The Americans, Season 6, Series Finale, START

The title of the series finale is START, which is a nod to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which was signed in July 1991 but was drafted under the Reagan administration.  One of the largest arms reduction treaties, it also had a big impact on warming tensions of the Cold War and curbing the arms race.  Many will say that the United States “won” the Cold War but that may be an oversimplification. The fall of the Berlin Wall, Gorbachev’s “glasnost” and the nuclear reduction treaties all played a part in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.  In the context of the series, it signals a new start for all our major characters as their old way of living ends.

The episode opens with Philip looking around the empty warehouse for the last time. Most likely, he’s remembering the time when he finally married Elizabeth in a ceremony performed by Father Andrei.  Elizabeth arrives shortly after with the duffle bag of essentials. She wears only a navy baseball cap as a disguise. Stan and a partner head off to one of the possible vacant warehouses, the man notes it would be very hard to find the suspect who ran from agents.  Stan asks for a moment to use a payphone, first, he calls the travel agency to find that neither of them is at the office.  Stan proceeds to call their home phone only to get the recording machine. His suspicions are peaked but he doesn’t share them with his partner.

Elizabeth enters the warehouse.  Philip explains that they “were on Fr. Andrei and they are going to come down hard on him.”  Elizabeth suggests they get Paige and then head to New Hampshire to retrieve Henry.  From there, she suggests that they flee across the Canadian border.  Philip shakes his head, “I don’t think so, Henry should stay, he’s been doing so well there.  He should stay, his future is here.” Elizabeth is surprised; she can’t believe Philip is suggesting that they abandon Henry.  Philip continues, “It’s the best thing for him.”  Elizabeth is concerned that the authorities would “tear him to pieces.”  But Philip insists it’s better this way, he doesn’t know their secrets, therefore, he can’t be culpable for them.  Philip knows “it’s awful but…”  Elizabeth looks pained but knows Philip is right.  They stare at each other before she turns to leave the warehouse on the verge of tears.  The opening credits play one last time.

Stan and his partner enter an empty warehouse to watch for any signs of the suspect.

Aderholt begins his interrogation of Father Andrei, “I know the KGB can put a lot of pressure on people but you are a man of God. Who is he Father?”  Dennis slides over a grainy photograph of Philip from meeting earlier. Father Andrei states he doesn’t know.  Dennis tries another tactic, stating that the Soviet government doesn’t want his church to exist, and he should consider his duty to his faith over his duty to his country.

Elizabeth changes the license plate on a compact red car, Philip hot wires it and they begin to drive away.  Meanwhile, it’s grown dark where Stan and his partner continue their vigil of a warehouse across the street. Stan peers out of the window blinds. He asks if he can take off for a couple of hours. “What are you so busy with, you got another lead?”  Stan remains opaque about his intentions but states he’ll be back later.

Philip and Elizabeth drive silently.  Elizabeth confesses, “I killed a KGB officer, left her to die in the street.” (This is a callback to last week’s flashback, her mentor at the time said you never leave a comrade to die on the street alone.) Philip notes she had no choice.

In Moscow, Oleg’s father Igor meets with Arkady in the park.  Arkady breaks the bad news, Oleg has been arrested in Washington, he was caught with a message and will likely be charged with espionage.  The old man asks if it’s possible that their government could “trade” Oleg for a release of someone they are holding in Russia but Arkady informs him that Oleg wasn’t there on KGB business so such a deal would be impossible.  Oleg will be in an American prison for a long time.  Igor insists he could talk to Gorbachev personally about his son.  Again, Arkady must disappoint Igor, “Gorbachev is not in control, that’s part of the problem.” Arkady predicts that the KGB will come after him next and possibly Igor.  “So what you sent him over there for didn’t work! I lose one son in a useless war and now this.  What do I tell his mother?”  The men exchange looks of deep sadness and Arkady leaves. Igor stretches his arms out in a brief Christ-like pose.   He’s sacrificed two sons for his country.

Stan walks down a dark alley alone. He finds a spot on a rooftop across the street from Paige’s dorm.  He watches the garage through binoculars.

