Predictions for the FINAL Season

[Bannon]

I've never considered that they might have Liz murder Phil, but at this point, given the ineptitude of the writing this season, the possibility can't be overlooked.

[qtpye]

On 4/29/2018 at 4:54 PM, Anela said:

That is going to be so sad. By the end of Breaking Bad, I was rooting for Hank, but I hated him at first. Stan, I didn't mind, until he cheated on his wife. I think the person who mentioned his being trained to act a certain way, leaving him unable to just function in a normal life, was right. I'm also thinking of those of us who can be extremely awkward socially, but pick up on things all the time, because we're used to looking for trouble (I'm not explaining myself correctly, I'm so tired - but people with anxiety can pick up things sooner, at times). 

 

I'm not sure that either of them will die. I'm not really good with predictions anymore, though. I can't see Elizabeth letting anyone in her family take the fall for anything that she's done. I can only see her taking the pill if she's ordered to, and if she thinks her being gone will protect her family. I think those people predicting her giving it to the woman with cancer, are correct. 

I wonder if we'll still get a surprise with Henry, but I guess if the KGB were secretly meeting with him, and setting him up for a life in their service, they would have made sure that his school fees were paid. 

I don't mind Holly Taylor, and haven't had the same reactions to Paige, as others, until this year, but I can't envision a spin-off, unless they want to take it to the WB. Where spies can be cute college students, not the best spies (by a long shot), but still survive. I don't think she's a good enough actress (right now) to carry a show with the same tone as The Americans, but Alexis Bledel wasn't the best actress when she was younger, and look at her now. She's been lauded for her work in The Handmaid's Tale.

I can hardly remember most 80's music until it pops up on the radio or a TV show, but this one comes to mind:

Perhaps Tom Petty's Mad Hatter outfit can be Paige's next super-secret spy disguise.

[sistermagpie]

5 minutes ago, qtpye said:

Perhaps Tom Petty's Mad Hatter outfit can be Paige's next super-secret spy disguise.

Only if the KGB can make a knit top hat.

[qtpye]

1 minute ago, sistermagpie said:

Only if the KGB can make a knit top hat.

Elizabeth can make a top hat using only tissue paper and the tears of all the capitalist pigs that she will destroy.

[SunnyBeBe]

I just got this very uncomfortable feeling last night about Philip.  I just feel like he's going to be killed. I don't really care if any of the other characters get killed, but, I really don't want him to go down.  I'm not sure why I feel that way.  I mean, he is a murdering, Russian spy for goodness sake......lol.  Oh well, I suppose, I'll get over it.  I didn't mourn Walter White that much, and that was a biggie. 

We should see some blowback on Stan though.  I mean, how does he explain his BEST friend/neighbor/confidant being a Russian illegal for all these years and him being in the dark about it? I can't imagine how he would not come under suspicion and possibly be charged too.  Doesn't his wife know this? So, to me, him just discovering the Jennings secret and making arrests as a hero doesn't cut it.  He'd likely be removed from his position, placed on leave and given a thorough investigation. 

[Ellaria]

2 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I just got this very uncomfortable feeling last night about Philip.  I just feel like he's going to be killed. I don't really care if any of the other characters get killed, but, I really don't want him to go down.  I'm not sure why I feel that way.  I mean, he is a murdering, Russian spy for goodness sake......lol.  Oh well, I suppose, I'll get over it.  I didn't mourn Walter White that much, and that was a biggie. 

We should see some blowback on Stan though.  I mean, how does he explain his BEST friend/neighbor/confidant being a Russian illegal for all these years and him being in the dark about it? 

I think that Philip will die, too. There is a parallel with Walter White. Philip will die protecting something that is important to him - his family.

Onto a different discussion but not a prediction exactly. I was happy to see Henry return for an extended amount of time in this episode. He seemed to be relatively mature (all things considered), perceptive and resourceful. I thought, "Whew, at least when Phil and/or Liz die or get carted off to federal prison, Henry will be able to manage."

Then, I read a few threads in Reddit and they are predicting that Henry dies! They are saying that it is Joel Fields "going to hell" moment. I guess that it is a plausible scenario. Henry is the child that seems to be living the American dream. Perhaps it is more of a gut-punch that his life ends.

[SunnyBeBe]

1 hour ago, Ellaria Sand said:

I think that Philip will die, too. There is a parallel with Walter White. Philip will die protecting something that is important to him - his family.

Onto a different discussion but not a prediction exactly. I was happy to see Henry return for an extended amount of time in this episode. He seemed to be relatively mature (all things considered), perceptive and resourceful. I thought, "Whew, at least when Phil and/or Liz die or get carted off to federal prison, Henry will be able to manage."

