Andy73
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Posts posted by Andy73
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18 hours ago, sistermagpie said:
I was talking to someone in Moscow who mentioned that McDonalds basically reopened (sans fries under a title that basically means "Tasty, period." And he mentioned people paying to watch some Russian documentary for 10 minutes...and then getting to watch the new Avatar "for free." LOL.
QuoteI can’t believe that!!! Lol
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On 5/24/2023 at 11:48 PM, SunnyBeBe said:
Anybody think a reunion special of this show is possible? A lot of the cast seems to be available. They couldn’t reunite present day without a lot of makeup, but they could do like a 10-20 years later event. Maybe a 6 episode series on Netflix?
On 5/25/2023 at 2:45 AM, Zella said:I honestly love the ambiguity of the ending. I'd totally watch a reunion movie or series, but I enjoy how the show wasn't afraid to leave questions unanswered. And not in a lazy way but just in a "life is complicated and messy" intentional sort of way.
On 5/25/2023 at 3:55 AM, sistermagpie said:I spent so much time worrying toward the end of the show that we'd get the montage, nailing everyone in place for years to come ending so many felt was necessary, so I was thrilled it ended in a total Chekhov way--
I feel like Keri: the ending was so perfect that any sequel would be.... I can't even imagine it!
I think the final told us everything. I mean, the show is a story about a marriage... and the finale tells us that despite the thousand problems they have had (and in all marriages there are a thousand problems) they are still together!I remember a great Sistermagpie’s post: when sound was on we saw spies stuff, then the music goes away, we saw the P&E…. and then the music comes back with the spies stuff.
On 5/25/2023 at 3:55 AM, sistermagpie said:just as it started, with P&E in a new country not knowing what's next.
Oh yes!!!!
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On 5/24/2023 at 5:12 AM, sistermagpie said:On 5/24/2023 at 4:28 AM, txhorns79 said:Expand
They really did have a plan for everything.
The finale really makes me feel for Stan. Philip was a monster to him. He even poisons Stan's relationship with Renee as Stan lets them escape.
I think he was the exact opposite to a monster to him there. He told him his suspicions because he didn't want him to be another Martha even if he was blowing some longterm Centre operation with Renee. Stan can check if she's an Illegal or not. It wouldn't be better if he kept quiet and eventually he found out she was a spy and he just assumed Philip was in on it. Stan's been undercover himself. He's been that monster. (Even if his character as written doesn't really support it.)
I agree. I don’t think Philip was a monster with Stan there. I think he was really honest with him… as a friend! Oh yes, It's likely he didn't want another Marta.
Renee drives me crazy too. Sometime I think she is a KGB agent, sometimes no. Why KGB should use an illegal on ex counter-intelligence?
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4 hours ago, aghst said:
Would Philip and Elizabeth still be loyal to the end or were they going to go through cognitive dissonance?
Good question…
War…. It does not exist in nature. It is a human invention. I war there are no saints!
No living being can be as atrocious with members of the same species like man can be! Yet war is part of our being. Yesterday…. Today…. In a future! -
1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:
It's a great question. It comes up again when Elizabeth finds herself really liking Young-Hee. They develop as real a friendship as Elizabeth can allow for in her life (i.e. built on lies and deception but with real feelings on Elizabeth's side). Elizabeth tries to avoid having to continue the operation knowing it will end her friendship and destroy Young-Hee's life, then mourns the relationship when it has to end. Again, is Elizabeth evil for manipulating and wrecking this innocent family to get what she wants?
Oh yes! That is other example.
Liz was in a very bad place that time!!
is Elizabeth evil? I see her, and Philip too, as soldier!!! Very well trained soldier.
They were fighting a war. Ok for us for wrong side but…
i don’t remember them unjustified murder in a military pow… like those committed by arkan’s tiger or the nazi massacre in Europe… I don't know if I explained myself.
Apologie if I offended someone!!!
