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

Is Paige safe from the... Russians?

[beer_good_foamy]

Just a thought that struck me, and at a glance I can't see that anyone else has brought it up?

Paige's situation right now, unless I'm missing something, basically leaves her with three bad choices:
1. Stay undercover, live on the run, go straight to jail for treason if she's ever recognized.
2. Report to the FBI, act shocked that her parents are Russian agents, lie her ass off and hope they can't pin anything on her.
3. Come clean, testify about everything and hope for clemency.

In all three cases, the FBI looks like her biggest problem. But what about the KGB? As far as they're concerned, she's basically a defected agent. She Knows Stuff. P&E will probably tell them she's harmless and doesn't have any worthwhile information to trade to the FBI, but of course they're not exactly impartial. Would the KGB consider it a worthwhile risk to let someone with that information run around unobstrcuted?

Re: Is Paige safe from the... Russians?

[sistermagpie]

It seems like we've seen the KGB let agents go before. They know Paige is useless now as an agent, the FBI will totally be watching her, but she doesn't seem dangerous enough for them to risk trying to kill her under the FBI's nose, imo.

Re: Is Paige safe from the... Russians?

[cadma2]

Interesting... I'm trying to think what she does know and it doesn't seem like very much? She met Elizabeth's other back-up agent, who's now dead, and Claudia, who's probably going to be arrested for plotting against Gorbachev anyway. P&E never told her much about what they were actually doing.

Anyway Philip and Elizabeth have gone home to be heroes of the Soviet Union and possibly the best KGB agents ever, the authorities would probably give them anything they wanted and the number one thing they'd want would be for Paige and Henry to be safe. If the KGB really didn't want Paige to run around the US, they'd probably kidnap her and take her back to Russia, not kill her.

Re: Is Paige safe from the... Russians?

[lovingboth]

Never mind the Russians - she doesn't know anything that could hurt them, apart from being able to talk about Claudia - it's Stan I'd be worried about in her place. She knows he committed treason by letting the three of them go.

Even if he's not able or willing to kill her to stop her talking - and what can she say about life with two Soviet illegals that Henry can't? - with him around, she can only go for option 3, because he knows she knew.

With no KGB support, the idea she could last more than a few days is laughable. The Paige we've been shown couldn't even do sex for cash to survive.

Re: Is Paige safe from the... Russians?

[andy73]

Never mind the Russians - she doesn't know anything that could hurt them

True!!

she can only go for option 3, because he knows she knew.

Uhm… t think her best option is 2: stan never would blow up her story! Why would he do it?