S06.E09: Jennings, Elizabeth

[Ellaria]

4 hours ago, MBayGal said:

It was tense and engaging in some ways, but it was all so compressed.  In one hour, Eliz changes her alliegence AND admits it to Claudia; Paige realizes what her mother really does, based on people talking about a vomitting drunk talking about the woman who seduced him; Stan is so sure P and E are the spies that he tells Alderhold.  

I agree that some of the plot advancement feels a bit compressed, particularly for Stan and Paige. Epiphanies are fine but we have gone from zero to sixty a bit too quickly. As someone else said above, I can forgive it. I don't want to use past missteps to judge the end.

They did a great job of pushing their characters to their limits in subtle ways..Philip, Liz, Claudia, Oleg even Paige.

[Ina123]

6 hours ago, jjj said:

After Paige stormed out, the camera pulled away to linger on a long shot of the first floor of the Jennings' house.  I assume this is the last time we will see it. 

All I could notice in that shot was how defeated and horrible E looked in that outfit. I think it was possible that she was in shaggy, too large jeans to add to the look of lost weight and just someone who has been burdened for a long time.

[Trillian]

Maybe I’m being naive, but what do the FBI actually have on Oleg?  Stan can threaten all he wants to pin all those murders on him, but nothing links him to them.  No one implicated a tall, extraordinarily handsome man.  Passing secret notes isn’t per se a crime. If they decode the note it may or may not say anything incriminating (or it could be the recipe for Zharkoye - these people know their code words).  I guess he knows the identity of the illegals, but the lawyer in me asks how they could prove that, assuming that itself is a crime. He’s not guilty of spying on the US; at most, they can prove with the note that he’s spying on the Soviet Union. 

 

Or or maybe I just want to see Oleg get home to bachelorette #3 and his cute son and spend the rest of his life on train schedules. 

[BingeyKohan]

One other question to throw out: We know that Elizabeth was counting her chickens before they hatched in telling Claudia she'd stopped everything and gotten word to Moscow. But in a way isn't Nesterenko standing over the dead body of a woman from the Rezidentura who had a dart gun on her in a way doing the same thing? I guess that's a way of asking about or clarifying the stakes for next week: The FBI is the Jennings threat in the near term and (should they escape) the hard-liners are a vindictive threat in the long term?

[txhorns79]

Quote

No one implicated a tall, extraordinarily handsome man.

Hee!  I love the idea of an alert being put out that people should call the police immediately if they run into a man who is just too handsome!  "He's guilty of love...in the first degree!" 

Quote

Boy, is Henry going to be surprised! Guess he's not going to finish this semester, let alone his senior year.

 

Poor Henry.   Just think, in a year or so, when Little Nikita comes out, Henry will be able to relate. 

[Novel8]

8 hours ago, Cardie said:

Paige had an awful quick turn-around but I hand-waved it because of how it was another blow to Elizabeth as she finally does what is right and loses everything

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.

[scartact]

At this point, I'm pretty much enjoying the ride as the show is about to end. Once thing I quibbled with is that use of flashbacks, which felt like a long-handed way of doing something that could possibly have been short-handed, but I guess that'll do in a pinch. It just felt a little too underlining of Liz's current inner turmoil, and it more or less reaffirms that the writers were [probably] more fascinated with Liz's narrative arc than Phil's. I mean, there's a reason this episode is named after her!

Sepinwall suggested that we should have seen Paige discovering what happened to Jackson and I kinda agree with that too. That would build at least that aspect of the narrative more tightly so that when Paige comes home to fight with Elizabeth, it feels less out of pocket. I did greatly enjoy that fight though and how it contrasted with Claudia (something of a surrogate mother) and Elizabeth interacted. I love how Elizabeth, so exhausted, just drops the defenses and owns up to it; I loved her scoff! It's like, Paige finds it A Big Deal and of course I'm sure it is and it feels gross but Liz all, "It didn't even matter, not even to your father." And this all coming from the heels of her interaction with Claudia, who basically called her a failure!

 

8 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

One other question to throw out: We know that Elizabeth was counting her chickens before they hatched in telling Claudia she'd stopped everything and gotten word to Moscow. But in a way isn't Nesterenko standing over the dead body of a woman from the Rezidentura who had a dart gun on her in a way doing the same thing? I guess that's a way of asking about or clarifying the stakes for next week: The FBI is the Jennings threat in the near term and (should they escape) the hard-liners are a vindictive threat in the long term?

I feel like that was definitely an intentional parallel; it's interesting because it isn't exactly a 1:1 replica of the flashback scenario, but I think there are definite similarities to both basic setup and this idea of you don't leave a comrade to die. In this case, Elizabeth's comrade has become Nesterenko, and not Tatiana. As for the stakes of your last question, part of me thinks there's a way in which an isolation thing is happening. Elizabeth turns her back on her orders, so maybe they won't have the Jennings' backs, but it feels like a way of basically saying/showing that when everything else around them is failing, Philip and Elizabeth truly do only have each other (aw; but also, yikes).

And I haven't said anything yet, but holy shit, Philip breaking out into a full-blown sprint and the ensuing chase! I definitely screamed. I almost thought they would catch him and Liz would somehow find out about it, but nope! This did make me want to watch the season one finale because I think I recall them having a plan of action for if they had to escape. With that set up in mind, there's a way that it becomes fully realized from season one where they thought they would need an escape plan to actually here's the fucking process y'all.

Shit boutta go down next week.

[Bannon]

4 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

The writing may have been better than most other episodes. But the idea that Paige would somehow be at the same place and time as the kid E had slept with and that kid then got drunk and spilled the beans in front of Paige was - IMO - absolutely freaking PREPOSTEROUS! The probability of that happening was just ludicrous.

Yeah, and it didn't need to be that way. There were all sorts of ways to get to that place, of Paige becoming disgusted, that didn't require such a contrivance. Once again, it is kind of a shame.

[Orillia]

6 hours ago, missy jo said:

I wish they'd gotten to this point a few episodes ago. Both the Stan and Paige point of views seem rushed. I'd have liked more time for this part of the story to play out. 

I would have liked to have had a few scenes between Philip and Stan once he finally knew the truth. Stan would be looking at him in an entirely new light and probably be trying to trip him up. I'm sure Philip would have caught on. Classic cat and mouse. Loved the phone call at the end and the realization that it's over, not only for them but also for us.  It's going to be a long week.

[BingeyKohan]

1 minute ago, icemiser69 said:

The writers finally tightened the light bulb in her head. 

What pisses me off is that the writers have made Paige such a dim bulb for so long, that to have her all of a sudden say she knew what was going on along, to me just isn't believable.  Paige does not have a poker face.

Haha this is making me imagine that when Stan twisted the light bulb in the Jennings laundry room Paige's eyes popped open across town. Like a Rube Goldberg device. 

Late in the game to be asking this, but who is this Sepinwall folks refer to? I can't believe I've left a stone unturned in my recap and analysis obsession.