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On 5/9/2023 at 4:09 AM, txhorns79 said:
is. You can see that Elizabeth is devastated over what must be done with her, and how Smith just destroys Elizabeth with one of her last lines about how Elizabeth's justification for killing her is something that evil people tell themselves.
I remember so well this ep.
It got me a tear for both Smith and Elizabeth!
This is a great example of how the show connects us with its characters, showing us their feelings. And it lays us questions: is Elizabeth an evil people as Smith said? Or not? If yes, why? Again, if no, why?
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On 5/8/2023 at 4:42 PM, transitfan said:
Yes, he was the Captain for that incident. I don't recall if he was demoted to Lt. in the aftermath, or voluntarily returned to that rank
I think the second: voluntary.
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Rewatched 2×04 A Little Night of Music
The Americans are staging the world of human relationships!
The series, we have said many times, is a very powerful magnifying glass aimed at the Family, explored in such a meticulous game of masks and lies.
‘The world of physics encompasses the microscopic, the submicroscopic, the very distant, the world of unseen things,’ says Anton Baklanov at the beginning of the episode, in a sort of manifesto of the series itself, which, in this episode, focuses on what is deepest and most invisible in the world: consciousness.
I agree Claudia: Elizabeth hasn't recovered yet!
I liked the scene of the first their meeting: Claudia whispers sitting behind Liz, who often reacts only with her eyes, as if talking to her was actually something much more inner. Claudia looks like her Talking Cricket...
The truth, for characters forced to live in a world of lies and secrets, can only emerge in the form of pseudo-confessions, that is disguised (also) as a lie. Stan admits to having an affair, but lies about the “who”; Phillip argues with Martha without it being possible to tell how much is fake and how much real there is in his outburst.
Elizabeth in disguise tells the story of the rape: I have the impression that she wasn't just acting with that boy...
Page prays at the table... I loved Philip and Elizabeth in that scene... as well as their dialogue in the car. Yes guys, Page is telling lies... you are losing control over her!!!
The final scene is amazing: Elizabeth is a fury (why???) Philip is as shocked like me... and the girl goes away with Anton....
Marriage is hard. Great Philip….
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3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:
Definitely before
You are right, thank you!
The doubt is still alive .... But that's the good!
4 hours ago, sistermagpie said:She put the child before the parents.
I wonder if she would have done the same if she hadn't become a mother herself by then...
May be yes! Definitely she did for the child, but for business too. It’s dangerous have an upset child, who knows real ID his parents, walks in DC.
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Just watched “The walk in” 2X03
People disapproved Elizabeth for burning the letter pointing out her u-turn. But honestly, what else could she have done?
Here comes the flood…. I saw a tear on Liz's face... I had it too
I still surprised, like first watch, how how anxious Elizabeth is: she is really afraid.
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On 2/28/2023 at 2:04 AM, sistermagpie said:
Me too. In fact, I go back and forth with Kimmy. On one hand it seems like a honey trap since she sleeps with him and then asks her to do this for her. But otoh, it's possible she slept with him because she wanted to in that moment and then felt close enough to him that she risked asking him for help. She herself might not know for sure! But whichever way, I don't think she did it in a completely cold, calculating way. If it was completely about the job, I think he would have been angrier about it.
May be you are right…. I’m not so sure it was a honey-trap! Do you remember if it was before Chiacago’s or later?
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Thank you for your post!!!
On 1/27/2023 at 3:17 AM, sistermagpie said:ELIZABETH
Elizabeth’s brown eyes are intense in this disguise! And how does she keep that wig on over the giant lump of hair without any of the pins and glue Clark used?
This is the real mistery of the Americans!!!
On 1/27/2023 at 3:17 AM, sistermagpie said:She’s really attached to that long hair to keep it in this line of work.
She has such long hair today too, doesn't she?
We know very well that Elizabeth also has her own fragilities, even if her dedication to the Cause has always been far firmer than that of Philip . “The Midges” does nothing but confirm this her position, first in the considerations about Alexei, then in the confrontation with Paige and finally with Philip.