Dennis continues his interrogation of Father Andrei; he warns him that he’s prepared to expose the links between the Church and the KGB.  Dennis offers him a way out if he’ll identify the suspect. Father says he’s not worried about himself but his church and his obligations to his flock.  He doesn’t want to betray the trust of those who’ve trusted him. He explains to Dennis it would be like betraying those who have worked under him. But Dennis counters that he has to “Let down people who trust me all the time, but I have bigger things to protect. For me, my country, for you, your Church.”  Dennis adds that he’s corrupted himself by protecting the illegals and he and his Church will go down with them. Father Andrei breaks, “There are two of them, I don’t know their American names, Nadezhda and Misha are their Russian names.”  Dennis asks how long he’s known them and he admits he known them for several years.  Andrei notes he saw them out of their disguises once. He will describe them.

Stan sees Philip and Elizabeth enter Paige’s dorm building!  He leaves to wait for them to exit.  Paige is not thrilled to see both her parents, probably still upset with her mother after their “whore” argument.  Elizabeth makes sure that Paige is alone and then jumps right into their urgent need to flee. “The FBI knows about us, they almost caught me, we have to leave right now for good!”  Paige’s jaw drops, she wants to know where they are going.  “Home. Just pack the essentials, almost nothing.”  Paige doesn’t move, “Home, Russia?”  Elizabeth empties a backpack for Paige and starts packing.  Paige asks if Henry will accompany them. Philip explains that Henry won’t be going because “his life is here,” (But so is Paige’s!)  Elizabeth explains that Henry is nearly seventeen and therefore old enough to be on his own.  Paige has always been a “little mother” to her younger brother, she questions her mom about how he’ll live and pay for school in their absence.  What will he think has happened to them?  Elizabeth replies, “I know it’s hard, we all love Henry.”  Paige looks at her mom in disbelief, “Do you?”  Philip explains again that there is no other way but to leave Henry behind.  Paige notes, “He’ll hate you.”  Philip replies, “We know, we have to go now.”  Philip and Elizabeth exit the apartment with Paige reluctantly following.

Stan sees the trio leave the dorm building.  He rushes to make his move.

The following scene is the culmination of six years of anticipation. Stan emerges from the shadows to confront the Jennings. Elizabeth gasps while Philip tries to sound casual, “Stan what are you doing here!” Stan greets Paige and asks her where they’re going. (He probably figures Paige is the least adept at lying under pressure.) Paige responds that she’s not feeling well so her parents came to pick her up. Elizabeth elaborates that they are both there because they were coming from work. Stan parrots the lie back, “You were coming from work? You’re not feeling well, what’s wrong.” Paige says she has an upset stomach. Stan continues, “You’re going home from college with a stomach-ache?” Philip interrupts, “Why are you interrogating her?” Stan asks Paige where their car is; Philip explains that their car is being serviced so they have a loaner. Stan continues, “So what happens if I call in this plate?” Philip scoffs and continues to play dumb. “Maybe you got this backstopped but I’m not some traffic cop! I can find out in five minutes whether this car is really registered as a loaner at a dealership.” Philip tries to calm Stan again, “I don’t know what the problem is but maybe you and I…”

Stan yells, “Stop moving you piece of shit!” while drawing his gun.  The Jennings all put their hands up, Paige is trembling. “What are you doing?”  Stan instructs them to “Lie down on the ground, face down, keep your hands where I can see them, move slow.”  Philip asks in disbelief whether Stan is going to shoot them.  Elizabeth yells back, “We are not lying down on the ground! Not while you have that gun pointed at us, this is Paige!”  Stan looks intensely at them, “Stop Elizabeth! It’s over, it’s all over.”  Philip looks Stan directly in the eye for a long pause before admitting, “We had a job to do.”  Stan lowers the gun slightly, “You were my best friend.”  Philip says, “You were mine too, I never wanted to lie to you. What else could I do? You moved in next to me, I was terrified. Then we ended up as friends.”  Stan’s voice breaks at this deep betrayal, “You made my life a joke!”  Philip insists his friendship with Stan was real and that “My life was a joke, not yours!”

