How I Want The Americans To End

[Ellaria]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I don't know what to expect or what to wish for now.  It's all rather hilarious.  These people can throw anything at us. 

I used to think that P & E might be killed in the finale season, but, now....I don't know. They could all end up having dinner at the Roy Rogers or IHOP.  lol  Recall that episode entitled Dinner for Seven? P, E, Paige, Henry, Tuan, Stan and Renee! Why not?  

Ref. Stan.....I wonder what he would do if he DOES discover that P & E are KGB.  AND THAT RENEE IS TOO!  How would he have the nerve to report them? He would look complicit.  No way he would be given any credit.  I mean, his live-in girlfriend and best friends/neighbors are all KGB.  Then, he's begging for pity for Oleg.......come one.  Looks fishy to me.  

2 hours ago, SlovakPrincess said:

I would like to finally get some damn mileage out of the fact that Stan the FBI agent is friend and neighbor to Soviet spies!  I would like him to catch a clue sooner rather than later, and watch his suspicion and horror grow ... but I fear most of the last season will just be him in the Renee plot (which moves at a slower than glacial pace).

I am not looking forward to Paige serenely accepting the spy life, though I fear that's where we are headed.   We went from boring depressed Paige to boring "this is fine and normal and I'm no longer conflicted" Paige...

I'd like to see Oleg get out of his mess, rather than a sad retread of Nina's story, which is what it's starting to look like.   

I'm not sure what I'm wishing for either. Right now, I'm expecting less rather than more and I don't mean that in a negative way. I think that fates of some of these characters will be left in doubt. We may not get closure in some instances.

I hope that Henry gets to go to boarding school now that Ma & Pa will be hanging around in the US for awhile. Not looking forward to Paige as the willing junior spy either. Her story line holds no interest for me because (IMO) the execution of it has been poor.  Overall, I don't expect the Jennings' family unit to survive intact. I think that Phil will die somehow. (And I have no idea of how that "somehow" goes down.)

Yes, Stan needs to do something - like use his "spidey sense" to finally figure out that his neighbors are KGB. Then he can make a decision to act on this information or not. I don't want him stumbling around for a bunch of episodes with a crisis of conscience. I have lost interest in Renee and the "is she or isn't she a spy" question. At this point, maybe she can just push him along towards his final reckoning about his neighbors.

I'm a little worried about Oleg, too. I have a feeling that we will see him get dragged off to prison. That would bother me because he is the only character that I care about other than Henry.

[Erin9]

I don't like the idea of Henry in boarding school. I want him to be involved with the family, and  I want him to find out the truth. I just can't identify with him wanting  to go to boarding school anyway. I've never met anyone who aspired to that. Private schools, elite in town performing arts schools sure,  but not boarding school. It certainly isn't necessary for future success or to get into a good college. It was nice to see Henry passionate about school and his future,  but I'm with Philip. He's doing fine at home anyway. Maybe if he'd been like Paige, I'd think differently. 

I can't even begin to predict the end, but the way they set things up in this finale- I could see E getting into trouble working alone leading to her or P getting killed-  if he steps in. The finale sure left me with a feeling of doom for their fate. (And Oleg's too.) 

I'm curious if we have a bit of a time jump and come back to everyone settled in the new reality, or if we'll pick up right where we left off. I could see a small time jump- just so that the plan Elizabeth thinks will save them starts blowing up faster. (I assume her idea won't work in reality. She or the centre will need Philip. Or he'll want to protect her. Or things with Kimmy get complicated. Something is bound to go wrong. )

Stan's fate is really hard to say. He seems to be in the least physical danger these days. But we don't know if Renee is a spy or not. And he is burned out. Renee saying the FBI needs him won't fix his disillusionment or burnout. Or that he's on thin ice in his job anyway. But, right now, he seems fine. At this point, were he to get fired for unknowingly being friends with spies, he might not care much- about the being fired part anyhow. 

I really don't want a super depressing end after watching these characters get steadily more depressed and watching them struggle for so long. No payoff there for me. I'd like to be surprised and find out that the endgame involves something other than death or familial separation or some other tragedy.  But my definition of payoff and the writers is likely different. For instance, I get why Misha never met Philip. I do. But it was depressing after all the build up. 

My guess is Henry and Paige will be okay, regardless of the end for their parents. They're tough kids. They might wind up in the Soviet Union though. If P and E get caught or killed, they may get shipped there anyway. The American government may not want the kids of spies staying in their country. I seem to recall that happening to real life spies kids. 

[Umbelina]

I hope Philip dies at this point, Paige too.

Let Elizabeth deal with that and go on a murder spree once she finds out it was the KGB that killed Philip.
 