However, the picture that emerges from this is profoundly different from what we would have had if these same scenes had been in the first or second year: we know Elizabeth’s: we know how much her apparent coldness is in fact a constant work of rationalization of emergencies, of normalization of reality, of pragmatism above all.
On 1/27/2023 at 3:17 AM, sistermagpie said:We all see Elizabeth brushing off difficult questions with easy answers or just avoiding them entirely. When Paige complains she’ll have to be fake with her boyfriends forever, Elizabeth claims it’s not being fake, that everyone holds something back, that relationships are complicated. Well, yeah, but that’s not really taking her question seriously. If it’s so easy to just “hold back” something why did Elizabeth want so badly to tell Paige who she was? Why does she find it so hard to relate to anybody outside their world?
Elizabeth brings everything back on the most practical level (“it would not be right to give him such a weight”, where the weight would be equivalent to a death sentence) and above all normalizes an issue that is anything but normal, equating the inevitable and necessary “unspoken” in any relationship to lies of this magnitude.
Elizabeth is not trying to manipulate Page with false rhetoric, but this is something she has convinced herself to believe, because perhaps it is the only way to live all this without definitively splitting, losing all her humanity.
At least I agree with you!
On 1/27/2023 at 3:17 AM, sistermagpie said:There are still people who believe Elizabeth is honey-trapping Philip because she playfully gets Philip to dance when he’s brooding over Soviet grain issues,
I don’t agree with them. I found that scene a very romantic moment.
I thought to honey-trap only once in the whole show: in S6 when she needs his help with Kimmy….
On 1/27/2023 at 3:17 AM, sistermagpie said:PHILIP
Philip looks so glum whenever he’s playing Brad, but I think it’s because he can’t smile with that moustache.
The foundation’s also being laid for S6 Philip here, though, as ever, it’s not as clear compared to Elizabeth.
On 1/27/2023 at 3:17 AM, sistermagpie said:PHILIP
……
The foundation’s also being laid for S6 Philip here, though, as ever, it’s not as clear compared to Elizabeth.
Agree!
Philip’s flashback.
I think Tuan and Alexei work like a trigger for him and also I think all flashback are at first related to his father and then how his family was poor.
However, I find his flashbacks quite cryptic….
Also I think Philip here is understanding It is legitimate to be faithful to one's cause, it is also legitimate to ask questions where necessary, to question, even if only to emphasize then with even more conviction one's ideas.
he does that especially when he is willing to draw lessons from the condition of Alexei’s family, he see what happens when personal decisions are mixed with those of his kids – if there is one thing that Pasha’s affair clearly shows is that the blood linkage is not necessarily enough to save the family one.
On 1/27/2023 at 3:17 AM, sistermagpie said:This season seems to be all about kids potentially hating a father or not knowing them for Philip. Alexei’s got to be one reason for him decisively leaving Henry behind. He’s been thinking about this for years by the time they leave.
Oh, this is really true!!!!
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Just watched Cardinal 2x02
Well there is not much to say: thriller in this episode is really present: Elizabeth in every scene shows all her terror... a look at the window... her posture with which she scrutinizes the environment outside the front door... a drop of water falling from the tap...
And then love: I had forgotten the relief on Elizabeth’s when Philip showed up at home unexpected. It was stunning! Elizabeth was openly happy that her husband chose her over the mission; that said everything about how much she’d come to need him at this point.
That is why I love this show!!!
In this ep. Elizabeth is very warried about kids… then we can see her u-turn: she is ready to involve Page in spies stuff when Mother Russia call!
A connection whit START: here Philip answer to Elizabeth: we’ll get used to it. In START Elizabeth said the same. The ring closes.
Spy stuff: FBI makes a good work with Dameran!
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On 11/28/2022 at 5:14 AM, sistermagpie said:
Just watched Pests.
Again: thank you for your post! As usual you give me other pow that I would never have had.
