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Jun. 9th, 2016 10:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsTV commentary:
The Americans- Pretty amusing, if a bit anticlimactic seeming (though big things do happen) season finale. Heh, I heard Keri Russell was preggers in real life, and they've done a decent job of hiding it, though one of their attempts this ep cracked me up. Like she comes in holding dry cleaning to hide the baby bump, but she's like holding it in this awkward manner, like no one would ever hold their dry cleaning like that!
So the Feebs pick up William at a park (I'm trying to figure out if its Astoria Park pretending to be some park in DC), but lucky for Phillip, he's somehow far enough a way (even though there's a chopper flying overhead) to totally miss the excitement. And, I get William's trying to go out in his own terms, infecting himself to be sure he's dead so he couldn't be imprisoned or tortured or whatever they do to spies. Like if he's dying of hemorrhagic fever, that kinda makes it hard for them to interrogate. But at the same time, that is not a good way to die! I guess he had no weapons, and he couldn't like go for suicide by cop just in case they manage not to kill him, but still!
Gabriel and the Jennings are rightly worried- they have no idea of the circumstances of William's arrest, what they could've gotten out of him. From their previous talks with him, they know his heart just isn't in it anymore. And indeed, William tells Stan and Aderholt on his death bed that the whole spy thing was exciting at first, until it wasn't, but at that point, what else did he have? He says his skill was being boring looking and unnoticed, which is great for spywork, but terrible for actually having a life. So he had no one, just the job, so it was a lonely life. He had no one to even tell that he was dying horribly.
But I digress, Gabriel thinks given William's lukewarm attitude as of late, the Americans might be able to entice him (they have no idea that he's dying, so the FBI can't offer him shit; or rather, there's nothing they could give him in his current sitch). So he warns Phillip and Elizabeth that they should retire and flee the country, just in case William said anything about them. Technically he did, but fortunately for the Jennings nothing coherent- he tells the Feebs he's jealous of "them", they seem to have been able to make it work, the husband is lucky because the wife is pretty. But he makes no indication that "they" are fellow spies, or even give a description beyond the wife being pretty.
So Stan doesn't even know he has anything (more on that later). Gabriel thinks its time, they've been in the game a long time, their tour was never meant to be forever. He mentions Phillip's heart not being it anymore. Indeed, at EST Phillip talks about how he loved his job as a travel agent at first, and now it sucks. It physically pains him when he wakes up in the morning. And the EST guy says, "Then quit!" Phillip is all, he can't, he made commitments. And its funny, because to the EST guy, obviously quitting being a travel agent is no big deal. How would he know Phillip can't exactly turn his resignation papers to the KGB.
At the same time though, he tells Phillip if he decided to quit, his family would still love him (true), and the world would keep on spinning. He just "ain't that important!" Which again, is amusing because yes, he's not a boring travel agent, and a spy is a bigger deal. But truthfully, he really ain't that important. If he and Elizabeth get caught, they may be able to get some info out of them, but in the end, they'll go to jail, the US will be all, "You can't spy on us!" to the Soviets, and the Soviets will apologize, and both countries will just go on knowing everything will still be going on, just with different people.
And while Elizabeth has always been a loyal soldier, now that Paige is being brought into this, even she's starting to have second thoughts. She's been freaked out how easily Paige slipped into spying on the Beemans after watching Pastor Tim and Alice. And now Paige is wanting to learn "how to defend herself". So I think its sobering that Paige is having more and more of this life.
That being said, while Phillip and Elizabeth are weary, they've spent so much time in America, I don't think they actually want to go back. And what are they going to tell their kids? Paige has some inkling, but Henry would prolly have the same reaction as his sister did a few weeks ago all, "What the eff are we going to do in Russia, speak Russian?"
So we end on a sort of cliffhanger, where the Jennings have to decide whether or not to flee, but c'mon, the show is called "The Americans"! It kinda fails if they go back to Russia. I think Phillip's interactions with Stan should clue them in that things are fine. I mean, the smart thing to do is run- they've had too many close calls and its only a matter of time. But they are definitely safe for now.
