S06.E09: Jennings, Elizabeth

[SunnyBeBe]

18 minutes ago, Erin9 said:

As powerful as the final scene between Claudia and Elizabeth was, it was a bit of a letdown that both women let the other just walk away. IDK if I buy that. Both felt pretty betrayed by the other. Maybe we’ll see more next week, but with Elizabeth and Philip running, not sure. This might have been it for Claudia. Maybe she’ll be the ultimate survivor. In a world she hates. That’s sort of fitting. 

I still find Paige’s big wake up call somewhat deflating right now. She saw her parents as close to who they really are via accepting that they trade meaningless sex for information. Which I can see her on some level knowing all along. 

She also finally heard just how seriously real spies take fulfilling their mission. How committed they have to be. Elizabeth finally spelled that out too. No holds barred. 

She finally understood some of the destruction that comes from spying seeing this intern justifiably melt down. I get it. But- still seemed a bit off somehow. I can buy her running into him too given the set up. 

Maybe it just felt dumped in?? IDK. 

The way Paige got the intern info seemed contrived to me, but, that's okay.  We still got a taste of how immature Paige can be.  Turns out, she's not that different from the little girl who demanded to know the truth from seasons ago, got the truth, could't handle the truth and confided in Pastor Tim.  But, as it turns out, Pastor Tim is a lot more understanding than I ever thought possible.  I suppose that he was trying to protect himself as well. I mean, how would it sound if he revealed to an FBI Agent, yeah, they are actually Russians working for their country and I knew about it, way back then.........so, he really had to stick with his story.

And, I was a little let down by Claudia and E showdown too, IF that's all there is to it. I still wonder if Granny will bite the dust.  Does she know her apt could be raided at anytime?  So, after that news from E, she might should finish her soup quickly and get the hell out of town. I don't think I'd do it as casually as E suggested.  

[jjj]

Yes, Pastor Tim would have been in some shit himself, for not revealing what he knew years ago.  I saw that conversation entirely as Pastor Tim protecting himself, from the FBI as well as the KGB. 

[Ina123]

4 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

And, I was a little let down by Claudia and E showdown too, IF that's all there is to it. I still wonder if Granny will bite the dust.  Does she know her apt could be raided at anytime?  So, after that news from E, she might should finish her soup quickly and get the hell out of town. I don't think I'd do it as casually as E suggested.  

Granny has merely accepted her fate. Because of E's actions, her side lost anyway.

Edited May 24, 2018 by Ina123

[dubbel zout]

7 minutes ago, Ina123 said:

I thought both Paige's boyfriend and Jackson were interns in Nunn's? office.

Nope, only Jackson worked in Nunn's office. That's why Elizabeth specifically targeted him. I forget where Paige's boyfriend worked, State, maybe?

[Bannon]

13 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

You reminded me of something I had forgotten to post.  

I don't remember Elizabeth smoking like a chimney when she was with Gregory- at all!!!  Didn't he light up a joint but she declined when she ended their friends with benefits?  She didn't smoke in that apartment when he confronted Philip about loving her. 

When was it???

Probably retconned

[crgirl412]

1 minute ago, Bannon said:

Probably retconned

Thanks!  I had to look up retconned! 

[Ina123]

I did notice that for his meeting with Father Andre, Philip came prepared with another hat.

Edited May 24, 2018 by Ina123

[BingeyKohan]

Re: Father Andrei - I always felt we were supposed to think tenderly of him, since he performed their ceremony, and they've indicated Elizabeth has been meeting with him in a way that was both for the Centre and maybe also for spiritual check-ins? (I'm not totally clear on that.) But is there a way to interpret his behavior this episode where he's not just a massive dummy? He waits until the end of the convo to mention his superior was going in for questioning that day and then is just like, 'why? is that important?' 

[SunnyBeBe]

4 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

Re: Father Andrei - I always felt we were supposed to think tenderly of him, since he performed their ceremony, and they've indicated Elizabeth has been meeting with him in a way that was both for the Centre and maybe also for spiritual check-ins? (I'm not totally clear on that.) But is there a way to interpret his behavior this episode where he's not just a massive dummy? He waits until the end of the convo to mention his superior was going in for questioning that day and then is just like, 'why? is that important?' 