I agree: the entire 5th season is a path forward the end. Some line are a little bit ridiculous (US want to starve the Russians), but this is a long marathon.
Tuan: for me he a “pebble in the shoe” his behavior is no so clear for me: Why is he so radical in general, especially with Pasha and then we discover him fond of his adoptive family? What is his background?
Elizabeth: she is She is split: she doesn't trust Page, she would like to protect her… otho she would want Page like her…
Page: she still doesn't know who she wants to be. Hard not to understand her: who would be able to handle such a thing at his age?
I know: you don’t like so much Holly’s performance. It’s seems flat… I agree… but… may be JJ wants her in this way to show us she confused…
On 11/28/2022 at 5:22 AM, Zella said:I found him quite believable as Henry and truthfully was always delighted when Henry popped up. He was very believable to me as a bright kid who wasn't quite a slacker but very much marched to the beat of his own quirky drum and mystified the rest of the family
I agree. In 6th season he was a breath of fresh air
On 11/28/2022 at 5:23 AM, sistermagpie said:But that's what so great! A sequel might ruin it! 😬
Totally agree!!!!
I miss them, but no… I don’t want a sequel…
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Oops. They did it again
Yesterday, from Italian press:
Sweden, the network of Russian spies dismantled: the double existence, which lasted a decade, of Sergei and Elena
It's true, in the end, they discovered them. But it's been a while since, in the late 1990s, they arrived in Sweden from Moscow like any couple. And, once they settled behind a screen of legality, they turned into ‘illegal’, spies on behalf of the Crane, the Russian military secret service.
Sergei Skvortsov and his wife Elena Koulkova: a case reminiscent of the plot of the extraordinary TV series The Americans.
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I'm still alive.... But right now I don't have time to watch more episodes...😢
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On 10/10/2022 at 4:10 AM, sistermagpie said:
Thinking back one of the things that impresses me about the beginning of S6 is how clearly, in retrospect, the show was saying that hers wasn't a spy story. Viewers kept looking for one in it, but from beginning it's really not.
On 10/9/2022 at 7:44 PM, Andy73 said:I agree! And I think to her line to Elizabeth: I'm not afraid of dying; I'm afraid of being alone.
She is looking for connection, she dives into his mother's club for that, imho.
On 10/10/2022 at 4:10 AM, sistermagpie said:Yes, once they make the decision to try marriage again, they never really let that come between them. They argue about the job seriously, but the don't ultimately betray each other for it, even if it seems like it could come to that.
We know they weren’t in love, but I always thought that there was more than one business relationship between them. We never saw the normal family dynamic; we saw them in a particular moment: Elizabeth was heavily under stress because of Timoshev.
I don't see Philip trying with her already knowing that she doesn't want it. I mean: I can't imagine Philip claiming alleged marital rights... I don't know if I was clear
On 10/10/2022 at 4:10 AM, sistermagpie said:I love how Leanne seems to know about their marriage troubles. Could be that Claudia passed along some gossip, but I feel like Leanne has known Elizabeth wasn't really into marriage for years
I like to think they were friends... as well as colleagues. And I can’t imagine Claudia makes gossip… 😀
On 10/10/2022 at 4:10 AM, sistermagpie said:I love when Paige turns around with her face painted
Ohh, I love it too!!! I should add it to my favorite ep’s scenes.
On 10/10/2022 at 7:09 AM, anonymiss said:don't believe Paige stayed for Henry. Paige stayed for Paige. She's ultimately one of their 2 American kids, as Claudia put it, and was having fun trying on different identities as young adults do. She wanted to feel special and belong so she became a Bible thumper. Her convictions didn't last too long once indoctrinated by her mom and then she tried on Soviet Spy. Once shit got too real there, she split again and hopefully comes to terms with the fact she is just a typical Taylor Swift American girl
May be you are right. But also I like think that one’s of many reasons to get off the train was for Henry.