[Bannon]

14 minutes 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 is always watching MASH reruns in syndication, when the local news is on. She only picks up the paper for Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County, and never looks at anything else. She won't learn of the Berlin Wall coming down until the SECOND Bush presidency.

[JFParnell]

One to go! They are certainly taking giant story leaps with each minute of screen time, and it suffers just a tad for that rushed feel, but -- eh, who cares? At least stuff happened.

Wait, what? That was Tatiana? I didn't know she was labor - I thought she was management (shamelessly borrowing that line from Ronin :) 

Pastor T was probably wondering about the current status of extradition treaties between Argentina and the U.S.

I assume this is purposely, to show how worn out he is, but, man, the makeup people have Philip looking positively embalmed in some of those scenes. Poor guy is starting to look more wax than human.

Powerful scene in that cell between Stan and Oleg. When shown P&E's picture, Oleg shook his head slowly. Do we take that to mean, "No, it's not them" and he's protecting them, or was Oleg trying to communicate, "No, you didn't hear it from me, but yes"? I'd think the former, no? But I wondered about the latter.

In any case, Stan is not Oleg's intellectual equal, lol. You could see Oleg's exasperation. Stan shifted into his comfortable blockhead mode. Thick. Head. Indeed.

For the first time maybe ever, I was rooting for Paige. Poor Liz kept trying to lie -- her default setting, given her profession -- but, through the magic of writers hurrying to tie up storylines and doling out epiphanies like candy, Paige wasn't buying it.

Did anyone else think of Mags Bennett (from Justified) when Margo Martindale was preparing a meal in front of Liz? Mags had some literally killer moonshine for her enemies.

Peter Jacobsen makes a cameo! Does House know you're moonlighting for the Feds? Where have you been, Tiny Taub?

Er, you may have played your last hockey game, Henry.

Oh and forgot this tidbit that cracked me up. Whenever Stan needed to modify his search, gotta say they kept it real: no quick hop of the cursor and re-typing. Instead, it was that maddening backspace-backspace-backspace-backspace. How far we've come!

[Bannon]

At this point they may as well, in the final episode, have the  FBI blow yet another stakeout, with a target of the highest possible value. "FBI" apparently stands for Facepalming Boneheads & Idiots.

[benteen]

I didn't even realize that was Tatiana.  I'll have to watch that again.

I thought the episode was good but can't help but feel that they really do need those extra three episodes to wrap this up completely.  Given the writing of the past two years though, I have no confidence that that would have helped and that they are going to stick the landing.

Fantastic acting by Keri Russell (and the forehead veins!) and I really loved getting to see the Elizabeth flashbacks (never enough of those).  It did go a ways into explaining her mindset.  I still don't buy that she wouldn't have been apart of this coup.  I can see her viewing Gorbachev as betraying the cause.  I wish the writers had set up her issues with the KGB leadership last season instead of the glorified victory tour they took last season.

Not enough Matthew Rhys although the chase scene was really exciting. 

Really good stuff with Stan and Oleg.  I'm glad Stan told his concerns to Aderholt but it's frustrating that he's still not closer to figuring things out this late in the game.

Terrific scene between Elizabeth and Claudia.

Hello, Pastor Tim...I sure as hell didn't miss you.  I thought he was going to burst out laughing when he talked about how intelligent Paige is.  I'm surprised that Stan kept a straight face too.

Paige...ugh.  Only she could make me take Elizabeth's side when they had that argument.  Really, it was only in a book that you learned that spies use sex?  That seemed to be pretty common knowledge back for years, going back to the James Bond movies.  Paige is so naïve that even when she questions her mother, she sounds like a complete idiot.

Still felt like too much set-up this late in the game.

[Plums]

I don't think it's unbelievable that Paige has "known all along" as it were. She was happy play-acting the spy protege because she saw it as working for the greater good and more crucially, as a way of truly bonding with her mother. Elizabeth protected her from the realities of the job, and Paige knew that, and she kind of lied to herself and went along with it because working with her mother and being her confidante outweighed all that. Until she found out Elizabeth probably slept with one of her fellow interns and ruined his life, and she couldn't ignore it anymore. Her parents have always been very weird about sex with her, from when she was dating Matthew. I think it's part of the reason why she got so stuck on the idea of spies using sex. And it's not totally out of nowhere that Paige has been feeling lied to this season- That tired sigh in episode 5 after Phillip sparred with her and showed her just how much Elizabeth was holding back in her physical training, right before she went in to the safe house to see Elizabeth and Claudia again, happy face on- was a hint. So I can buy this confrontation. Though I do agree with Sepinwall's take that seeing Paige being faced with the undeniable reality of the consequences of her mother's work rather than Paige expositing that experience would have worked better than the flashbacks to Elizabeth's training, which felt very heavy handed. That whole formative experience I think could have worked just as well in a monologued anecdote Elizabeth relays to Claudia in their confrontation, to explain her motives after the deed is done. We didn't need to see it. Paige's turn felt abrupt without seeing it. 

 

On a different note, I love the irony of how completely worried they were about Pastor Tim for like two seasons, and then it turns out he's loyal to Paige and ultimately keeps their secret, meanwhile the Russian priest they've never worried about and trusted enough to marry them gives them game away totally, like an idiot. 

Spoiler

I'll better he's the one who provides the FBI with those much more accurate sketches from the preview as well.

Spoiler

 

 

[Ina123]

I may be mis-remembering but when Paige first started seeing the intern wasn't there a discussion where Paige at least hinted that she was willing to sleep with him for info? Wasn't that when E told her to sleep with him only if she cared about him but not for "work"? So, if I am remembering that scene correctly, wasn't Paige offering to do exactly what she accused her mother of...whoring?

Since I thought I remembered that scene, I was yelling, "you self-righteous little beach"!

[shura]

7 hours ago, Marianna said:

2.  I know Tatiana is a true believer and all that, but is she actually trained to murder people herself? It seems odd that she’s the one they chose to do it. Why not Claudia?

She is probably trained, but it is ridiculous that they chose her for the mission. Tatiana is officially a Soviet diplomat with a position at the embassy, a deputy attachée of some sort or something like that. Sending her is not really that different from having the ambassador himself do it. You have to think about risk management - if something goes wrong and she is exposed, imagine what it would look like in the papers, a Soviet diplomat tries to assassinate one of their own in the middle of the summit. Is it really worth a try? And really, there is no reason Nesterenko's assassination should be a requirement for the coup success. It's only a plot device to get Elizabeth into conflict with Claudia and the KGB.

8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

And he even sat with him to talk about his marriage for a while first. The message was like an afterthought and Philip freaked. But I don't think Father Andre was ever the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Well, if Father Victor was talking to the FBI that very day, there was at least a chance the FBI wouldn't be quick enough to have someone on Father Andrei already. Not that he made that calculation, necessarily, of course. At least he didn't wait a few days, at which point his message to Philip would be "I wanted to tell you, in person, that the FBI is following me 24/7."

[Bannon]

4 minutes ago, benteen said:

  I wish the writers had set up her issues with the KGB leadership last season instead of the glorified victory tour they took last season.