I've always wanted them to get out and live happy lives somewhere, but now?  Don't care, but Philip's only logical end is death while the force Liz and Paige to stay in the game.  It's honestly the only thing that makes sense, especially when Gabe bailed (I think to avoid having to carry out an order to kill Philip) and now Tuan has ratted him out more.

Center was already unhappy, now?  I think they would act.  Or maybe just threaten Misha's life to keep Phil on the straight and narrow?

[sistermagpie]

49 minutes ago, Erin9 said:

I don't like the idea of Henry in boarding school. I want him to be involved with the family, and  I want him to find out the truth. I just can't identify with him wanting  to go to boarding school anyway. I've never met anyone who aspired to that. Private schools, elite in town performing arts schools sure,  but not boarding school. It certainly isn't necessary for future success or to get into a good college. It was nice to see Henry passionate about school and his future,  but I'm with Philip. He's doing fine at home anyway. Maybe if he'd been like Paige, I'd think differently. 

I knew a couple of people who did this and it wasn't even that big of a deal. Can't say I really knew why they were into it. Well, one of them I think was just they liked the idea of the whole thing, like it was something in a movie and made them a bit special. That said, I can't actually get myself to feel like Henry's being denied anything by not going. I don't see it as an important"dream" to wear a tie and serve as a waiter at a fancy boarding school. Seems like just another in a series of things that has caught Henry's attention. This one's got a girl attached.

But I agree, I don't get ignoring Henry as a force in the family. I think they've undermined themselves by not keeping up with his relationships with the Jennings. The stuff with Stan was more just somebody for him to perform his personality for and now I'm not sure if I'm impression of his place in the family is even correct, since there seem to be so many people who disagree.

But more importantly, Henry's basically at a similar place as Paige was at his age so I don't see why it isn't interesting to play that out? Both kids have things that would appeal to them about P&E's jobs (and things that wouldn't). Paige got into politics and sacrifice and thought her parents were just selfish middle class suburbanites. Henry seems enamored of the elite with sexy jobs and thinks his parents are lame suburbanites. They're very different kids that could have very different reactions and also have reason to talk to each other. I wouldn't get any satisfaction out of Henry just finding out at the end and turning them in or whatever.

[Erin9]

I'd be appalled if Henry found out in the very end and we got no real reaction from him. We should see it play out. And there's so little time. He's so different from Paige; it would be a different thing. 

And I'd hate HATE it if he turned his parents in. I'm not sure I could enjoy him in re-watches if he went there. 

I think the bottom line of Henry possibly not getting to go to boarding school is that I simply don't buy it as a big loss. It really isn't. 

Edited June 1, 2017 by Erin9

[Erin9]

49 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

I hope Philip dies at this point, Paige too.

Let Elizabeth deal with that and go on a murder spree once she finds out it was the KGB that killed Philip.
 

I've always wanted them to get out and live happy lives somewhere, but now?  Don't care, but Philip's only logical end is death while the force Liz and Paige to stay in the game.  It's honestly the only thing that makes sense, especially when Gabe bailed (I think to avoid having to carry out an order to kill Philip) and now Tuan has ratted him out more.

Center was already unhappy, now?  I think they would act.  Or maybe just threaten Misha's life to keep Phil on the straight and narrow?

While what you say is somewhat logical, I hope you're wrong. The writers have surprised me- I sure didn't expect this season to end as it did. So I hope they have something better than the obvious death and/or familial destruction. I hope for something far more pleasant than you do, unlikely as it may be. I root for all of them to survive and maybe just maybe get some small chance to thrive. 

I do think Elizabeth is unlikely to be able to keep spying much longer regardless of what the centre does or doesn't do.  She's burning out fast. And she's already foreshadowed disaster without Philip when talking to Tuon.

The tapes keep Philip incredibly valuable to them. That's bigger than just about anything they have going. The biggest thing since Philip got the bug in Gaad's office. As long as he can keep that up, they'd be fools to kill him. Good luck getting a replacement and certainly a quick one. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Erin9

[Umbelina]

That may be the real reason they used that tape, not to keep them in the USA, but to have one logical reason why the KGB won't kill him.

Yet.

[Erin9]

7 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

That may be the real reason they used that tape, not to keep them in the USA, but to have one logical reason why the KGB won't kill him.

Yet.

I could see the centre gunning for Elizabeth too in the not too distant future. She's fading fast now. And I see things as getting worse not better for her. Quickly. Really, she needs to be done too. She's already a shell of who she was even at the beginning of this season. 

[Umbelina]

I think that's maybe because she's in love with her endlessly Debbie Downer husband now, and that may be how Center sees it as well, especially if whomever is handling the priest now finds out he married them.

