|
BIG HEADLINE posted:Yeah, if I were in Stan's shoes in that garage, I'd have made the price for letting them go that either Phil or Liz stayed behind. I am sort of surprised he didn't just eat his gun right there.
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 11:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 05:12 |
|
|
Let's not forget Stan knows what it's like to do horrible things for your country. He was a deep undercover agent, himself! Much of what Phil was saying was resonating with him 100%.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 11:33
|
|
|
Lizs little moment with her old passport before tossing it into the pit was great. I would have liked to see some of the "what happens to X after" but it would have to be in its own followup episode because after the garage, phone to Henry and train scenes im exhausted. It doesnt seem like Paige is going to try to live some secret fugitive life. My takeaway is shes going to go to Stan and try to salvage a life with Henry. gently caress im gonna miss this show
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 11:35
|
|
|
Nichael posted:It was but the dude was an idiot. They lucked out. He doesn’t want to see match. A match is nothing but trouble for him.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 11:42
|
|
|
banned from Starbucks posted:Lizs little moment with her old passport before tossing it into the pit was great. That was Henry's passport
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 13:18
|
|
|
I could watch a show about the Gorbechov/Yeltsin years of Russia.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 13:40
|
|
|
Matt Zerella posted:I could watch a show about the Gorbechov/Yeltsin years of Russia. The Russians
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 13:46
|
|
|
It wasn't what I was expecting, but I was satisfied. The garage scene, Philip being both raw and honest, AND keeping to his tradecraft. "When I came here....many years ago." Not giving away a single thing. Didja notice how when Paige went back to Claudia's apartment, the music shifted from sad American music to sad Russian music, while she sat down in an empty, barely furnished apartment and drank vodka alone? Both a sign of how Elizabeth and Claudia turned her, AND how woefully unprepared and impetuous she is. I mean, she's hosed at this point. Her parents are on the FBI most wanted list. Yet it's the very embodiment of 'nichevo.' P&E winding up in exactly the same situation they started out in; in a country they don't really know anything about, other than in theory, and now they need to make a new life. The entire episode, from the last scene of the prior episode, was them slowly shedding everything about their lives. Their house, their son, their friendships, their daughter, their false identities, until finally, they're just a confused man and woman, standing in a tourist spot as strangers in their own country. Nichevo. I'm glad a show had the balls to leave things ambiguous, not spoon-feed stuff to the audience and explain things with huge flashing letters.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 13:48
|
|
|
anatoliy pltkrvkay posted:Lol if that wasn't some contrived McDonald's product placement. No, it was the most thematically American thing of the entire show. Though it was definitely an unrealistic looking McD's. I lived up north at that time and McD's did not look like that, especially not late at night in the middle of nowhere.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:14
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:It wasn't what I was expecting, but I was satisfied. That was a super cool character moment. I also liked that even when Phillip was coming as clean as he possibly could, they still lied about being trained killers and denied knowing who those two people were that Elizabeth dropped a few weeks back. I will miss this show.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:37
|
|
|
precision posted:No, it was the most thematically American thing of the entire show. They certainly got the packaging right though. That yellow brown we had in the 80s.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:40
|
|
|
So if Stan had shot... Phil dead, Liz kills Stan with her bare hands maybe getting herself or Paige shot in the process, Paige is even more scarred than she was before? Glad that didn't happen I think.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:41
|
|
|
I half expected Stan to turn the gun on himself
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:42
|
|
|
precision posted:No, it was the most thematically American thing of the entire show. Wasn't necessarily late at night. Gets dark by 5PM in the winter.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:47
|
|
|
hatelull posted:That was a super cool character moment. I also liked that even when Phillip was coming as clean as he possibly could, they still lied about being trained killers and denied knowing who those two people were that Elizabeth dropped a few weeks back. Did Philip know? He suspected, but I don’t know if he *knew*.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:55
|
|
|
esperterra posted:Let's not forget Stan knows what it's like to do horrible things for your country. He was a deep undercover agent, himself! Much of what Phil was saying was resonating with him 100%. That's something that slipped my mind, I wish they reinforced that this season.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 14:58
|
|
|
