Promo discussion: Episode 6x10

[treonb]

This post is intended to allow discussion of the upcoming episode, as reflected in the official show promos.

Please keep the comments spoiler free from anything not mentioned in the promos (interviews, articles etc)

Watch on YouTube

In the series finale of The Americans, the Jennings face a choice that will change their lives forever.
 

Comments

Stan and Philip; Henry

[maidenjedi]

Okay. The promo shows Stan discovering, flat-out, that he's right about Philip and Elizabeth. And, rage rightfully ensues.

The thing is - and what makes me think Stan will die before the end - rage and revenge seem to be Stan's primary motivators. Yes, P&E are spies, they're murderers, etc., but the kicker here is that Stan has been personally betrayed and used. I think he'll go into a chase and gunfight with that blinding him to everything else around him, and it'll get him killed, very possibly at Philip's hand.

(As much as I would like to think the show is going to show us Renee as an illegal, or an otherwise planted spy in Stan's household, I just don't see them actually doing it in the end.)

Regarding Henry - I mean, it seems like P&E's plan is to leave him at school and let the chips fall where they may. Or maybe, Stan decides that going to get Henry is the best way to possibly catch P&E, and the showdown happens in front of Henry when P&E decide to get him after all.

Re: Stan and Philip; Henry

[sistermagpie]

Why would the plan be to leave hm? In the promo they're saying they're going straight to New Hampshire--that's Henry. The FBI would be smart to assume they're going there. (This is also why I never understood why Elizabeth was fine with Henry being at school there.)

Re: Stan and revenge it strikes me how there's a lot of people who always argue that Stan is the only adult who cares about Henry but clearly the show isn't setting up this endgame story by having Stan be conflicted about him. Not that I expect or want him to be.

Re: Stan and Philip; Henry

[maidenjedi]

I had to watch the trailer again - I heard it wrong, about getting Henry! Sorry about that.

[treonb]

I wonder who Aderholt is talking to

[shapinglight]

I suspect it's Oleg.

My prediction: Philip and Elizabeth - well, Philip anyway- are going to think they can trust Oleg but he's going to betray them in return for his freedom.

Either that, or we never see Oleg again and Aderholt is talking to Stan.

ETA: Actually, scrap both guesses. I think it's Father Andrei.

[sistermagpie]

My guess is maybe Henry. That's why Philip is emphatically saying that yes, they will trust Henry. They will not leave him out because he's not a spy. He's family, so they will trust him the way they trusted Paige.

[shapinglight]

I hadn't thought of Henry. Would the FBI really be allowed to interrogate a minor in that sort of setting, do you think?

If you're right about who Philip's talking to, then I have a bad feeling he may well be wrong about Henry being trustworthy in this instance, if only because it'll be too much for the poor kid to process in such a short space of time.

[sistermagpie]

It might be a case of them calling Henry ahead of time or something so the "trust" is about him following instructions and not saying anything if the FBI showed up first or something.

Mostly it's just the way that Philip says "Yes" in a way that clearly allows for no argument that makes me think it's Henry.

[shapinglight]

Mostly it's just the way that Philip says "Yes" in a way that clearly allows for no argument that makes me think it's Henry.

I think he might well speak in the same way about Oleg, though. Especially since he doesn't know that the FBI arrested Oleg.

[sistermagpie]

That's true. Or even if he knows he's been arrested I think he'd think he could be trusted to not give them up.

[treonb]

I hadn't thought of Henry either. Now I really hope it's him.

[jae]

Me too!

-J

[sistermagpie]

It just occurred to me that it might be an editing cheat. Maybe Philip is saying "yes" to a totally different question!

My prediction

[(Anonymous)]

They will gather up Paige and head towards Henry and then to the border where they will confront the FBI. In the standoff, Elizabeth will sacrifice herself to save the family. As she dies from her cyanide pill she has a flashback of her kids and her own mother. Her sense of what is most important in the world has dramatically shifted at the last second.
Meanwhile, Stan has warned the Russians of the threat to Gorbachev. Olag lingers incarcerated but is eventually part of some exchange of prisoners, his wife does not forgive him for leaving.

[saraqael]

I still have no real idea how this series is going to end, but I'm hoping that this final episode will feature lots of intense discussions and confessions but no dramatic gun fights or deaths. I'd rather see the time spent on scenes of the Jennings trying to explain that they're spies to Henry, and more time between Stan and Oleg, and scenes of Stan coming to grips with the realization that his best friend really was a Soviet illegal. I want to see Philip and Elizabeth decide if they want to try to hide out in Canada, vanish into America, or surrender and defect. I'd like to see Stan and Dennis agree to come up with a reason to let Oleg go, and also talk about the fallout from discovering that Tatiana tried to murder Nesterenko, not to mention the fallout on their careers when they discover that they've been having dinner with Soviet spies for years. I want emotional payoffs, not James Bond style excitement.

[shapinglight]

I agree.

Worst case scenario for me would be some sort of shock ending where it turns out Renee was another illegal and she just turns up and kills everyone.

I feel like there has to be some payoff for the whole Renee mystery but am actually hoping that there is no mystery and the character is just a red herring.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I'm with you on not wanting any sort of Renee as surprise spy ending here. I can certainly speculate numerous scenarios with her as spy for the Russians/others, but honestly I just want her to be a regular citizen. I was initially amused by the Renee as spy teasing on the show but now I'm just annoyed by it, to be honest. I'm hoping that the entire Renee tease was just the showrunners way of emphasizing how paranoid people in the espionage biz get after a while.

[saraqael]

That was me, by the way. I didn't realize I was signed out of Dreamwidth.

[shapinglight]

Ah. Okay.

Yes, the whole Renee thing has been an irritating tease. I shall be annoyed if it turns out there's nothing to her because it would mean a waste of airtime that could have been spent on other things - just as I'm a little annoyed by the whole Philip the Travel Agent thing. On the other hand, I don't think the character has really 'earned' being the ultimate twist in the story. She's not that interesting, and it would seem a bit obvious.

The title "Start"

[jae]

The version of the penultimate episode I saw didn't have any previews attached, so I was absolutely convinced that the title of this episode, "Start", suggested there would be another time jump between the penultimate episode and the season finale. (This is under the assumption that the title refers to this treaty, which isn't signed until 1991.)

This preview makes it clear that this won't be the case (which I'm honestly glad for--I want to SEE what happens next, not just hear about it in retrospect!). But what does everyone else make of the title of the finale? Might there be a time jump in the middle of that episode?

-J

Re: The title "Start"

[treonb]

I didn't know what it stood for, but officially the episode name is in capitals (START)

Re: The title "Start"

[jae]

Then it's really got to be a reference to the treaty (which is an acronym). Good catch.

-J

Re: The title "Start"

[sistermagpie]

They start talking about the START treaty years before it ws signed. Claudia already talked about it being the next thing they're working on after the thing they did at the Summit, so there's no reason there has to be a time jump. Also of course there's just the metaphorical meaning, like with Mutually Assured Destruction.