And I add because she felt herself definitely disconnected from her parents... she saw her future in Russia.I think about what they said to themselves at her home before leaving: she was definitely on other page…
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2x01 Comrades
Just watched for second time… uhm… may be the third! Lol
I had incredibly forgotten how clever this show was at creating tension.
And this episode stands out precisely for this: it is the small gestures that increase the heartbeat: a terrified look of Elizabeth, the sealing the house... Philip's stutter....
I didn't remember how traumatized Elizabeth was by the massacre of Emmet's family... it seems like she's handling it worse.
In the first part of the episode we see the confirmation of what had already become increasingly evident in the second part of last season: the strengthening of the ideas and character of Philip who went hand in hand with a softening of Elizabeth – certainly no less devoted to the cause, but more aware of her feelings as a person and not only as a soldier of Russia.
Many peoples probably have already thought about it : Elizabeth's meeting with Bambi's family suggests that the season will talk us about the protection of kids....
The scenes I preferred:
Breakfast: hearing Henry talk about the friend who was going to suffocate because of the apple while Elizabeth eats bacon ecstatic (ok... it must have been good, but really good...) after what happened at night, it's priceless! It was the top in terms of double senses and irony!
Stan: I think a bullet was enough!
Elizabeth and Leanne sitting on the car: I loved Elizabeth's face when she tells her that things between her and Phil are fine ip. It reminded me of a teenager in love!!
Philip in spy mode: ok the shock but what has to be done must be done: ’‘Elizabeth , the kids…’‘ and then he goes into the closet for the suitcase with the cipher ...’
At the carnival: Elizabeth immediately realizes that Philip is working with Henry by his side...
The Jennings family happy at the carnival
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On 10/5/2022 at 12:07 AM, Chaos Theory said:
I don’t think it matters that Paige didn’t really know anything. She is still a real life proof of concept that the Russians had spies in the US. She could also fill in the blanks and confirm things for the FBI. Even if it is an educational guess she could confirm that Yes Philip is the guy who turned Martha. “Dad would spend a couple nights ever week out and said it was business. I thought he was cheating on mom but mom said he wasn’t so I let it go.” Even if she was low level she could probably give them a few names, a few dates, and confirm some bad things that the FBI believed that they had no evidence of.
Enough to make a deal.
On 10/5/2022 at 2:02 AM, sistermagpie said:I think I tend to vaguely imagine her being under some kind of punishment, but not in prison
On 10/5/2022 at 5:03 AM, sistermagpie said:I realized I thought the end of the show was about characters facing the consequences of their choices
I agree. IMHO the aim of the show is a story about a marriage and the connection with people…. Then spy story….I've never seen the JJ intention to punish Page. They leave her there…. alone …. with a big question mark about her future.
I think one of the reasons Page stayed in the US was his brother. She couldn't stand the idea of leaving him alone...
On 10/5/2022 at 5:03 AM, sistermagpie said:The ones that are chosen are the ones that play out the emotional choices they were making and the themes of the show, especially choices about connection.
I love your point of view!!!
On 10/5/2022 at 5:03 AM, sistermagpie said:P&E both kept choosing the job over setting up a longterm family situation
At least there is only one thing over their job: their relationship.
If you think about it, they have always put the other in front of everything since the pilot. Take the order to tell Page the truth: Elizabeth was determined to obey, she thought it was right... but she didn't say it behind Philip's back... they told him together, when Page asked. And I don’t mention Philip!On 10/5/2022 at 5:03 AM, sistermagpie said:Henry chose to save himself by fleeing the situation when he started to notice something wrong at home, so he ends up not having gotten the chance to know his parents, barely part of the story, not fully connected to anyone else in the story, including Stan. People are always very eager to make the Stan/Henry friendship one that provides absolutely everything each of them needs, but it's more complicated than that. They're not two puzzle pieces that fit neatly together to make a whole
Totally agree!!!
At least Henry is the healthy, innocent, part of the family and he is the one who saves his parents and, at the same time, condemns them by talking to Stan!
We always thought he was a second character in the show but actually in S6 he plays a key role.
