One of my favorite shows of all-time. The "With or Without You" Montage was 4 of the best minutes of television that I've seen in quite some time. So many emotional tugs; all partially or wholly justified, nothing spiteful. Just wonderful, wonderful, television and I'll miss it.
I'm happy I was wrong in my predictions. I think this was one of the most satisfying endings to a great television show I've seen. I'll spoiler tag my thoughts in case somebody wanders into this thread and hasn't caught up yet: Spoiler The "With or Without You" montage was so well done. When the song cut out during the passport check and came back in, with Bono's wailing, as Elizabeth sees Paige standing on the platform... that was perfect editing. I read that they only had one take to film that scene, due to the logistics of moving trains around, and Keri Russell played it perfectly. The garage confrontation with Stan was everything we've wanted out of this show and I'm glad they saved it for the last episode. Unlike Breaking Bad, The Americans was never about the hunt for the antagonists. Stan didn't need a Hank-on-the-toilet moment. I had moments of dread watching the scene, thinking that Elizabeth would run Stan over with the car or that he'd kill himself in the immediate aftermath. I'm glad none of that happened. It was a fun aside that Phillip told Stan the job was all about "screwing people," and not killing, while the camera focused on Paige and Elizabeth. After all of Elizabeth's insistence that sex was not part of the job, Phillip tries to tell Stan that it's the whole job in front of his daughter. I thought the dream scene tied in everything we'd seen in past seasons with the focus on art this season. Elizabeth's relationship with Gregory - where she doubted her desire to have children and didn't understand the meaning of his abstract art - suddenly shifts to the portrait of an agonizing, trapped woman and a smaller painting of the children she is separated from. That was good character development. Finally, I will always think Renee is a spy. The knowing look and slight smirk she gave when looking at the FBI agents clearing out the Jennings' home sealed it for me. But, I love that they left it unaddressed.
the only gripe I have is that it was about as happy an ending as the writers could plausibly get away with yes they were separated, but no one was killed/captured Stan didn't lose his job or get killed Oleg will likely be released in a few years after the USSR collapses
The show did a pretty good job with the reality of cold war spying. Some inconsistencies was the violence and sex, as mentioned. The body counts were no where realistic. Spies were also extremely careful. An operation would go on for months. Also the 'illegal citizen' program the Soviet Union used was real and actually deployed, but largely unsuccessful. Oleg would have likely not been detained for very long in this scenario. He was running operations for the Soviet Union against the KGB. After a few weeks or months of interrogation and attempts to bargain, he would have likely been sent back and future visa's denied. A good non-fiction book to read that goes along with this story is The Billion Dollar Spy. Its about an engineer in Moscow who sent the CIA thousands and thousands of top secret technology documents over the span of several years.
Sad to see it go. Folks should go catch up on it now that the NBA isn't having any games that mean anything. Spoiler Well, they wrung out probably the most emotionally devastating finale w/o a body count I could imagine. The scene in the garage would have completely fell apart without those performances throughout the series. Emmerich, Russel, and Rhys are truly a credit to the acting profession. Agree with others about that scene with Paige hopping off the train. Not ashamed to admit I teared up there. At the core of the show was Liz and Phil's marriage so those final scenes where they are asleep in the back of Arkadys car, then discussing the past and future looking over Moscow was an ultimately satisfying way to end the series for me. I agree that Renee is likely a spy and Oleg gets exchanged soon. Paige going into the empty safehouse downing shots of Vodka was profoundly depressing. I wonder where she goes from here?
Extremely understated finale for an understated show, really shouldn't have expected anything else. The big confrontation was done very well IMO . Loved this series, probably far too low-key for most people to appreciate.
Loved it, too. Spoiler I guess Claudia's going to return to find a drunken, novice Paige trying to impress her with the story of how see escaped the exfiltration, because of how much she still wants to work. "Claudia, you should have seen me. I was scared, but made it all the way back. Was so cool, Claude. Glad you still had some Vodka in the fridge. You want some....whoopsie, all gone. teehee. We should get some more." Claudia's going to smack her upside the head for walking back to the safe house, putting her in jeopardy of getting caught, too.