 

Man, is that ever spot-on. For as much as I have loved the acting on this show, there have been so many missed writing opportunities, and inexplicable ones at that.

[Erin9]

3 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Oleg getting through to Stan was everything.  Those two were always great together.  Once Stan got over his single minded quest about identifying the illegals, and listened?  They connected.

I wish we'd had even more of that in other episodes.  I really missed the Stan/Oleg connection.

Stan was such an idiot last night, I wound up wishing he’d die. (Not that I think he will.) And find out Renee was a spy. Barring that- have his life ruined. I just hated him. I hated him too much to miss anything. And I had found them interesting-after Stan supposedly understood Oleg. 

Maybe Stan finally got it. But Oleg shouldn’t have had to spell it out like that. In those 2 scenes every single word out of Stan’s mouth made it sound like they’d just met. Stan’s so called ability to read and understand people was at an all time low. 

I do wonder if Stan will figure out Philip was Oleg’s source. 

I have to reflect on the irony- American Pastor Tim said nothing useful. I didn’t hear anything that he said or how he said it that was any kind of tell. But Philip and Elizabeth get done in by 2 Russian orthodox priests. (And the FBI missed Philip again. I did enjoy that. Really hated the whole FBI last night.) 

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's Previously.TV's EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP of the episode!

The Americans Try To Keep A Comrade From Being Left On The Street To Die

Elizabeth grapples with the question of what she really owes her country in the season's penultimate EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP!

[BingeyKohan]

Confession: I found the Stan/Oleg whispering scene pretty hot.

[Bannon]

Does Laurie Holden get paid even when she doesn't appear in an episode, if her character's name is mentioned?

I swear, that Renee anvil almost fell on my big toe! I'm fully prepared for a groaner reveal next week.

[Plums]

2 minutes ago, shura said:

Tatiana is officially a Soviet diplomat with a position at the embassy, a deputy attachée of some sort or something like that. Sending her is not really that different from having the ambassador himself do it. You have to think about risk management - if something goes wrong and she is exposed, imagine what it would look like in the papers, a Soviet diplomat tries to assassinate one of their own in the middle of the summit.

This is the reason why I think the coup plot is thwarted regardless of the dead drop being intercepted by the FBI. Also, Oleg told the Americans about the anti-Gorbachev element. They can relay that information themselves by their own methods, and that combined with the assassination attempt by an official diplomat on another official diplomat, it won't take much to put two and two together. 

Something else I thought of- When Claudia tells Elizabeth that her actions in stopping the coup negate every other good thing she's ever done, that pinged me so hard. Because my endgame speculation ever since The Jenningses officially joined the pro-Gorbachev, anti-coup conspiracy, is that their action in preventing a coup will negate every other bad thing they've done when it comes to the Americans capturing them and offering protection rather than imprisonment.

[FormerMod-a1]

Paige knowing all along when her mother was lying...  hmm...  I guess I can see that.  And this time she knows specifically what about because she's asker her point blank about sex with the intern.  It does seem a little too abrupt though, but I'll take it.  Elizabeth's reaction was worth it.   And yes, she really looked broken down after, hunched over the counter.

[Erin9]

7 hours ago, kikaha said:

I thought Stan tossed that comment out to see how Philip reacted.  Stan the cat threw out some cheese to Philip his mouse. 

I don’t think he got anything out of it though. Philip was surprised. That’s it. Philip has never acted overly interested in anything Stan said work wise. On purpose. 

But I thought his conversation with Tim netted him nothing too. He didn’t say- or not say-anything. 

[kokapetl]

Surely the Central Committee are going to find out about what Tatiana was up to, and isn’t it basically all over for the conspiracy then?

[JFParnell]

Thought it was an odd oversight when, at the end of the episode, the FX voiceover robot was just casually intoning, "Stay tuned for scenes from the next episode of the Americans" Huh? Is someone asleep at the switch at FX? Why weren't they in hyper-hype mode: "Stay tuned for scenes from the SHOCKING -- YOU'LL-NEVER-BELIEVE-WHAT-HAPPENS -- SERIES FINALE of The Americans on FX!!!" Weird... maybe they don't want anyone to watch.

[SunnyBeBe]

Isn't Oleg getting that message from Philip back to his people pretty much a moot point by now?  I mean, the target guy and his people saw that he was the intended victim of a hit.  Within a short time, Tatianna's identity would be discovered, so, they would realize what is going on and hopefully, they'll take safety precautions and quit tracing around town as easy targets.  Which is something else I wondered.  Why didn't E just send a note or make a phone call to tell the guy that his life is in danger from a KGB faction and he needed to get the hell of the streets until after the Summit?  Why did the message have to go through Oleg? 

I still don't know what they have on Oleg in order to hold him.  And, wouldn't other agents and Stan's supervisors find it odd that Oleg sits close to Stan in his holding cell and chats in secret, hushed tones?  That kind of behavior would make me suspicious of Stan. 

I thought that Aderholt looked at Stan like he might be losing his mind and judgment right after Stan shared his suspicions about P and E. 

I'm glad that E lied to Paige about the intern.  Paige returned to her teen state and we all know that Paige cannot handle the truth.  She gets all flustered, has a melt down and storms out.  But, if given the truth, she'd likely go and blab to someone. 

And my number one question is:  Who was Philip talking about when he and Stan were chatting in P's office and P said that he had done some work for one of Stan's friends a few years ago?  Was this GAAD?  I hope that is not the case. 

[Erin9]

5 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

Surely the Central Committee are going to find out about what Tatiana was up to, and isn’t it basically all over for the conspiracy then?

Yeah. I kinda wondered if this might be another way the coup is thwarted. 

I’m really not sure what exactly they have on Oleg. He has a coded message they can’t read. That proves what exactly. And he wasn’t even spying on the US. Just in it. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Erin9

[kokapetl]

7 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

And my number one question is:  Who was Philip talking about when he and Stan were chatting in P's office and P said that he had done some work for one of Stan's friends a few years ago?  Was this GAAD?  I hope that is not the case. 

I think it was for some other FBI guy’s bachelor party. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Kokapetl

[Bannon]

3 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I believe the finale is 90 minutes long.

It helps when the space time continuum can be manipulated at will. Last night Liz whacks Tatiana, who croaks, wig askew, in front of the Soviet negotiater, who is in the midst of a world historical event, in D C., with the FBI already on high alert. She has time to change out of costume, and visit Claudia at the apartment. Meanwhile, Phil is meeting with the priest, escaping the stakeout, triggering Oleg's arrest, and 1st interrogation, then 2nd conversation with Stan. Then there is an all hands on deck meeting at the FBI, where the agents STILL seem to be unaware that a Soviet KGB agent was gunned down while trying to assasinate the Soviet negotiator.

[RedHawk]

4 hours ago, renatae said:

That's something that has always stood out to me. In the 80's it was really rare for D.C. to get snow, and on the show they have it all the time, at least signs of it on the streets. My MIL lived there, and we were visiting one weekend when it was frigid and there was just a trace of snow, and everyone, especially on the news, kept going on about how this was record low temps. Later on, it became more like today, and snow is not a very unusual occurrence there now. But not then.

