So nobody dies and the kids stay in the US. Some great scenes, in the parking garage, the phone call to Henry and the final scene when they are back in their homeland. I thought it was great, was expecting some blood at some point. That garage scene, I thought surely Stan was going to be overpowered.
the garage scene was great, but the shock of seeing paige on the platform as the train leaves was fantastic. such a well done scene. one of the best moments of tv i've seen in a long time. i'm glad none of them died, but i'm sad about oleg. EDIT: oh, and i loved getting u2's "with or without you" played basically in its entirety. it worked so well.
So I ended up being right about Stan letting them go in the end and wrong about someone using Chekov's cyanide pill. That was a great season and series finale and much better than any more violent or spectacular conclusion would have been. However much they had to pay for the rights to U2's "With or Without You", it was worth it. That entire sequence was brilliant and the song worked perfectly for it, including the moment where it briefly cut out and then back in. One interesting thing I read in Alan Sepinwall's write-up about this episode, about the scene where Philip and Elizabeth spot their daughter Paige on the platform as the train starts moving is that the actors apparently only had one take to film their reaction due to the logistical problem of having that train move out of the station more than once. So if they had messed it up, there would have been no do-overs. So in that respect, that was very impressive acting. But the most impressive bit of acting was Elizabeth's reaction when she realized that Philip was right and they would have to leave Henry behind in the United States of America instead of joining them back to the motherland. It would have been easy to overdo it, but she got it spot-on for the character I believe. I'm sad this is done. I think we all agreed that season five was a bit subpar compared to the standards of the previous seasons, but season six was good enough for them to end on a high. I still think that season two is the best season and the margin is respectable. But what I will miss the most is this ensemble, the two leads obviously, but also Noah Emmerich, Holly Taylor, Margot Martindale and countless performers in smaller parts, like Costa Ronin and Brandon J. Dirden (who played Dennis Aderholt).
Don't forget Frank Langella. I don't know what to think of this episode. I did expect violence and I guess it makes sense that their biggest punishment is leaving the rest of their lives w/out their kids. I did have 2 questions. 1) Do we know if they got the message about Gorbachev; and 2) If they went back home and the Center knows about their betrayal, wouldn't they have to watch their back? Also, can someone remind me how Arkady was able to switch alliances?
The idea is that the intelligence community is divided in two camps. Arkady is in the "good guys" camp. I suppose that once Gorbachev has the proof that part of his intelligence forces had a plan to get rid of him, he will have the agency and political capital to purge those entities of the old wolves and bears who cannot move past Cold War reasoning?
Anyone know what city they were supposed to be overlooking in that last scene? It looked maybe like a coastal city, so I thought maybe Odessa, because that's where Philip grew up. But that building in the background is sure distinctive.
I actually think if they got shot in Russia, it would have been an ideal ending. What will Paige do now?
So, theoretically, Paige could go to Henry now, because the only person who knows that she was doin' the spy stuff is Stan, but Stan cannot admit he knows this or he'll be asked HOW he knows this. Paige could plausibly plead ignorance of everything. But Henry is smart enough to figure out that his sister must have known something, or at least he'll be forever suspicious. And if Stan is raising Henry, it could be awkward for both Paige and Stan if she was around a bunch. Plus if Renee actually IS KGB, I'd think that she could pose a danger to Paige. The cautious thing for Paige to do would be stay away from Henry... but it COULD work to be with him.
The only one who knows for sure that she knew who her parents truly were is Stan and he can't reveal this information without also admitting that he let the Jenningses go. So unless the F.B.I. has a very good reason to suspect that unlike Henry, Paige did know more about her parents, she would likely be treated in the same way as her brother.
Nah, I think that would have been pretty unbelievable. If they didn't have some way of making sure they'd be accepted back home by somebody they'd never have returned. Don't forget, it was Arkady that recruited Oleg in the first place so they must have known who was part of the KGB in the centre even if the reverse wasn't true.
Both sides have one thing in common--our eternal thanks. #TheAmericansFinale #TheAmericans pic.twitter.com/23exI1aEc5— The Americans (@TheAmericansFX) June 2, 2018 Shared for Matthew Rhys' joke and then his wife's reaction.