On 10/8/2022 at 9:34 PM, Roseanna said:I think it's essential that they truly know each other.
A lonely spy is in danger to lose herself because she must always play a role.
I agree… but imho it’s more complex. Look Harvest or William… they didn’t lost themself… I think P&E realized that they had found their own soul mate.
19 hours ago, sistermagpie said:True--trusting each other and letting the other person know them is really central to their relationship and how they cultivated it. By the end of the series they both were probably most confident about each other, even when they were fighting
I definitely agree!
19 hours ago, sistermagpie said:But of course it didn't have to be that way and wasn't in the beginning of their marriage.
Here I’m not sure! I mean, I think they trust each other on the job and Philip trust Elizabeth at 360: he would never have proposed to her to defect if he didn't trust her ...
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13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:
Just watched Amber Waves. The fifth season was never my favorite, but hoping to get more out of it on second watch.
I liked the fifth season. Maybe not like the others but I found it interesting and certainly set the basis for the sixth season and the final.
There are many scenes from this season that I remember with pleasure:- P&E kill the technician in the lab (yes I know: it's terrible but the scene is wonderful) and Philip’s line: we should tell this to Page?
- Elizabeth disguise…
- The real weeding
- P, E and Page in darkroom
- Elizabeth's incredulous and disgusted look when she realizes that Philip won't shoot in Dyatkovo
and other funny lines…
13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:THE HOLE
I found the whole scene brilliant! 12 minutes during which I wondered what was going to happen... and when everything seems to be ok, here comes Elizabeth’s shot as a punch in the mouth!!
Oh your questions are mine too…
13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:BUROV
….Oleg is really sweet with his mother. You can see how no matter how much of a spoiled kid he seemed when we met him, he’s a good guy at heart.
Here we can see Oleg define himself and we can understand why he will comeback in US in S6.
13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:MISCHA
Uhm….Have we already said that this storyline is one of the few things that doesn't work???
13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:STAN
As I said, the path to the S6 begins. Stan begins to have problems with work and begins to feel the need for connection with other people. He gets closer and closer to the Jennings and ties up to Rene. Those will make realistic the garage scene.
13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:PAIGE
…. Not sleeping has been a consistent thing with Paige since back in S1. It’s the tell that means she’s in distress.
Good call!
13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:I’m not sure exactly what she’s saying there. On first watch I thought her “I don’t want it to get better” was her saying that she didn’t want to become more okay with violence, but maybe not. What is it “supposed to” here? None of it is supposed to bother her? None of it is supposed to be happening? That latter seems like it might work best, like she’s saying their job isn’t supposed to affect her life, but it is?
I think your first idea was correct: I think she believes that forgetting what happened is wrong because it could mean becoming a bad person.
13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:PHILIP
If Tuan is Elizabeth without Philip, the Morozovs are the Jennings in Russia.
And Philip understand the best plan for Henry is stay in US.
And he believes it so much that he will be able to convince Elizabeth... he never falters, not even in the face of her despair.13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:ELIZABETH
Here we can see how Elizabeth would be if Philip was out of her life.. if she would work alone. And she knows it very well. She will tell It to Tuan.
For 8 EP. S6 we will think that Elizabeth’s prophecy has come true. We thought she had become like Tuan, we thought she lost herself.And finally:
thank you for another your wonderful post!!!
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3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:
Was she furious with Arkady? I can't even remember if she knew Arkady was the one who sent Oleg to the US in S6?
No, she isn’t furious whit Arkady. I misunderstood your post. Sorry my fault.
3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:I guess if she suspected by then that Oleg turned William
We know she suspected! She said that clearly to Oleg in S6 when they met each other.
4 hours ago, sistermagpie said:Yup. He knows Elizabeth isn't going to want to leave with that tape, but he can't throw it away either. And I don't think it's just because he didn't want to carry that big of a lie.