Stan looks to Paige, “And Matthew, was that part of this?” Elizabeth tries to speak for Paige, stating she didn’t know but Paige interrupts her, “I knew, I’ve known since I was sixteen. But Matthew, that had nothing to do with that, I just liked him.”  Stan asks about Henry but Philip and Paige insist he doesn’t know anything.  Stan continues to point his weapon at his neighbors, his voice wavers with emotion, “All this time, I would have done anything for you, all of you.”  Stan asks about Gennadi and Sofia but Philip claims ignorance about the murdered Soviets. Stan erupts, “Fucking liar, I saw it on your face when I told you about them.” Paige looks at her parents in disbelief.  Stan decides to address Paige, “Do you know how many people have been killed by Soviet agents in the D.C. area in the last year, five years, ten years?”  Elizabeth insists that they don’t kill people and furthermore Philip is out of the game. “He’s a travel agent, that’s all.”

Stan tries again to regain his professional control over the situation, “Get down, on the ground, all of you.”  But they continue to defy him, knowing if they comply Stan will cease to see them as anything but suspects to bring in.  Philip decides to take the blame for all of it, “I did all this stuff, I don’t even know why anymore, it seemed like the right thing to do for my country, my country wanted me to.”  Here, Philip is trying to appeal to Stan’s sense of duty, he too has done things “for his country” that he’s not proud of, like murdering a suspect back in an earlier season.  Philip says he kept doing it but he quit when he became disillusioned. (Except, he never could really quit while Elizabeth was active.)  He tries to draw a parallel to Stan’s career, stating that Stan also quit counter-intelligence.  “I quit, and now I’m just a shitty travel agent, a failing travel agent.  Except I’m not because now I have to leave, I have to run away from the place from where I’ve lived for the past so many years.  If I can, if we can… Stan, I have to abandon my son, he can’t come with us because I got caught and here we are.  And I don’t even know what happens if we can get home.  Because after all of these years of fearing Americans, following Americans, recruiting Americans, we finally have something and it has nothing to do with you, it’s our own people.  It’s a bunch of fucking Russians!”

Philip explains that there is a movement to get rid of Gorbachev and their “old bosses” are part of it.  Elizabeth jumps into the conversation, finally being honest about her identity.  She explains that they were planning to fake her reports to make it seem like Gorbachev was trading away military secrets at the Summit.  Stan asks if they know Oleg.  Philip denies it but he may not have known Oleg’s name.  Stan’s gun is now lowered, “Don’t bullshit me now, Philip. We arrested him earlier today picking up a dead drop. He told me the message was about people in the KGB who were trying to get rid of Gorbachev.  He told me I had to send it back to Russia.”  Elizabeth states that the message has to get to the Soviets.  Stan says, “I could care less who runs your country.”  Philip implores Stan to help, stating that if they are successful getting rid of Gorbachev that will change the future of the Soviet Union. “Whether we get to live in peace or not depends on this.”  Philip states that they are the only ones that can stop this “coup” from happening. “I don’t know why you should trust me, you should hate me, you should probably shoot me but we’re getting in that car and we’re driving away. I wish you’d had stayed with me at EST, you might know what to do here.” Philip is making one last appeal to Stan, his best friend.  Paige says, “You have to take care of Henry.”  Philip notes that Henry loves Stan and he should tell him the truth about his parents.  Stan stares at the family as they move towards the car.  Philip goes last, “I don’t know how to say this, but I think there’s a chance that Renee might be one of us. I’m not sure.”  And with that final blow to Stan’s psyche, he steps aside and watches the trio drive away.

Why did Stan let them go?  Was it to spare himself the humiliation of not knowing or was it “professional courtesy”.  Would Philip have let Stan go if their roles had been reversed?  Or was it just the love he had for Philip as a brother, and for Henry and Paige as innocent children caught up in the sins of their parents?

As Elizabeth drives, Paige asks, “Do you think we can trust him?”  Philip answers yes. Elizabeth instructs Paige on the next phase of their mission, they have passports to leave the country but they need to all change their appearances prior to crossing the border. Paige wants to see Henry but Philip rejects the idea. Elizabeth suggests they call him instead but Philip is scared of further implicating Henry in any of their actions.  Elizabeth surmises, “Everything is a risk, at least we can talk to him before.”  Philip agrees to a quick call, Elizabeth instructs Paige to act like everything is completely normal when they do speak to him.