So after sleeping on it... I'm kind of unsatisfied. I mean, I felt unsatisfied right after watching it too, but I wanted to give it a night. Maybe I'm putting too much importance on life or death, but I just felt like everything went down in just the easiest and most predictable way possible. P&E flee the country, Stan doesn't stop them. No one gets shot, no one dies. Sure, Paige and Henry stayed in America, but we all knew that was a major possibility anyway. I think I'm with the other poster that mentioned this earlier in the thread: I just didn't buy that garage scene with Phillip and Stan. I mean, it was a great scene and really well acted, but I felt like Stan still wouldn't have let them just walk away after all the poo poo they pulled, and I felt kinda ripped off once they pulled out of the garage without firing a shot. I remember checking how much time was left in the episode after that scene, and I thought there HAD to be at least one more confrontation, but then the musical montage just kept playing and playing... I dunno, I wouldn't say it was a BAD finale, but after everything they've done it kinda feels like cheating to let them skip out of the country without at least one action scene and a fatality or two. I also don't know what the producers were talking about by "we're going to hell for this". Lots of parents abandon their children in much worse places for much worse reasons. It certainly doesn't feel quite as evil as say, tricking a woman into marrying you and then kidnapping her out of the country, or forcing an old woman to eat pain pills til she dies. Phenotype fucked around with this message at 15:22 on May 31, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 15:20
|
|
|
Phenotype posted:I dunno, I wouldn't say it was a BAD finale, but after everything they've done it kinda feels like cheating to let them skip out of the country without at least one action scene and a fatality or two. I have the perspective of someone who might have to leave a place I love in order to go to someplace I know full well I'd be miserable. If I had kids and had to leave one or more behind (I do not) I could see that as being horrendous. Death would have been a blessing to P&E.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 15:55
|
|
|
I feel like the going to hell part was the ambiguity of Renee. I think we were expecting a definitive answer one way or the other with her. And perhaps if Philip hadn't said anything at all about her in the garage and maybe that scene outside the house had been shot differently or cut we could have dropped it. But the inclusion of those purposely left it unanswered and will leave it up for debate forever.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:00
|
|
|
I don't know if I fully buy Stan letting them go after everything he knows or suspects they did, but Paige being right there at least helps a bit. We know how Stan feels about killing people when their kid will see it, and while Paige is an adult, he still knew her as a child.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:01
|
|
|
The shot of Stan in the garage as they drive away is incredible.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:04
|
|
|
 My sad spies......(this is the best tv show that isn't Twin Peaks bar none)
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:08
|
|
|
I just watched the finale.... kind of soul crushing in so many ways. But such an appropriate, fitting end to everything. I'm going to miss the hell out of this show.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:10
|
|
|
I think Stan letting P&E go came down to Henry. It was bad enough that he was going to have to tell the kid 'Your parents are Russian spies, and they've left you forever,' but having to tell him 'your parents are Russian spies, and I just shot them both dead. Oh, Paige too. Anyway, looking good out there on the ice, kid!  ' would have sucked.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:13
|
|
|
I can’t believe the garage scene was 11 minutes long. It felt like 5 or possibly 45.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:15
|
|
|
I've been waiting since this show started to see how it ends. This feels like the end of a vacation. Time for one last delayed-watch thoughts post for the road: -As I posted in the little bit I was able to watch last night, Liz remembers she has a son now, apparently! -Aw, Paigey, you're so cute. So, so naive. What did you think would happen if super spy time went to poo poo?  -I enjoyed Stan intercepting the Jennings in the garage way more than I should've with Stan The Dick vs. The Totally Defensive Jennings. I fear it's gonna end badly for Stan. --Did anybody else pick up a hint of a Welsh accent break through during Phil's speech? --And there's the Renee payoff? -Oh man, the goodbye call is gutwrenching.  -With or Withoooooooooooooooout Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu -The crossing at the border was a letd--  .--I'm going to miss Holly Taylor's common deer-in-headlights look. -Oh drat, timejump to the 1960s. And "I didn't want kids anyway"- is that implying Gregory blew a load in Eliz---WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?  -Did  drive on the left side of the road?  Final thoughts: This finale was slightly disappointing and not what I expected out of FX. I do find it surprising that they've been letting all the main characters survive in their own ways lately with Justified and now this, as opposed to Shane going full Benoit in The Shield finale. Justified was at least satisfying in a way, but this wound up pretty much being "everybody winds up where they started", with the main catch being Mikhail/Nadezhda lost their kids. Stan being the bland, nice guy he always has been was a bit of a letdown, but I guess it helps that you assume Henry is probably his kid now. CBJSprague24 fucked around with this message at 16:23 on May 31, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:21
|
|
|
Larry Wilmore's podcast today is a deep dive discussion with Joel Fields. Highly recommend giving it a listen, Wilmore's a big fan of the show and they cover everything.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:55
|
|
|
Interview with Keri and Matthew : Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys Break Down the ‘Devastating’ Finale of ‘The Americans’ https://nyti.ms/2LFyapX
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 17:05
|
|
|
CBJSprague24 posted:--Did anybody else pick up a hint of a Welsh accent break through during Phil's speech? That happens at least once per episode
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 17:12
|
|
|
Henchman of Santa posted:That happens at least once per episode I guess it was glaring to me in this episode because of how intense his speech was to Stan, combined with the thing I've heard a few times about anger/emotion bringing a native accent out in somebody who's otherwise learned to talk without it.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 17:14
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn8O8AZfOyI
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 17:49
|
|
|
Knorth posted:
