Finished it yesterday. Garage scene was amazing. Train scene was devastating. Feel especially bad for Oleg. But on the bright side, all the characters only have to wait a couple years until the the fall of the Berlin Wall and only a couple years after that until the USSR is dissolved. Philip and Elizabeth definitely would have tried to get in contact with Paige and Henry and Oleg probably wouldn’t stay locked up for too much longer.
Of course they had no idea that they’d only have to wait a couple years. They thought they’d never see their kids again.
With or Without You might be the best song inclusion in any TV episode ever. Brilliant how it is set up so Henry is the obvious "without" Timing the reveal to Bono's what I guess you would call agonizing shout was fantastic. I've been reading about all of the actual "Illegals" and they were all laughably useless.
I wonder if it ever went through their heads if Stan revealing to The Jennings that he knows everything should take place somewhere other than a garage. The whole dynamic with Philip and Stan is so similar that of Walter White and Hank who had their own famous confrontation reveal scene in a garage. There must be some idiots out there that think they stole the whole plot from Breaking Bad.
I just finished watching the finale (I've been sick with the flu and finally decided to finish this). Similar to The Leftovers, this series took me two different restarts to get into for some reason. I have to say that this finale made me cry twice (The beginning when Elizabeth & Phil are discussing what to do about Henry. Then the phone call to Henry). Paige grew up on me as a character this season. I couldn't stand her for a while. Highly curious what Paige & Henry would grow up to be. Along with some of the other minor characters. What a beautiful underrated show.
No other series or film soundtracked better than The Americans. I love how the songs they used synced with the plot and also were released approximately the same time the episode took place. Or at the very least, no song that hand't existed yet was included.
I decided to rewatch the finale. I still have the same emotion. Eyes water up just as they did last night. That garage scene with Phil and Stan. My God....
Finished a rewatch of this yesterday. I know everyone in here loved the show, but it still feels like it is extremely underrated when discussing the all-time greats. It was even better the 2nd time through. The show is extremely depressing at times the 2nd time through when you realize all the lives Phillip and Elizabeth ruined just by knowing someone or using them as a source(poor Martha). It's kinda similar to The Shield in that regard with Vic Mackey. Even though Phillip does terrible things he is still a likeable character because you can tell he knows he is doing something wrong and it eats at his conscience(Matthew Rhys was amazing in this show). The ability to show he has a conscience is probably the only reason he was able to convince Stan to let them leave at the end. Elizabeth is a straight up sociopath for the most part. There were only like 2 instances where she was able to show restraint from killing someone(the negotiator and the film kid in the last season). She is terrifying. Even though I knew it wasn't going to happen during my rewatch I was still surprised she never attempted to kill Phillip or Paige when they would occasionally cross her. She would have killed Stan without hesitation in the parking garage if she had a gun at the time. Paige was annoying for about 90% of the show but that was obviously by design to show how much she changed by the end. I forgot how funny the scene was where she thought she could handle herself and then she and Phillip spar. The parking garage scene is still one of my favorites from any show. "You were my best friend" is probably the most gut wrenching line ever in a TV series and the last episode is perfect. I think Henry probably had a good chance at a normal life because he wasn't as close with anyone in his family as he was with Stan. Fuck Tuan. My only complaint about the show is that something bad didn't happen to that little asshole. I didn't skip the theme song once during any of the 75 episodes because it is the GOAT and it perfectly gets you in the mood each episode.