Are we sure about that? It might have been better to kill someone to put them out of their misery. Living with what went down might be worse than death. PAIGE is living her worst fear - being alone. Poor Paige was a spy for 6 episodes, and now has nothing to show for it. How is this poor child going to find a job with no identification and the FBI looking for her? She has no one.. just Vodka. I freaking hate Paige, but I didn't want her to go out like this.. HENRY just found out his whole family where spies and is never going to see them again. I don't know how that is going to go over at his ultra prestigious school of interconnectivity. That can't be good for networking or his future prospects. STAN didn't lose his job, but has to hoist that fat ass L every time he walks into work. This dude has to be a laughing stock in the bureau. He also lost his best friend in the world. But wait there's more -- Phillip just said the woman he loves might be a spy but there's no way to be sure.. wtf Phil? PHILLIP was more American than anyone on the damn show. Dude was a spy for a cause he didn't even believe in anymore. This guy was happiest freaking line-dancing! Now he is back in Russia without his kids or his best friend. ELIZABETH is no longer a spy and a mother. Those were the only two things that defined her as a person. She is no longer a spy or a mother. This is some tragic sh-t a bullet might have been better.
Finally watched that last episode. I've definitely been on the Matthew Rhys needs-to-win-an-emmy bandwagon for the past several years. I felt the same about Keri Russel, but not quite as strongly. This season is the opposite. She needs to win. Spoiler My favorite scene was probably the opener. When Elizabeth first realizes that they have to leave Henry, and she has that subtle gasp like the wind got knocked out of her. Her facade finally cracked for a brief moment. In a perfect world, the show should sweep everything at the Emmys and hopefully get some recognition that brings in new viewers on the streaming services. I'm sure lots would disagree, but I think it's every bit the show that Breaking Bad is. Anyway, on to the next show. Any suggestions? There's nothing really out there that excites me as much. Westworld is good. Maybe finish up House of Cards. Mindhunter was good, but has a lot of flaws.
Spoiler I figure Claudia wouldn't return...considering what she was told at the table and the turmoil going on after her spy shot the KGB agent. Would make more sense for her to go into hiding if she couldn't return to Russia.
This was probably up there as my favourite series finale amongst top TV drama series. Up there with Breaking Bad in terms of how it tied things together(except maybe Renee). I definitely felt it was a more fulfilling finale than the Sopranos. Both were full of tension in the lead up and had viewers on edge but this one was just better. Now the use of "With or Without You" was also similar to how "Don't stop believin" was used in The Sopranos finale. I read that before they were able to get the ok from U2 in order to use the song, they were prepared to go with "American Pie". I wonder which song most of the fans would have preferred them use in that finale. "With or Without You" or "American Pie" Also, this will go down with The Wire as the two best or most deserving shows that were routinely snubbed by the major awards shows. Terrible.
Just binge watched this over the past month or so (took a couple of weeks off while on vacation). Watched the end of Season 6 and the finale last night. Great show. Couldn't help comparing to the final season of Breaking Bad in my head as I watched those last 5-6 episodes. Great finale, and I'm having a good time this morning reading reviews and summaries from over the course of the series. Really good stuff.
The wife and I did the same. Just started binge watching it about a month ago and saw the last episode last week. so sorry to watch it end.
Binged this over a month+ Just saw the finale. I was ready for it to end. Season 5 floundered but they actually had a plan for season 6 so that was nice. I am stunned and pissed that Oleg - 1 of like 3 decent people in the show - gets ****ed over so hard. I needed an Oleg gets released because *reasons* scene. Feel bad that didn't happen. His dad and wife are probably wrecked, his mom probably killed herself, and his son won't know him. Awful. But the show overall was pretty good. Keri Russell is a bad actress. Matthew Rhys was pretty good. The guy who did Stan Beeman - not good. I think the show would have been a notch better with better performances from Elizabeth and Stan.
