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: Late thoughts

[sistermagpie]

It feels like the pace is finally picking up a bit! I’m sure the earlier seasons used to be more eventful.

I think part of the problem is there's a lot of business that goes no where--on purpose, to a point. Elizabeth seems to have these new missions every week but she never gets what she's going for. They just take up a lot of screentime to establish.

Totally agree on Paige's Russia lessons. They almost feel like Granny fan service to me some of the time and don't seem to do anything for Paige, who the showrunners continue to insulting describe as having "a Russian soul."

I actually like the travel agency storyline. Philip’s quit the spy life but the cover life he used to enjoy is going as well – the kids moved out, Stan apparently stopped having beer with him once he met Renee, the business is failing and now he has to fire Stavros and the others he’s been working with for decades – probably they’re the main Americans he knows outside of spying. That might affect his choices later on.

There was a quote from MR that made me wish this story worked better for me. He said Philip's always chased this dream of being a success outside of spying and now he's realizing it *wasn't* his dream. I see how all his troubles add up to that but I wish they'd made stronger choices character-wise about it. That is, to show that emphasized Philip recognizing that this isn't who he is rather than him just realizing this sucks too/he's not good at this.

Re: Late thoughts

[cadma2]

That's an interesting quote! I see it less that it was his dream to be a successful businessman but more that he was idealising the non-spying life. I mean, if working as an illegal is the most stressful thing in your life, running a business must look relaxing in comparison. And presumably when his effort was going into spying he was doing the minimum to keep the business running. But as soon as the business is his main focus he's trying to carry out a big expansion. I think he's possibly just not capable of slowing down even if he wants to. If he wasn't naturally an extremely driven person he'd never have become an illegal in the first place.

But this is all extrapolating a bit. I think you're right that they could be a bit more character-specific about how it's shown on screen -- it's never seemed like he cared much about the travel agency per se til this season.

Re: Late thoughts

[sistermagpie]

Yes, I think he just went into business because that's what he had. He didn't have a specific dream to be a carpenter or an artist or something. He just wanted a life that fulfilled him that wasn't spying and this isn't it.