You misspelled The Terror. "That's nice dad, but I really need to get back to the ping pong tournament" Hasselblad fucked around with this message at 18:23 on May 31, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 18:20
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:Did Philip know? He suspected, but I don’t know if he *knew*. Well, he was truthful in saying that he didn't know them because he probably didn't know their names. However, he's smart enough to suss out Stan's venting about the two murders a few episodes back and the knowledge that Elizabeth was doing some pretty dark poo poo before she too burned out on "the job" to connect the two things. Don't they say the best lies have an air of truth to them? He was straight up better than Elizabeth who just did the very passionate "no way we would never kill anyone" rebuttal.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 18:49
|
|
|
anatoliy pltkrvkay posted:Lol if that wasn't some contrived McDonald's product placement. I took it more as a nod to this happening within the next two years as a result of Gorbachev (and by extension Phil and Elizabeth getting him the info that prevents him from being ousted by the KGB). First McDonald’s opens in Soviet Union Loved the finale, and like others have said, I appreciated that they didn't spoon feed everyone's eventual outcome and left some things ambiguous. The garage scene was tense as hell, and I appreciated that they used Stan's love of Henry as well as their story matching up with Oleg's to get out of the garage. But that train scene, god drat. I thought at first when Stan saw the family in McDonald's, he was going to have a Christopher Moltisanti moment and turn everyone in in hopes that they could stay together as a family, but nope. Did not see Paige walking away and showing better emotional control than her parents at that moment. Handsome Ralph fucked around with this message at 20:12 on May 31, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 20:06
|
|
|
Stan letting them go just worked in so many ways for me. He loves them. Phil has been his best friend for over 7 years ... but also working the relationship as a spy would. He loves Henry. He relates to doing horrible things for your country. The whole Gorbachev thing and stopping him being taken down is a whole 'greater good' sort of thing where if he doesn't let them go, there's that slim chance it's going to end up making things worse between their countries. It isn't the first time he's given Russian agents some sort of slack due to his own personal feelings for them, or personal feelings for someone they also cared about. Plus I'm sure he's shellshocked to learn his suspicions were actually true, and this family he's been so close with for so long has been working against his country under his nose the whole time. There's so much going on in the scene ugh it's so good. It's a great culmination of these past seven years imho. Stan letting them go or not wasn't what made me feel tense in that garage scene. I thought he would and it felt right. What kept me tense was waiting for Elizabeth to potentially do something stupid and go for his gun in the event it looked like Phil talking Stan down wouldn't work. e: ^^ I was sure the train would pull away and Liz and Phil would see Paige being escorted away with police who had identified her. It was such a gut punch to see her standing on the platform alone. It felt so right. ugh the whole episode felt so right!! esperterra fucked around with this message at 20:58 on May 31, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 20:24
|
|
|
Just remember, the entire episode was one big, long, protracted death scene; the death of the Jennings; as a family, and as their entire identities.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 20:43
|
|
|
Also can I just say I legit got goosebumps when Arkady and the Jennings finally, silently met face to face.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 20:45
|
|
|
It's the pre-show background we have on Stan that makes the whole garage thing make sense. They've done super hosed up poo poo but I think deep down he feels like they're good people. Mostly because he thinks the same thing about himself to keep the guilt from crushing him. Instead of treating them like they're just monsters doing whatever they have to for their cause, he has a more human response because it's basically the only way he can go on without having to carry that same burden about himself. Nobody died or went to prison (besides Oleg) but in a lot of ways the fates of everyone are considerably worse than that. Phillip and Elizabeth are back to being lost and alone in a country they don't understand. Henry is totally hosed up forever. Paige is completely alone. Stan lost his best friend and now either has to live with not knowing whether his wife is a spy or try to find out and risk being lonely again. This show died as it lived, with a lot of non-flashy stuff that has way more subtle and devastating consequences than the flashy stuff does. I thought the finale was brilliant. Truther Vandross fucked around with this message at 20:58 on May 31, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 20:56
|
|
|
Also I've said it before and I'ma say it again w/ much more fervor now the show is complete: season 5 owned bones and is the calm before the storm that took up the first eight episodes of this final season.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 20:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 05:12 |
|
|
sportsgenius86 posted:It's the pre-show background we have on Stan that makes the whole garage thing make sense. They've done super hosed up poo poo but I think deep down he feels like they're good people. Mostly because he thinks the same thing about himself to keep the guilt from crushing him. Instead of treating them like they're just monsters doing whatever they have to for their cause, he has a more human response because it's basically the only way he can go on without having to carry that same burden about himself. Part of that was also Phillip playing Stan. Stan very much wanted to believe they were still good people deep down. If he had proof they actually murdered a shitload of people, I don't think that garage scene would have gone the same way. Scene was very good.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 21:11
|
|