Yeah, I thought that Philip was pretty kind to not have behaved more upset and even took precious moments to give him some good advice, instead of kicking his ass for being such an idiot. 

[jjj]

1 minute ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Yeah, I thought that Philip was pretty kind to not have behaved more upset and even took precious moments to give him some good advice, instead of kicking his ass for being such an idiot. 

He was still pretty abrupt!  

[teddysmom]

21 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

As powerful as the final scene between Claudia and Elizabeth was, it was a bit of a letdown that both women let the other just walk away. I

I thought for sure Elizabeth was going to shoot her. So she couldn't warn anyone that E & P were on the run. 

I'm interested in how they're going to bring the Renee story in for the last episode. Wouldn't it have been THE BEST if the blonde shooter had been her?  "Guess I don't have to worry about long boring lunches with Renee anymore". 

They can't possibly all make it out alive, can they? 

[SunnyBeBe]

3 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

I thought for sure Elizabeth was going to shoot her. So she couldn't warn anyone that E & P were on the run. 

I'm interested in how they're going to bring the Renee story in for the last episode. Wouldn't it have been THE BEST if the blonde shooter had been her?  "Guess I don't have to worry about long boring lunches with Renee anymore". 

They can't possibly all make it out alive, can they? 

You know THAT would have been AWESOME!  If it was Renee lying dead on the street.  That would have tied up so many things at once.  PLUS, it would have provided such a blowup for Stan that he would have been too distracted and possibly in custody to go after P and E.  I guess it might have offered up too much distraction from the main characters though.  That's what bothers me about her.  She's a minor player, but, all this dialogue about her in several scenes........

Edited May 24, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[jjj]

I would have been a big, big fan of this plot twist!

2 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

I'm interested in how they're going to bring the Renee story in for the last episode. Wouldn't it have been THE BEST if the blonde shooter had been her?  "Guess I don't have to worry about long boring lunches with Renee anymore". 

[SunnyBeBe]

6 minutes ago, jjj said:

I would have been a big, big fan of this plot twist!

Well, it ain't over til it's over. 

[scrb]

So Tatiana, who's pretty much been portrayed as a house cat, was going to shiv a man out in the street?

I mean it's an efficient way to wrap up her character but kind of hard to believe.

[hellmouse]

40 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

You reminded me of something I had forgotten to post.  

I don't remember Elizabeth smoking like a chimney when she was with Gregory- at all!!!  Didn't he light up a joint but she declined when she ended their friends with benefits?  She didn't smoke in that apartment when he confronted Philip about loving her. 

When was it???

We don't see her smoking like a chimney with Gregory. We see him offering her a cigarette and she says no, saying that she's "trying to be good". He says something like "good doesn't suit you". Then in another episode, she asks him for a cigarette and he says something like "I thought you were trying to be good" and she says "old habits are hard to break". 

So we're supposed to think that with Gregory, Elizabeth smoked cigarettes regularly. Maybe it seemed like a lot to Curtis. At home, she had a pack hidden somewhere in the kitchen or the bedroom and she'd either smoke in the garage or outside. But she was definitely trying to hide it from the kids. 

As others have said, once the kids were out of the house, there was no reason to hide it. She still did it outside, which is why it did seem like a big deal for her to smoke inside the house in this episode. At the rate she was going, if they hadn't been blown, she probably would have smoked in front of Stan soon. 

It's funny because it's so different now, but back then, lots of people smoked, in lots of places. The smell of cigarettes wasn't as noticeable because it was so commonplace and hard to avoid. You'd have to be smoking a lot to really stand out (which Philip and Claudia both say she is doing). But I am surprised that Stan never once noticed that Elizabeth smoked. He is really not the most observant person. 

[SunnyBeBe]

4 minutes ago, scrb said:

So Tatiana, who's pretty much been portrayed as a house cat, was going to shiv a man out in the street?

I mean it's an efficient way to wrap up her character but kind of hard to believe.

Yeah, those guys had gotten really desperate.  With their main girl, Liz out, and Marilyn dead, they were scrapping along with whatever they could get. 

