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.

Another (this time subtle) pet-peeve to express... When Elizabeth and Paige went for their walk, I inwardly cringed when Elizabeth said, in responding to Paige's question about liking her job: "I wish I didn't have to do it, but I'm proud to serve my COUNTRY." This just came across as a really poor choice of words to me. I mean, Paige is an American. If it's just a showdown between nation-states (and not ideologies) then she could very well pick what's always been home to her. In my mind, Elizabeth is MUCH MORE likely to enlist her if she speaks to the "cause", and to the aims of benefiting all people, across the globe, regardless of race, class, religion - all that.

Time for another express-the-pet-peeve post. Seeing 5' 4', 115 pound Liz telling, 5'1 '', 95 pound Paige that once you train how to fight you never have to be afraid - made me roll my eyes into the back of my head. That comment only adds to the silliness of watching Liz pound the crap out of men twice her size on a fairly regular basis. Don't get me wrong, the right self-defense techniques can get you out of difficult binds - from time to time. But to pretend that training would allow a tiny woman to regularly pummel people twice, if not three times her size, is ridiculous. It's kind of a silly cliche in Hollywood. In other to supposedly empower women, which I'm all for, we see these silly scenes - over and over again. We can empower people without denying basic biology in the process. Verisimilitude is important, after all, when it comes to dramatic television.

Fair enough. That's actually a detail I was looking for and couldn't find. If the camps were in different parts of a large country, then I agree it's an unlikely outcome. The storyline convergence, in my mind, could have been around both men seeking out Mischa, rather than a mere biological relation. But again, I agree it's unlikely if the camps were so far apart. And I also agree that camps were not exactly a rarity in the Soviet Union.

People here have wondered if Oleg's Dad is not his actual biological father. I've wondered that, too. And here's the deal, with him investigating his mother's placement in a camp (remember the file he was looking at towards the end), could it be she was at the same camp where Philip's father worked as a guard? And since it's been insinuated that she "took care of" the guards in exchange for staying alive, is it possible, just possible, that the two story-lines will converge here? I've, at times, wondered if somehow these seemingly unconnected storylines may eventually arc towards each other in the end. This could be a way for that to happen.

A couple of episodes ago I said that, now that Pastor Tim has given a copy of Marx to Paige, the show-runners should no longer muddy the waters about the "kind" of pastor and Christian he is. Let me him be hyper left-wing and leave it at that. But, alas, his dialog in this episode messed that up again. No super-liberal pastor goes around talking about the crucifixion of Jesus like that. In fact, the way he spoke about the subject sounded like no pastor/Christian I've ever encountered in my life. It came off like a really bad translation by someone who completely misunderstands native idioms. He really is one of the most poorly constructed characters in the show. For those of us really familiar with the nuances of Christendom Americana, he just comes off as so un-believable.

It'd be great if Ben was more than he claims to be. Because, thus far, he's felt like a bit of a caricature. Which would actually be a perfect set-up if there's more than meets the eye going on there. Either way, while we can't discern too much from previews, this one seems to portend some real movement in the storylines!

Unlike some here, I don't think Gabriel going home has to do with his sense that Phillip may be in imminent danger from the Center. Rather, I think he's at the point where he feels too much cognitive dissonance between doing what's better for the cause and doing what's better for the person. I think he (marginally) agrees with Claudia that it would be bad for the cause for Philip to know about Mischa. But -- he feels horrible about being put in a position of being the agent who kept father and son apart -- especially since he loves Philip like a son. By the way, gotta say, Philip saying the line -- "So you're not keeping anything from me?" was just a little TOO rich. I know it was in the context of him asking Gabriel about his own father's background. But still, that was a little soapy. By the way, the reason these outlier lines strike me strangely is because usually the dialog is SO bang-on with this show. In other words, when something feels like a little TOO much, it tends to stand out and makes alarm bells go off for me.

You're forgetting (or overlooking) A LOT. E has shown plenty of real love for Philip as her romantic partner. So much so that I'm wondering if you're watching the same show as the rest of us. Do you not remember when she called Philip while he was in bed with Irina? She was calling him because she missed him. She said "come home". Did that sound like a casual partnership-in-idealogically-driven-crime to you? Or what about when she showed genuine jeoulosy about Martha? Did that look like a casual partnership-in-idealogically-driven-crime response to you? What about her hurt feelings, which led to their temporary separation, when she found out P slept with Irina and lied about it? Again, would a casual partner-in-idealogically-driven-crime even care in that situation? I could go on and on, but I think the point is clear.

Skills? This has nothing to do with skills. It's all about emotional connection - or a lack thereof. Elizabeth is more emotionally aware than ever in her life. And, as such, sex is different for her now. Both E and P are less comfortable with the "honey-work" now. Why? Because their shared connection has changed their perspectives.

RE: Stan's new gf, she had a strange way of talking about her upbringing that seemed overly talkative, yet kind of light on substance. She also comes across as just a little TOO bubbly to me. I'd be very surprised if she's not an agent of some sort at this point. But I don't think she's FBI, nor KGB. My first bet would be a third party (neither Soviet nor American) - perhaps Israeli. And maybe, just maybe she's working for another US agency that's not FBI - though I think that's far less likely than the first option. But her being a sports fan just seems like the perfect dangle for Stan - besides her looks, of course.