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The Americans - Season 5 of the award winning KGB spy drama - Tuesdays on FX

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Teletraan1

Teletraan1

Banned
Rehynn said:
It's more about themes now than season-long plotlines. The bioweapon, the agriculture stuff, and even Tuan, are related.

With the bioweapon, they believed they were working to help their country defend its citizens, then it turned out they were helping the Soviets murder people in a very gruesome way.

With the GMO crops, they thought they were stopping an operation aimed at starving out the Soviet people, then it turned out their enemy was actually doing work that could help people all over the world. This realization, however, came after they murdered a man working toward that goal.

With Tuan, they realized that their KGB insticts and methods just makes them look like bullies (although they might be more to that story, but at this point it sure seems like it was a wrong call, and that the purpose of the storyline was to cast more doubt on the work they do and how they do it).

At least to me, the show at this point is about the final erosion of Philip and Liz's belief that they are on the right side of history, and how there are very few, if any, winners in this game. That certainly includes Stan, Oleg, Martha, Gabriel, Tuan, and by extension, Henry, Paige, etc.

Other shows quickly build up a character over an episode or two (The Walking Dead is a repeat offender) to give more weight to their demise. The Americans has been doing this remarkably evenly for a remarkable number of characters. I understand why some find the pacing of the show a turnoff, but I definitely feel that it serves a purpose. There is no way that all major characters will end up dead by the end (which is the only way many shows do tragedy), but I believe the show is going in a direction where we will still be able to appreciate the full weight of their personal tragedies, even if that "only" means estrangement, loneliness, and disillusionment.
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Amazing post. I wholeheartedly agree.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
New episode tonight:
Darkroom

Paige's snooping leads Philip and Elizabeth to make a choice that could shift the balance of their lives forever. Stan and Aderholt's recruitment of Sofia suddenly bears fruit.
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F

Fenderputty

Banned
Not only are Philip and Elizabeth having their world fall apart around them (their perception of the center and the shit they do for them), it feels like there's an episodic reminder that they've become shitty parents because of their job. That look on Phillips face when Paige tells him she's destined to be alone was brutal.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- EW: Matthew Rhys on The Americans ending: 'When things are going well, pull the plug' (video interview)
“I think we’ve done five great seasons,” the Welsh actor said during an appearance on Entertainment Weekly: The Show. “[The writers] were told two years ago, ‘You’ll have two more seasons,’ so to have two seasons to write very strongly toward a strong ending, I think, is a very privileged position to be in. And I am always weary of wringing the towel dry. I think when things are going well, pull the plug.”
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More via the link.
 
N

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
VenomousCoffee said:
The accent video is cool. As much as I love this show, I've really never looked up anything about him.



Holy shit, he did that episode?!
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archer-achub.jpg
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Yup
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Marriage scene was very sweet, but man what a gut punch at the end.

Just don't send the new marriage certificate info back to Moscow in a diplomatic pouch..

Sectorseven said:
Did I miss a scene in the beginning where Paige read Pastor Tim's diary?
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Nope. First scene is Philip and Pasha's dad drinking in the kitchen.
 
M

Merchandise

Member
Hey y'all. I watched about 9-10 episodes of first season and stopped. My main concern was I was looking for them to be captured and revealed and it looked like it wasn't going to happen. Now that we're 47 seasons in, can someone maybe give me a quick yes/no about if the secret is out in the open at this point? I have trouble believing that after five seasons they could still be under cover if their neighbor started suspecting them in like the first episode. If they're really still under cover, a sentence about how the f*ck that's possible?

If I ever start the show again I'd probably just go from the beginning because I've forgotten most of it.
 
C

cartographer

Member
The wedding scene followed by developing the photos is a pretty classic Americans gut punch.

Pastor Tim is a bastard. Paige actually handled having read that far better than most would. And he just lies to her face.

If Paige ends up going full Elizabeth, Pastor Tim is going to be a big reason why.
 
L

LotusHD

Banned
Wonder if this is Paige's low-key way of letting her parents know just how fucked up all of this is, by including those pages of Pastor Tim's duplicity.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
What a fantastic episode - that wedding had me tearing up and then they followed it with a major punch to the gut. Masterful.

Also, there is officially one full season left of The Americans, y'all. 13 more episodes...

cartographer said:
Pastor Tim is a bastard.
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...no he isn't. Everything he wrote in that diary is true.

Merchandise said:
Hey y'all. I watched about 9-10 episodes of first season and stopped. My main concern was I was looking for them to be captured and revealed and it looked like it wasn't going to happen. Now that we're 47 seasons in, can someone maybe give me a quick yes/no about if the secret is out in the open at this point?
Click to expand...

No, their secret isn't out in the open.

I have trouble believing that after five seasons they could still be under cover if their neighbor started suspecting them in like the first episode. If they're really still under cover, a sentence about how the f*ck that's possible?
Click to expand...

The show isn't really about the FBI agent investigating his KGB neighbors. He suspects them initially but then drops it for the most part and focuses on other things.

It doesn't sound like it would work, creatively, but it does.
 
VenomousCoffee

VenomousCoffee

Member
cartographer said:
The wedding scene followed by developing the photos is a pretty classic Americans gut punch.

Pastor Tim is a bastard. Paige actually handled having read that far better than most would. And he just lies to her face.

If Paige ends up going full Elizabeth, Pastor Tim is going to be a big reason why.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. So far as P Tim knows, they are basically lobbyists for top secret subjects, and he's saying that's worse than molesting their own daughter.

Kind of hope Elizabeth whacks him in the season finale, tbh.
 
K

KarmaCow

Member
VenomousCoffee said:
I agree with this. So far as P Tim knows, they are basically lobbyists for top secret subjects, and he's saying that's worse than molesting their own daughter.

Kind of hope Elizabeth whacks him in the season finale, tbh.
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The fuck? He's right, Paige is irrevocably traumatized by what happened to her and her parents are too brainwashed to realise that she needs help. That he doesn't know the full story is what makes it more telling how badly she is coping with everything.
 
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