51 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

And then, the previews...

  Hide contents

...show her following along behind them (probably even with her backpack) with the same facial expression as when she was a teen-ager, which sort of drained the suspense of whether they could even get through to her with an escape scenario. What if the extra half hour in the finale is just 30 minutes of Philip, Elizabeth, and Paige riding in the car in seething, resentful silence?

Spoiler

And even worse, Paige or Henry keep asking, Are we there yet? 

Edited May 24, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[benteen]

20 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

You know THAT would have been AWESOME!  If it was Renee lying dead on the street.  That would have tied up so many things at once.  PLUS, it would have provided such a blowup for Stan that he would have been too distracted and possibly in custody to go after P and E.  I guess it might have offered up too much distraction from the main characters though.  That's what bothers me about her.  She's a minor player, but, all this dialogue about her in several scenes........

I totally expected that woman to be revealed as being Renee.  I realized it wasn't her but didn't recognize who it was until I read the thread this morning.

[jjj]

5 minutes ago, hellmouse said:

It's funny because it's so different now, but back then, lots of people smoked, in lots of places. The smell of cigarettes wasn't as noticeable because it was so commonplace and hard to avoid. You'd have to be smoking a lot to really stand out (which Philip and Claudia both say she is doing). But I am surprised that Stan never once noticed that Elizabeth smoked. He is really not the most observant person. 

This is a really good point.  There was smoking everyplace in the 1980s -- on planes, restaurants, classrooms (college, especially professors!), and the smell was very common.  Now, I immediately notice  cigarette smell.  Amazing difference. And I'll bet lots of smoking at the FBI offices.  

[SunnyBeBe]

3 minutes ago, benteen said:

I totally expected that woman to be revealed as being Renee.  I realized it wasn't her but didn't recognize who it was until I read the thread this morning.

Me too. I knew that I knew her, but, couldn't believe my eyes. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[Dev F]

1 hour ago, BingeyKohan said:

Elizabeth told Henry a few weeks ago "I always smoked." I think Gregory's old associate was meant to reinforce that for us. "Like a chimney" seems like a tad much for him to say and more as a writing device to make Stan think of the flower pot full of butts than something that dude would actually have noticed about Elizabeth. Although I do think the first season had at least one scene of Elizabeth and Gregory smoking (weed) together.

There's a scene where he offers her weed, but there's also a recurring bit where he offers her regular cigarettes and her response is correlated to how much she's trying to distance herself from her former lover at that particular moment. In their first scene together she declines, saying she's trying to quit, but later, after she and Philip have their falling-out over Irina, she accepts.

The implication even then was that she and Gregory had a habit of smoking together before she decided to give her fake marriage a real shot at the end of the pilot. Which, come to think of it, lends additional meaning to the fact that she takes up smoking again as her and Philip's relationship deteriorates in the present time frame.

1 hour ago, Bannon said:

There are no casual watchers of this show; it's current viewership only totals about 700 thousand, and absent the critical acclaim it likely would not have made through the entire story. That would have been a shame, because this cast has been a pleasure to watch, but I am not surprised that there was not a lot of hype for the final episode.

That's just the Live ratings, I think. Like many prestige shows, The Americans improves very significantly when you factor in delayed viewing on streaming services and DVR. The series often more than doubles its viewership in the Live +3 ratings. It's still not a ratings behemoth, by any means, but these gains often put it on par with all but the top four or five series on cable TV.

51 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Nope, only Jackson worked in Nunn's office. That's why Elizabeth specifically targeted him. I forget where Paige's boyfriend worked, State, maybe?

He's an intern for Congressman Charles Bennett. In real life, Bennett was a high-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, but his reputation as a squeaky-clean reformer alienated him from his fellow lawmakers and prevented him from becoming chairman of the committee despite his seniority. That's the perfect boss for Paige's guy, since he would seem very impressive to a novice like Paige, but her mom would immediately understand that he was a subpar source.