Then, I read a few threads in Reddit and they are predicting that Henry dies! They are saying that it is Joel Fields "going to hell" moment. I guess that it is a plausible scenario. Henry is the child that seems to be living the American dream. Perhaps it is more of a gut-punch that his life ends.

OMG....I know this sounds terrible, but, I wouldn't mind it. I know...but, he's never done much for me. Poor kid. But, if he is killed, and P and E survive...that's really the worst punishment they would ever get.  I can hear Paige now.....but, mom, you never said stuff like that could happen. 

Edited May 3, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, Ellaria Sand said:

I think that Philip will die, too. There is a parallel with Walter White. Philip will die protecting something that is important to him - his family.

 

I feel that way too, especially after this ep. He tried to live a normal life and chose to go back to a dangerous mission because of Elizabeth. It seems like given her attitude about it this ought to lead to him dying.

I don't think they'd get much out of Henry dying, tbh. It would be a shame, but since they neglected to show us any scenes with him interacting with anyone (even when the show's obviously trying to show us that Philip makes an effort with him reviews still pretend he's been neglected terribly) so I doubt people would even really know how to react if he died.

[hellmouse]

I am not sure where to put this 30 second preview for next week's episode, but since I have predictions about it, here it is..

 The Americans 6x07 preview - Harvest

I found that preview so stressful! But after watching it a few times, I think it is not as explosive as it first seems. I think what happens is the following: 

Philip joins Elizabeth in Chicago to save the illegal. She tells him about her secret mission and shows him the cyanide pill. Which IMO means he's now as likely to use it (on himself or others) as she is. Thanks to Philip being there to help, they are able to successfully get the illegal out. Stan and Aderholt review what went wrong and it reminds Stan of Joyce (not Lucia!) and how she was also able to elude the FBI. That is going to take him back to remembering the couple, but I still don't think it'll make him think of P&E.

Henry needs to go back to school and has no way to get to the bus station since both parents are gone, so he asks Stan for a ride. Stan asks where Philip is and Henry unwittingly sets off Stan's FBI instincts when he tells him his parents get calls and immediately drop everything and leave. Stan decides to snoop in their empty house while they are away, including the basement. Thanks to their scrupulousness, he finds nothing. But he is still concerned, so he confronts Philip and asks if he's "involved in something". He seems to want to help Philip. After all, he does know that Philip is struggling a bit with the business. 

And then Philip says I've been wanting to tell you for a long time. That is where I run out of ideas. Tell him what? He is a drug dealer? He has a second job delivering pizza? He is a gigolo? He is a KGB agent? He has a girlfriend? IDK. 

Edited May 3, 2018 by hellmouse

[sistermagpie]

1 minute ago, hellmouse said:

Stan and Aderholt review what went wrong and it reminds Stan of Lucia and how she was also able to elude the FBI.

Nitpick, but you don't mean Lucia. You mean Robert's wife, Joyce. She was the one Gregory helped pick up off the street.

2 minutes ago, hellmouse said:

And then Philip says I've been wanting to tell you for a long time. That is where I run out of ideas. Tell him what? He is a drug dealer? He has a second job delivering pizza? He is a gigolo? He is a KGB agent? He has a girlfriend? IDK. 

My guess was that Philip was saying he wanted to tell him about problems with the agency because Henry told him about it or something.

[hellmouse]

4 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

Nitpick, but you don't mean Lucia. You mean Robert's wife, Joyce. She was the one Gregory helped pick up off the street.

Thank you - fixed it! I completely forgot her name. 

[Ellaria]

19 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

I don't think they'd get much out of Henry dying, tbh. It would be a shame, but since they neglected to show us any scenes with him interacting with anyone (even when the show's obviously trying to show us that Philip makes an effort with him reviews still pretend he's been neglected terribly) so I doubt people would even really know how to react if he died.

Viewer reaction - yes, I agree, there is little investment in Henry. However, it would devastate Philip and perhaps cause him to "go all in" on whatever. Henry and Paige have always served the purpose of being reflections and aspirations of their parents. I'm not advocating that Henry should die nor am I predicting that it will happen. I assumed that Henry would get out of this alive and well but Reddit is predicting his demise.

[SunnyBeBe]

I think that sounds reasonable Hellmouse.  If P has to confess about something, it would likely be what is the truth, which is his struggling business, cutbacks, stress with Henry's tuition, etc.  In a push, he might say that he and E are struggling and may separate.  

I'm not sure why P & E leaving at a moment's notice would be too strange, since their business is travel and why wouldn't Stan already know this? He's lived next door for many years.  He certainly has heard their cars coming and going. But, I would be very surprised if nothing happens to bring P & E into the sights of the FBI.  Unless, they are going to go undetected and it ends with Stan being none the wiser....THAT I could believe though. 