As a long-time DC resident I have to say that your statement is incorrect. DC gets less snow now than it did in the ‘80s, and it was not rare to get snow then. There’s actually a term used by our weather forecasters now. They say “snow dome” to describe how areas all around DC will get snow but DC gets just a trace if anything at all, as if we are covered by a dome. 

[qtpye]

9 hours ago, jjj said:

No Renee tonight!  She must be off studying the state capitals. 

No wonder the travel agency in in trouble -- Philip trying to be the big shot in front of his random employee was painful for all of them, and all of us. 

But Stan offering cash to help?  Genius, because then he could see the books -- although the books would show normal travel agency stuff. 

Lord, for such a good spy Phillip, is a really bad salesman. It is like he saw a badly done used car commercial and was trying to emulate that. I actually think Elizabeth would be really good at sales and it is too bad she is not into that type of Capitalist bullshit.

9 hours ago, chick binewski said:

This week: all our pressing Renee questions are answered!

j/k. We did get to see Pastor Dollar Biil's new wig, though.

I really did want to like this episode. But I wish we had seen Stan's growing  awareness earlier this season and have more action unfold over several weeks. Everything seems kind of tacked-on and a little forced.

 

9 hours ago, geauxaway said:

Ok so that was Tatiana.  I thought so, but wasn’t sure.  So thanks to all for confirming.

I was kind of waiting for Oleg to tell Stan that he would decode the message if / when his wife, son and parents had been safely defected to the United States.  Pretty sure that’s not even a possibility but it’s what I would have hoped for in my wish on how this will end for Oleg.  

I did literally gasp OMG out loud when Philip took off running.  I was certain he was toast.  

 

9 hours ago, ajsnaves said:

If there is one thing we have learned about the espionage business, it is always best to dress in layers.  Good thing Phillip remembered that.  Clearly spying is NOT a summer time activity then. 

I kept on thinking, stupid puffy coat when he shed that thing. Luckily the guys that were chasing him had puffier coats and were in worse shape.

8 hours ago, Erin9 said:

Another lol moment was when Stan asked who leaves his kid on thanksgiving. He was trying to make the point about them having more important real jobs, but he sounded like he was also taking a moral high ground. So- my first thought: you. Stan would totally have done it. 

Stan really thought putting all those deaths on Oleg was a good plan? Again- does he know him at all?  

I pretty much loathed Stan tonight. Him telling Oleg he didn’t care if Gorbachev was ousted had to be one of the dumbest things he could say. First- it’s bad news for the US. It just is. That shouldn’t be rocket science to him. 

Second- as Oleg had to spell out in painstaking detail- he risked EVERYTHING in the hope for a better future with Gorbachev- the same kind of future Stan values. Get that through your thick skull, indeed Stan. 

Elizabeth was kinder to Claudia than I expected. She gave her fair warning- too soon- but she did it. I really hope somehow that final message from Philip gets where it needs to go. 

How sad for Claudia- Claudia really thinks Philip and the kids are meaningless things to have left. Note her emphasis on American kids. 

Claudia is a woman that has been so warped by the horrors of war that she can no longer relate to anything. Most people want peace, but Claudia wants them eliminated and it does not matter if "them" has a rolling definition. Liz can still salvage a life, but Claudia has nothing...might as well enjoy the soup.

8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I like how it seemed like there were these Russian characters basically saying to the Americans: You so do not get me. Oleg telling Stan he's actually risking himself for other people and is not going to just hand over Illegals to save his own skin. Big Damn Hero. Don't know if Stan will be sending the message in the end.

In a reversal of season 1 when Philip accidentally sent Elizabeth into a trap after telling her he loved her, Elizabeth spitefully and accidentally sends Philip into a trap. Had to laugh when he's telling Father Andre how he left the work behind while talking to a guy on a park bench wearing a hat, glasses and fake mustache. For him, that's out of the life.

The moral of Stan's phone call to Argentina is: Shoulda called Alice!

Still, Pastor Tim was obviously trying to sort of telling him some truth, that Paige is great and the Jennings are fine even though they're, uh, "not members of the church." So, you know, if there's anything bad about the parents he would have no way of knowing! He just knew Paige! Innocent young girl Paige!

What to say about Claudia and Elizabeth except that Claudia will no doubt be fine. I expected her to swallow a necklace pill right there!

Paige and Elizabeth's scene was good, but I have to admit it felt just very convenient to me. Paige has been completely clueless and now, five minutes from the end, stumbles into this whole confession and for the first time puts two and two together and comes over to say so in her customary "Paige vs. Mom" blocking over the kitchen island. So was she quitting? Was she admitting that all this "I'm totally Russian" stuff was bullshit? The one bit of research she did was about sex and so now the sex is the thing that's a bridge too far?

It's consistent and pretty interesting that as ever Paige just saw the whole thing as being about her mom and romance. I liked how she retreated into her season one place of siding with Dad only when she's angry at her mom, making him the victim that she's defending. She still didn't get what Elizabeth was saying about Brian. She claimed Elizabeth was being "weird" about him but she wasn't being weird. She told her she could sleep with him, just don't also spy on him. So her telling Elizabeth that they "actually liked each other" was not proving her wrong. She was doing just what Elizabeth said to do and acting like Elizabeth was the one telling her to make it about work! She is so bad at this! Claudia's plot may have saved the USSR just by getting Paige out.

It did feel like when Paige was saying that that she was basically announcing she was out. Not literally saying that, but she's going to have a regular relationship with this guy and not just be a spy, even though she said last week she couldn't relate to normal people. If there were more episodes maybe we'd just be going back and forth with Paige just being weird about romance but coming now it seems like she's out. Her saying she should have gotten away from Elizabeth was hopefully her rejecting the life.

Anyway, nice of Elizabeth to go ahead and out Philip's sex work as long as Paige is accusing her. LOL! Although Paige could have thought Elizabeth was saying Philip didn't care who she slept with. I could believe Paige still not understanding that men can honeytrap too. It really does often seem to come back to Paige being fascinated with her mother's *marriage* above all things. Like she can't get into Philip's head because she's trying to *be* her mother in the relationship, trying to figure out how to get that for herself. Now she feels her mom isn't deserving so her father must also hate her for being a whore--even though he's obviously stuck with her for years. It's the marriage she's always wanted for herself even though she's always back and forth about whether these two flawed people deserve such intimacy. Either Dad's undeserving because he's weak and mom's strong or Mom's undeserving because she's a whore and Dad's not. In the end these two crazy kids only have each other!

When Elizabeth went into the fusebox all I cared about was her taking those rings--which she did. Yay! I liked in the scene with Claudia how she asked what was left for Elizabeth about the cause and when she said her "American children" it felt like yeah, there's some insecurity there because kids grow up and they are American. But when she said Philip...yeah, that's what's left for her.

IKR? Even if it was just a little incident it still gave us a glimpse into Elizabeth as a trainee which we already knew some about. Nothing about Philip ever! We have no idea how he related to being a trainee!