1 hour ago, Inquisitionist said:

Her mother hasn't denied that people sometimes get hurt or even die because of her work.  But Elizabeth has deliberately lied, repeatedly, about using sex.  And she encouraged Paige to think of sex as something meaningful ("sleep with him if you like him, not to get information" or words to that effect, when she herself clearly views it primarily as a weapon in her arsenal.  Paige's outrage was out the lie, not about the sex.  Just as Elizabeth's outrage toward Claudia was about her lying.

Exactly. And that's why Elizabeth's contemptuous outburst is particularly devastating. To Paige, what she's really saying is "It doesn't mean anything to me. . . . Lying? What was lying? Nobody cared. Including your father."

The mother/daughter connections in the episode are echoed in an interestingly oblique way in Elizabeth's flashback scenes. When we first saw the shot of young Nadezhda sitting in the chair in the little room looking thoughtful, I was immediately reminded of an earlier account of her childhood. But when trying to track it down, I realized that it's not technically something the show actually came out and said; it's from one of the tapes from Elizabeth's mom that was never translated on screen. The only reason I know about it is because someone here on the board did a rough translation of parts of it, and I tracked down a more complete translation just now on Reddit:

"I recently remembered how you used to wait for me to come home from work, sitting on that chair in the kitchen. I asked you why you were just sitting there, not doing anything useful. But you just liked to sit and think. You were always like that."

It lends some interesting shading to the scenes, I think, if part of the point is that Elizabeth was always thoughtful and watchful -- that her cold, reflexively obedient "Any sacrifice for the cause" attitude is the aberration, the betrayal of who she truly is. It's probably also not a coincidence that the KGB instructor who's basically like "What the fuck, girl, you should follow orders, but don't be a monster" looks a fair bit like Liz's mother.

Edited May 24, 2018 by Dev F

[DoubleUTeeEff]

9 hours ago, jjj said:

9 hours ago, jrlr said:

When Stan was researching the Jennings and saw there was no record of the travel agency, I was fully expecting an "Aha!" Moment, but Stan barely reacted.  Wouldn't that be a huge red flag?  

No, that was a database of arrests and other criminal activity. (FBI files)  The travel agency is licensed. 

Right but it's a business. They've never reported vandalism, loitering, noise complaints, an attempted break-in, anything the entire time they've been in business? It's kind of like if you were looking into someone's background and they were TOO clean. Like, they've never even had a parking ticket. That might seem a bit suspicious.

So, Elizabeth kills an assassin this episode instead of an innocent person. That was refreshing.

I died a little inside when Oleg was caught. I hope everyone he's left back in Russia is OK without him. I'm afraid his mother will be completely heartbroken.

That whole scene with Philip realizing that he was being watched was so so good. I wonder if he made all the agents and started running as soon as he thought he could get away.

[JennyMominFL]

I dont find it strange at all that 2 interns, even of different congressmen, would be  at the same party. It seems pretty likely to me.

[Plums]

The more I think about Father Andrei, the more I think he's less of an idiot and more just way in over his head. When we were first introduced to him, he obviously didn't really know much about spying, asking Phillip questions about how equipment worked and whatnot. He's probably just a priest that the KGB was forcing and/or bribing to inform on his fellow priests for blackmail material or something low grade like that. Petty church politics stuff. He's not a trained spy, and it's totally believable that given his purview, he'd have no reason to suspect the FBI would ever be interested in him. He's informing on fellow Russians, not Americans. It was monumentally foolish for Phillip and Elizabeth to trust a rube like him so completely, and they were probably lulled into that false sense of security with him just because he's Russian. They're entirely screwed. Andrei is not going to be able to hide his recognition if Stan shows him that photo of Phillip and Elizabeth. 

[jjj]

I think Philip started running for two reasons: first, that his instincts told him he was being followed, and second, to flush out the agents by making them run.  It worked.

No, I am not surprised that the travel agency had no break-ins or criminal activity.  Now, a convenience store would be a different story! 

[SunnyBeBe]

Philip is good!  He knew just how to pace himself and then when to sprint.  I am curious as to how he didn't know they were being watched though, before he sat down in the park.  Maybe, the agents had just shown up.  But, how would they have known where Andre was?  Did he give his plans to be in the park to someone? His supervisor had just given them his name, so, it's not like they knew ahead of time. 