[sistermagpie]

3 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I'm not sure why P & E leaving at a moment's notice would be too strange, since their business is travel and why wouldn't Stan already know this? He's lived next door for many years.  He certainly has heard their cars coming and going. But, I would be very surprised if nothing happens to bring P & E into the sights of the FBI.  Unless, they are going to go undetected and it ends with Stan being none the wiser....THAT I could believe though. 

It might not be that strange. Henry might just say it as a normal thing, but now that Stan is learning about how the Illegals operate he might start comparing everything to it.

[SunnyBeBe]

8 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

It might not be that strange. Henry might just say it as a normal thing, but now that Stan is learning about how the Illegals operate he might start comparing everything to it.

Yeah, Stan's character is played like a not so bright guy, but, then at moments, he's brilliant, gets the bad guy and looks like a hero.  I wish they would avoid that.  I still suspect that Renee will come into play. Will she figure it out and then P or E have to take her out before she spills to Stan?  Ouch....that would bite Stan hard.  Especially, if it looks like Gaad's outcome. 

Edited May 3, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[Bannon]

I still think Elizabeth is going to murder a recurring character, instead of her typical schlub, because the writers put her on such an extended murder spree to start the season, and I don't think they will just turn this off, but will instead escalate it, if not in number of murders, but rather in centrality of the murder victim. I'm not sure who it will be, and I don't think it is a good decision, writing- wise, but I think it is where the show is going.

[misstwpherecool]

I think Liz's colleague in the hotel room has either been red shirted or she will defect. It's like she knows something.

[sistermagpie]

1 minute ago, misstwpherecool said:

I think Liz's colleague in the hotel room has either been red shirted or she will defect. It's like she knows something.

She can't defect--she's American. She's already here! But I totally agree. I thought she was going to walk out on her in this ep. I wouldn't be surprised if she dies next week. She'll probably be thrilled to see Philip. This is the same woman who worried about "Julie" and I wonder if she's getting freaked out by Elizabeth as well.

[MisterBluxom]

I wonder how I will feel if the ending has P & E being arrested in Chicago and Paige arrives home to find no one is there.

Stan comes by and says he has some very shocking news to give her but makes it real clear that everyone know she could never have been involved in any of the crimes her parents were committing and she doesn't have to worry about getting into any kind of trouble. I wonder if he will even go so far as inviting Paige and Henry to come and live with him and his new wife?

But I wonder how Paige would react to that news from Stan. What would she say to him? It wouldn't take much to keep herself safe. But will she tell Stan that she is all growed up now and knew exactly what her Mommy was doing and that she was helping Mommy too?

Of course I can't seriously believe any of that would happen. But it could make for a great Paige character study.

Edited May 4, 2018 by MissBluxom

[duVerre]

I wrote something speculative in the thread on "Rififi," but it isn't getting any traction there, so I thought I'd lay it out in more detail here.

I don’t remember the whole series in sharp detail, but I believe that in previous seasons, when E or P had bruises, marks or injuries, we always knew where they came from, because a previous scene or the just-prior episode had featured a fight.

In "Rififi," Elizabeth’s face began to show marks. But she couldn't have gotten them in a fight, because in “The Great Patriotic War” she overpowered Sophia and Gennadi so fast that neither one of them had time to put a hand on her. So why, at the start of "Rififi," did she have a faint mark on her right cheek? Where did that come from?

It disappears when she’s trying to seduce the intern (she’s prettied her face up with date-makeup). Next we see faint marks on both her cheeks while she talks with Claudia about trouble in Chicago. At first I thought it was the raw, red look your face can get in really cold weather. But you can see the marks much more clearly when she and Marilyn talk in the motel room (“she lets you touch her feet?”). They’re on both cheeks and even her forehead, and they’re very clear again when she starts to draw. When she finally calls Henry, the night lighting affects what you can see, but she has a general sprinkling on her cheeks. They almost look like freckles in those shots. They're easily seen when she talks to Philip on the phone at the end of the episode and they're plain as day on both cheeks in the preview for "Harvest." It looks like she scraped her left cheek on the sidewalk.

Has her face simply broken out due to stress? Possibly. And Elizabeth has been gaunt, pale and haggard all season, which I have assumed was due to overwork.

But I wonder (and stay with me here): are these lesions on her face, her thinness and her horrible pallor actually the first signs of Kaposi’s Sarcoma, and does Elizabeth in fact have HIV/AIDS?

I know it sounds preposterous. But her honeypots have certainly exposed her to STDs … and AIDS is one 80s phenomenon that hasn’t yet had a mention on the show.

It would be an out-of-the-box choice, writing-wise, though perhaps it could be used for the ultimate irony: e.g. Elizabeth survives Philip, only to receive a medical death sentence just before closing credits.