Couldn't tell her anything worse than what she'd heard, apparently. Really, would Paige care at all if Claudia told her Elizabeth had betrayed the Cause blah blah blah? No, she cares that Elizabeth seduced a boy and ruined his life. I guess this was the first time it occurred to her that spies ruin lives. Hey, do you think that's why that guy committed suicide in the park?!

 

And he even sat with him to talk about his marriage for a while first. The message was like an afterthought and Philip freaked. But I don't think Father Andre was ever the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I always wondered if we'd get a phone call like the one at the end.

I did really like Elizabeth's yelling (forehead and eye veins and all) to Paige about her position, though I feel like it didn't come across as clearly as it could have how this refuted all those afternoons at Claudia's etc. I mean, the whole "I GET it, Mom," stuff. Elizabeth always knew underneath that she didn't get it and so did Paige. Now they're on totally different pages with totally different ideas about what is a terrible thing to do. Elizabeth let him live! This was one of the good ones! You can't just tell someone about your harsh life in a foreign country and turn them into you.

Of course, Claudia and Elizabeth had a similar scene, but they were more on the same level, at least.

I believe last season was supposed to have ended in late spring at the earliest. You may not have noticed because Henry was still wearing his puffy down jacket!

Yes, I definitely thought he was playing Devil's Advocate above all. He felt it was his duty to calm him down, but he didn't just think he was nuts. He'll be right there with him chasing them.

LOL! That was exactly what I thought. Look at Stan acting all scandalized at a teenage boy being left alone...like Matthew was.

The insecurity about the American children is such a common immigrant's tale, that I wish they had handled it a little better. A lot of immigrants fear that they will not be able to relate to their American born and brought up children, who in turn might reject them and their culture.

7 hours ago, missy jo said:

I wish they'd gotten to this point a few episodes ago. Both the Stan and Paige point of views seem rushed. I'd have liked more time for this part of the story to play out. 

 

7 hours ago, Marianna said:

Elizabeth talking to Claudia seemed like the fallacy of the talking villain, even if in reverse. She knows she can’t trust Claudia. She knows Claudia lied to her. She knows Claudia was willing for her to commit suicide in the process of carrying out Claudia’s plans. So it seems absurd that she felt she “owed” the heads-up to Claudia. She said too much last week, as it was. If the show wanted the KGB  after them, there were more natural ways to do it. 

 

5 hours ago, Bannon said:

There were elements to really like in this episode, and, as usual it was due to superlative acting, pretty much across the board. Even Holly Taylor was good, I thought. Bravo.

The writing? Eh. It ranged from "pretty decent, if the context of how that scene was arrived at is ignored", to  "roll your eyes, are they still doing this stupid shit, in the next to last episode?"  awful.

There was so much to like in Liz and Paige confrontation, so it is a shame that Paige's writing this season didn't lead to that scene more organically. She's been watching people get murdered right under her nose, and what finally moves the needle for her is the knowledge that mom has sex with people to get information? 

I'm sorry, but the scene where Liz kills her fellow KGB agent was just poorly shot. I know D.C. had a lot of murders then, but, no, people would not get gunned down in broad daylight, and elicit  so little reaction.

Finally. once again, why are the writers  so determined to portray the FBI as idiots$

 

5 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

The writing may have been better than most other episodes. But the idea that Paige would somehow be at the same place and time as the kid E had slept with and that kid then got drunk and spilled the beans in front of Paige was - IMO - absolutely freaking PREPOSTEROUS! The probability of that happening was just ludicrous.

 

5 hours ago, anonymiss said:

Agreed. They had the time so none of this would feel rushed but chose instead to devote it to pointless Paige. All that time after her blankly staring into space after sleeping w/ the intern was precious time wasted. She only ever seems to grow a brain when it's convenient for the plot and is always twice as annoying when indignant because she is naively indignant. She was indignant in demanding her parents' truth and naive in thinking she could handle it (and even do it better than her dad after landing some sucker punches). And tonight she had an awfully convenient, but woefully naive epiphany about the nature of her mother's work, which she was set to devote her life to the other week. She was a waste of Elizabeth's and Claudia's time and my time.

 

1 hour ago, Ellaria Sand said:

I agree that some of the plot advancement feels a bit compressed, particularly for Stan and Paige. Epiphanies are fine but we have gone from zero to sixty a bit too quickly. As someone else said above, I can forgive it. I don't want to use past missteps to judge the end.

They did a great job of pushing their characters to their limits in subtle ways..Philip, Liz, Claudia, Oleg even Paige.

 

1 hour ago, BingeyKohan said:

One other question to throw out: We know that Elizabeth was counting her chickens before they hatched in telling Claudia she'd stopped everything and gotten word to Moscow. But in a way isn't Nesterenko standing over the dead body of a woman from the Rezidentura who had a dart gun on her in a way doing the same thing? I guess that's a way of asking about or clarifying the stakes for next week: The FBI is the Jennings threat in the near term and (should they escape) the hard-liners are a vindictive threat in the long term?

 

1 hour ago, Trillian said:

Maybe I’m being naive, but what do the FBI actually have on Oleg?  Stan can threaten all he wants to pin all those murders on him, but nothing links him to them.  No one implicated a tall, extraordinarily handsome man.  Passing secret notes isn’t per se a crime. If they decode the note it may or may not say anything incriminating (or it could be the recipe for Zharkoye - these people know their code words).  I guess he knows the identity of the illegals, but the lawyer in me asks how they could prove that, assuming that itself is a crime. He’s not guilty of spying on the US; at most, they can prove with the note that he’s spying on the Soviet Union. 

 

Or or maybe I just want to see Oleg get home to bachelorette #3 and his cute son and spend the rest of his life on train schedules. 

 

51 minutes ago, scartact said:

At this point, I'm pretty much enjoying the ride as the show is about to end. Once thing I quibbled with is that use of flashbacks, which felt like a long-handed way of doing something that could possibly have been short-handed, but I guess that'll do in a pinch. It just felt a little too underlining of Liz's current inner turmoil, and it more or less reaffirms that the writers were [probably] more fascinated with Liz's narrative arc than Phil's. I mean, there's a reason this episode is named after her!

Sepinwall suggested that we should have seen Paige discovering what happened to Jackson and I kinda agree with that too. That would build at least that aspect of the narrative more tightly so that when Paige comes home to fight with Elizabeth, it feels less out of pocket. I did greatly enjoy that fight though and how it contrasted with Claudia (something of a surrogate mother) and Elizabeth interacted. I love how Elizabeth, so exhausted, just drops the defenses and owns up to it; I loved her scoff! It's like, Paige finds it A Big Deal and of course I'm sure it is and it feels gross but Liz all, "It didn't even matter, not even to your father." And this all coming from the heels of her interaction with Claudia, who basically called her a failure!