[Chaos Theory]

2 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Smoking as her cover when she was with Gregory or smoking as Liz? Or is your point that if she had been smoking heavily as her cover, Stan still would have noticed because he would have smelled it even if the cigarettes weren't around the house or he didn't see her smoking. 

Gregory asked her if she wanted a cigarette she said she quit and she was trying to be good.  Gregory said it was a bad look on her.

I really liked the Paige confrontation of her mother.  They both have a thing about the truth but are really bad when confronted with it.   

I liked the Oleg and Stan scenes two good men on opposing sides.  Both who essentially want the same thing.

Stan both knows he is right about the Jennings and really really wants to be wrong about the Jennings.  I really thought he was going to pop up in front of Philip during that chases scene.

Claudia sure can make slurping soup seem meanacing 

Things are all topsy-Turvy.   

Edited May 24, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[SusanSunflower]

I think part of Paige's upset with E.'s Jackson seduction was that Elizabeth had invaded her private life turf and I think that's entirely reasonable on an emotional level ...  Paige is still conscious of such boundaries; Elizabeth's lack of respect of Paige's "real life" boundaries couldn't be more glaring. Ruthless.  I've been thinking about how E. has been lying (much by omission/denial) for 6 long years on what must have been exhaustively ongoing frequency.   I've wondered when Paige would get arms training, if simply because we could then get more honesty about the small arsenal that E. often carries with her.  Similarly, Phillip's nearly 6 year abdication of any/all responsibility for Paige and her training now seems unconscionable. He's not even aware of how little Paige knows or even how competent Paige is (or is not).  E.'s not likely to ever admit regrets, she'd rather eat the blue pill. But as Philip sees his entire family  "what he really lives for" thrown into such jeopardy, perhaps he will realize what a bad steward he was of them (as well as the travel agency) ...  Since I was wrong about E. realizing that her heroic career as a spy was mostly about honey-potting and assassinations in the course of 6 years of lying to Paige, I expect I will be wrong about some epiphany for Phillip in realizing that letting Elizabeth "have her way" as destroyed all he holds dear. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by SusanSunflower

[tennisgurl]

I haven't read everyone elses comments yet except for the first page, so here are my first thoughts...

Holy Hell, everything is coming together! Or coming apart, I guess. Philips escape was probably the most intense scene of the season, I really thought when he started running, he was busted. Thank god he remembered to dress in layers! The look on his face when he was on the phone was so haunted, as he realized how badly things had gone down so fast. 

Then Liz actually tells Claudia that she stopped her contingent in the KGB from their plan to screw up the summit, and told her to run! Really, I was hoping Liz would give grandma a beat down, after the one she got from her all those years ago, but she always cared about grandma and what she thought of her, so I guess it makes sense she cant shake off her influence, even now that she has finally gotten a dang clue. Really, I thought Claudia was about to offer her some moonshine...

Honestly, I kind of felt sorry for Claudia, thinking that Elizabeth's family was really just a cover, and thats all. Even Paige, who she has spent all this time bonding with over war stories and peasant food, was just one of her "American Kids" to be disposed of in the name of The Cause. 

On the other side, Oleg is also giving up his family for his countries future, but it is NOT something that he is taking lightly. He is clearly heartbroken to leave home and his family to possibly spend his life in a prison cell or getting a bullet to the back of his head, but he is doing it because he feels like he needs to do this to save his country, and guarantee his families future. Really, its the same as when he told Stan about the bio-weapon program, risking death or imprisonment, because he couldn't let something happen that would endanger the whole world. For a guy who started the show as a the Soviet equivalent of a frat boy, he has turned into a remarkably selfless, sympathetic person who has a real ability to see the greater good and the long game. He might not have done everything for totally altruistic purposes, and has definitely screwed over a few people, but I really do think he has made these choices for what are truly good reasons. I know its basically impossible for him to have a happy ending at this point, but I can still hope. 