Agree! He is still committed with this. Serving his country. We already said: people thought Philip never defect only because Elizabeth; I disagree: when he can choose, he always chooses his country, he chooses to stay in.
And of course he didn’t want to carry that big lie…. He knows very well that it’s bad to lie to Elizabeth… he learned his lesson
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I’ here again.
11 hours ago, sistermagpie said:ADDERHOLT
Adderholt and Stan’s questions to William contrast their different styles of working. I swear there’s a scene where Adderholt tells Stan that the Illegals are “just people” while Stan just recently referred to the Russians as animals. Here Adderholt asks William if there’s someone they can contact—clearly implying family and when William says everyone who needs to know he’s there already does, Stan says they don’t know if they’ve made him talk. Then Adderholt asks if William liked what he was doing. Stan follows them up by confirming that he was still committed to doing the work. Adderholt’s questions lean toward the personal; Stan brings it back to the professional.
Obviously Adderholt’s being professional here as well. It will help him do his job to understand how Illegals tick. But he still sounds genuinely curious when he asks William questions, especially the one about whether he liked being an Illegal. It’s that sincerity, I think, that makes his offer of a coke so funny. Classic Adderholt!
I think Adderolht is the best FBI agent we see in the show. He uses a difference style work here with William compared to Father Andrej. He is more aggressive with Father Andrej. It seems he evaluates in different way the two of them. I feel he respects William determination.
11 hours ago, sistermagpie said:STAN
Watching this ep again, I realized there could be a much better reason why the line makes an impression on Stan. Philip relates to William’s doubts about what he’s doing, but I think Stan might be the one who most relates to William’s descriptions of isolation: “There was always...A distance. A...A barrier. The absence of closeness makes you......Dry inside.” That seems like something that would resonate with Stan, the guy who couldn’t reconnect with his family. (Elizabeth will relate to this as well in S6, of course—that picture she likes so much is literally a woman behind glass.)
Oh…. Never thought! Thank you. Those lines must have strike Stan. They sound like something for him… and of course for Elizabeth in S6.
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8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:
Just watched Persona Non Grata—what a season this is. We’ve come so far since the start of it, and the end is already setting up the endgame.
Thank you for your post. I feel JJ knew where they wanted to go.
8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:THE REZIDENTURA
The three Rez characters here are all set in place for where they’ll be in S6. Tatiana loses the Kenya job (due to Oleg, though she doesn’t know that). Oleg decides to go home to be there for his mother. Arkady calls him a good son, then is blindsided when he, too, has to leave (thanks to Tatiana’s advice about keeping the mail robot!)
Arkady’s opinion of Oleg has already changed a lot since he met him, but this last step is probably still important. Oleg going home shows that he doesn’t put his career ambitions first, which will probably confirm Arkady’s thoughts about why he turned William in. That’s in contrast with Tatiana who talks about Arkady like he’s dead after he’s lost his position.
I understood Arkady and Oleg journey, honestly not Tatiana’s. I didn’t understand why she became a member of hard KGB. I know she is furios with Oleg, but why Arkady?
8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:MISCHA
I remember how my heart just dropped the first thing when I realized who we were meeting in his scene. The Irina mess that would not die. I always felt—irrationally, I know—like all the time that would have been spent on Philip’s backstory was given to Irina and her relatives instead.
As usual with anything touching on Irina, we get scenes written as if the characters are all so aware of the details of what’s going on (even though they shouldn’t be) that they never say anything that nails them down for the audience, because they can’t.
Further Irina complications: Irina the fugitive somehow managed to send a sack full of contraband to her father in the USSR, and he’s managed to keep it hidden under his mattress despite his daughter being a traitor and grandson being a dissident. Irina gave Mischa some information about his father in some way at some time, who the hell knows how or when or in what context.
The point is that Grandpa is now passing the contraband on to Mischa to go find Philip. Mischa bundles up the pile of wildly illegal stuff in his coat and either takes it to his bedroom where he was raised by his grandfather (they are clearly very close—though Mischa refers to him formally because he was born in the 60s) or maybe out to wherever he lives since he got released from a mental hospital this morning, hoping that he won’t attract any attention walking along the street with something bundled in the coat he’s not wearing in Moscow in January.