Or maybe “Jennings, Elizabeth” refers to her medical file, and HIV positive status.

[Bannon]

15 hours ago, duVerre said:

I wrote something speculative in the thread on "Rififi," but it isn't getting any traction there, so I thought I'd lay it out in more detail here.

I don’t remember the whole series in sharp detail, but I believe that in previous seasons, when E or P had bruises, marks or injuries, we always knew where they came from, because a previous scene or the just-prior episode had featured a fight.

In "Rififi," Elizabeth’s face began to show marks. But she couldn't have gotten them in a fight, because in “The Great Patriotic War” she overpowered Sophia and Gennadi so fast that neither one of them had time to put a hand on her. So why, at the start of "Rififi," did she have a faint mark on her right cheek? Where did that come from?

It disappears when she’s trying to seduce the intern (she’s prettied her face up with date-makeup). Next we see faint marks on both her cheeks while she talks with Claudia about trouble in Chicago. At first I thought it was the raw, red look your face can get in really cold weather. But you can see the marks much more clearly when she and Marilyn talk in the motel room (“she lets you touch her feet?”). They’re on both cheeks and even her forehead, and they’re very clear again when she starts to draw. When she finally calls Henry, the night lighting affects what you can see, but she has a general sprinkling on her cheeks. They almost look like freckles in those shots. They're easily seen when she talks to Philip on the phone at the end of the episode and they're plain as day on both cheeks in the preview for "Harvest." It looks like she scraped her left cheek on the sidewalk.

Has her face simply broken out due to stress? Possibly. And Elizabeth has been gaunt, pale and haggard all season, which I have assumed was due to overwork.

But I wonder (and stay with me here): are these lesions on her face, her thinness and her horrible pallor actually the first signs of Kaposi’s Sarcoma, and does Elizabeth in fact have HIV/AIDS?

I know it sounds preposterous. But her honeypots have certainly exposed her to STDs … and AIDS is one 80s phenomenon that hasn’t yet had a mention on the show.

It would be an out-of-the-box choice, writing-wise, though perhaps it could be used for the ultimate irony: e.g. Elizabeth survives Philip, only to receive a medical death sentence just before closing credits.

Or maybe “Jennings, Elizabeth” refers to her medical file, and HIV positive status.

I don't think the HIV development would be preposterous at all, and actually think it works well, if they start moving in that direction in the next episode. I concur that "Jennings, Elizabeth" could be a reference to a medical file.

If you are doing a show which is also attempting to convey a sense of the 1980s, a HIV development makes a lot of sense.

[Umbelina]

I don't see the marks on Elizabeth's face being discussed.  Anyone have screen shots to show what you mean?

[sistermagpie]

14 minutes ago, Bannon said:

I don't think the HIV development would be preposterous at all, and actually think it works well, if they start moving in that direction in the next episode. I concur that "Jennings, Elizabeth" could be a reference to a medical file.

If you are doing a show which is also attempting to convey a sense of the 1980s, a HIV development makes a lot of sense.

But works well how, exactly? The show isn't about giving a sense of the 80s. Also it kind of doesn't give a sense of the 80s to have Elizabeth just have AIDS when the topic has literally never come up and it's 1987 and she and Philip are sex workers. 

The plot's speeding towards Elizabeth being outed as a Russian spy so I don't know what it adds if we find out that she's got a probably at that time fatal disease that her husband is presumably also infected with. I mean, I get how it certainly works as a consequence for all the sex, but of all the things they do the sex probably isn't the most satisfying thing to get a consequence for. At most it's just another sad trombone noise for what she has to look forward to after her downfall.

Also, I'm no expert on Kaposi’s Sarcoma but I've always seen them as being darker and raised. It doesn't seem like they'd be just all be light blotches on her face all appearing in this one episode. I would easily believe that make-up department might have made her blotchy to show stress the way they used to give Philip dark circles. Or maybe Keri Russel was blotchy that week. But I actually thought the mark I noticed was part of her disguise in Chicago when I noticed it.

Edited May 4, 2018 by sistermagpie

[Bannon]

53 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

But works well how, exactly? The show isn't about giving a sense of the 80s. Also it kind of doesn't give a sense of the 80s to have Elizabeth just have AIDS when the topic has literally never come up and it's 1987 and she and Philip are sex workers. 

The plot's speeding towards Elizabeth being outed as a Russian spy so I don't know what it adds if we find out that she's got a probably at that time fatal disease that her husband is presumably also infected with. I mean, I get how it certainly works as a consequence for all the sex, but of all the things they do the sex probably isn't the most satisfying thing to get a consequence for. At most it's just another sad trombone noise for what she has to look forward to after her downfall.