Stan really is just remarkably think headed, isnt he? After all this, he really thinks that Oleg is doing all of this for some stupid reason, dropping bodies left and right? Does he think he wont care about the future of his country and the world? He knows Oleg, he knows what he did before! I did love Oleg having to spell things out very slowly for Stan, and finally telling him to get this through his think, FBI head. What Oleg doing is in everyone's best interest, including the USs and the fact that Stan doesn't know get that shows what tunnel vision he has to figure out this illegal things, and how little he understands international politics, or even his old friend. Stan isnt a bad guy, and he and Oleg essentially want the same thing, but he still hasn't embraced what Nina told him years ago. He sees things in Black and White, whole the Soviets only see grey. He still struggles to see that grey.

Paige finally realizes that her mom is a big old liar! And really, Liz sleeping with people and screwing them over after she screwed them is one of her lesser sins as an agent. Just wait until she sees her moms crazy high body count. Or her dads, for that matter. Well, that took forever. Paige and Stan are in competition for people not getting nuance the most. 

Groovy hair has lost his groovy hair! Truly the end of an era. 

I need more Philip flashbacks before the show ends. We already know so much about Elizabeth, and we know so little about Philip. We know he was poor, we know he had to have extensive traumatizing sex training sessions, and we know that he had a girlfriend. Philip plays everything so close to the chest, I want some more of his inner workings and how his past affected him. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by tennisgurl

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, meira.hand said:

In Colony :)

I often see him walking his dog around my neighborhood.  He looks so different in person!  I refrain from talking to him (although I also have a dog), 'cause I'd sound like an idiot fangirl and I'd want to pump him for show information!  So I take the role of blase New Yorker.

[White Sheep]

3 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

 

Which KGB? Part of this season is that there are factions within the KGB, so which faction finds them first is crucial. 

 

EVERYONE hates a traitor.   No one lives the kgb alive after doing stuff like that. Actually many fractions is worst.   With no control at the top. It’s everyone man for himself.   E&P are dead men walking.  Just ask the future head of the KGB. V Putin.  Right now a LT. Colonel in east Germany.   

Edited May 24, 2018 by White Sheep

[SailorGirl]

4 hours ago, shura said:

They have stuff on Oleg from his Rezidentura days, don't they? There is record of his being a spy under diplomatic cover, both the FBI and the CIA (from their Moscow experiment) can testify to that. And now that Oleg has no cover and is just a private citizen really interested in transportation optimization, they have proof that he picked up a dead drop (even if they may not know what it says). Plus, I'm sure they have searched his hotel room and found all his decoding accoutrements there. I don't know for sure if that's enough, but it doesn't seem unreasonable.

I'm a bit behind on the postings and someone else may have already answered this, but when Oleg was in Russia considering whether to take on this mission, he and his Russian "handler" were talking about the risks -- they essentially outlined what would happen if he got caught and why. I don't remember the details -- someone else may -- but it was explained. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by SailorGirl

[SunnyBeBe]

4 minutes ago, GussieK said:

I often see him walking his dog around my neighborhood.  He looks so different in person!  I refrain from talking to him (although I also have a dog), 'cause I'd sound like an idiot fangirl and I'd want to pump him for show information!  So I take the role of blase New Yorker.

Oh my.....I'd have to fight hard to maintain.  I'm such a celebrity hound, but, I'd likely do what you're doing, in order to maintain status quo.  You wouldn't want to cause him to avoid you or think you were stalker like. I get it. 

[Cardie]

5 hours ago, Novel8 said:

So Paige gets upset about a boy that was seduced by her mother,but okay to beat up or possibly kill someone, like that sailor...though, she didn't kill him, but caused it.

Paige, not the most inquiring or gifted of minds, only knows that the general "committed suicide" and is unaware of all the people her mom has killed during this season. She's not yet realized that the mission includes being assassins for hire. At this point, ruinous seduction is the worst thing she imagines her mother has been up to. The training in violence she believes was only to be engaged in when self-defense called for it.

[Bannon]

23 minutes ago, Dev F said:

There's a scene where he offers her weed, but there's also a recurring bit where he offers her regular cigarettes and her response is correlated to how much she's trying to distance herself from her former lover at that particular moment. In their first scene together she declines, saying she's trying to quit, but later, after she and Philip have their falling-out over Irina, she accepts.