Dire Straits’, “Brothers in Arms” provides the soundtrack for the next montage of scenes.  Stan returns to his partner, knowing full well that their stakeout will be fruitless.  “Someday you’ll return to, your valleys and your farms, and you’ll no longer burn to be brothers in arms.”  Oleg sits down in an empty gray room.  Igor returns home to Oleg’s wife and with one pained look tells the young wife and grandson that their father won’t be coming home. “Through these fields of destruction, baptisms of fire, I’ve witnessed your suffering as the battle raged higher…” The car is parked near a wooded area; Elizabeth passes out the new passports to Paige and Philip.  Elizabeth throws Henry’s passport into the freshly dug hole.  Stan watches his partner return to the windows, probably from a bathroom break.  Elizabeth throws the remnants of their old life into the hole, wallets, other identification, her poison locket and finally their wedding rings.  “Now the sun’s gone to hell, the moon’s riding high, let me bid you farewell, every man has to die…” Elizabeth hands Philip their “real” wedding rings, which Father Andrei gave them in their secret marriage. “But it’s written in starlight, in every line in your palm, we are fools to make war on our brothers in arms.”  Philip looks at Elizabeth in the dark as he places the ring back on his finger.  Paige looks gutted.  Stan hears chatter on the walkie-talkie.  He walks away and the music fades.

Elizabeth, Philip and Paige approach a payphone sporting their new looks, Philip looks much older in a snow-white wig while Paige and Elizabeth have short dark hair.  Philip asks to speak to Henry.  Philip lies that they all had dinner together in the city and felt like calling him. “You know how proud we all are of you? And how much we love you?” Henry seems puzzled, “Yeah.”  Henry deduces his father has been drinking.  Philip accepts this theory and continues, “I just want you to be yourself, because you’re great.”  Henry laughs it off; Philip puts Elizabeth on the phone.  She does her best to sound casual she can only manage, “What your father said, I feel the same.  I love you Henry.”  Henry isn’t used to this much emotion and states he needs to get off the phone.  Elizabeth tries to hand the phone to Paige but she whispers that she can’t speak to him.  Philip grabs the phone back, Henry says he’s got to go; he’s in the middle of a Ping-Pong tournament.  Philip’s final words to him are “Yeah, go-go-go.”  Henry says he’ll see them next week.  Henry might be the “blameless” one in the family but he’s about to be irrevocably changed when he learns the truth.  Most of us can relate to a similar earth-shattering event that divides our lives into “before” and “after.”  It’s hard to not feel an overwhelming sense of grief for this young man who's about to have his life split open.  Philip hangs up the phone and the group moves on.

Stan returns to the FBI and finds Dennis who motions to him to enter the vault.  The other men get up to give Stan and Dennis privacy.  Dennis sits down and slides the sketches of Philip and Elizabeth towards Stan.  Stan acts genuinely surprised and shakes his head, “I said it but I didn’t really…” Dennis responds, “I know, I should have listened.”  Stan slides back the papers; “I went by Paige’s apartment earlier tonight, just in case.  No one was there.  I’m gonna kill them.”  Dennis says they are watching the house, travel agency and Henry at school.  Dennis says he’s sorry and he places his hand on Stan’s shoulder.  Dennis is a work friend but Stan felt that Philip was his true friend.  Alone in the vault, Stan stares at the drawings of the people he had thought he had known so well.

The group is now driving a station wagon.  They pull up to a McDonald’s, Paige goes inside to get their final meal in the United States. (Fitting that it’s our most recognizable brand.)  Philip wonders whether he should try to stay to be close to Henry, he could live in New York or “out West” and try to see him occasionally and explain their past to him.  Elizabeth says she understands that Philip would want to try, she would prefer they all stay together.  Philip goes into the restaurant.

Stan returns to the home he shares with Renee while U-2’s “With or Without You” begins to play.  Stan looks at the brightly lit Christmas tree, “See the thorn twist in your side, as I wait, for you…” Philip picks up his food from the counter. “Sleight of hand and twist of fate, on a bed of nails she makes me wait and I wait, without you.”  Philip looks out to the car to see his fractured family while eyeing a happy normal family enjoying a meal inside.  Stan looks at Renee sleeping, she looks almost too perfect with full makeup and beautiful hair. “Through the storm we reach the shore, you gave it all but I want more. And I’m waiting for you.”  Stan tucks in his partner of three years, suspicion haunting his face. “With or without you, with or without you, I can’t live, with or without you.” Philip returns to the car, passing the food out. “And you give yourself away, and you give yourself away, and you give and you give.”  Philip and Elizabeth have given themselves for decades in service to their country, how will that country receive them? