Next season is the final season so things are going to blow up one way or another.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Denis scores a point here. This season was underwhelming and really had no payoff. I know they are just setting things up for the final season, but it would have been nice to see some closure or a reveal on some of this season's events.

I'm leaning towards Stan's gf being a spy just as Phillip is suggesting.

There's obviously going to be some point next season where Stan finds out the truth on Phillip and Elizabeth, and he has to decide what to do about them. I'm thinking they end up saving Stan's life, and he let's them go.

I don't see Phillip even wanting to go back to Russia. I think he actually enjoys living in America, and he would go into hiding here if he could.

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Anyone else fast forward through the Russian scenes? This season is getting great reviews but it felt like a complete filler of a season.

Bad.

The stuff with Oleg was probably the best part of this season.

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Then it really was a terrible season if that's the best part. Yawn.

I'm with DB. Oleg is the only thing that held my attention. They opened up so many other plot lines and new characters, and nothing panned out with any of them.

Now I like when they dug up the dead guy that injected himself. But what else was there? The Vietnamese kid did nice work, but I need him to do something crazy.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

You weren't entertained by the insects capable of decimating the Russian wheat crop??

I've watched every episode. I love the series overall. It's just past it's prime, and none of the new characters are especially interesting. And the plot lines with the kids have always been boring.

The insect thing was meh.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I've watched since day 1. It'll be tough to see it go, because it's one of the best shows out there. That said, it's probably the right move. I'm very interested to see how next season plays out.

yep, this one is definitely ready to end.

I've always been hoping that in the end its, Felicity, not Stan, who has the make the key decision regarding Phillip. I'd like to see Felicity have to make a decision between her family and her country. SHe's a lot more hardcore than Phillip.

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I don't think it would be much of a decision for Stan. He would definitely arrest Phillip if he found out. They can't end this show without Stan finding out too

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Here is my prediction.

1. Stan finds out.

2. Elizabeth is going to kill Stan.

3. Phillip saves Stan and kills Elizabeth.

4. Stan lets Phillip leave and go back to Russia.

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I'm going to guess he finds out, but also finds out that they're back in Russia. And he smiles and lets them go.

Solid. They have so many great ways they could end the show. I hope it goes out with a bang to really make it a memorable series. In the end, it comes down to Stan, Elizabeth and Phillip who have really been featured consistently. I have grown to love Phillip, hate Elizabeth, and enjoy Stan. I also have an interest on how things work out for Oleg and his new job.

The only new character this season that I enjoyed was the Vietnamese kid (Twan?) He would be worth keeping in the next season and making an impact.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

If you look at the timeline, next season should show a beginning of a thaw to the Cold War. Gorby is about ready to take over in Russia.

I can see them deserting their KGB jobs and just running to live somewhere in the middle of the US (perhaps with Stan's help). I don't think they are ever going back to the Soviet Union.

I mean the entire point of Oleg's story this season is showing the rampant corruption that is eating the USSR alive. It's to show how empty the country the Jennings are fighting for is and how useless it will be in the end.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Those are excellent points. I think one of the "proper" endings to the show is them retiring in peace. You figure Stan needs to find out, but maybe that's a series cliffhanger?

If you are going down the road of Stan finding out, but letting them go I think something that might make that plausible is if it turns out that Stan's GF is a Russian spy and Phillip steps in and saves Stan. Later on, Stan repays the favor by letting Phillip and Elizabeth retire.

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Dang, that's a good prediction, too. I can't wait to see how this plays out next year.

I'm late to the game on this one, and I just got done watching Breaking Bad like a year ago, which I loved, so that's my baseline when judging what shows I like. I'm hooked for the time being but I've definitely almost given up out of boredom. Sometimes the plots seem overly contrived just to give the leads something to do while the show sets up larger plots for down the road. I have no idea what purpose Stan's family serves other than to repeatedly drive home the point than he's got issues as a result of his job. I don't give a shit about Paige​ and Henry either yet they suck up precious screen time.

Someone mentioned this is one of the best shows ever and I think that's nowhere near to being close. One thing Breaking Bad had going for it (and it obviously had a ton going for it) was it created a universe with all sorts of interesting characters. I could name a ton of super interesting characters on BB that aren't even lead characters (Pete, Tuco, Gus, Mike, Saul, etc.) who added depth and richness to each episode. The Americans is nowhere near that. It doesn't know what to do with some characters while others don't undergo any sort of development. I'll stick with it for the time being but overall to me this is better than a run of the mill mediocre series but not on BB's level.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

It's a good show but it's obviously nowhere near best ever. Not sure who's saying it is. It benefits from having a really interesting premise but it does solid enough work around that premise. The Man in the High Castle would be an example of a show that has a GREAT premise but is just mediocre, if that.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I thought it was you who mentioned it might be one of the best ever. Too lazy to look.

I like the premise as well but sometimes it's difficult to take it seriously. To do what they do you've probably got to Jason Bourne it but yet here they are with pre teens at home living a busy domestic life while conducting high level espionage and covert warfare at the same time. We have to suspend belief too many times whenever we see them kick ass in the field, avert disaster, work their sources, and get home in time to make dinner, do the dishes, help the kids with homework, and take them to math practice or whatever.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I said season 2 was up there with some of the best seasons of tv ever. The rest of the series is good but doesn't reach that level.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Well I took some heat for my thoughts early in this thread, but I think I made slight come back. Good show, but plenty of flaws and showing its age.

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Hawaii (fuck) You