The implication even then was that she and Gregory had a habit of smoking together before she decided to give her fake marriage a real shot at the end of the pilot. Which, come to think of it, lends additional meaning to the fact that she takes up smoking again as her and Philip's relationship deteriorates in the present time frame.

That's just the Live ratings, I think. Like many prestige shows, The Americans improves very significantly when you factor in delayed viewing on streaming services and DVR. The series often more than doubles its viewership in the Live +3 ratings. It's still not a ratings behemoth, by any means, but these gains often put it on par with all but the top four or five series on cable TV.

 

You are right, after 7 days, The Americans climbs to about 1.7 million viewers,  but only about 400k in the 18-49 demo ( the viewership for a show based in the 80s has always unsurprisingly skewed a little old). For comparison, the L plus 7 for Better Call Saul is over 4 million, Suits was mid 2's, and the Walkind Dead stuff leads the pack, of course. On the other hand, the production costs for The Americans are probably pretty reasonable, if not the bargain entailed in shooting in New Mexico. A bunch of mid priced 80s sedans cant be that expensive to rent.

[jjj]

13 minutes ago, GussieK said:

I often see him walking his dog around my neighborhood.  He looks so different in person!  I refrain from talking to him (although I also have a dog), 'cause I'd sound like an idiot fangirl and I'd want to pump him for show information!  So I take the role of blase New Yorker.

Who is this?  Pastor Tim? 

[EtheltoTillie]

3 minutes ago, Bannon said:

You are right, after 7 days, The Americans climbs to about 1.7 million viewers,  but only about 400k in the 18-49 demo ( the viewership for a show based in the 80s has always unsurprisingly skewed a little old). For comparison, the L plus 7 for Better Call Saul is over 4 million, Suits was mid 2's, and the Walkind Dead stuff leads the pack, of course. On the other hand, the production costs for The Americans are probably pretty reasonable, if not the bargain entailed in shooting in New Mexico. A bunch of mid priced 80s sedans cant be that expensive to rent.

Yes, compare with Real Housewives of NY, which airs the hour before The Americans.  They have twice as many posting pages in their forum as we have in this one!  I watch it, but only desultorily--not like this show.

Just now, jjj said:

Who is this?  Pastor Tim? 

No, Agent Wolf (Agent John Boy's replacement)(Peter Jacobson) (was formerly on House). 

[Bannon]

2 minutes ago, GussieK said:

Yes, compare with Real Housewives of NY, which airs the hour before The Americans.  They have twice as many posting pages in their forum as we have in this one!  I watch it, but only desultorily--not like this show.

For some reason people love the "reality" stuff. I'd rather have my fiction be packaged as fiction.

[kokapetl]

3 hours ago, bluelena69 said:

8I'm not convinced that the FBI will come out looking rosy in this. From a historical perspective, the FBI had a spotty history through the Cold War. They never really seemed to be able to fully catch up to the Soviets and outright missed Soviet agents in their own ranks ( nee Robert Hanssen and others). Furthermore, the tension between the CIA and FBI during the Cold War was quite substantial and even detrimental to counterintelligence. Maybe Weisberg is using his bully pulpit to rag on the Bureau.

Didn’t the CIA fail to predict the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, but also thought the Soviet military was twice as powerful as it actually was?

[Lily H]

When Elizabeth had her flashback to the accident, I was probably the only one thinking 1. get some medical help for that poor horse, and 2. leave that dipshit motorcycle driver who hit him on the street to die. Then I thought, Elizabeth was correct. During an operation, she doesn't have the luxury of being a Good Samaritan, which would probably lead to questions from cops.

[SunnyBeBe]

4 minutes ago, Cardie said:

Paige, not the most inquiring or gifted of minds, only knows that the general "committed suicide" and is unaware of all the people her mom has killed during this season. She's not yet realized that the mission includes being assassins for hire. At this point, ruinous seduction is the worst thing she imagines her mother has been up to. The training in violence she believes was only to be engaged in when self-defense called for it.

I suspect that if Paige were to be informed of her parents antics and death count, she'd likely say that she does not know those people (her parents). I'm not sure she would ever really accept it. But, I don't think that she fully gets their Russian roots either. She has no idea of the place they came from where eating children occurred.  I think her depth of knowledge about the real world is still lacking. 