Also, I'm no expert on Kaposi’s Sarcoma but I've always seen them as being darker and raised. It doesn't seem like they'd be just all be light blotches on her face all appearing in this one episode. I would easily believe that make-up department might have made her blotchy to show stress the way they used to give Philip dark circles. Or maybe Keri Russel was blotchy that week. But I actually thought the mark I noticed was part of her disguise in Chicago when I noticed it.

Well, they are sex workers, and HIV was a pronounced hazard for sex workers in the 80s, so it works well from the standpoint of realism.

[Umbelina]

I think it's a port wine mark, much like Philip has worn in the past.  Marks on faces such as moles or birthmarks or scars were commonly used in disguises, along with fake teeth and the wigs, beards, mustaches, glasses. 

While I agree, one of them coming down with Aids would not be out there?  She would in all liklihood have other symptoms before Kaposi's syndrome, and other than being tired (which hello!  Look at her schedule!) she doesn't have.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hiv-aids/symptoms-causes/syc-20373524

Or it's just a bad make up job.

[duVerre]

2 hours ago, Umbelina said:

I don't see the marks on Elizabeth's face being discussed.  Anyone have screen shots to show what you mean?

I don't see a screenshot from Rififi that shows them but they are more widespread and easy to see in the preview for Harvest, especially on her left cheek (left for Elizabeth, right for the viewer).

[duVerre]

4 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

But works well how, exactly? The show isn't about giving a sense of the 80s. Also it kind of doesn't give a sense of the 80s to have Elizabeth just have AIDS when the topic has literally never come up and it's 1987 and she and Philip are sex workers. 

The plot's speeding towards Elizabeth being outed as a Russian spy so I don't know what it adds if we find out that she's got a probably at that time fatal disease that her husband is presumably also infected with. I mean, I get how it certainly works as a consequence for all the sex, but of all the things they do the sex probably isn't the most satisfying thing to get a consequence for. At most it's just another sad trombone noise for what she has to look forward to after her downfall.

Also, I'm no expert on Kaposi’s Sarcoma but I've always seen them as being darker and raised. It doesn't seem like they'd be just all be light blotches on her face all appearing in this one episode. I would easily believe that make-up department might have made her blotchy to show stress the way they used to give Philip dark circles. Or maybe Keri Russel was blotchy that week. But I actually thought the mark I noticed was part of her disguise in Chicago when I noticed it.

 

I am not an expert either. When I saw KS in the 80s, the lesions were considerably darker but I never saw any in their initial phase. I just did some reading, for what it's worth, and apparently they can show up as pink, purple, violet and brown. (Red-brown is what I'm familiar with.) It also may first appear as a rash.

The marks are more pronounced next week but who knows? As you suggest, they could be are part of a disguise, or a conscious choice to show that Liz is enduring impossible stress. Or, during the episode, she could be involved in a physical altercation that explains them. It just bothers me that I can't explain why they're there in Rififi. And of course, this speculation may come to nothing, the way Renee's identity may come to nothing, but (just like Renee) I still find the choice to be really suggestive.

If the marks are just a reflection of Russel's skin being blotchy the week of shooting, I should expect that a make-up artist would compensate for that and keep the show's continuity going. I don't know about The Americans specifically, but there's usually someone with a curling iron, powder or a sponge of make-up base, etc., standing just off-camera, dashing in between shots to do corrections. And if the Americans can work around Russel's pregnancy, they should be able to work around a case of zits.

I don't know how I would feel if it turns out they have indeed given Elizabeth this disease. It runs the chances of being a huge cop-out on the writers' part. On the other hand, it could be used as the ultimate irony--Elizabeth survives any number of death-defying situations, and is the last woman standing in the show--only to be brought down by something out of left field, something invisible. And, through the honeypots, job-related.

Edited May 5, 2018 by duVerre
accuracy, words in wrong order!

[sistermagpie]

3 hours ago, Bannon said:

Well, they are sex workers, and HIV was a pronounced hazard for sex workers in the 80s, so it works well from the standpoint of realism.

Absolutely, but that's why it's realistic to have them talk about it at some point earlier. If you're planning a big ending twist with a main character getting AIDS don't avoid the subject that had every reason to come up during the show. 

[Bannon]

1 hour ago, sistermagpie said:

Absolutely, but that's why it's realistic to have them talk about it at some point earlier. If you're planning a big ending twist with a main character getting AIDS don't avoid the subject that had every reason to come up during the show. 

Yeah, if they go in that direction, some subtle foreshadowing would be preferred.

[BingeyKohan]

I don't think we have an HIV story on our hands. I think it's just an intentionally unmissable fake birthmark E applied in this disguise so that women without it (once she's removed it) will be dismissed as suspects. Or the kind of thing you focus on so that you forget other identifying features.

