Two episodes down, eight to go.

The set-up for this season is quite interesting with them jumping from 1984 to 1987. I guess it was expected as the end of the series should coincide with the final years of the Cold War.

It will be interesting to see how this develops

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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

I haven't jumped in yet. I wanted to finish up the X-Files most recent season first (which has been great). With this show and the recent premeire of Legion, FX should be keeping me busy the next couple months.

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This is no spoiler here as I'm speculating, but I have to think Philip is going to enlist Stan for help with what he has been tasked with.

I just can't see the writers passing up that opportunity. We will see how it plays out.

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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

Just jumped into this last night after slowly rewatching the first five seasons over the last few weeks.

Midway through episode 5 now. This is an incredibly good show and I'm not sure why it's not more popular.

_________________
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

What is this in reference to?

Just finished "Harvest", the 7th episode.

_________________
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

Thus far it's a prediction I was wrong on. I figured Philip would "come out" to Stan and use his help to thwart whatever Elizabeth was doing.

This season has not disappointed though. I'm excited for the final 2 episodes. I'll be sad to see the show go, but I'd rather they have a series with a defined end rather than one where they try to milk it years beyond its expiration date as other showrunners would do.

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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

I still haven’t seen last episode yet but I’m caught up through 7 episodes and I agree. I think this last season has been fantastic so far. Can’t wait to find out what happens with Stan/Phillip now that he more or less knows.

Phillip teaching Paige just how little she knows after she insults his lack of commitment was an all time great scene.

Gonna watch the latest episode right after the nba game.

_________________
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

Was thinking all season that they were setting Felicity up to be the bad guy and we would get a phillip vs Elizabeth battle at the end, but was pleasantly surprised to see Elizabeth finally "get it" last ep and realize that the people she is taking orders from aren't speaking for her country back home or the people in charge back home.


It will be interesting to see if they assimilate into post cold war America or if at the very end it all blows up in their faces and they get caught right when they were both no longer working for the KGB.

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They have to get caught by Stan. I can’t envision a satisfying ending that involves him never actually confirming his latest suspicions.

That cyanide pill will come into play too, imo.

_________________
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

hopefully Paige takes the pill by accident or something like that. She really backed the wrong side at the wrong time in history.

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I don't find her arc all that believable.

But yeah I'm hoping she dies. Terrible, annoying character.

_________________
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 also struggle to find her character's arc believable in any way. It honestly might be the only blemish on this series.

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Agreed. It kinda stick out like a sore thumb.

I loved how they turned the fact they ignored Henry for 4.5 seasons into a plot point.

_________________
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

They hit on some really key moments here for a penultimate episode but they left almost too many cards on the table imo.

Stan showing Oleg the photo of the Jennings and him shaking his head is just great.

The ending when Phillip realized what happened was also great.

Gonna be a huge disappointment if Stan doesn’t confront Philip face to face in a somewhat neutral/uncontrolled setting.

Oleg is an all time great supporting character.

Also, Pastor Tim FTW. Straight OG

_________________
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

god I was hoping that when Elizabeth shot the assassin that it was Paige, but having it be the dark haired lady from the Russian embassy was pretty good too.

Thought Elizabeth might take out what's her name.


So, did Oleg give up Philip or did his cover get blown cause he was talking to the priest without much of a disguise while under surveillance? I thought it was the latter. Thought Oleg denied that he knew the people in the photo?


Next week is gonna be great. They're on the run. I guess the happy ending of retirement and then a life in the USA at the end of the cold war is out of the question.

Depending on how this wraps up, this could end up being one of the 5 greatest tv series of all time. Actually heard an interview with a lady who worked at the FBI in the same department that Stan is fictionally working in and she said of all the shows that have been done, the Americans is the only one that gets it right in terms of being completely accurate as to how the spies lived and worked back then.

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Oleg didn't sell Phillip out. He did deny he knew the people in the photo, and I like the way they filmed that. Like Sepinwall said - I particularly love the little head shake he gives Stan when Stan shows him a Jennings family photo in the hopes he’ll identify them as the illegals, and the way Ronin’s expression makes it not so much Oleg saying, “No, that’s not them” as, “No, I will not tell you, Stan, no matter how many times and ways you ask.”

