theamericans | Spoiler & Speculation Post v2.0

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Spoiler & Speculation Post v2.0

This is the second spoiler and speculation post. Basically a place to talk about all the spoilers that are out and to speculate on what they mean.

At the moment the only real place to talk about spoilers is in the various link posts and I thought it might help to tie things together. Hopefully it will also help keep spoilers out of the episode and promo posts for people who are staying unspoiled.

Obviously, there will be spoilers in these comments so read at your own risk!

Episode 9 / Production #209 – “Martial Eagle”
(Airs April 23, 10:00 pm e/p)

Philip and Elizabeth’s long-planned mission turns ugly, impacting each of them in different ways. Stan digs in deeper at work as his personal life continues to unravel.

Story by Oliver North & Tracey Scott Wilson; teleplay by Tracey Scott Wilson; directed by Alik Sakharov.

Episode 2.10 - Yousaf
(Airs April 30, 10:00 pm e/p)

A new mission with international stakes has Philip calling on Annelise for assistance just as an old foe returns to D.C. with a vendetta. Stan makes a discovery that could put the FBI hot on the trail of Illegals.

Written by Stephan Schiff & Stuart Zicherman; directed by Stefan Schwartz.

Episode 2.11 - Stealth
(Airs May 7, 10:00 pm e/p)

Elizabeth makes a shocking discovery about Kate. Philip pursues a contact for information about stealth. Stan continues his pursuit of the illegals.

Written by Joshua Brand; directed by Gregory Hoblit.

Episode 2.12 - Operation Chronicle
(Airs May 14, 10:00 pm e/p)

With Larrick closing in, Elizabeth rushes to exfiltrate Jared while Philip readies Fred for a crucial mission. Arkady finally plays his hand, forcing Stan to make an impossible choice.

Written by Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg; directed by Andrew Bernstein.

SEASON FINALE - Episode 13 / Production #213 – “Echo”
(Airs May 21, 10:00 pm e/p)

No one is safe as Philip and Elizabeth evacuate their children while trying to complete the mission. Stan holds Nina's future in his hands.

Written by Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg; directed by Daniel Sackheim.

Also, worth revisiting the two truths and a lie" from Yahoo

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I'm just beyond excited at the idea of Elizabeth exfiltrating Jared, and then Paige and Henry having to be "evacuated" in the season finale (I'm assuming they don't get told anything and it's under the guise of a trip or something) and the issues that promises to raise. I wonder if one person has to stay with the kids and one goes to kill Larrick, how that would be handled if it comes up a second time around.

With the two truths and a lie, I could still see either of the two "Martha" ones being true. She could easily quit her job since she's been floating the idea for so long now, and supposedly in episode 10 there's that original song they had written and it's used during a scene where someone is tailing a car. So much good stuff on the horizon!

OMG, Jared! That's unexpected. Poor kid. Poor everyone!

I know, that's just... so awful and shocking for him (and terrible that now he has to potentially be exfiltrated and Elizabeth burned the letter from his parents that might've helped make him believe it) and terrible for Elizabeth to go through too seeing as it would likely force her to face the truth behind any hopes she might've clung to Henry and Paige could be okay with the idea.

Yeah, I can't imagine how that will go. Will she be in disguise? And she's on her own without Philip to work with.

It's just great on so many levels. It's one huge thing everyone in the audience is hoping to see (how will the kids take it) but without ringing a bell that can't be unrung of having them actually find out. Elizabeth gets to watch all this go down and imagine it's Paige and Henry. It's both a thing part of her maybe has always hoped will happen in her fantasy mind (that they go back to Russia) and also dreaded (that they find out she lied to them) and now it's in front of her in a way she can't deny the reality of it as easily.

I also really feel for her with the whole letter. Because here she promised Leanne one thing, which had to be hard for her, then she broke that promise, which had to be hard for her, but she was doing it for the right reasons, and then if Jared does have to be told, for him not to be able to read it in his mother's handwriting from his mother's heart is so difficult.

And yeah, she's got to do it on her own, without Philip who would likely be better at knowing intuitively what to say and how to react in the moment. Just, amazing stuff potentially.

How's about Jared already knows?

