I wonder how long ago they came to a resolution about that? Too many shows have ended anti-climactically because the writers just weren't planning ahead adequately. Yes, I'm looking firmly at you Lost! I'm hoping The Americans can buck that trend.

Some great thoughts expressed on Vox re: this episode: https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/9/15599144/the-americans-episode-10-recap-darkroom-wedding

Oh, I agree. And forcing them to see the written words, rather than just her account of them, was a way of saying, "See, I'm aware that another adult offers an 'alternative set of facts' about our little family situation here. I'm still considering various interpretations. I may be a kid, but there's more than one way to read all this." Yes, I do think a small part of her, in a passive-agrgessive way, was doing all that. And, yes, I know what I just did there.

In my former Evangelical experience, plenty of pastoral couples (husband and wife) considered it normal (even expected) to share all with each other - including what was said to one or the other by a parishioner. In fact, this was considered part of honoring the oneness of marriage. The two are one -- including holding secrets, whosever they are. Also, on a related note, once again in this episode, Tim's vague Biblical encouragements to Paige sounded off. The delivery; the context; what he said right afterwards, about "doing great in life..."; again, it just didn't come off sounding at all realistic. I realized tonight that part of the problem is not just the scripting, but the fact that the actor just doesn't even remotely believe what he's saying -- that is to say, he's just not really identifying with the character in those moments; and it really shows.

While I don't think there will be consistently advancing time jumps next season (that would be too jarring based on the show's history), I could see one - sort of post-script - where we get to see P+E's reaction to the tectonic events of the latter 80s -- perhaps the fall of the wall being the focal-point.

When I think about the recent revelation regarding Henry's deep smarts, along with his noted absence on so many occasions, it makes me wonder: does Henry know more than we have always assumed? What if the big twist at the end of the season is that Henry knows exactly what his parents do? What if that is designed to add serious tension to the next and final season? Either the show-runners have kind of not known what to do with the Henry character (which would be a rare misstep for them), or he was always - or for some time now, anyway - designed to be a major plot turner that no one saw coming?

Getting raped by the elite and powerful.

Seeing the women on here sexually objectify the male actors more frequently than any of the men here are doing so re: the actresses, is kind of throwing me for a loop. Like, my understanding of human nature is flip-flopping.