As for the trap that's waiting P and E I think what's likely to happen is:

-The big FBI chase in Chicago will present some danger (maybe Marilyn and/or "Harvest" won't get out alive) but maybe actually buy the Jennings some time, especially if they know they're looking for a woman but it's Marilyn who dies. But its purpose I think is really just to get P and E back in action together, almost more for the audience to see one last time than the story

-The only reason the movie-loving Sam Nunn intern was introduced was to have one more mark E sidles up to in a questionable manner, so that when workers connected to the Summit are questioned about any odd strangers approaching them lately he will report her, and be available to the FBI to arrange a new meeting so she can be tailed, the same way they became tailing Harvest in Chicago

-Meanwhile, the looking into Russian Orthodox priests may place P & E's under surveillance; maybe it will be Stan himself watching when P goes to see the priest, which could be a dramatic scene for the look on Stan's face (I think E wasn't even in a disguise when she saw the priest earlier this season so no reason P would be either.)

-also meanwhile, Stan looking into cars is going to reignite his suspicion from the pilot episode, which we've seen in the opening moments of the Season 6 trailer, him looking out his window at E's car returning late at night.

I think one or all of the above, post Chicago, will be the investigative steps that really close in on the Jennings.

[Umbelina]

Be sure to check out the last few posts in the media thread.  There is an update on one of the families that sparked The Americans idea for a show.  The kids are in Canada, fighting to stay, denying being recruited as spies, and the parents are apparently well to do in Russia now.

Oh, and the kids, two boys, now young adults, do watch the show.

Will that have anything to do with how The Americans ends?  Probably not, their house was bugged for 10 years in Boston by the FBI before the parents were finally arrested.  It does make me laugh to think about Stan, finding out about Philip and Elizabeth, forced to simply continue to be friends with them while knowing they are KGB, just so the FBI could try to find more connections of there, more information, more leads.

That could be a spin off, Stan seethes as he has to watch his "best friend" continue to spy for the KGB. 

Edited May 6, 2018 by Umbelina

[BingeyKohan]

Re: Stan and his discovery it occurs to me he could discover one of them is an illegal and assume the other doesn’t know, so he takes the one aside to tell them and keep them safe, not knowing he’s in danger from both. For example Stan finds out E is an illegal but thinks P is innocent and being duped. He stages an intervention with P to tell him and P suddenly has to decide whether to kill Stan right there in the moment.

[Umbelina]

No chance, he knows they are a male/female team.  He's known that from the beginning.

Also, William told him they were married, and they had a couple of kids when he was dying.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Umbelina

[BingeyKohan]

13 hours ago, Umbelina said:

No chance, he knows they are a male/female team.  He's known that from the beginning.

Also, William told him they were married, and they had a couple of kids when he was dying.

 

Ohh I'd forgotten about the William deathbed part. Do you remember the episode?

There's really no takedown scenario where Stan would go it so alone (meaning he hasn't shared evidence findings with Aderholt, he has no back-up) that P or E could take him out and be able to walk away having aroused no other suspicions within the FBI. I don't think Stan would, say, confront P & E first and give them a chance to explain themselves or surrender to him before sharing evidence with others. Right? That would be idiotic. I guess I can imagine (especially because of his days embedding himself in hostile territory) him finding out then operating around them like he doesn't know, although there's not really enough time left in the season for him to do that very compellingly, unless it literally starts this week.

 

ETA: I found the William deathbed quote: "Couple kids/American dream...you'd never suspect them. She's pretty/he's lucky" (sounds like song lyrics when typed out) I bet we will see this in a "Previously on.." in the next week or two!

Edited May 8, 2018 by BingeyKohan

[sistermagpie]

6 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

Ohh I'd forgotten about the William deathbed part. Do you remember the episode?

 

Not even just him--he's been chasing them since the end of S1. William dies in the last ep of season 4. So Persona Non Grata.

Probably even if he didn't think about "the couple" he'd automatically check to see if Philip Jennings had any death records along with Elizabeth.

[BingeyKohan]

12 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

Not even just him--he's been chasing them since the end of S1. William dies in the last ep of season 4. So Persona Non Grata.

Probably even if he didn't think about "the couple" he'd automatically check to see if Philip Jennings had any death records along with Elizabeth.

Right good point - what you're saying (in part) is that the 'Jennings, Elizabeth' episode title could refer to Stan finding the death record of a real Elizabeth Jennings who died young and whose identity our Elizabeth assumed...

[sistermagpie]

3 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

Right good point - what you're saying (in part) is that the 'Jennings, Elizabeth' episode title could refer to Stan finding the death record of a real Elizabeth Jennings who died young and whose identity our Elizabeth assumed...

I had thought that--but then I remembered that her death record would probably be Corman, Elizabeth. So I still have no idea! 