[scrb]

I don't think the actor playing Henry could pull off a complicated reaction.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

I think that's maybe because she's in love with her endlessly Debbie Downer husband now, and that may be how Center sees it as well, especially if whomever is handling the priest now finds out he married them.

It's not, though. Falling in love may absolutely be the thing that sent both of them down this path, but Elizabeth hanging out outside Young-Hee's house and worrying about feeling feelings isn't about Philip. When she meets somebody she can actually see as a person (iow, somebody she sees something of herself in) she has reactions.

[Haleth]

I want to find out that Renee is not a spy, either American or Russian, because it's too obvious that she could be.

I want to find out that Oleg's father is not involved in the corruption Oleg is investigating.  I want his whole family to be fine  Maybe they can adopt Mischa as a little brother.

I want Henry to spill the beans to Stan, either inadvertently or because he freaks out after finding/seeing something.  Not that he'd want to betray his parents, but because Stan is the only adult he connects with.  And someone needs to spell things out clearly for the country's most clueless FBI agent.

i hope all the Jennings survive. I thought the Tuan/Pasha situation was going to make Elizabeth rethink letting Paige continue her training (training Tuan to be so cold blooded is unsettling) and maybe it would have started her on the road to defection.  I guess it makes sense that she'd rather return home than betray her country, albeit without boots and dishwasher.

[Erin9]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

I want to find out that Renee is not a spy, either American or Russian, because it's too obvious that she could be.

I want to find out that Oleg's father is not involved in the corruption Oleg is investigating.  I want his whole family to be fine  Maybe they can adopt Mischa as a little brother.

I want Henry to spill the beans to Stan, either inadvertently or because he freaks out after finding/seeing something.  Not that he'd want to betray his parents, but because Stan is the only adult he connects with.  And someone needs to spell things out clearly for the country's most clueless FBI agent.

i hope all the Jennings survive. I thought the Tuan/Pasha situation was going to make Elizabeth rethink letting Paige continue her training (training Tuan to be so cold blooded is unsettling) and maybe it would have started her on the road to defection.  I guess it makes sense that she'd rather return home than betray her country, albeit without boots and dishwasher.

I might have agreed before this week, but I find it hard to buy into any real girl friend trying to talk to her boyfriend into staying at a job that he admits makes him feel miserable. She's supposed to care about him. It's not like there would be money issues to be concerned about; he wanted a transfer out of counter-intelligence. He wasn't trying to start a whole new career either. Now, if she's a spy, she at least played the moment decently by saying the FBI needs him where he is to try and get him to stay.  And she likely succeeded. Nice play to his ego. IMO- either she's a lousy girl friend or a spy.

Eh- I just can't see Henry blurting out anything substantial to Stan. They don't have that kind of relationship imo, and Henry's not that kind of kid.

I do want all the Jennings (and Oleg and his parents) to survive, preferably together. It seems unlikely, but we'll see. They've made everything seem so utterly hopeless; I'd like to be pleasantly surprised. The showrunners said there are some surprises in the final season. We'll see. Honestly- death, the family splitting or them going to prison would be anything but surprising. I know they were talking about the season as a whole, but that really would be surprising to see them find another way to end this.

 I'll be pretty mad though if the show has Philip and Elizabeth break up in the last 10 episodes after 5 seasons of slowly building their relationship, even letting them get married. That would truly render the whole series worthless in my eyes. 

[Umbelina]

You are such a romantic @Erin9!  I hope you get your wish.  Kudo's for sticking by this show, and all of your positive posts.  You may not realize it, but I really enjoy seeing someone still enjoy the show.

I was so much more interested in their relationship when the rest of the show at least attempted to stick to some intelligence and believably in the spy plots.  I think I resent the "tru luv" stuff only because I feel they've sacrificed the integrity of the show for that and that alone.  For me, it was so much better to have both sides be good. 

Of course there were always reality jumps, but those I understood.  They needed to keep the stars on screen doing break ins and assassinations when in reality, they would never have been tasked with those things.  They had teams for that, and would never risk their expensive, deeply embedded spies, and the second generation spy plan by having them bug a mail robot.  EVER.  They would obtain the intel that it was bugged, which they did, and hand it off to the guys at the residentura. 

This season though, the rest of the story is both boring, anvils on my head, and stupidly implausible, while the luv story is padded.  It just hasn't worked for me, but I love that it works for some, and enjoy reading those posts.

