theamericans | Episode discussion post: "START"

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theamericans

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

beer_good_foamy

I figure both she and Henry will have to undergo some pretty heavy questioning no matter what. Henry can probably get by since he's a minor and genuinely doesn't know anything, but Paige...

Assuming Stan doesn't say anything, and assuming that nobody finds out that she was with P&E right up to the Canadian border (in disguise and a fake ID), and assuming she contacts the authorities right away rather than try to stay hidden, she's still going to have to keep her story very straight if she wants to convince a bunch of frustrated FBI agents looking for results that she knew nothing.

I don't recall - were we ever told if she officially applied for that State Dept internship?

From:

shapinglight

I don't recall - were we ever told if she officially applied for that State Dept internship?

I can't remember, I'm afraid. However, if she did, it was as Paige Jennings and that person doesn't really exist any more. She even buried her US passport.

From:

treonb

As far as the US is concerned, that person exists. Reporting a stolen/lost passport is not a major hassle.

From:

beer_good_foamy

Exactly. "My passport? I don't know, I haven't used it in years, I put it in a safe place somewhere ~~right after I came back from that trip to East Berlin to see my grandmother~~."

If she tries to pass herself off as anyone but Paige Jennings, and gets found out, she's probably looking at a very long prison sentence. Basically, her best chance right now is to put that bottle away, write down exactly what her story is, spend the night memorizing it until she believes it, and then show up next day believably shocked that her parents were Russian spies and a good innocent explanation for absolutely every decision she's made over the past few years.

Edited Date: 2018-06-01 11:52 am (UTC)

From:

shapinglight

I guess, yes. However, if she carries on living as Paige Jennings, there's no way she'd ever be allowed to work in government, surely?

From:

treonb

Why would she want to? I thought she was only doing that so she could be a spy

From:

shapinglight

I guess that might be who she feels she is, though. After all, she's never been anyone else.

From:

treonb

She just started college, she can choose to major in anything else. I actually have no idea what really interests her, but she can probably figure it out, now that she's not trying to impress her mother.

That's assuming she can continue studying, now that she needs to start paying her own way.

From:

shapinglight

That's assuming she can continue studying, now that she needs to start paying her own way.

I guess I'd just assumed that wouldn't be possible. She'd be registered at college as Paige Jennings, wouldn't she, now wanted by the FBI? Would the college even take her back?

From:

treonb

Assuming she's not going to be thrown into jail for the rest of her life, there's no reason she can't continue with college, even if that's a few years down the road.

From:

shapinglight

Well, I'll just imagine that, then.

I know it won't happen, but a one-off The Americans coda, set post-collapse of the USSR, where Paige and Henry meet their parents in a neutral country would interest me a great deal.

However, I currently find it hard to imagine that Henry would ever want to see either of them again.

From:

sistermagpie

I don't. He might absolutely want to talk to them even if he was still angry. Especially with Paige to talk to before that.

From:

jae

In Henry's shoes, I would definitely want to talk to my parents at some point in the distant future. Even if I never forgave them, I'd have things I'd want to ask them.

-J

From:

sistermagpie

Seriously! I can't imagine just not wanting to talk to them at all under these circumstances.

From:

treonb

I can see that happening, but I can also see them all getting together in a few years and Henry wanting to know. Right now, P&E feel like they're losing their children forever, but reality will change very soon.

From:

sistermagpie

Yes she herself never expressed any interest in government. She might work in that in general but she might be more suited to a nonprofit org for instance. That was her genuine interest in the church.