(no subject)
May. 31st, 2018 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsTV commentary:
The Americans- Amazing, beautiful series finale! Definitely unexpected! I was going to say in a good way, but that's not the right word. Because we weren't expecting a happy ending for anyone, and this still isn't a happy ending, its just devastating in a different way. For one thing, no one died, everyone lives. Stan still has his career, Philip and Elizabeth actually get away! And yet, somehow where they are at the end seems as bad a fate as any.
First things first. Poor Oleg. He's definitely going down for espionage. Arkady has to break it to Oleg's father. And what's worse is, since this was off-book, they can't even make a trade to get him back. So he's stuck. Oleg's dad says he'll speak to Gorbachev, but Arkady says that's the problem- Gorbachev is being undermined from people in their own government. And its funny, because at this point Oleg's message hadn't made it back to them. So Arkady warns him they're prolly screwed also!
But man, all that was heartbreaking. From Oleg's dad just throwing up his hands in the air after talking with Arkady, basically resigned to the lemon life had just given him, to Oleg's wife looking so hollow and devastated after her father in law broke the news to her. But hey, with Philip and Elizabeth coming back and their report keeping Gorbachev in power, who knows what will happen? But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Interestingly enough, I saw some reviewers comment, after all the horrible things the Jennings have done over the series, could we really be expected to root for them to live and survive? And yeah, its funny, because this whole attempted secret coup thing is almost a redemptive arc for them. They basically helped end the Cold War. It in know way makes up for all the bad they did, and they definitely suffer huge consequences. But at least we can kinda get behind them because they were trying to do the right thing for America and Russia.
Which takes us to the meat of the ep, Stan's confrontation with Paige and her parents in the parking garage. Talk about tense!! He just shows up, asking questions about their suspicious behavior. His long time friends try to play it off, Paige was feeling sick. But it doesn't add up. "She's going home from college for a tummy ache?" "Where's their car?" He keeps on asking, they keep throwing up excuses.
Eventually, Philip makes a step toward him and Stan pulls his gun, telling them to get to the ground. And its amazing for them to go from denial, to Philip finally admitting it. They had a job to do. And its funny, because despite Stan holding a gun to them, clearly on to them, you could still see him shocked when Philip admits it.
Phillip makes it clear they weren't working him. Stan was the one who moved next door to them, what were they supposed to do. And it blossomed in to "the only friendship he's ever had in his shitty life". When Stan brings up Matthew, Paige also says that wasn't a job either, she just liked him. Elizabeth says Philip quit, he really is just a travel agent now!
I mean, we the audience know they're being truthful, but honestly, to Stan, it could just be more games. And to be fair, they do still lie to him, deny the killings they've done, claiming that's not the sort of thing they do. (Though that prolly was as much about Paige as it was Stan) And its just scary all around, because Stan has a gun on them, but here's also three of them. And no offense to Stan, but if they didn't want to be taken, they would've eaten him alive. But yeah, since the "we were really friends" thing wasn't making any headway, Philip laments how after doing all this spy business all these years, the most actionable piece of intel they ever got was on their own people trying to oust Gorbachev!
At that point Stan mentions Oleg, and how he was arrested before he got his message out. And it was amazing to see the tenseness ratchet up in Philip and Elizabeth. Because now this isn't just about escaping. They have to be let go so they can stop this coup and save their country, and with it the world.
Eventually, Philip says they're going to get in their car, and go. Stan can shoot him, should shoot him, but he hopes he won't. And Paige tells him to take care of Henry, he's innocent. They tell him how much Henry loves him. I'm amused they didn't admit how he was more of a parent to Henry then they ever were. But yeah, Stan lets them go. As he said, he would've done anything for them, and he though he says it in the past tense, he still does this last thing for them.
But argh, before they go, Philip warns Stan about his suspicions that Renee is one of them! Why would you do that?!! They just torched his marriage! I mean, if she really is a spy, Philip, as his friend, feels he has to let Stan know. But jeez, they made him compromise his ideals by letting them get away, and now they eff up his marriage?
Its funny, because we never find out if Renee is a spy or not. So we never see what happens with Stan's marriage, but you know its not going to be good. Either he does find out she's a spy, ruining their marriage, or she finds out he was looking into her, feels betrayed he looked into her, ruining their marriage. And even if he doesn't find anything, he could never really be sure after what happened with his best friend!
Hey, at least he still seems to have his job. And its interesting, because I think everyone assumed he would be screwed, his co-workers would be all, "how could you not know?!" and think he's incompetent, or worse in cahoots. But hey, going to Aderholt last week works in his favor! He sounded like a loon, but now that its proven true, Aderholt is the one feeling bad all, "I should've listened!" Let's not forget, he's broken bread with them for years too. The idea of them being Russian spies was just so outlandish! And so it seems like the Feds may give him a pass.
