The Americans is the best show in TV currently.



(As declared by me, a person who watches maybe four shows a year).

I can confirm that this is correct.

Yikes that ending. Paige isn’t likely to forget that image any time soon.

Loved the Talking Heads music cue. Slippery People indeed.

Great episode. This show is going out with a bang.

She should've known that guy wasn't gonna give her anything - why did she keep pushing him? Why is she so desperate?

This is what they need to build Dead Hand.

She has been doing this for years. She will always push to the limit, and if it doesn't work do what she did here. That's the way she's used to.

Best show indeed.

Loved it, great ep...

Sepinwall had a good recap on this episode. Apparently this guy, or character, was on seasons ago. However, he was Philips asset and was handled much more deftly.

Typically I never want to binge this show, but I really want to just sit down and see where the story ends up.

Only 8 to go. 🙁 If this wraps up well, I have no problem putting in either my top five or number one spot of best tv shows ever. It’s just that we’ll done from the start.

I think she is desperate because she feels time is running out and Gorbachev and the 'new' crowd will take over the hard-liners like her. She is not only in a race against American now, she is in a race against the old USSR.

It will be interesting to see when/if Phillip starts to pump her for information and report back to Oleg, as he is essentially what Elizabeth is fighting against now.

The great thing about the show is that they never had these huge coincidences that stretched the plot, but Elizabeth is playing with fire now and it's only a matter of time. My point is: Will they have this big moment when Stan realizes who his neighbors are, or something shocking like that? I still don't think they will go down that route, and it will be more subtle when the shit hits the fan.

That day is coming as sure as Hank would eventually find out the truth about his Brother-in-law Walt. Just hope it's as satisfying as that end game was. I suspect that it will be.

Great episode again this season is so strong.

This season is off to a great start.

Yes, great episode this past week. Great use of The Talking Heads' Slippery People in this episode, over a key scene.

It was interesting to see Philip so bummed out about the loss of a big client at the Travel agency. As in Episode 1 of this season, it clearly illustrates that - in the three year gap between seasons - he's really taken the "cover" job of the travel agency seriously. Conversely, Elizabeth is embedding herself into her espionage activities even more than in previous seasons, and seemingly ignoring the "cover" job completely.

I was not surprised that the American general?! that Elizabeth was trying to get US technology from ended up not only not giving it to her It was fairly obvious from the first two conversations that he wasn't going to cooperate with her.

To me, this just shows that she's losing her touch to some extent;

Not sure how they will end the show. Since S01, I always thought that Stan would find out who Philip/Elizabeth actually are eventually, but that it may be too late for him to catch them (i.e., it may happen after they left the country).

Here's an idea for the finale - though I know it's already planned out at this point, I always thought this would make for an interesting ending:

In the very last scene of the very last episode, I always thought it would be cool if they time-jumped ahead to the fall of Berlin Wall in Fall '89....i.e., I can envision a scene where Elizabeth & Philip are watching the fall of the Wall on television and, as a result, re-evaluating their entire life...there wouldn't be any dialogue, just a scene of them looking at the TV, then looking at each other....then a fade to black. And then, the iconic rock song "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones could play over the credits - even though that song came out in 1990, it would be very appropriate here because it was about the fall of Communism in the late 1980's. To me, the song (and video) encapsulates the '80's to a great extent, especially the latter half of the decade:


That being said, I'm almost certain the show WON'T end this way, since it's too "in your face", and the show is very subtle.

I do not like your ending at all, but I would suspect it will end on some super subtle note. I really like the show, but it has become so subtle it is almost completely cryptic at points. That said if the show ends without Stan knowing it will be ridiculous. They really need to nail that.

It was just an idea, and I'm sure it won't end like that - so, no need to worry

I was bringing this up because I was in my late teens when the Berlin Wall fell, and at the time I remember knowing that something extremely historical & important was happening. The JJ song Right Here, Right Now is not only a great song musically - but also encapsulates this whole feeling & era to a great extent - very iconic.

I agree that NOT having Stan find out about Elizabeth/Philip would be ridiculous. Obviously, the whole series - from S01 - is built on the idea on that they will eventually be exposed.

I think it would work best to have Stan not confront Philip/Elizabeth, but just find out about them after they've left the country (or gone into hiding, etc.). If anyone out there is familiar with the last scene in Fringe (one of my favorite sci-fi series), the last scene of the series finale slowly focuses on a character's face, as he comes to an important realization....and then it fades to black & that's the end of the episode & series. Another idea for a finale could be this happening with Stan....or not.

We'll see in a couple of months.

Nope. 1989 event, 1990 song. They would never use an anachronistic music cue. I thought I had caught them with Yaz in 1982, but of course they were right. Plus we are still in 1987, no way we'll get another 2 year time jump before the series ends.

The movie posters from the premier - Revenge of the Nerds 2, Less than Zero, The Pickup Artist, Wall Street - came out July - December 1987. This summit I think happened in December 1987. This show is so good with nailing the time.

Oh, you want to talk about good with details? I noticed as Philip was going through the bills in the office he passed by one with the local gas or water company we have. Blink and you’ll miss it, but I was damn impressed.

Right - the song came out in 1990 & the Berlin Wall fell in Fall '89 - I know that. But, if they use the song over the closing credits that may work. However, you're right about the two-year time jump - they probably won't do that.

I'm not one to get caught up in details, but what month was this episode taking place? Because the guy was listening to the Cubs/Giants game on the Radio. The Giants made the playoffs that year so they could still be playing in October, but the Cubs did not win the Division (They both played in the LCS in 1989). So this had to be September 1987 if they were being true to the Baseball Calendar. Unless I heard it wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was the Cubs vs Giants on the radio?

I feel like something similar came up in an earlier season with a basketball game. I’m fuzzy, but think the producers went with something out of time/sync because it worked better with the scene. So it’s possible this was October even though the baseball game you referenced was September.

It was this game and the play he was listening to was a Dale Murphy homer.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/b...98710040.shtml

I missed it, what company, I'm from the area.

The Summit was 12/8-10.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Summit

Keri Russell said it was 9 weeks away! The game was 10/4!