 

I feel like that was definitely an intentional parallel; it's interesting because it isn't exactly a 1:1 replica of the flashback scenario, but I think there are definite similarities to both basic setup and this idea of you don't leave a comrade to die. In this case, Elizabeth's comrade has become Nesterenko, and not Tatiana. As for the stakes of your last question, part of me thinks there's a way in which an isolation thing is happening. Elizabeth turns her back on her orders, so maybe they won't have the Jennings' backs, but it feels like a way of basically saying/showing that when everything else around them is failing, Philip and Elizabeth truly do only have each other (aw; but also, yikes).

And I haven't said anything yet, but holy shit, Philip breaking out into a full-blown sprint and the ensuing chase! I definitely screamed. I almost thought they would catch him and Liz would somehow find out about it, but nope! This did make me want to watch the season one finale because I think I recall them having a plan of action for if they had to escape. With that set up in mind, there's a way that it becomes fully realized from season one where they thought they would need an escape plan to actually here's the fucking process y'all.

Shit boutta go down next week.

It reminded me of the terminator run. I think we have never seen him that panicked.

50 minutes ago, Bannon said:

Yeah, and it didn't need to be that way. There were all sorts of ways to get to that place, of Paige becoming disgusted, that didn't require such a contrivance. Once again, it is kind of a shame.

 

47 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

The writers finally tightened the light bulb in her head. 

What pisses me off is that the writers have made Paige such a dim bulb for so long, that to have her all of a sudden say she knew what was going on along, to me just isn't believable.  Paige does not have a poker face.

 

43 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

Haha this is making me imagine that when Stan twisted the light bulb in the Jennings laundry room Paige's eyes popped open across town. Like a Rube Goldberg device. 

Late in the game to be asking this, but who is this Sepinwall folks refer to? I can't believe I've left a stone unturned in my recap and analysis obsession.

 

33 minutes ago, Bannon said:

Paige is always watching MASH reruns in syndication, when the local news is on. She only picks up the paper for Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County, and never looks at anything else. She won't learn of the Berlin Wall coming down until the SECOND Bush presidency.

 

21 minutes ago, benteen said:

I didn't even realize that was Tatiana.  I'll have to watch that again.

I thought the episode was good but can't help but feel that they really do need those extra three episodes to wrap this up completely.  Given the writing of the past two years though, I have no confidence that that would have helped and that they are going to stick the landing.

Fantastic acting by Keri Russell (and the forehead veins!) and I really loved getting to see the Elizabeth flashbacks (never enough of those).  It did go a ways into explaining her mindset.  I still don't buy that she wouldn't have been apart of this coup.  I can see her viewing Gorbachev as betraying the cause.  I wish the writers had set up her issues with the KGB leadership last season instead of the glorified victory tour they took last season.

Not enough Matthew Rhys although the chase scene was really exciting. 

Really good stuff with Stan and Oleg.  I'm glad Stan told his concerns to Aderholt but it's frustrating that he's still not closer to figuring things out this late in the game.

Terrific scene between Elizabeth and Claudia.

Hello, Pastor Tim...I sure as hell didn't miss you.  I thought he was going to burst out laughing when he talked about how intelligent Paige is.  I'm surprised that Stan kept a straight face too.

Paige...ugh.  Only she could make me take Elizabeth's side when they had that argument.  Really, it was only in a book that you learned that spies use sex?  That seemed to be pretty common knowledge back for years, going back to the James Bond movies.  Paige is so naïve that even when she questions her mother, she sounds like a complete idiot.

Still felt like too much set-up this late in the game.

 

16 minutes ago, Ina123 said:

I may be mis-remembering but when Paige first started seeing the intern wasn't there a discussion where Paige at least hinted that she was willing to sleep with him for info? Wasn't that when E told her to sleep with him only if she cared about him but not for "work"? So, if I am remembering that scene correctly, wasn't Paige offering to do exactly what she accused her mother of...whoring?

Since I thought I remembered that scene, I was yelling, "you self-righteous little beach"!

 

13 minutes ago, Bannon said:

Man, is that ever spot-on. For as much as I have loved the acting on this show, there have been so many missed writing opportunities, and inexplicable ones at that.

I owe a little bit of an apology to Holly T. Can you imagine how much more interesting the past two seasons would have been if we had this version of Paige? She is challenging her mother and making E think about things that she does not want to think about. It would have been great moral dilemma..."What if you have a cause that you believe in with all your heart...does that justify doing horrible things for the greater good?" Holly T is better than I expected and it is obvious the only directional advise she has been getting is act like a doe-eyed dufus.

Also, it pained me that it was the SEX and not the probable murders that put Paige over the edge. Plus the lack of thought to "If Mom weaponizes her body...maybe Dad does the same thing?" Of course not, because only women can be whores.

Can you guys imagine what an amazing two season we would have had if Stan and Paige had at least been somewhat "Woke" instead of watching hours of Phillip looking constipated while having sex with Lotus Spreadsheet lady and E becoming a killing machine? Still looking forward to the finale.

[SunnyBeBe]

I sure enjoyed seeing Philip run!  OMG.  Those racket ball workouts have served him well! 

When Claudia started eating her stew, I half-way expected her to croak.  (Like perhaps, E had sneaked in and poisoned her food.)  As it turns out, they were cordial.  E really seemed to care about Granny.  I still wouldn't have turned my back on her though. 

[shura]

20 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I still don't know what they have on Oleg in order to hold him. 

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.

[kikaha]

29 minutes ago, Erin9 said:

I don’t think he got anything out of it though. Philip was surprised. That’s it. Philip has never acted overly interested in anything Stan said work wise. On purpose. 

But I thought his conversation with Tim netted him nothing too. He didn’t say- or not say-anything. 

Erin, I agree with you on both points. 

Stan could have finessed Pastor Tim quite a bit better, outlining in general terms the sky-high stakes involved.  He wouldn't have to betray national security to convince him national security was at risk. 

Pastor Tim not exposing the Jennings has always been another WTF moment for me.  That dinner with Stan, Pastor Tim, Paige, P&E seemed especially absurd. 

31 minutes ago, JFParnell said:

Thought it was an odd oversight when, at the end of the episode, the FX voiceover robot was just casually intoning, "Stay tuned for scenes from the next episode of the Americans" Huh? Is someone asleep at the switch at FX? Why weren't they in hyper-hype mode: "Stay tuned for scenes from the SHOCKING -- YOU'LL-NEVER-BELIEVE-WHAT-HAPPENS -- SERIES FINALE of The Americans on FX!!!" Weird... maybe they don't want anyone to watch.

While you are right in general, in this case I doubt it matters.  Everyone who watches knows next episode is the series finale. 

[Aulty]

Seems I am not the only one who is not bothered that Stan's realisation came so close to the end - it had to. If he had started to suspect his neighbors earlier, especially when Elizabeth was running multiple operations at once, it would have been so much easier for him to monitor their moves and carefully prepare operations to grab and detain them. But now, with E going against the centre and the operation in Chicago, P&E are extremely vigilant. They are fractionally ahead of Stan through other circumstances and may have the head start they need to get out.

Spoiler

In the promo for the finale they say something about driving to New Hampshire? Is that where Henry's school is?