Leanne's request to Elizabeth was a long time ago. In the meantime, maybe Leanne and Emmett had already told Jared and had prepared him. They clearly had a different take on the desirabilty of getting their children involved

The creators have mentioned that a the children of the illegals would have been truly useful - cover story secure, born in country.

So Jared is going into engineering, with a long play to get into an aeronautical firm (or something) and serve the cause.

He's just been waiting for someone to make contact.
And that sketch that Stan just showed him looks a fair bit like Elizabeth in her child welfare worker get-up: Short(er) hair, huge glasses. So he's not giving Stan anything, but waiting for Elizabeth to show.

Which makes him a cool little customer... And I think Henry would make an ace spy... If only he can stay awake.

Interesting theory. Henry would definitely make a good spy, I think. He's got some of Philip's natural spy qualities in his personality too. Not sure what direction they'll go, but I know I can't wait to see this week's episode!

Henry would - he's got the charm, the ability to use violence if necessary (Henry -1, creepy guy - 0) and he is a skilled liar for his age. He's also got Philip's conscience and sensitivity - which are mixed blessings under these circumstances.

Three more sleeps before Wednesday...

Thanks, Georgley!

Stan makes a discovery that could put the FBI hot on the trail of Illegals.

Illegals in general, or our two favourite illegals? (I'm betting the latter--and Treon is going to be so happy if that's true. *g*)

It's also interesting that Larrick isn't mentioned in any of the episode summaries until 212, when it suddenly becomes "With Larrick closing in."

-J

I wondered if he was the enemy with the vendetta returning to the US. Not that we know yet what his vendetta might be.

Edited 2014-04-23 21:00 (UTC)

Oh, of course.

-J

That's my guess too. That didn't make sense to me when I first read it and I was trying to think of people we'd seen in season one who might reappear, but since Philip (or was it Elizabeth?) threw in that aside in this last episode about Larrick already being out of the country, it would make sense for him to be the one returning. I hadn't assumed he would be leaving so quickly.

The vendetta is the only part I'm still puzzled about since it seems like if he had the motivation to go after Jared later, why not take care of it at some earlier point? I could understand why he might later go after Paige and Henry if he's pissed about what Philip and Elizabeth did to continue blackmailing him, but I'm still puzzled with the Jared angle of it.

It's perfect having Georgley in charge of this thread! So on top of it!

The Larrick spoiler has been the first where I've felt like "oh crud, that actually might take away suspense" from whatever the reveal must be in episode 11, I guess, but it's still exciting what it brings up. I guess the last synopsis where I felt that way was when they revealed the whole "Grannie tells Elizabeth the truth about what happened between Philip and Irina in New York" and then there was like... no way not to figure it out...

Yeah, I can't help but think they could have left it vaguer, like "with their enemy closing in" or something. I guess it's extra-hard to predict what non-spoilerphobes will find spoilery, though, so I sympathize with the summary writers!

-J

Oh absolutely. And admittedly I am about the most rabid spoiler-hunter in the world, so I have no one to blame but myself :). I was super-excited to find out it was Larrick as well, so it probably all came out in the wash :).

Tonight's description is very vague and yet advance reviews indicate it's a good one with lots of Philip. 4 more hours...

I know! I'm not going to be able to watch this one as it airs, and it's just about killing me.

-J

Oh I'm so sorry! :(

I can't complain too much--I will still see it pretty soon after it airs, and I get to watch with someone from the comm who I've never met before! It might mean the timing of tonight's discussion post willl be a bit wonky, though (earlier than usual).

-J

Very cool!

My goal for tonight's discussion post is to actually POST something. I seem to fluctuate between so excited I can't type or gather my thoughts into sentences versus pulling a Henry and just having nothing to say...

I enthusiastically support this goal!

I was thinking of you. When will you see it?

A couple of hours later at most. I will survive. :) I'm staying the heck off Twitter, though!

-J

I assume you saw Matt SZ's tweet about how MR is especially awesome tonight!

Yes! And several more (Sepinwall, Alyssa Rosenberg) said the same thing! Very excited and perhaps MAYBE even hoping we get a tidbit about his past, even if only an icicle like reference. And even if we don't, the stuff happening in the present is completely enthralling too.