[Erin9]

Thanks @Umbelina. :)

I did like the season, but I'll agree it wasn't the best. There were frustrations. I really wasn't thrilled with the Misha plot, even though I got it. I'm still annoyed that we know so little about Philip's past; I don't see a reasonable explanation for them to FINALLY give us some insight into Philip's past- but stop short of truly explaining it. We deserve-imo- to really understand where he came from, like we do Elizabeth. And I suspect I was as thrilled as everyone else when the Paige/Matthew story mercifully ended. It was another story that I got the point of- and I never bought that he'd bring the house of cards down- but was kind of annoyed with because who really cared about those 2 as a couple anyway. At least the airtime devoted to it was minimal. I'd have rather seen Philip and Stan hang out really. I missed that. So, when I say I liked it, I did have issues with it. I'm just no where close to being as frustrated as some viewers are. 

 And, while I liked this season and I see its value, it comes with a caveat- I'm hoping that seeing everyone so miserable for so long will have some kind of positive pay off- that we watched it for a reason- rather than what seems like the likely conclusion at this moment- that in the end Oleg, P and E, and Stan's lives totally and irrevocably fall apart in the end. That's a lot of unhappiness for the audience to watch just for it to end like that. Realistic though it may be. 

Philip and Elizabeth's relationship deepening was one of the most believable, and best, aspects of the season. It's probably why I enjoyed the season more than some others did. That really worked for me. I'm not sure what was sacrificed by allowing them to draw closer. The burn out on both parts was equally believable and made for interesting viewing- though I'd like to see them both find some way out of the misery they both feel. Even with Elizabeth- that had been slowly building since around the time of Betty's death in S3. That same can be said for Stan and Oleg. It had all been coming for a very long time. 

[Umbelina]

I really don't think Elizabeth would have burned out at ALL if she wasn't living with and loving depressed, miserable, I hate my life! Philip  though.

I suspect that the Center will see it the same way.  The most logical ending is them taking out Philip, or, at the very least trying to.  Anything could happen after that.  Escape, Liz taking the bullet for Phil, defection...endless possibilities.

However, I think extortion will be the theme next season.  Pasha and Misha will be threatened, perhaps even tortured or jailed, to keep their parents in line and towing the company line.

Why introduce Misha at all, let alone give that much time to him, if not?  I think their stories could parallel next season.  Philip and the mother of the family he just tore apart, both having their children uses as pawns against them.

Maybe Elizabeth's new partner will be Tuan!  Or the KGB will plan for that, after all, she just wrote to tell them he needs one, and I'm absolutely certain Center feels she needs a new one.

Edited June 1, 2017 by Umbelina

[khyber]

Maybe if Elizabeth dies Phillip will go back to the Soviet Union and move in with Martha/

[Sarah 103]

On May 31, 2017 at 2:27 PM, SlovakPrincess said:

Last night, I thought she was going to start a conversation with Henry on the evils of capitalism while watching Reagan's dangerous joke on TV -- and that Henry would be like "what?  Are you nuts?!"  Maybe next season -- would be nice to see the siblings converse at all, at this point, it's been so long!

I'd like to see Oleg get out of his mess, rather than a sad retread of Nina's story, which is what it's starting to look like.   

I would love to see another Paige and Henry adventure, like the trip to the mall. Of all the characters, I think I'm rooting hardest for Oleg to come through this okay. I honestly think that Oleg might get out of this alive and reasonably well, because like it or not he has a powerful father and I'm sure he must know things that powerful people would not want revealed. 

On May 31, 2017 at 6:24 PM, Erin9 said:

My guess is Henry and Paige will be okay, regardless of the end for their parents. They're tough kids. They might wind up in the Soviet Union though. If P and E get caught or killed, they may get shipped there anyway. The American government may not want the kids of spies staying in their country. I seem to recall that happening to real life spies kids. 

Henry and Paige may end up staying depending on how their parents are killed. For them to get sent back to the Soviet Union, the people investigating how Philip and Elizabeth died would have to figure out that they were spies. 

On May 31, 2017 at 7:37 PM, Erin9 said:

I'd be appalled if Henry found out in the very end and we got no real reaction from him. We should see it play out. And there's so little time. He's so different from Paige; it would be a different thing. 

And I'd hate HATE it if he turned his parents in. I'm not sure I could enjoy him in re-watches if he went there. 

I really want to see Henry find out. I don't think Henry will turn his parents in, but I could see him saying something to Stan that Henry thought was perfectly innocent/innocuous, but starts Stan thinking or maybe is a crucial piece of the puzzle. 

Also, I'm not really sure where this should go, so I'm putting it here. I've always thought it would be fun for this series to do a classic bottle episode (an episode that uses only existing cast, no guest stars, and existing sets, no new sets). There is a blackout. Stan and Philip would be at the travel agency. They were coming from the gym or something, Stan mentioned travel plans, so Philip suggests stopping by the agency, even though the agency is technically closed. Paige and Henry will be at home. Elizabeth will be with Claudia. 