(Also, Stan had to leave surveillance for a couple of hours to have that confrontation, and I was thinking, won't they have found that suspicious? But it plays, Stan tells Aderholt he really didn't want to believe they were spies, even went to Paige's apartment to check, so he has an alibi, he really was there, he just didn't tell them everything!)
But like I was saying about the unexpected nature of this finale, while he seems to have gotten a pass from his co-workers, what happens is even worse than what we were expecting, because he let them go. So he's basically living with the fact that he compromised himself to save them.
On to Henry, so in the beginning of the ep, Philip makes it clear to Elizabeth they can't take Henry with them. He's innocent, his whole life is here. They can't force him to go to a country he knows nothing about for their sins. And so they have one last phone conversation with him under the guise of his parents and sister were just eating out and thinking of him and wanted to call.
So they exchange I love yous, and its heartbreaking because he doesn't even know its the last time he'll ever talk to them! Paige can't even bring herself to say goodbye. And maybe that's because she knew what she was going to do.
They all hop aboard a train to the border, but when it stops to do a border check, the police have sketches of Philip and Elizabeth. The disguises work, and as the train moves on, Elizabeth sees Paige back on the platform. She stepped off because a life in Russia is no life for her either. And so her parents realize Paige made her choice and left them. And wow, that is the most devastated I've ever seen Elizabeth. Like she hardly shows emotion, but this, this cut her to her core.
Stan tells Henry about his parents, but we don't hear the conversation, because really, how could that even go?! It would just be so awkward and heartwrenching. Henry once again abandoned, this time for good. I wonder what will happen to him. They say he's safe because he knew nothing, but how quickly are the Feds going to believe that? I guess Stan is around to say with finality this kid knows nothing, but how well would he be listened to?
Same with Paige. She goes back to Claudia's apartment, will presumably go back to her life? But will she be believed either? They were watching her apartment, won't they question where she went? Again, I don't think Stan will say anything, but still.
But yeah, in the end, Philip and Elizabeth, sorry Mikahil and Nadezhda, make it back home, are picked up by Arkady to presumably save Gorbachev. They live, though now they'll be all normal, in a country they've lived less in than the US.
But hey, they still seem to be a couple. Nadezhda even cooks up a little fantasy that maybe if they weren't spies, they still would've bumped into each other. But its all bittersweet, because while they have their lives and each other, they've lost all their loved ones.
Philip still might see Mischa, and the cold war is about to end, maybe they'll reunite with Paige and Henry one day.
The Americans- Amazing, beautiful series finale! Definitely unexpected! I was going to say in a good way, but that's not the right word. Because we weren't expecting a happy ending for anyone, and this still isn't a happy ending, its just devastating in a different way. For one thing, no one died, everyone lives. Stan still has his career, Philip and Elizabeth actually get away! And yet, somehow where they are at the end seems as bad a fate as any.
First things first. Poor Oleg. He's definitely going down for espionage. Arkady has to break it to Oleg's father. And what's worse is, since this was off-book, they can't even make a trade to get him back. So he's stuck. Oleg's dad says he'll speak to Gorbachev, but Arkady says that's the problem- Gorbachev is being undermined from people in their own government. And its funny, because at this point Oleg's message hadn't made it back to them. So Arkady warns him they're prolly screwed also!
But man, all that was heartbreaking. From Oleg's dad just throwing up his hands in the air after talking with Arkady, basically resigned to the lemon life had just given him, to Oleg's wife looking so hollow and devastated after her father in law broke the news to her. But hey, with Philip and Elizabeth coming back and their report keeping Gorbachev in power, who knows what will happen? But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Interestingly enough, I saw some reviewers comment, after all the horrible things the Jennings have done over the series, could we really be expected to root for them to live and survive? And yeah, its funny, because this whole attempted secret coup thing is almost a redemptive arc for them. They basically helped end the Cold War. It in know way makes up for all the bad they did, and they definitely suffer huge consequences. But at least we can kinda get behind them because they were trying to do the right thing for America and Russia.
Which takes us to the meat of the ep, Stan's confrontation with Paige and her parents in the parking garage. Talk about tense!! He just shows up, asking questions about their suspicious behavior. His long time friends try to play it off, Paige was feeling sick. But it doesn't add up. "She's going home from college for a tummy ache?" "Where's their car?" He keeps on asking, they keep throwing up excuses.
Eventually, Philip makes a step toward him and Stan pulls his gun, telling them to get to the ground. And its amazing for them to go from denial, to Philip finally admitting it. They had a job to do. And its funny, because despite Stan holding a gun to them, clearly on to them, you could still see him shocked when Philip admits it.
Phillip makes it clear they weren't working him. Stan was the one who moved next door to them, what were they supposed to do. And it blossomed in to "the only friendship he's ever had in his shitty life". When Stan brings up Matthew, Paige also says that wasn't a job either, she just liked him. Elizabeth says Philip quit, he really is just a travel agent now!
