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

Re: Question about the garage scene with Stan and the Jennings

[sistermagpie]

I lean toward Emily Nussbaum's view that it was a tour de force spy performance--but that doesn't mean it's not also true. I think he was often speaking the truth, but only the parts of the truth that would appeal to Stan in that moment.

My favorite moments in it, as I think I may have mentioned, are when he almost starts to say something and then censors himself. Like when he says how long he's lived in the US and then just says it's a long time. Or, my favorite, when he's taking about the Gorbachev plot and says it was Elizabeth who figured it out, not really the two of them.

On one hand, he probably does give Elizabeth the credit here because of her actions and how hard he knows they were for her. But he makes it seem like she just figured it out and he wasn't really involved, because Stan doesn't trust Elizabeth already and Philip doesn't want to sound like any spy at all much less a clever one figuring out plots.

But of course he's also venting a lot of feelings he's had and indulging in his most self-pitying feelings as well. But he wouldn't be indulging them if Stan wasn't receptive to him.

At first he's naturally more in attack mode, which Stan is ready for when he yells at him to stop moving. But as Emily Nussbaum says, once Stan says he was his best friend...that's his opening. He doesn't even have to think about which way to go with that. Nussbaum describes him as transforming like a werewolf, which I love.

Re: Question about the garage scene with Stan and the Jennings

[saraqael]

The Nussbaum article is what prompted me to post this question here. I don't entirely agree with her that Philip was 100% just using his friendship to gaslight Stan. Her take on the scene is too Machievellian to me. I see it as more 70/30, friendship over spycraft. This was Philip's final opportunity to be honest with the only friend he'd ever had. It's true that he carefully edited his comments about how long he'd been in the US. I think he gave credit to Elizabeth for uncovering the Gorbachev plot to present her in as heroic terms as possible to soften Stan's view of her, but I really do think that Philip genuinely wanted Stan to let them go because of their friendship and not just because Stan was temporarily overwhelmed by all of this emotional manipulation.

Of course, as I said to Jae a comment above, I do think that Philip would have killed Stan at any moment if it looked like he wasn't getting through to him. Philip's priority was ensuring that he and his family could escape.

I also thought that Elizabeth was ready to shoot Stan at any moment, too.