[Bannon]

On 5/6/2018 at 4:24 PM, Umbelina said:

Be sure to check out the last few posts in the media thread.  There is an update on one of the families that sparked The Americans idea for a show.  The kids are in Canada, fighting to stay, denying being recruited as spies, and the parents are apparently well to do in Russia now.

Oh, and the kids, two boys, now young adults, do watch the show.

Will that have anything to do with how The Americans ends?  Probably not, their house was bugged for 10 years in Boston by the FBI before the parents were finally arrested.  It does make me laugh to think about Stan, finding out about Philip and Elizabeth, forced to simply continue to be friends with them while knowing they are KGB, just so the FBI could try to find more connections of there, more information, more leads.

That could be a spin off, Stan seethes as he has to watch his "best friend" continue to spy for the KGB. 

Man, give that to Vince Gilligan! The humor potential is ENORMOUS!

[Loandbehold]

22 hours ago, BingeyKohan said:

There's really no takedown scenario where Stan would go it so alone (meaning he hasn't shared evidence findings with Aderholt, he has no back-up) that P or E could take him out and be able to walk away having aroused no other suspicions within the FBI. I don't think Stan would, say, confront P & E first and give them a chance to explain themselves or surrender to him before sharing evidence with others. Right? That would be idiotic. I guess I can imagine (especially because of his days embedding himself in hostile territory) him finding out then operating around them like he doesn't know, although there's not really enough time left in the season for him to do that very compellingly, unless it literally starts this week.

Maybe not a takedown scenario, but I can see Philip confessing to Stan, but, before he can be taken in, Elizabeth kills Stan. She could even do it and say that she's going to turn herself in so Philip could make sure Henry and Paige are OK. I don't think this will happen and I don't believe at this point that Stan will be killed.

[BingeyKohan]

28 minutes ago, Loandbehold said:

Maybe not a takedown scenario, but I can see Philip confessing to Stan, but, before he can be taken in, Elizabeth kills Stan. She could even do it and say that she's going to turn herself in so Philip could make sure Henry and Paige are OK. I don't think this will happen and I don't believe at this point that Stan will be killed.

I agree - I don't want Stan to die but neither if I'm being honest do I want Elizabeth to. She's done terrible things. But it's almost like a meritocracy, or judging them like it's America's Next Top Model for spies and spy-catchers. Two agents stand before me... Who has been better at their job, Stan or Elizabeth? Until very recently, I would say Elizabeth. So, absent any moral judgement, she deserves to win!

[hellmouse]

I want Philip and Elizabeth to get away with it. I want them to evade capture. I don't think it will happen. But that's what I want. I know they've done terrible things but I just want them to be together and alive, and hopefully not killing people anymore. 

Maybe it will mean they have to abandon their children. I could see them choosing to abandon Henry and Paige before choosing to abandon one another. Henry has demonstrated that he's proactive, hard working, self-sufficient. Paige has gotten three years of training. They won't die in an alley after one week. They will be able to look after themselves in ways that they couldn't have just a few years ago. 

Maybe they leave a note for Stan asking him to keep an eye on their kids because they have to leave the country forever, lol. 

I should add - I don't think this would be a happy ending. I don't think Philip and Elizabeth will be happy even if they are back in Russia as heroes, not if they have given up their family and they now see that the Soviet Union is on the verge of collapse. They have each other but their life's work has been pointless. 

ETA #2: It would be fascinating if Elizabeth has to choose between the cause and her marriage and chooses her marriage. And Philip has to choose between his children and his marriage and he chooses his marriage. So they both give up something they dearly love, for something they love, and need, more, as painful as that choice may be

Edited May 9, 2018 by hellmouse

[Umbelina]

I wouldn't mind them both getting away either.  I don't think it will happen, but I could see that being a believable ending.

It just feels like Elizabeth is in BY FAR more danger than Philip, so if one dies, it feels like it won't be her. 

Come on writers, just do it well, whatever you do, and I'll be happy.

I'm reading an old spy novel right now, I googled "best spy novels ever written" or something like that, then ordered about a dozen I hadn't read from betterworldbooks.com (love them, highly recommend them.)  So the first one I'm reading is THE SOUL OF VIKTOR TRONKO.  It was published in 1987, and it's a labyrinth of spies, their lies, their murders, their lives of deceit, as well as torture methods, using and abusing sources and defectors.  Basically they are all more realistic versions of Philip and Elizabeth.  Also, they are CIA with mentions of FBI as well.

Spies are nasty people, living in nasty worlds, trying to protect their countries by any means necessary.  Philip and Elizabeth are KGB, but they could just as easily be CIA, if not directly killing people, arranging their deaths.  The FBI is a bit different, slightly more by the book these days, but they weren't all squeaky clean either.