 

Slightly disappointed that Claudia got away. Good on Oleg for not giving up his fellow Russians - and he is right, Stan is a bist daft.

They Cyanide is still in play!

[Bannon]

4 minutes ago, kikaha said:

Erin, I agree with you on both points. 

Stan could have finessed Pastor Tim quite a bit better, outlining in general terms the sky-high stakes involved.  He wouldn't have to betray national security to convince him national security was at risk. 

Pastor Tim not exposing the Jennings has always been another WTF moment for me.  That dinner with Stan, Pastor Tim, Paige, P&E seemed especially absurd. 

The Pastor Tim arc was just exceptionally poorly executed, it seems to me. Paige getting exposed to Christianity, and ultimately walling away, should have been a much more worthwhile journey.

4 minutes ago, Aulty said:

Seems I am not the only one who is not bothered that Stan's realisation came so close to the end - it had to. If he had started to suspect his neighbors earlier, especially when Elizabeth was running multiple operations at once, it would have been so much easier for him to monitor their moves and carefully prepare operations to grab and detain them. But now, with E going against the centre and the operation in Chicago, P&E are extremely vigilant. They are fractionally ahead of Stan through other circumstances and may have the head start they need to get out.

  Hide contents

In the promo for the finale they say something about driving to New Hampshire? Is that where Henry's school is?

 

Slightly disappointed that Claudia got away. Good on Oleg for not giving up his fellow Russians - and he is right, Stan is a bist daft.

They Cyanide is still in play!

It helps that Stan is too dumb to look up their passport applications, to see where Liz and Phil claimed to have been born.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Let me see if I ve got this - Paige is okay with Elizabeth killing people but sex is a step too far? Okay then. When she was going on and on about what a whore her mother is, I was really hoping that Elizabeth would tell her that Paige's precious daddy fucked plenty of women for the good of the mission too. Knowing that Philip married Martha and had sex with Kimmy (who is the same age as Paige) would blow her mind. I'm not necessarily saying that Paige needs to know all the details, but I was rolling my eyes at her tirade. It didn't surprise me though because she was always butting heads with Elizabeth before she joined the spy game and she tended to be a lot more lenient with Philip.

10 hours ago, bluestocking said:

It took me forever to recognize Pastor Groovyhair without the hair.  They really are tying up all the loose ends.

I guess he's Pastor GroovylessHair now. Although I didn't love his character, I appreciated that the show brought him back one more time before the finale. It's nice to see callbacks to the earlier seasons.

9 hours ago, MJ Frog said:

I just have to say, that was the slowest Goddamn elevator ever.

A few years ago, I worked in a building that had an elevator from the 60s and it was SO FUCKING SLOW. You could walk up four flights of stairs in less time than it would take to push the button, wait for the elevator, and go up four floors.

9 hours ago, ajsnaves said:

If there is one thing we have learned about the espionage business, it is always best to dress in layers.  Good thing Phillip remembered that.  Clearly spying is NOT a summer time activity then. 

Mr. EB and I are not spies but we have watched enough shows with people on the run that we've learned the basics, which is why it always drives us crazy during any kind of chase scene like this when the person trying to escape makes no attempt to change their appearance. Ditch the hat, ditch the coat, wrap your scarf over your head, ANYTHING! So we were both cheering when Philip ditched his hat AND his coat while running off.

9 hours ago, NitneLiun said:

I was a little disappointed that Elizabeth didn't pull out her pistol and give Granny two in the chest and one in the head.

I was shocked that neither of them tried to kill the other. I really thought that only one person would be leaving that apartment.

9 hours ago, Erin9 said:

Another lol moment was when Stan asked who leaves his kid on thanksgiving. He was trying to make the point about them having more important real jobs, but he sounded like he was also taking a moral high ground. So- my first thought: you. Stan would totally have done it. 

I KNOW, RIGHT? For Stan and many other people, the job always comes first. How many times did we see Matthew alone in the house while Stan was working late? But somehow because Elizabeth and Philip did it once, Stan blocked out the memory of every time he worked late.

[Bannon]

If they get to New Hampshire next week to grab Henry, and Henry's reaction is not, "Get lost, you freaks", that'll be an eye-roller, too.

[benteen]

1 hour ago, Ina123 said:

I may be mis-remembering but when Paige first started seeing the intern wasn't there a discussion where Paige at least hinted that she was willing to sleep with him for info? Wasn't that when E told her to sleep with him only if she cared about him but not for "work"? So, if I am remembering that scene correctly, wasn't Paige offering to do exactly what she accused her mother of...whoring?

Since I thought I remembered that scene, I was yelling, "you self-righteous little beach"!

Paige is definitely a hypocrite.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

8 hours ago, Marianna said:

I hope they leave Henry behind (not that I believe they will all get away, but in terms of their plans). I know they have their escape plan all figured out, and Elizabeth isn’t even thinking about it, but Philip has had time to think about this. I know they’d have to do it without contacting him, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. Of course as the only true innocent in the show, I think he’s going to end up dead.   I rather thought Oleg, as the only true tragic figure, would end up dead too, but indefinite prison is not that different.

Picture it: Elizabeth and Philip disappear without contacting Henry. Paige tells Henry that they were Russian spies. Fast forward a few months to March 1988 when Little Nikita comes out. Fast forward a few more months to September 1988 when Running on Empty comes out.

* I know it's unlikely (1) Elizabeth and Philip will be able to escape (2) they would try to leave without Henry (3) if Philip and Elizabeth did escape, that the FBI and KGB wouldn't come after Henry

[attica]

From Tara's recap:

Quote

Rick rolls up

Stuff like this is why I'm never gonna give you up, series wrap or no.

[meira.hand]

8 hours ago, hellmouse said:

But I was also surprised to see another Elizabeth flashback, mostly just because we've had Elizabeth flashbacks and I would like to see a Philip flashback. 

Several people here commented on this, but I do understand why it was needed. Philip's outlook has been very clear and consistent from day one. His main difficulty during recruitment was leaving the woman he loved but he was older, more mature and always had an open mind and self awareness. Elizabeth had a traumatic childhood and training and started at an earlier age. In a way she bought into the indoctrination in not a dissimilar way to Paige (without the spoiled American childhood), accepting the authority of the party & KGB completely. To understand her psychology and development throughout the series and especially now, they had to show us the events that led her to this point. Its not the guilt of not helping the accident victim that drove her, its what the woman said about not leaving a comrade to die in Moscow. The fact that this was a Russian on Russian assassination attempt of an innocent made in an internal matter. In a way, she was still following her training but had to somehow find her way when the source of the authority suddenly went in two opposing directions. I also felt that the time with the dying cancer painter that forced her to look inward and open up to her emotions, was catalyst this year.

[Sarah 103]

10 hours ago, GussieK said:

Elizabeth and Paige shared the antipathy to being lied to. 

I thought it was a great way to show that two characters had some similarities afterall. 

10 hours ago, Cardie said:

The flashback worked well to show that from the beginning she had always put being a human being aside for the sake of the mission, making a sacrifice even her handlers warned her against.