Oops, I just realized I once again typed MSZ when I meant AS. So did they all three say something? Because that's awesome.

Okay, and I stupidly read too many tweets right after getting home from work and got it all mixed up. For some reason I also thought I saw one from Emily Nussbaum, but now I think it was reading Molly Nussbaum's and needing more sleep :) So I think AS was the one I mistakenly ascribed to both him and MZS.

The main thing is that MR is going to be awesome tonight and the show starts in 25 minutes!!!

I do still wonder why Larrick is suddenly after Jared to the point where he needs to be exhilarated.

Yeah, that part doesn't make sense to me and maybe has to hinge off something we haven't seen yet. Because if he wanted to do it to get back at Emmett and Leanne, why not just kill Jared soon after he got to them? Sure, it would've maybe been impossible to do it that same day if he was at the pool, but without Emmett and Leanne there to protect him (which, let's face it, are the biggest threat), but why not shortly after when he's virtually unprotected? He wouldn't have assumed Elizabeth and Philip (or any KGB person like them) because Elizabeth wasn't supposed to make contact with Jared at all, or at least that's how it seemed to me. What changed that makes him a target now?

And what would make him more of a target than Henry and Paige? If he's pissed, it's understandable wanting to hurt Emmett and Leanne, but they're already gone so it really has no effect, unlike Henry and Paige. And clearly from the synopses, they may become targets later, but it still seems odd to me that Jared would all of a sudden have a bullseye on him. Kind of random.

Maybe it's actually two different things and Jared and the Jennings kids are in danger from somebody else while Jared is after P&E.

That's entirely possible. It seems like a huge head scratcher unless there's something we're not aware of yet. And granted, there were a few of those in season one (the whole Irina story, for one, the assassin plot in episode 8), but for the most part, they were pretty solid in thinking things through and making them logical. I haven't really found too many moments in season 2 that seemed oddly out of place except maybe Elizabeth being willing to go against orders for Leanne without questioning it. Things seem a lot tighter.

I'd really like to see Stan getting close to some other illegals. That way we can still see him being a good agent and there is still some tension about how close he is to getting Philip and Elizabeth.

Yeah, like I thought I wasn't going to like the idea of another illegals family (like I worried it might feel not as sincere and powerful), but the way they've used it to play off Philip and Elizabeth's fears without spilling the beans to Henry and Paige has been outstanding. This could work in the same way.

It's like what Katiac was saying about a dry run for Elizabeth with Jared. We see Stan dealing with actual Illegals--and they might find a way to have Philip know exactly what's going down so he'd see where this friendship would go as well.

But then, later synopses also make it seem like Stan will get derailed because he's compromised and can't just go after Illegals like he did in the past.

Yeah, that's a good point. It's interesting how the power balance can shift at any moment. Stan might get close... but then he's really screwed up with giving intelligence over to Oleg to protect Nina, and Arkady has a huge thing to hold over his head in that. And that's even assuming that he decides to stop caring what happens to Nina, which doesn't necessarily seem for sure.

It seems that this is actually what is happening! They're dead other illegals, but still other illegals.

When the penny drops, I wonder if he's going to think that Emmett and Leanne were the ones he was pursuing in season one.

-J

Which actually could kind of work. It's not as if the sketches are a dead ringer for either couple. Leanne even has more similar bangs to the sketches than Elizabeth ever wears in real life.

The promo discussion isn't up yet, so in the interest of not spoiling, who was that Larrick was sneaking up on behind the door? For a second I thought it was Elizabeth and a young Paige, but not only does that not make sense, but the kitchen seems wrong. Like part of it (the door, the yellow arch with the clock) seems right, but then he clearly didn't know them before and the windows were in the wrong place.

And oh my goodness, not sleeping tonight...

This was in an interview with Alison Wright (Martha) posted yesterday...

What can fans expect from the season two finale of “The Americans”?

"I remember when I read it for the first time and finished the last page, I was shocked. I certainly didn’t see what was coming. It’s going to be a very cool and exciting finale."

Interesting... I can't even begin to speculate...

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Spoiler & Speculation Post v2.0

Episodes 12 and 13

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