I keep going back to "should all spies die and be punished, or is that a feeling just reserved for spies who are against my country?"  When I do that?  I'd love for them to both escape or defect.  After seeing what happens to defectors in this book through?  That might be the worst possible solutions for them.  It's much like Gaad and Nina, he didn't give one shit about her dying, or ever keeping the promises to help her escape or relocate.  That was only a fantasy of Stan's.  The real FBI would have used her until she was dead, just as Gaad said.

[Anela]

3 hours ago, hellmouse said:

I want Philip and Elizabeth to get away with it. I want them to evade capture. I don't think it will happen. But that's what I want. I know they've done terrible things but I just want them to be together and alive, and hopefully not killing people anymore. 

Maybe it will mean they have to abandon their children. I could see them choosing to abandon Henry and Paige before choosing to abandon one another. Henry has demonstrated that he's proactive, hard working, self-sufficient. Paige has gotten three years of training. They won't die in an alley after one week. They will be able to look after themselves in ways that they couldn't have just a few years ago. 

Maybe they leave a note for Stan asking him to keep an eye on their kids because they have to leave the country forever, lol. 

I should add - I don't think this would be a happy ending. I don't think Philip and Elizabeth will be happy even if they are back in Russia as heroes, not if they have given up their family and they now see that the Soviet Union is on the verge of collapse. They have each other but their life's work has been pointless. 

ETA #2: It would be fascinating if Elizabeth has to choose between the cause and her marriage and chooses her marriage. And Philip has to choose between his children and his marriage and he chooses his marriage. So they both give up something they dearly love, for something they love, and need, more, as painful as that choice may be

 

I wouldn't want to see someone give up their children for their marriage. I don't see spouses as more important than kids. It would really annoy me if they did that. 

Edited May 9, 2018 by Anela

[misstwpherecool]

I'm wondering since we got more of Paige's naivete she will get popped and the final conflict/drama will be P & E debating wether to flip/deal for her release and she winds up working with the pastor in another country?

[Juliegirlj]

On his deathbed, William told Stan “ SHE is pretty, HE is lucky” as a description of the spy couple. 

When Stan snooped through the Jennings house and gazed at the family photo he mumbled “ He’s lucky”........

Stan has figured it out that his friends / neighbors are Russian spies. Bye, Stan. 

My money is on Renee to kill Stan, although Phillip doing it would be good too. 

[sistermagpie]

10 minutes ago, Juliegirlj said:

On his deathbed, William told Stan “ SHE is pretty, HE is lucky” as a description of the spy couple. 

When Stan snooped through the Jennings house and gazed at the family photo he mumbled “ He’s lucky”........

That line so made me laugh because actually, she's pretty AND lucky. One could easily argue that Philip was the unlucky one in this arrangement no matter how pretty his wife is.

[Cardie]

1 hour ago, sistermagpie said:

One could easily argue that Philip was the unlucky one in this arrangement no matter how pretty his wife is.

True, but to poor partnerless William the fact that his counterpart not only was set up with a wife but with a pretty one made him very lucky.  The grass is always greener.

[sistermagpie]

11 minutes ago, Cardie said:

True, but to poor partnerless William the fact that his counterpart not only was set up with a wife but with a pretty one made him very lucky.  The grass is always greener.

And Stan would agree. The bias toward beauty--plus his obviously traditional ideas about women would probably make it harder for him to think of it the other way!

[Erin9]

2 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

That line so made me laugh because actually, she's pretty AND lucky. One could easily argue that Philip was the unlucky one in this arrangement no matter how pretty his wife is.

Lol Yes. I think Elizabeth got lucky with Philip. Really lucky. He’s been a good husband and father. Not sure she really fully appreciates that though. 

Philip might well have been better off with someone who wasn’t such a fanatic. He could have retired and gone home. 

[Ellaria]

Three episodes left. Not a lot of time to conclude this wonderful show. 

We have seen little of Oleg and his secret mission. This has to come roaring back in the final hours. Our three main male characters - Philip, Stan, Oleg - and their relationships with each other will drive the end.

In Harvest, Stan walks thru the Jennings home seeing familiar things in a different, ominous way. I think that we have to see Stan look at himself next and question what he missed with his BFFs and why. Philip is in complete despair at the end of the last episode, knowing that everything good in his life is disappearing or perhaps never truly existed in the first place. The house itself is part of the pretense since it never was home to the typical American family. 

I will be disappointed if Phil and Stan do not get an opportunity for an honest face-to-face about the authenticity of their friendship. And I don't believe that other of them will kill the other.

Phil dies for not for his country but for his family, most likely protecting Elizabeth and allowing her to escape.  

I believe that Oleg is being completely honest with himself about the purpose of his mission. He is putting a chance for peace before his personal well-being and his family. Unfortunately, that probably means that he will die.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Ellaria Sand