Episode discussion post: "Jennings, Elizabeth"

[jae]

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

This is a discussion post for episode 609 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 nine.)

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Comments

Stan's girlfriend

[theplatonicnonyeah]

I so want Renée to be another KGB agent in hiding, who has basically just successfully honey-trapped both an FBI agent and managed to get employed by them. I mean, if Stan dies, I want her to somehow have revealed herself to him first or have him realise it in the last moments of his life.

Re: Stan's girlfriend

[beer_good_foamy]

Yeah. I mean, I could see one ending being Stan having P&E cornered, only for Renee to step in and, ahem, "defuse" the situation - leaving P&E to go home to Russia without their children and with Stan's death as their last memory of the US.

Hey, I don't think they're going for a happy ending, might as well go all out...

Re: Stan's girlfriend

[theplatonicnonyeah]

I definitely don't see a happy ending. The question is for whom.

Re: Stan's girlfriend

[beer_good_foamy]

And whether they want to go with the classic "Aw, our heroes died, that's sad" ending, or the "Jesus Christ that's horrible, what is WRONG with you?" ending.

I'm reminded of something David Chase said when the last season of The Sopranos was about to air, about how everyone told him they knew the season would end with Tony Soprano either killed or in jail. And his reaction was basically "No way. You don't get to cheer for the bad guy for six seasons and then pat yourself on the back with a 'See, crime doesn't pay, I knew it' ending."

And they've been telegraphing Elizabeth dying so hard all season that I wouldn't be surprised if she's the only survivor on the entire eastern seaboard a week from now.

Re: Stan's girlfriend

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Yes, I'm inclined to think Philip is more likely to end up dead, along with Stan. Or that Stan will be framed as a traitor somehow.

Re: Stan's girlfriend

[lovingboth]

At least after this episode he will be able to say 'I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen..'

Re: Stan's girlfriend

[maidenjedi]

This is my preferred ending for that relationship for sure, because they have teased us with Renee so much. It seems so unlikely that Stan, in the position he's in, the work he's done, hasn't ended up a target for someone. And we know the KGB know him well - didn't P&E or their handlers think at one point about trying to turn him?

Turning Stan

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Yes, I vaguely remember there being talk about turning Stan quite early on. That conversation could have triggered a response somewhere else within the KGB. Perhaps the organisation thought P&E were too busy or it would be too risky for them, living next doors. So they sent Renée from "nowhere".

Re: Turning Stan

[sistermagpie]

That conversation was about Nina turning him. It was the whole arc of season 2 and ended with Stan refusing and Nina being sent to Russia.

Re: Turning Stan

[theplatonicnonyeah]

Yes, I know. But I also vaguely remember Claudia or someone else mentioning the idea to P&E also. Or them talking about it. I'm really unsure about this.

Re: Turning Stan

[sistermagpie]

I don't think there was ever any such conversation with the Jennings about it. They were never meant to work him that way.

Re: Turning Stan

[jae]

They did get (and send back to the Centre) information from Stan once, back in the first season, and cited him as an FBI source. But it was definitely incidental, and they never got any orders to work that contact further.

-J

Re: Stan's girlfriend

[sistermagpie]

But Stan's been a target for EVERYONE! For me this would seem like maybe the USSR lost the Cold War because they concentrated so many people on this one guy who isn't even in counterintel anymore. He's been targeted by Nina, Oleg, Philip, Elizabeth and now some whole new agent who's been so dedicated to him that she's married to him? Why isn't anyone covering Aderholt--frankly, he's the better agent. (Albeit one less vulnerable to possible flipping--though even Stan eventually proved he'd stand firm.)