Like Paige and Matthew are making out on the couch, and Stan almost catches them, and he's like over the moon. When Phillip comes to pick her up, Stan is all, "Ha, I think our kids were making out!" Which I feel is slightly weird to talk about a friend's daughter like that. Like, their kids being like 9 and pretending to be married, that seems a more appropriate situation for Stan to act that way. Their teenage kids pawing each other on the couch, not so much.
But yeah, Stan jokes about Paige and Matthew getting married (you know, I've been wondering why Paige and Matthew sound so familiar to me, but I realize its because Rose Mcgowen's character on Charmed was "Paige Matthews"), Phillip has to pay since he's the father of the bride, but Stan will do him a solid by letting Phillip use Stan's backyard. Then he asks Phillip if he's up for Racquetball on Tuesday. So, Stan has no freaking idea about the Jennings. So they should feel secure in their cover.
Heh, Phillip is definitely not pleased with this turn of events though, forbidding Paige to see him, because "she doesn't even know!" I get that's just one more complication in their lives, but really, telling her she can't see him? Does he even know kids? That's just going to make her more into Matt!
Other stuff, we finally meet Misha, who apparently had been arrested/institutionalized (because only a mentally ill person would speak out against the government). However, since he has powerful people looking after him, they let him go. And his maternal grandfather gives him money and fake passports Irina left for him, which he's apparently going to use to find his "travel agent" father in America. So that should be an interesting complication! Not just for the potential danger to Phillip's cover, but given his son has anti-government leanings, how is he going to react to his dad being a Russian spy?
And while the Jennings might not be leaving, Arkady and Oleg seem to be. Taub is wanting some heads over all the stuff this season- the bug in Gaad's office, having an agent marry his secretary (one of the most despicable things ever, he says), and then Gaad getting killed. The former two are technically under his purview, but he definitely didn't want Gaad killed. But Taub's hanging that on him. So Arkady has 48 hours to get the eff out of dodge.
And so, Tatiana isn't getting the Kenya post- she needs to run things until they can replace Arkady, and then they want her to stay on for continuity. Its then when she finds out that she won't have Oleg with her either, as he decided to go home and look after his sick mom. I'm wondering if that's a permanent move, or now that this stuff with Arkady happened, they might encourage him not to leave America?
The Americans- Pretty amusing, if a bit anticlimactic seeming (though big things do happen) season finale. Heh, I heard Keri Russell was preggers in real life, and they've done a decent job of hiding it, though one of their attempts this ep cracked me up. Like she comes in holding dry cleaning to hide the baby bump, but she's like holding it in this awkward manner, like no one would ever hold their dry cleaning like that!
So the Feebs pick up William at a park (I'm trying to figure out if its Astoria Park pretending to be some park in DC), but lucky for Phillip, he's somehow far enough a way (even though there's a chopper flying overhead) to totally miss the excitement. And, I get William's trying to go out in his own terms, infecting himself to be sure he's dead so he couldn't be imprisoned or tortured or whatever they do to spies. Like if he's dying of hemorrhagic fever, that kinda makes it hard for them to interrogate. But at the same time, that is not a good way to die! I guess he had no weapons, and he couldn't like go for suicide by cop just in case they manage not to kill him, but still!
Gabriel and the Jennings are rightly worried- they have no idea of the circumstances of William's arrest, what they could've gotten out of him. From their previous talks with him, they know his heart just isn't in it anymore. And indeed, William tells Stan and Aderholt on his death bed that the whole spy thing was exciting at first, until it wasn't, but at that point, what else did he have? He says his skill was being boring looking and unnoticed, which is great for spywork, but terrible for actually having a life. So he had no one, just the job, so it was a lonely life. He had no one to even tell that he was dying horribly.
But I digress, Gabriel thinks given William's lukewarm attitude as of late, the Americans might be able to entice him (they have no idea that he's dying, so the FBI can't offer him shit; or rather, there's nothing they could give him in his current sitch). So he warns Phillip and Elizabeth that they should retire and flee the country, just in case William said anything about them. Technically he did, but fortunately for the Jennings nothing coherent- he tells the Feebs he's jealous of "them", they seem to have been able to make it work, the husband is lucky because the wife is pretty. But he makes no indication that "they" are fellow spies, or even give a description beyond the wife being pretty.
