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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Stan's wife

[sistermagpie]

She's his wife, guys!

I was rewatching the scenes with Stan and Aderholt and here's my thoughts on Renee. I want her to be just a real person and not a spy so I tend to interpret her in that way.

Just as Philip and Elizabeth have been building different lives for 3 years that don't really work, so has Stan. He's been good husband guy who has a job with more reasonable hours because he doesn't care about it as much.

But what's he been like lately? Looking out the window and saying he's watching the moon instead of the neighbors' house. In this ep he was starting to get apprehensive about Renee working with him, sharing every meal together--Aderholdt suggested he tell Renee he's busy a lot.

Also when he asks Aderholdt to go for a beer after work he says he'll be working to the wee hours and Stan says he will too. Iow, he's back to his old counterintel hours after not wanting to get pulled back in. He's back to the old Stan who had hunches, worked long hours, didn't talk to his wife and was obsessed with the Illegals.

I think this is paralleling P&E. In fact, maybe everyone here is waking up from 3 years of being someone else.