The Americans 4.13
Jun. 9th, 2016 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn the immortal words of Kitty Pryde as written by Joss Whedon, Yeahbutwhat?
My first instinct was to say: this feels like the first half of a finale, not a finale itself. It's odd, I don't usually feel that way about cliffhangery endings. Maybe it will change later.
Some things did come to an ending. Poor William, most obviously. (And presumably the entire biological weapons storyline.) It's in tune with the show's attitude re: the nature of spying that while William basically commits suicide for the cause, gives himself to a death he's been afraid of for so long and which he knows will be more painful than almost anything else, Gabriel, Philip and Elizabeth aren't sure whether he didn't defect to begin with and/or isn't selling them out now if he was captured. And yet they're not unfair: it's a realistic expectation. The whole show started with a high ranking KBG officer wanting to defect and ready to share all the intel he could. So William dies a terrible, terrible death, and the people he's doing this for aren't even aware of it. While Oleg, whose fault William's capture is, gets told repeatedly how good he is, or rather, that he's a good son.
Incidentally, I'm not sure whether or not Oleg - or anyone else among the Russian characters - will ever find out William died, and how, but Oleg definitely knows someone got captured, and of course he knows Arkady got thrown out of the country as a result, which makes the "you're a good son" doubly ironic when he hears it the second time.
Now between Arkady being sent back to Russia, Philip and Elizabeth told by Gabriel they should relocate their with their kids, Martha being there already, and Oleg going back to Russia as well, I indulged in a brief moment of "you know, minus Stan, the show actually could relocate to Russia now, with the entire ensemble moving there", but of course that won't happen. The laws of tv demand that the Jennings family stays in the US until the very last episodes at least, so we won't see Paige and Henry trying to learn Russian while Elizabeth and Philip try, presumably in vain, to be Nadeshda and Mischa again. But the stunned reaction of both Jennings' to the prospect was telling nonetheless. In theory, this is what Philip has wanted for years now, never more than in this year. And Elizabeth has suggested running at least once already this year; the Young Hee experience has left her with tiny cracks. And yet, neither of them can feel anything but shock at the annoucement that they could stop being spies now and leave.
While the Jennings clan will undoubtedly stay, for whichever Watsonian and Doylist reasons, Arkady, I fear, is truly a goner. I'm sad, but they haven't really used the character since the end of season 2, so I'm not really surprised they're writing him off, and it balances Gaad's exit. Tatiana as the temporary new Rezident will probably become the permanent new Rezident, and we'll find out more about her. The only reason why I doubt Oleg is truly off the show as well is that, well, there haven't been consequences to his two betrayals yet (not for him, anyway), so my guess is there might be a few Oleg in Moscow scenes next season. Which will leave us with a whole new Rezidentura.
Paige asking Elizabeth to teach her self defense makes sense, not so much for Paige-daughter-of-spies as for any young girl who's been physically threatened now twice (if you count the creepy guy Henry hit on the head back in season 1). All in all, their relationship seems to have strenghthened through the experience, not weakened; when they talk about how to respond to the birth of Alice's baby, Elizabeth listens to Paige's suggestions and treats her as an adult (and the Tim and Alice expert) in this, and it doesn't feel like she's simply indulging Paige. Otoh Philip is horrified by the "Paige and Matthew were making out!" news Stan shares so gleefully. Which can be for many reasons. Because he thinks Paige is doing it as a spy, and it's one more confirmation that despite all his efforts, his daughter is on the way to follow in his footsteps. Because they could be off to the USSR tomorrow, in which case Paige would be even worse off if she has an actual romance to leave behind. Because Matthew is Stan's son, and if William (whose state Philip doesn't know about) talks, Stan could be trying to kill him tomorrow. "You have no idea" indeed.
I'm not sure why the show tries to sell the EST scene where Philip gets told he could quit his job without the world stopping as such a big revelation, though. I mean, obviously. Unless this is supposed to be the moment where Philip decides he will quit regardless of what Elizabeth does, but there is no follow up indicating that this is the case, and besides, they've both just been given the signal to quit, so....?
I'm slow: not until the young soldier's name was revealed to be Mikhail did it dawn on me that this was Mischa Jnr. Who exists, and whose scenes confirm that both Irina and Gabriel actually weren't lying to Philip; he's (post release from hospital/prison) with his grandfather, he was in Afghanistan, and Irina, clearing up the mystery as to why she'd go on the run if she has a son without providing for him, left him money and different passports via her father. They even cast a young actor who does resemble Matthew Rhys. That young Mischa returned from Afghanistan disillusioned and angry about the way the war is conducted gave me an odd sense of deja vue, of course, given I've written a tale of P & E and a young disillusioned soldier from Afghanistan for last Yuletide. But even that aside, I'm now very curious how Philip will deal with this adult, not-Henry son, if and when he meets him, and how Elizabeth will deal with him, not just for the "Philip's son" factor but also because he's someone from current Russia who did his duty and yet is angry about the status quo there.
In conclusion: not what I expected (P & E don't have to make a decision, or rather, the story stops before we see them making it), and ruthlessly removing yet more characters, but definitely curious-making about next season.
My first instinct was to say: this feels like the first half of a finale, not a finale itself. It's odd, I don't usually feel that way about cliffhangery endings. Maybe it will change later.