[jjj]

5 minutes ago, GussieK said:

No, Agent Wolf (Agent John Boy's replacement)(Peter Jacobson) (was formerly on House). 

Now I'm even more confused.  Stan's former partner?  I never saw "House". 

[kokapetl]

Just now, Bannon said:

For some reason people love the "reality" stuff. I'd rather have my fiction be packaged as fiction.

I watched all episodes of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Americans last year. I’ve since given up on RHOBH, I didn’t watch the last 2 episodes and three reunion shows for this year. I also watch (hangs head in shame) Duggar shows. 

[benteen]

1 minute ago, jjj said:

Now I'm even more confused.  Stan's former partner?  I never saw "House". 

Stan was referring to his partner in Season 1, Christopher Amandor.

[SailorGirl]

6 minutes ago, Lily H said:

When Elizabeth had her flashback to the accident, I was probably the only one thinking 1. get some medical help for that poor horse, and 2. leave that dipshit motorcycle driver who hit him on the street to die. 

Save me a seat at your table. I was more upset about the horse than the humans. 

[EtheltoTillie]

5 minutes ago, jjj said:

Now I'm even more confused.  Stan's former partner?  I never saw "House". 

Peter Jacobson was a major character in the show House.  If you never saw it, you might not recognize him.

On The Americans, he plays Agent Wolf, the replacement for Agent Gaad (I call him Agent John Boy), the supervisor who was disgraced in the Martha fiasco (and who was killed in Thailand).  Jacobson's role on The Americans is relatively small.

Edited May 24, 2018 by GussieK

[JennyMominFL]

7 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

I watched all episodes of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Americans last year. I’ve since given up on RHOBH, I didn’t watch the last 2 episodes and three reunion shows for this year. I also watch (hangs head in shame) Duggar shows. 

I watch all those. And every iteration of 90 Day Fiance. I'm reality TV's Bitch. And I spend a lot of time in the UK so I watch stuff like Doctor Who and Eastenders. And I also love "good shows, like the Americans. Handmaid's Tale and GOT. Do not be ashamed. I'm a full time history and anthropology student so I need some crap TV.

Edited May 24, 2018 by JennyMominFL

[jjj]

6 minutes ago, GussieK said:

Peter Jacobson was a major character in the show House.  If you never saw it, you might not recognize him.

On The Americans, he plays Agent Wolf, the replacement for Agent Gaad (I call him Agent John Boy), the supervisor who was disgraced in the Martha fiasco (and who was killed in Thailand).  Jacobson's role on The Americans is relatively small.

Thank you!  And this is the person you see dog walking-- got it now!

Let me add how ridiculous the Tatiana killing was.  She was clearly still alive but dying, and they did nothing to help her or run for help.  One diplomat reached down and felt her coat sleeve like he was checking for a pulse.  On the coat sleeve.  Meanwhile, she was taking a while to die.  There were a bunch of people around, and no one acting at all on her behalf. 

[Cardie]

1 hour ago, scrb said:

So Tatiana, who's pretty much been portrayed as a house cat, was going to shiv a man out in the street?

Perhaps this was a way for the show to let us know that the coup plotters are not that numerous. Claudia would have to be careful whom she tasked with killing the head of their summit delegation. The idea of it being Renee would have been awesome though.

[SunnyBeBe]

27 minutes ago, jjj said:

Thank you!  And this is the person you see dog walking-- got it now!

Let me add how ridiculous the Tatiana killing was.  She was clearly still alive but dying, and they did nothing to help her or run for help.  One diplomat reached down and felt her coat sleeve like he was checking for a pulse.  On the coat sleeve.  Meanwhile, she was taking a while to die.  There were a bunch of people around, and no one acting at all on her behalf. 

It seemed that the Russian group realized that she was there to do them harm and that she was in disguise. Plus, they probably know what that poison dart device was and how CLOSE they came to biting the dust.  I think I might have taken cover, in case there was a backup assassin around the corner.  Any way those guys might have recognized Tatianna?