Edited June 5, 2017 by Sarah 103

[TimWil]

I'd like to have Renee revealed as CIA. It will be explained that she's with Stan because the CIA already has Philip and Elizabeth under suspicion (there's a plant in their travel agency) and her function is to discover if Stan is somehow in cahoots with them. Because...COME ON...they live across the street from one another. A mighty clash between the FBI and CIA ensues in the stunning climax of the series finale.

[Sarah 103]

20 hours ago, TimWil said:

I'd like to have Renee revealed as CIA. It will be explained that she's with Stan because the CIA already has Philip and Elizabeth under suspicion (there's a plant in their travel agency) and her function is to discover if Stan is somehow in cahoots with them. 

The part about this theory that I love is the idea that there's a plant in their travel agency. 

[TimWil]

Thanks, Sarah! Yeah, I would love it because their travel agency business has so far been treated as this totally innocuous concern. 

[crgirl412]

I am not sure how I want it to end as there are so many options!!   I want to see P & E severely punished by the US Government but I also want them to go back home and live in a crappy-though-very-lovely-for-Soviet-standards-apartment and not get the huge hero's welcome that they were led to expect and how they deal with that.  I also want to see how they deal with what is coming to fruition in the late 80's and early 90's.  See??  I want it ALL!!!   I need to pick a lane!!  If I do then I will write about it!! 

[SunnyBeBe]

I'm surprised that so many fans want  Henry to find out his parents' secret.  I don't get it.  It would forever ruin his life. Better for Henry that he never know, if possible.  That's why I hope that Henry is mostly removed from the home next season.  I can't see anything good for him in the list of potential endings.  Either he partakes in the mayhem or he stands by and helplessly watches things unfold.  I won't savor either one. If he is around, Stan has already set the stage by informing Henry that you CAN'T trust anyone.  

I have fluctuated on wanting to see P and E pay for their crimes.  Right now, I'm hoping that P doesn't get killed. If he does, I don't think it will be by The Center.  No reason for them to kill E either.  

I read some pretty amusing possibilities here from some real life Russian spy illegals.  Hmmm.....Obviously, a swap would be preferable to prison or execution.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegals_Program

Does anyone recall when The Center sent people to abduct P and see how he would stand up during an arrest and interrogation?  So, I suppose that he would continue to deny all allegations of him being a spy right?  I can't recall what he said to his torturers, do you?  I know he stayed true to his cause and didn't crack.  I wonder if he would do the same now. 

Edited June 15, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[Superpole2000]

If I could get another season about wheat and Russian grocery stores...okay anything but that and I'll be fine. I do think fast forwarding to the 90s would be interesting, but only if saved for the final episode or two.

[sistermagpie]

On 6/15/2017 at 10:19 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

I'm surprised that so many fans want  Henry to find out his parents' secret.  I don't get it.  It would forever ruin his life. Better for Henry that he never know, if possible.  That's why I hope that Henry is mostly removed from the home next season.  I can't see anything good for him in the list of potential endings.  Either he partakes in the mayhem or he stands by and helplessly watches things unfold.  I won't savor either one. If he is around, Stan has already set the stage by informing Henry that you CAN'T trust anyone.  

Well, being away wouldn’t really shield him from anything really bad that happened. If your parents die, disappear or get outed as Soviet spies, they’ll tell you at boarding school. So he'd just be standing there helplessly after the fact.

The advantage, though, is that he actually gets to know his parents, which I think the show’s made a case for being a positive thing either way. Either he gets through his entire life without ever finding out because nothing happens to his parents, etc. or it all falls apart and it's better for Paige who got a chance to know and understand them some.

Actually, that sometimes feels like if they keep going the way they are with Henry there’s very few endings that would really land for him either way. That is, there’s been so few scenes that get into the specifics of his relationships with his parents that the stakes are really low for him. Like it’s just “his life is ruined” in a generic way. It's hard to say with any confidence exactly how he sees his parents at this point because there just haven't been the scenes, but the few things he said this season made it seem like he just thought they were kind of ordinary and dull. So the fact that he doesn't know them at all seems relevant.

On 6/15/2017 at 10:19 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

Does anyone recall when The Center sent people to abduct P and see how he would stand up during an arrest and interrogation?  So, I suppose that he would continue to deny all allegations of him being a spy right?  I can't recall what he said to his torturers, do you?  I know he stayed true to his cause and didn't crack.  I wonder if he would do the same now. 