I really don’t doubt that they never fleshed this stuff out. If MR the actor didn’t get a backstory for Philip, no way did these actors get any.
We already spent a lot words about Misha and Irina stuff. More I think about this, less it convinces me. I thin that is the only one second story didn’t work.
All characters have a credible background, either Misha and Irina no.
8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:PAIGE….
I think she is moving from Pastor Tim to her mom because she is feeling like she was betrayed by Pastor Tim. Never disappoint a teenager.
Also I feel she understood what her Mom told her in 4x08 (the famous Keri’s vein scene).
8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:Elizabeth clearly sees Paige offering herself as a student, but still shows a little hesitation about it. She also shows some trepidation about returning to Russia. When she asks Philip if he thinks their home country has changed much, most people seemed to take the exchange to mean that Elizabeth imagined the USSR as a paradise by now while Philip was more pessimistic, but to me it seems like Elizabeth is a bit scared at the idea that it’s changed and Philip is reassuring her it won’t have changed that much. Which goes along with who Elizabeth is, and certainly where she’s going to be in S6. They’re both nervous at the idea of bringing Paige and Henry there for real, an idea that will become more important in S5 & 6
I think Elizabeth was afraid of the idea of going home. On side she didn’t really know how home is changed… on the other side she was committed in America and she was sure she was doing a good thing for her Country.
8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:It even makes me think how Gabriel here tells the Jennings their jobs were never meant to be permanent when Elizabeth will tell Paige in S6 that if she takes the job, it must be forever.
this is linked to what I wrote above. IMHO Elizabeth felt that the scope of her life was to serve his country. And this is forever.
8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:I like how important friends are in this series
Me too. The show talk about people need connections with other people! Page felt herself alone and she joined in her mom teams, Philip with Stan and vice-versa. William says loneliness made him dry-inside…. After last fought with her daughter Elizabeth realized only person who understands her is her husband…
9 hours ago, sistermagpie said:The center piece of this ep is William’s death. That scene winds up echoing through the rest of the series, the way it hits on so many themes, particularly for the male characters.
Oh yes!!!
9 hours ago, sistermagpie said:PHLIIP
William has been a reflection of Philip all season, with most things Gabriel says about him applying to Philip as well. I hadn’t noticed before that Philip’s speech at EST about not liking his job anymore is basically a repetition of what William himself said in the last ep. The question Philip puts at the center of it again, it seems, is whether he is the same person who chose to take this job years ago.
I loved your analysis about Philip here.
I feel Philip didn’t see himself like William. He was afraid to became like him. But he felt close himself with William POV. He understands his doubts.
9 hours ago, sistermagpie said:When he makes the same choice as William, he’ll know he’s doing it because he is the same guy he was in fundamental ways, not for fear of losing Elizabeth’s love or disappointing others
Totally agree. at least Philip made his journey . He understood who he is. On a thousand occasions he could have thrown everything behind him... I also think of the final of S5 when he decides to hold the tape and tell its contents to his wife. If he hadn't, they would have come home and no one would have known anything. Philip takes the decisions he takes because he believes it!!!
…. to be continued…
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1 hour ago, Zella said:
It is a very realistic scene! As hilarious as I find that scene, I think I crack up even more at the aftermath the next morning when Paige is staring at her mom putting that bacon in her mouth while Henry unwittingly prattles on about a friend of his choking on food. LOLOL
OMG Dear Zella… you don’t know how you are right!!! LOL. Do you believe me if I tell you I didn’t get the double meaning in that scene at first time. I’ve just rewatch now… Liz eats that bacon like she were in heaven....
Anyway, the best sex scene of all show was the tooth extraction in Open House. For God rules, it is a part of TV history!
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The Americans - General Discussion
in The Americans
Thank you!
Amazing as usual!