Episode discussion post: "Rififi"

[jae]

Aired:
2 May 2018 in the U.S. and Canada

This is a discussion post for episode 606 of The Americans, intended for viewers who are watching the show on the U.S./Canadian schedule. (Feel free to dive in to the discussion even if you're coming in late--and you should also feel free to start a new thread if it seems too daunting to read through what's already been posted first. If you're reading this at a point where you've already seen subsequent episodes, though, please take care to keep comments spoiler-free of anything that comes after season six, episode six.)

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Comments

Re: Philip and Elizabeth

[sistermagpie]

I think Elizabeth called Henry to say goodbye. Not because he reminds her of Philip, but because he's the only non-spy in the house, who has no idea what his mother does. When/if everything blows up, he's going to get the shock of his life. She might be dead by then, and so when that happens, she wants him to think good of her.

Very good point! I was thinking of Henry as being, besides himself, a symbol of her non-spying life and wanting to show that she valued it, which is how I saw that as a semi-nod to Henry as well. but what you're saying makes sense.

Elizabeth might accept Philip's help, because she really has no choice, but she really doesn't want to. She didn't call for help, even when she realized that things are extremely bad. In fact, she didn't call Philip at all. No "get the kids out before it's too late" this time.

If we assume she wouldn't have called him at all it means she would have been quite happy to have her last words to him be contemptuous. To me it seems somewhat significant that she called Henry not just for the reasons you mentioned but also that he's so out of it there's less stuff for her to give away.