They kidnapped both P&E because they were trying to see if either one (but really mostly Philip) was the mole who had already turned. Though even back then he had earlier claimed that if he was picked up by the FBI he'd confess. So I think as with a lot of these characters he wouldn't really know what he'd do until it came time to do it. Though of course there are some things it's hard to imagine as possibilities given the personalities.

[Chaos Theory]

I always liked the idea of P&E raising the next generation of American dreamers.  By Ignoring Henry they have allowed him to be raised a true American which I think is an interesting thing for the show to explore during the final season.  By corrupting Paige they denied her a happy future but for Henry the sky is the limit.  Even if P&E never get caught I would love Henry to grow up with polar opposite and loyalties to his parents.

[Razzberry]

I want to see them deported and Martha gut-punching Elizabeth over the last good potato in a Moscow market.

[White Sheep]

December 25 1991.   

Red Square.  Moscow  

Camera shows Soviet flag comeing down for the last time. 

Camera pans to the Jennings family all standing there in the square in Soviet type clothes  

Phillip says let's go home family.  

They walk off hand in hand back to the USA. 

[CASinCHI]

How will it all end?

Philip and Elizabeth will return to the USSR, however they'll make it look like they died (in a car wreck or something) so that Henry will never know the truth.  Paige will stay behind and keep up the family business.  My 2¢ adjusted for inflation

[All That Jazz]

I would like clueless Stan to get a clue and orchestrate their capture. Henry and Paige suffer the public humiliation of being the children of spies who murdered innocent Americans. The kids move to Canada and adopt new identities to escape the hounding press. Under a little known statute about the offspring of spies, their US citizenship is revoked. 60 Minutes does a feature on "The Spies Next Door." Elizabeth kills herself rather than spend the rest of her life in prison. Philip spills everything he knows and is forever burdened with guilt about what he has done. Claudia is captured trying to sneak out of the country. Philip lives out his days in maximum security prison. Stan writes a best seller about being best friends with the spy family until the pieces clicked together. William Webster, Director of the FBI, claims a major success in fighting communism.

Decades later, a cable tv network premieres a show about Soviet illegals that is inspired by, but not based on, the Jennings family.

[BetyBee]

On 6/22/2017 at 10:37 AM, CASinCHI said:

How will it all end?

Philip and Elizabeth will return to the USSR, however they'll make it look like they died (in a car wreck or something) so that Henry will never know the truth.  Paige will stay behind and keep up the family business.  My 2¢ adjusted for inflation

And the bodies in the car wreck will be the last innocents who had to die for the "cause".  

[kokapetl]

I think shady Renee will somehow imperil Stan's life, and Philip will save his life, but in a way that will expose his Directorate S status to Stan. Stan will be conflicted about what to do. At the same time, the revelation of the Jennings identities by the FBI will become imminent, Elizabeth will end up dead and Phil will escape. 

[Umbelina]

It's a myth that no one breaks under questioning.  Pretty much everyone breaks, and always has, no matter which group has them as long as they are well trained in interrogation.  There are so many methods available it's mind boggling.  Chemical, psychological, sleep deprivation, and physical torture is only one of them, and frankly, probably the least reliable.

[methodwriter85]

On 6/22/2017 at 11:37 AM, CASinCHI said:

How will it all end?

Philip and Elizabeth will return to the USSR, however they'll make it look like they died (in a car wreck or something) so that Henry will never know the truth.  Paige will stay behind and keep up the family business.  My 2¢ adjusted for inflation

I can see that. Bonus points that we see Paige on her first day of college in fall 1986, listening intently to a political science professor. (The show could do fastforwards to 1986 or 1987 and it wouldn't be too off, given that I'm expect the last season to take place in 1985.)

The showrunners really seem like they don't give a shit about the complaints people have about Paige's storyline/character development so I can't see this not closing out with Paige having an important moment.

Edited July 7, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Nash]

I don't think this is a "hail of bullets" series. A shot in the head, maybe.

The British turned Gordievsky, the London Rezident in the 80s; they may already have done so in the off screen timeline. So, while he wouldn't know DC operational details at all, he may be telling the men in jermyn street suits some KGB gossip that leads to the Jennings. George Smiley would sort it out.

Not sure though if this is the kind of series in which ANYONE wins. 

Edited July 10, 2017 by Nash
Typo

[Umbelina]

At this point?

 

I just want it to end in a believable way, something that either forgets all about this bullshit season we just finished, or at least justifies this last horrible season 5.  I want them to go back to the writing that made this show such a favorite.   I was bored silly in season 5, stopped recommending the show, and if that had been the kind of writing we got during the first 4 seasons?  I would never have continued to watch.

I want a good payoff to what WAS an excellent show.  It wasn't that every story this year was in itself BAD, it's IS that the writing was boring and slow and went nowhere.  If it was all just a set up for a GREAT finale season?  I would be more likely to forgive season 5.