I mean, we the audience know they're being truthful, but honestly, to Stan, it could just be more games. And to be fair, they do still lie to him, deny the killings they've done, claiming that's not the sort of thing they do. (Though that prolly was as much about Paige as it was Stan) And its just scary all around, because Stan has a gun on them, but here's also three of them. And no offense to Stan, but if they didn't want to be taken, they would've eaten him alive. But yeah, since the "we were really friends" thing wasn't making any headway, Philip laments how after doing all this spy business all these years, the most actionable piece of intel they ever got was on their own people trying to oust Gorbachev!
At that point Stan mentions Oleg, and how he was arrested before he got his message out. And it was amazing to see the tenseness ratchet up in Philip and Elizabeth. Because now this isn't just about escaping. They have to be let go so they can stop this coup and save their country, and with it the world.
Eventually, Philip says they're going to get in their car, and go. Stan can shoot him, should shoot him, but he hopes he won't. And Paige tells him to take care of Henry, he's innocent. They tell him how much Henry loves him. I'm amused they didn't admit how he was more of a parent to Henry then they ever were. But yeah, Stan lets them go. As he said, he would've done anything for them, and he though he says it in the past tense, he still does this last thing for them.
But argh, before they go, Philip warns Stan about his suspicions that Renee is one of them! Why would you do that?!! They just torched his marriage! I mean, if she really is a spy, Philip, as his friend, feels he has to let Stan know. But jeez, they made him compromise his ideals by letting them get away, and now they eff up his marriage?
Its funny, because we never find out if Renee is a spy or not. So we never see what happens with Stan's marriage, but you know its not going to be good. Either he does find out she's a spy, ruining their marriage, or she finds out he was looking into her, feels betrayed he looked into her, ruining their marriage. And even if he doesn't find anything, he could never really be sure after what happened with his best friend!
Hey, at least he still seems to have his job. And its interesting, because I think everyone assumed he would be screwed, his co-workers would be all, "how could you not know?!" and think he's incompetent, or worse in cahoots. But hey, going to Aderholt last week works in his favor! He sounded like a loon, but now that its proven true, Aderholt is the one feeling bad all, "I should've listened!" Let's not forget, he's broken bread with them for years too. The idea of them being Russian spies was just so outlandish! And so it seems like the Feds may give him a pass.
(Also, Stan had to leave surveillance for a couple of hours to have that confrontation, and I was thinking, won't they have found that suspicious? But it plays, Stan tells Aderholt he really didn't want to believe they were spies, even went to Paige's apartment to check, so he has an alibi, he really was there, he just didn't tell them everything!)
But like I was saying about the unexpected nature of this finale, while he seems to have gotten a pass from his co-workers, what happens is even worse than what we were expecting, because he let them go. So he's basically living with the fact that he compromised himself to save them.
On to Henry, so in the beginning of the ep, Philip makes it clear to Elizabeth they can't take Henry with them. He's innocent, his whole life is here. They can't force him to go to a country he knows nothing about for their sins. And so they have one last phone conversation with him under the guise of his parents and sister were just eating out and thinking of him and wanted to call.
So they exchange I love yous, and its heartbreaking because he doesn't even know its the last time he'll ever talk to them! Paige can't even bring herself to say goodbye. And maybe that's because she knew what she was going to do.
They all hop aboard a train to the border, but when it stops to do a border check, the police have sketches of Philip and Elizabeth. The disguises work, and as the train moves on, Elizabeth sees Paige back on the platform. She stepped off because a life in Russia is no life for her either. And so her parents realize Paige made her choice and left them. And wow, that is the most devastated I've ever seen Elizabeth. Like she hardly shows emotion, but this, this cut her to her core.
Stan tells Henry about his parents, but we don't hear the conversation, because really, how could that even go?! It would just be so awkward and heartwrenching. Henry once again abandoned, this time for good. I wonder what will happen to him. They say he's safe because he knew nothing, but how quickly are the Feds going to believe that? I guess Stan is around to say with finality this kid knows nothing, but how well would he be listened to?
Same with Paige. She goes back to Claudia's apartment, will presumably go back to her life? But will she be believed either? They were watching her apartment, won't they question where she went? Again, I don't think Stan will say anything, but still.
But yeah, in the end, Philip and Elizabeth, sorry Mikahil and Nadezhda, make it back home, are picked up by Arkady to presumably save Gorbachev. They live, though now they'll be all normal, in a country they've lived less in than the US.
But hey, they still seem to be a couple. Nadezhda even cooks up a little fantasy that maybe if they weren't spies, they still would've bumped into each other. But its all bittersweet, because while they have their lives and each other, they've lost all their loved ones.
Philip still might see Mischa, and the cold war is about to end, maybe they'll reunite with Paige and Henry one day.
