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The Americans on Fx

DeacHead said:
I thought using Brothers in Arms was risky because it was used in the perfect ending to a perfect episode of television with the season 2 finale of The West Wing. Any time that's used my mind immediately goes to "Two Cathedrals".

As to this show, I really dug it. I was rather surprised at how bloodlessly it ended. You knew from episode 1 it was going to end poorly and I'd say, all told, it was about as good as they could have hoped for. I was ok with not everything being tied up neatly with a bow, that's not how their life is. I halfway expected it was going to end with them looking at the newly opened McDonald's in Red Square, but that was a few years yet to come.
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I had the same thought, although I didn't realize it wouldn't work timeline-wise.
 
The wife and I were discussing hypothetical concepts that would've been different than the actual finale. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. The most fun, from a purely visceral standpoint, was Stan capping Philip in the garage in his initial fit of rage, followed by Elizabeth smoking Stan in the ensuing melee, maybe with a pen knife or something else small, so it takes longer for him to die. Then E has to chop off P's head and hands and take them with her - all of this happening in front of a traumatized Paige. A bit of a left turn from the tone of the rest of the episode, but damn would that have been fun.
 
Better than I was expecting, although the whole episode going that smoothly, particularly once they got back to Russia, was a let down. Everything before that was handled pretty well, the garage scene in particular, but you just had Elizabeth betray one side of warring factions in Russia and they just waltz back in with Arkady playing chauffeur? The same Arkady that earlier was discussing how little influence they had? Everything leading up to that point had foreshadowed a showdown between the Center and the Gorbachev crowd, and forcing them to hastily return to Russia in the middle of that was the perfect setup to end with a double-cross of some kind and a reminder that life for them in Russia won't be easy, they're not really out of the business, etc... Instead you get a kumbaya ending as they gaze out over Russia. That's the part that felt rushed to me, like it was too much to tackle so they just skipped it entirely.
 
CantStandYa said:
Plot Twist: Elizabeth is preggers with the intern's baby.

BOOM spin-off.
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The real spin off is also title Americans. The twist is that P & E realize they may be back home but they are more american than they realized and now have to navigate those zanny differences... in a sit com.
 
I enjoyed it over all. Definitely moved a little fast with Stan figuring it out but I'll let it slide.

Renee had a fleeting look of annoyance before sure turned to head in.

Arkady bringing them in makes sense. He may no longer have power with the center but he is in the pro Gorbachev faction and P & E ultimately helped foil the plot.

Agree with sepinwall that they really stuck the landing in the moment but time will tell if that feeling hold up. Maybe later I'll want more closure
 
Nice to see the show win a few Emmys. I had no idea Matthew Rhys was British....weird.
 
It's a great win for Matthew Rhys. His is the first major acting Emmy for the series, and he even got to show off his Welsh accent. Joel Fields and Joe Weissberg covered the waterfront in their acceptance remarks, thanking the TV critics for "keeping us on the air". This show really should have had a bowlful of supporting actor nominations, too. The show finally got some long awaited recognition.

But the one I really wanted was the actress award for Keri Russell.
 
Did Frank Langella ever get nominated/win? Seemed like he was crushing it, even when the show veered off course.
 
DistrictDeacon, so I'm not the only one who remembers that episode, especially since Paige walked in on the action.
BTW, there have been several nominations for actors, writers, and directors associated with The Americans from several organizations, but apparently not one for the stalwart Frank Langella.
 
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