What is with shows that dump half the characters we love and want to watch anyway?  I honestly don't get it.  Martha, Arkady, Nina, Gabe, that chick Oleg was banging the acting director of the KGB office in DC, the scientist who was allergic to everything, and more.  We came to care about them and poof, mass exodus.  Then they plopped Oleg in Russia, introducing more characters, which, though I was interested in them?  Kept him out of the action with the core group that anchor the show.

True Blood kind of did that, their season 5 was shit, but 6 and 7 stepped up and delivered at the end.

Edited September 18, 2017 by Umbelina

[Mr. R0b0t]

Strange season, but binge watching it seemed to help with the pacing issues so many people are talking about.  How cool would it be for Phillip to get busted for being Kimmie's weed man?

[Pink-n-Green]

Here's what I would really love to see as the series wraps up.  Apologizing beforehand because I'm not certain at all that I can translate my "vision" from my head to the keyboard! 

It's 1987 and Paige is a sophomore in college (I figure she's the same age as I am).  She lives in a dorm but is still close enough to take part in family spying hijinks.  In the last episode, we jump ahead to 1989 when she is graduating from college.  Somehow, I'm not sure how, we cut to E and P and Henry, heck maybe even Stan and his woman in the audience watching the ceremony. Then a montage of Paige clips starts up, showing her from the beginning of the series and you can see how much she has changed.  Over this montage, you can hear a group of people saying, "...I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter." and the camera cuts to Paige standing in a group of people and they're all wearing Service Dress Whites.  She has her right hand up and you can hear her voice plainly saying, "So help me God"

So basically Paige got an appointment to the Naval Academy (I had considered West Point but the Naval Academy is closer to where they live) and she is now a commissioned officer and the sky is the limit as far as the information she can get. 

It doesn't look so hot on the page but, I swear, it was good in my head! lol

[Chaos Theory]

I am still hoping for some melancholy happy ending.  Philip and Elizabeth stuck in the United States after the fall of communist Russia.  Henry never learns the truth about his parents and becomes a hard core capitalist.   Paige continues to follow in her parents footsteps and becomes a spy.  Not really a Russian not truly an American.   Stan works his way up the FBI but with ties to the Jennings and Paige who he continues to be an unknowing leak.  Maybe even glimpses of Martha making her way back to the US as USSR falls.

In otherwords life goes on. 

I don’t want a big gunfight or painful deaths.  I just want life to go on for everyone involved.  

Edited February 18, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[scowl]

I am split between two possible endings I'd like to see. I'd like to see Phillip get caught then sit down with FBI and go through the trail of bodies he has left in America. I'd like to watch him go through every pointless murder he committed because some poor random person happened to be inconvenient for one of his missions. The agents would be holding their heads in their hands when they hear all this had been going on for years. It would be like Vic Mackey in the last episode of The Shield. 

But my favorite (two parter) episode of Alias was when Christian Slater's Soviet spy wife found herself without a job after the Soviet Union fell. She stopped spying and became a regular American housewife. Wouldn't it be interesting if Elizabeth found that her beloved Russia had disowned her and was now stuck in our filthy capitalist society while her husband Phillip wasn't at all bothered by it? 

[Pink-n-Green]

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 1:00 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Maybe even glimpses of Martha making her way back to the US as USSR falls.

 

 

I would love to see poor Martha come home but I don't think she'd be welcome.  Maybe Elizabeth will meet an untimely end and Phillip/Clark will go back to Russia and they can pick up where they left off :)

[Moose135]

16 minutes ago, Pink-n-Green said:

Maybe Elizabeth will meet an untimely end and Phillip/Clark will go back to Russia and they can pick up where they left off :)

Whether he really cared about her or not, I think she would just assume he had used her for information and was faking the caring about her, and wouldn't want anything to do with him.  He is the reason she ended up alone and miserable in the USSR after all.

[crgirl412]

3 hours ago, Pink-n-Green said:

I would love to see poor Martha come home but I don't think she'd be welcome.  Maybe Elizabeth will meet an untimely end and Phillip/Clark will go back to Russia and they can pick up where they left off :)

I like that this would happen!  Martha is the opposite of Elizabeth and Philip is drifting more and more to the type of worldview that Martha holds. 

3 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Whether he really cared about her or not, I think she would just assume he had used her for information and was faking the caring about her, and wouldn't want anything to do with him.  He is the reason she ended up alone and miserable in the USSR after all.

This is what I think would happen!  She knows exactly what Philip did and in her treatment of Gabriel when he stopped to see her, I doubt she would forgive him. 