That's what I got from that scene too. No matter what, she will always put the mission first. 

10 hours ago, Erin9 said:

Seriously- not enough Philip. It’s not fair. More Elizabeth flashbacks and none for him. 

That's always been one of my biggest complaints with the series. We know so much about Elizabeth before she came to the U.S and next to nothing about Philip. 

10 hours ago, geauxaway said:

I was kind of waiting for Oleg to tell Stan that he would decode the message if / when his wife, son and parents had been safely defected to the United States.  Pretty sure that’s not even a possibility but it’s what I would have hoped for in my wish on how this will end for Oleg.  

This works for me, but if Stan made the offer, I don't know if Oleg would go for it. 

9 hours ago, White Sheep said:

Where are the Phillips going to go to hide?   KGB will move heaven and earth to find them. There ONLY hope to stay alive is to go to the FBI.

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

9 hours ago, Erin9 said:

Stan supposedly got to know Oleg well in earlier seasons. This is a guy he blackmailed his own government over because he thought he was a decent guy. Now he wants to pin all the deaths and chaos on him? He doesn’t know Oleg at all. He knows- or should have known- that Oleg isn’t looking for a war with the US, isn’t looking to create tragedy,  and he loves his country. Wouldn’t have known that by watching. His interrogation was terrible. 

Agreed. Has Stan forgotten that Oleg turned against the Soviet Union over the biochemical weapon? 

9 hours ago, kikaha said:

The Americans always jumped the shark a bit over the friendship between Stan and the Jennings. 

Jumping the shark a bit seems like an odd turn of phrase, like being "a little bit pregnant." I always thought it was a binary state (either a show has jumped the shark or it hasn't).

9 hours ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

Boy, is Henry going to be surprised! Guess he's not going to finish this semester, let alone his senior year.

8 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Henry may not even make it to his next birthday.

Most awkward family road trip ever. 

6 hours ago, jjj said:

And -- timeline.  This all happened the previous day.  He got drunk that same night, said he would quit school,  spilled the beans to Paige's "boyfriend", the "boyfriend" got the information back to Paige, and she connected it to Elizabeth?  All in the same morning to early afternoon? 

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is thinking "older woman?"  "OLDER WOMAN?"  Not many 21-year-olds would say that -- would just say "woman", and that would convey it was not a college "girl". 

I thought Paige was quoting Jackson, and makes perfect sense to me that a fan of classic movies would revert to older/outdated terminology when drunk and upset. Also, I thought Paige was at the party with the guy she was dating. 

6 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Washington is a small company town in many ways.  It would not be at all unusual for interns to be at the same party.  If you are in government it wouldn't be odd to know the same people, especially when they have your job.

Makes sense to me too, especially if the interns are working for members of congress that are on the same subcomittee or working on something together. 

1 hour ago, BingeyKohan said:

Confession: I found the Stan/Oleg whispering scene pretty hot.

I got a vaguely gay lover vibe too, although I know both characters are straight. There was a part of me that wonderded if Oleg was going to start flirting with Stan, just to mess with his head. 

1 hour ago, Bannon said:

Does Laurie Holden get paid even when she doesn't appear in an episode, if her character's name is mentioned?

An actor does not get paid if the character is mentioned. They are paid for the number of episodes they actually appear in. 

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

And, wouldn't other agents and Stan's supervisors find it odd that Oleg sits close to Stan in his holding cell and chats in secret, hushed tones?  That kind of behavior would make me suspicious of Stan. 

I think that may have been the point. If Oleg was going down like this he was going to take Stan with him. 

25 minutes ago, Bannon said:

It helps that Stan is too dumb to look up their passport applications, to see where Liz and Phil claimed to have been born.

Wouldn't the passport applications have listed the place of birth based on the birth certificates they were using? How would that help? Philip and Elizabeth have that information memorized so Stan/anybody wouldn't be able to trip them up on it. 

20 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I guess he's Pastor GroovylessHair now.

Pastor Groovey Hairless. 

12 minutes ago, meira.hand said:

Several people here commented on this, but I do understand why it was needed.

I understand why the flashback was needed, but my problem is that if we compare what we know about Elizabeth's background and motivation to what we know about Philip's, we know so much more about Elizabeth's than we do Philip's and I don't think there's good reason for it. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I'm just glad that I'm not totally devastated after last night. I thought some Jennings was going bye bye. 

I did have some issues though:

How big of an idiot is Father Andre?  I mean, you do all that small talk, before giving P the biggest news of his life? How dense is that.  What will Andre reveal to the FBI? (I always thought their contact with this guy was ludicrous.) Why didn't Andre pack his bags and leave the day before?  

I felt the discovery of the intern information by Paige was too contrived.  Just don't buy it, but, it is what it is. I suppose it doesn't matter now. 

How did Stan know that the cigarettes he discovered on the ground were E's?  Could have been Philip's or Paige's.  Or do you recall if Henry told him that his mom smoked a lot in their car trip? But, Stan appeared to have only known of her smoking by seeing butts on the ground outside their house. Aderholt was none too pleased that Stan was stalking them. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[jjj]

Really, Fathet Andrei is such a weak link in all this.  He will give them up in a minute, along with sketches.

15 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

How did Stan know that the cigarettes he discovered on the ground were E's?  Could have been Philip's or Paige's.  Or do you recall if Henry told him that his mom smoked a lot in their car trip? But, Stan appeared to have only known of her smoking by seeing butts on the ground outside their house. 

Lipstick! (And Paige had not been living there for years.)

Edited May 24, 2018 by jjj

[bluelena69]

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.

[SunnyBeBe]

3 minutes ago, jjj said:

Really, Fathet Andrei is such a weak link in all this.  He will give them up in a minute, along with sketches.

Lipstick!

I suppose, but, a lot of the time it seemed that she was smoking in the early mornings and not wearing lipstick.  Also, would Liz really just throw her butts on the ground outside her house? I thought there was a container she used for them.  Hmmmm.....okay.  I suppose it's time for me to stop being so damned picky. lol I just resent how they give Stan these light bulb moments based on flimsy facts.  

2 minutes 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.

Can you elaborate? 

[Bannon]

14 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

 

Wouldn't the passport applications have listed the place of birth based on the birth certificates they were using? How would that help? Philip and Elizabeth have that information memorized so Stan/anybody wouldn't be able to trip them up on it. 

 

Because once you have birth certificate information, as a rudimemtary first step, you can call the closest FBI field office to that place of birth, and say it is of the highest priority that Department of vital statistics be contacted, to check for a death of a child, with that name, in that era. Once you have a match with the birth certificate, the case is cracked. No, it wouldn't be a matter of 20 minutes, like with today's digitized searches from your desktop, but once you had date and place of birth, even in 1987, it would be about a half day's work. That's what was so dumb about Stan's Excellent Breaking and Entering Adventure last week. Liz and Phil own a travel agency, for the love of Mata Hari, so Stan knows they have made passport applications. Instead of skulking around a dark house, he could have his answers by lunch the next morning, with a few phone calls.