Agreed on it being an all time great series if they can nail the ending. Can't wait for next week. I'm gonna be pissed if we don't get a Phillip/Stan confrontation.

_________________
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

yep now that I think back to that scene it was definitely a look of, cmon dude you know I'm not going to tell you anything.




I think a perfect ending would be Paige gets killed while the three of them are fleeing, Phillip and Elizabeth make it back home, but immediately separate. And the series ends with Henry coming home from school, opens the front door and yells out "mom, dad, anyone home?" Fade to black.

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I'm sort of buying into the theory that Phillip and Elizabeth get killed and Renee takes their place more or less. I think there are potentially way better endings, but they need to include Renee in the finale somehow or else they wasted A TON of series time on her for no reason.

_________________
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

Who's Renee? Is that Stan's new wife?

With the Cold war basically ending within a year or two of this show, would Russia even bother replacing them? Seems like the program might be fizzling out as Gorbachev gets more power.


I could see Phillip not dying and somehow getting a happy ending. But not Elizabeth, her character has done too much to be allowed a happy ending.

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SERIES FINALE TONIGHT!

Glad I saw someone mention it today. Almost forgot about it. Wednesday nights are shit TV nights.

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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

1999 called, they'd like you to consider buying a TIVO. Don't forget to use the Season Pass option when you get that sucker out of the box!

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Is TIVO even still around? HawaiiYou called, he wants his bit back.

_________________
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

Good finale. No one dies, but it's a depressing end for just about every character.

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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

Terrible finale. No chance Stan let's them leave that garage.

_________________
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

He let them go because he realized they needed to get to Moscow to send their message (which they do off-screen in the car with Arkady). Stan made his decision to let them go when he connected what they were saying to what Oleg had told him.

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

I get that. I don’t believe it and think it was a cop out storytelling wise.

_________________
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 loved it! Right up there with The Shield and Breaking Bad for best series finales ever.


Loved how everyone got an unhappy ending.

Only thing it lacked is I wanted to hear and see Henry's reaction to being told his parents were Soviet spies.


The best part of the finale was the 20 minutes at the one hour mark that had no dialogue. The montage set to With or Without You was awesome and then when they got to Russia it was replaced by a somber instrumental. Beautiful storytelling.

Paige on the train platform was fantastic, it was what I thought she should do. And poor Paige, what becomes of her now? Henry will be fine with Stan, would he take Paige in as well? Doubtful, plus she is in college already. I think we see a peak into the rest of her lonely life when she ends up at the deserted Soviet safe house drinking shots in the dark by herself.


The garage scene with Stan and Phillip was perfect. Would Stan let them go? How could he after all the murders including his partner Amadeo back in season 1? But, on the other side this is his best friend, really his only friend. And when it all came down to it, Stan and Phillip were the same, they both worked and were dedicated to their country and making the world a better place. In the end, he realized that in the grand scheme of things, to make the world a better place, he had to let them go. Also, I think the friend angle won out as well. Guys like FF can sit here and say that the scene wasn't believable, but I think that is a simplistic view that doesn't really factor in the emotions involved and just how close these people were this entire time.


But in the end Stan doesn't get his happy ending either. He's left wondering if his wife is a Soviet spy or not. Who knows how that will turn out, but my guess is she is either a Soviet spy or Stan will end up ruining the marriage by being suspicious and doing his own investigations.

The ending for Elizabeth and Phillip was perfect, but I personally didn't find it as dire as they made it out to be just because I have the benefit of knowing history and the fact that the Soviet Union will be done in the next few years and people will be able to travel freely back and forth. I doubt they can go anywhere since they are probably wanted criminals in the USA, but that doesn't mean the kids can't come over and visit as often as they like, right?

Also, now that Phillip is back in Russia will he get back together with his first flame, the mother of his son. Also, will he see his son? I forgot how that resolved last year when he came to America.

Here is a great interview with showrunners about the finale..

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/americans-series-finale-explained-1115558

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