[Umbelina]

There is no way Martha would come home.  She would not be allowed to leave (she knows too much) and if somehow she DID?  The USA would throw her in jail for a long, long, long time. 

[Dowel Jones]

Okay, pure fancy here; How I want The Americans to end:

Philip and Elizabeth wake up in a huge overstuffed bed, somewhere in New England.  In rapid succession, perky but scatterbrained housecleaner Paige comes in to complain about something, followed by irascible but warmhearted handyman Stan.  In the background you can hear Oleg talking to his brothers Ivan and Ivan.  Philip looks at Elizabeth and says "I just had the worst dream of my life.  No fucking way."  Elizabeth replies with a sigh, "Way, dude.  Way."

[methodwriter85]

On 2/18/2018 at 1:00 PM, Chaos Theory said:

I am still hoping for some melancholy happy ending.  Philip and Elizabeth stuck in the United States after the fall of communist Russia.  Henry never learns the truth about his parents and becomes a hard core capitalist.   Paige continues to follow in her parents footsteps and becomes a spy.  Not really a Russian not truly an American.   Stan works his way up the FBI but with ties to the Jennings and Paige who he continues to be an unknowing leak.  Maybe even glimpses of Martha making her way back to the US as USSR falls.

In otherwords life goes on. 

I don’t want a big gunfight or painful deaths.  I just want life to go on for everyone involved.  

 

That's actually a pretty good guess, I think. It also kind of goes with the futility of it all. They did all this, and for what? A country that fell apart after a run of 69 years with a wimper rather than a bang. (Compared to the US, their enemy, which has managed to last over 200 years.)

Edited March 4, 2018 by methodwriter85

[crgirl412]

11 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Okay, pure fancy here; How I want The Americans to end:

Philip and Elizabeth wake up in a huge overstuffed bed, somewhere in New England.  In rapid succession, perky but scatterbrained housecleaner Paige comes in to complain about something, followed by irascible but warmhearted handyman Stan.  In the background you can hear Oleg talking to his brothers Ivan and Ivan.  Philip looks at Elizabeth and says "I just had the worst dream of my life.  No fucking way."  Elizabeth replies with a sigh, "Way, dude.  Way."

I love your nod to the Bob Newhart Show and Newhart - with the best sitcom finale ever!! 

Keri Russell could wake up as Felicity too!  I am not sure about Matthew Rhys, though.      

[Bannon]

Oh, just flash forward a few more years. Paige now lives in New York, working for a pompous mail order magnate, and she has a bunch of unlikeable male friends who sit around all day kvetching about nothing. She has developed an annoying verbal tic of saying "Yada, yada, yada" at the end of sentences. P & E have moved to Boca Raton, and live in a condo.  Phil is President of the Homeowner's association, who is viewed suspiciously by the other board members, and he always has to discourage Liz from killing them in fitness center "accidents".  Henry works for the Yankees, and has a fabulously accessorized desk. Stan gets fired from the FBI when he has sex with a cleaning woman on a desk, and when confronted by his boss, he asks..

"Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon....."

Oleg has tired of a depressing way of life, and has converted to Judaism, mostly for the jokes.

Edited March 4, 2018 by Bannon

[scrb]

I would think Elizabeth would be crushed in the Soviet Union fell and the KGB basically told them to go their separate ways, in essence her beloved motherland admitting defeat.

But in real life, Russia continued the illegals program well after the USSR fell.

But also in real life, the illegals really didn't gather the treasure trove of intelligence which the show depicts these characters getting.  Instead a lot of illegals just maintained their covers which meant getting more involved in their covers than actual spy work, as several of them became very successful in different fields.

If they were doing a lot of spying, like running out in the middle of the night all the time, they wouldn't have become successful in some of these white-collar careers.

 

Maybe Philip and Elizabeth get serious about the travel business and they found something like Travelocity.

[crgirl412]

15 hours ago, Bannon said:

Oh, just flash forward a few more years. Paige now lives in New York, working for a pompous mail order magnate, and she has a bunch of unlikeable male friends who sit around all day kvetching about nothing. She has developed an annoying verbal tic of saying "Yada, yada, yada" at the end of sentences. P & E have moved to Boca Raton, and live in a condo.  Phil is President of the Homeowner's association, who is viewed suspiciously by the other board members, and he always has to discourage Liz from killing them in fitness center "accidents".  Henry works for the Yankees, and has a fabulously accessorized desk. Stan gets fired from the FBI when he has sex with a cleaning woman on a desk, and when confronted by his boss, he asks..

"Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon....."

Oleg has tired of a depressing way of life, and has converted to Judaism, mostly for the jokes.

LOVE it!!!  Phil will have to get rid of the sport car when he gets his Cadillac.