Some things did come to an ending. Poor William, most obviously. (And presumably the entire biological weapons storyline.) It's in tune with the show's attitude re: the nature of spying that while William basically commits suicide for the cause, gives himself to a death he's been afraid of for so long and which he knows will be more painful than almost anything else, Gabriel, Philip and Elizabeth aren't sure whether he didn't defect to begin with and/or isn't selling them out now if he was captured. And yet they're not unfair: it's a realistic expectation. The whole show started with a high ranking KBG officer wanting to defect and ready to share all the intel he could. So William dies a terrible, terrible death, and the people he's doing this for aren't even aware of it. While Oleg, whose fault William's capture is, gets told repeatedly how good he is, or rather, that he's a good son.
Incidentally, I'm not sure whether or not Oleg - or anyone else among the Russian characters - will ever find out William died, and how, but Oleg definitely knows someone got captured, and of course he knows Arkady got thrown out of the country as a result, which makes the "you're a good son" doubly ironic when he hears it the second time.
Now between Arkady being sent back to Russia, Philip and Elizabeth told by Gabriel they should relocate their with their kids, Martha being there already, and Oleg going back to Russia as well, I indulged in a brief moment of "you know, minus Stan, the show actually could relocate to Russia now, with the entire ensemble moving there", but of course that won't happen. The laws of tv demand that the Jennings family stays in the US until the very last episodes at least, so we won't see Paige and Henry trying to learn Russian while Elizabeth and Philip try, presumably in vain, to be Nadeshda and Mischa again. But the stunned reaction of both Jennings' to the prospect was telling nonetheless. In theory, this is what Philip has wanted for years now, never more than in this year. And Elizabeth has suggested running at least once already this year; the Young Hee experience has left her with tiny cracks. And yet, neither of them can feel anything but shock at the annoucement that they could stop being spies now and leave.
While the Jennings clan will undoubtedly stay, for whichever Watsonian and Doylist reasons, Arkady, I fear, is truly a goner. I'm sad, but they haven't really used the character since the end of season 2, so I'm not really surprised they're writing him off, and it balances Gaad's exit. Tatiana as the temporary new Rezident will probably become the permanent new Rezident, and we'll find out more about her. The only reason why I doubt Oleg is truly off the show as well is that, well, there haven't been consequences to his two betrayals yet (not for him, anyway), so my guess is there might be a few Oleg in Moscow scenes next season. Which will leave us with a whole new Rezidentura.
Paige asking Elizabeth to teach her self defense makes sense, not so much for Paige-daughter-of-spies as for any young girl who's been physically threatened now twice (if you count the creepy guy Henry hit on the head back in season 1). All in all, their relationship seems to have strenghthened through the experience, not weakened; when they talk about how to respond to the birth of Alice's baby, Elizabeth listens to Paige's suggestions and treats her as an adult (and the Tim and Alice expert) in this, and it doesn't feel like she's simply indulging Paige. Otoh Philip is horrified by the "Paige and Matthew were making out!" news Stan shares so gleefully. Which can be for many reasons. Because he thinks Paige is doing it as a spy, and it's one more confirmation that despite all his efforts, his daughter is on the way to follow in his footsteps. Because they could be off to the USSR tomorrow, in which case Paige would be even worse off if she has an actual romance to leave behind. Because Matthew is Stan's son, and if William (whose state Philip doesn't know about) talks, Stan could be trying to kill him tomorrow. "You have no idea" indeed.
I'm not sure why the show tries to sell the EST scene where Philip gets told he could quit his job without the world stopping as such a big revelation, though. I mean, obviously. Unless this is supposed to be the moment where Philip decides he will quit regardless of what Elizabeth does, but there is no follow up indicating that this is the case, and besides, they've both just been given the signal to quit, so....?
I'm slow: not until the young soldier's name was revealed to be Mikhail did it dawn on me that this was Mischa Jnr. Who exists, and whose scenes confirm that both Irina and Gabriel actually weren't lying to Philip; he's (post release from hospital/prison) with his grandfather, he was in Afghanistan, and Irina, clearing up the mystery as to why she'd go on the run if she has a son without providing for him, left him money and different passports via her father. They even cast a young actor who does resemble Matthew Rhys. That young Mischa returned from Afghanistan disillusioned and angry about the way the war is conducted gave me an odd sense of deja vue, of course, given I've written a tale of P & E and a young disillusioned soldier from Afghanistan for last Yuletide. But even that aside, I'm now very curious how Philip will deal with this adult, not-Henry son, if and when he meets him, and how Elizabeth will deal with him, not just for the "Philip's son" factor but also because he's someone from current Russia who did his duty and yet is angry about the status quo there.
In conclusion: not what I expected (P & E don't have to make a decision, or rather, the story stops before we see them making it), and ruthlessly removing yet more characters, but definitely curious-making about next season.
no subject
Date: 2016-06-10 03:56 am (UTC)I wonder if Oleg, back in Russia, will end up crossing paths with young Mischa? I was really interested in the introduction of that character but it's not too plausible for him to get to the US and as you point out, the Jenningses will need to stay there for moth of the show.
Have they announced whether the upcoming season is the final one?
no subject
Date: 2016-06-10 10:47 am (UTC)Oleg and Mischa: I could see that - maybe Oleg's dead brother was in Mischa's unit, or something. However I think the passports Irina left to Mischa indicate he might make his way to the US SOMEHOW.
no subject
Date: 2016-06-10 11:43 am (UTC)