So Stan doesn't even know he has anything (more on that later). Gabriel thinks its time, they've been in the game a long time, their tour was never meant to be forever. He mentions Phillip's heart not being it anymore. Indeed, at EST Phillip talks about how he loved his job as a travel agent at first, and now it sucks. It physically pains him when he wakes up in the morning. And the EST guy says, "Then quit!" Phillip is all, he can't, he made commitments. And its funny, because to the EST guy, obviously quitting being a travel agent is no big deal. How would he know Phillip can't exactly turn his resignation papers to the KGB.
At the same time though, he tells Phillip if he decided to quit, his family would still love him (true), and the world would keep on spinning. He just "ain't that important!" Which again, is amusing because yes, he's not a boring travel agent, and a spy is a bigger deal. But truthfully, he really ain't that important. If he and Elizabeth get caught, they may be able to get some info out of them, but in the end, they'll go to jail, the US will be all, "You can't spy on us!" to the Soviets, and the Soviets will apologize, and both countries will just go on knowing everything will still be going on, just with different people.
And while Elizabeth has always been a loyal soldier, now that Paige is being brought into this, even she's starting to have second thoughts. She's been freaked out how easily Paige slipped into spying on the Beemans after watching Pastor Tim and Alice. And now Paige is wanting to learn "how to defend herself". So I think its sobering that Paige is having more and more of this life.
That being said, while Phillip and Elizabeth are weary, they've spent so much time in America, I don't think they actually want to go back. And what are they going to tell their kids? Paige has some inkling, but Henry would prolly have the same reaction as his sister did a few weeks ago all, "What the eff are we going to do in Russia, speak Russian?"
So we end on a sort of cliffhanger, where the Jennings have to decide whether or not to flee, but c'mon, the show is called "The Americans"! It kinda fails if they go back to Russia. I think Phillip's interactions with Stan should clue them in that things are fine. I mean, the smart thing to do is run- they've had too many close calls and its only a matter of time. But they are definitely safe for now.
Like Paige and Matthew are making out on the couch, and Stan almost catches them, and he's like over the moon. When Phillip comes to pick her up, Stan is all, "Ha, I think our kids were making out!" Which I feel is slightly weird to talk about a friend's daughter like that. Like, their kids being like 9 and pretending to be married, that seems a more appropriate situation for Stan to act that way. Their teenage kids pawing each other on the couch, not so much.
But yeah, Stan jokes about Paige and Matthew getting married (you know, I've been wondering why Paige and Matthew sound so familiar to me, but I realize its because Rose Mcgowen's character on Charmed was "Paige Matthews"), Phillip has to pay since he's the father of the bride, but Stan will do him a solid by letting Phillip use Stan's backyard. Then he asks Phillip if he's up for Racquetball on Tuesday. So, Stan has no freaking idea about the Jennings. So they should feel secure in their cover.
Heh, Phillip is definitely not pleased with this turn of events though, forbidding Paige to see him, because "she doesn't even know!" I get that's just one more complication in their lives, but really, telling her she can't see him? Does he even know kids? That's just going to make her more into Matt!
Other stuff, we finally meet Misha, who apparently had been arrested/institutionalized (because only a mentally ill person would speak out against the government). However, since he has powerful people looking after him, they let him go. And his maternal grandfather gives him money and fake passports Irina left for him, which he's apparently going to use to find his "travel agent" father in America. So that should be an interesting complication! Not just for the potential danger to Phillip's cover, but given his son has anti-government leanings, how is he going to react to his dad being a Russian spy?
And while the Jennings might not be leaving, Arkady and Oleg seem to be. Taub is wanting some heads over all the stuff this season- the bug in Gaad's office, having an agent marry his secretary (one of the most despicable things ever, he says), and then Gaad getting killed. The former two are technically under his purview, but he definitely didn't want Gaad killed. But Taub's hanging that on him. So Arkady has 48 hours to get the eff out of dodge.
And so, Tatiana isn't getting the Kenya post- she needs to run things until they can replace Arkady, and then they want her to stay on for continuity. Its then when she finds out that she won't have Oleg with her either, as he decided to go home and look after his sick mom. I'm wondering if that's a permanent move, or now that this stuff with Arkady happened, they might encourage him not to leave America?
