Episode discussion post: "START"

[jae]

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

This is a discussion post for episode 610 of The Americans (the season and series finale), 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.)

Original promo trailer

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Comments

The one really bad episode

[jae]

I agree with lovingboth that there was only one truly bad episode, but we disagree about which one it was. (Like you, I am not a fan of the episode that involved the death of the old lady, which is called "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep" and is freakishly--and dismayingly--critically acclaimed.)

-J

Re: The one really bad episode

[shapinglight]

Yeah, I really don't get that.

Is the one you don't like the one about Irina? I know there are several people here who don't the Mischa Jnr storyline (which they actually bookended very well last season, I thought, and think even more now the show is over).

Re: The one really bad episode

[jae]

Sorry my last comment wasn't clear: in my opinion, the one truly bad episode is "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep." Lovingboth has a different opinion, which he can remind us of if he wants to. :)

I didn't like a lot of things about the Irina storyline, including the actor they chose to play her. But there were good things about that episode, too, so I wouldn't call it bad overall.

-J

Re: The one really bad episode

[shapinglight]

Ah okay. Thanks for clearing that up.

Re: The one really bad episode

[sistermagpie]

Just wanted to agree with your opinion on both those eps.

The inexplicable critical acclaim of "Electric Sheep"

[jae]

Yeah, I really don't get that.

Like, I started reading this piece today? But any ranking that has "Electric Sheep" as the second-best episode of all 75 and the amazing "Behind the Red Door" as the second-worst episode makes me run in horror. Bleagh.

-J

Re: The inexplicable critical acclaim of "Electric Sheep"

[sistermagpie]

Good God, how is that possible? That episode annoyed me so much I felt like I'd skipped a week of the show. I so do not get people liking it.

Re: The inexplicable critical acclaim of "Electric Sheep"

[sistermagpie]

I was talking about this elsewhere and someone offered this comment about Electric Sheep (they also felt the Vulture list might as well have just been randomly generated):

"And while I don't dislike "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep," I agree that it's overrated -- unlike something like "Walter Taffet," which explores very specific and rich thematic material with a light touch, "Electric Sheep" takes much simpler ideas and draws waaay too much attention to the fact that it's Saying Something about them.

But I think that's also why a lot of people like it so much, to be honest. In a lot of other episodes, it's easy to miss the underlying thematic stuff and see the story as just a random collection of incidents. In "Electric Sheep" the layer of meaning that unites and elevates everything is much more accessible. In that way it reminds me a lot of the early Mad Men episode "Babylon." That one ends with this portentous musical montage that I found annoyingly on the nose, but to a lot of viewers this was the point that hooked them on the series, because it reassured them that there was more going on with the show than just soap opera shenanigans."

Re: The inexplicable critical acclaim of "Electric Sheep"

[jae]

That...is incredibly frustrating and almost certainly exactly why people love that episode. Gah.

-J

Re: The inexplicable critical acclaim of "Electric Sheep"

[shapinglight]

I'm pretty sure I couldn't rank Americans episodes like that, even if I wanted to. Even Electric Sheep isn't all bad for instance. It's just the protracted death scene of the old lady, which feels like it strayed in from a different show altogether.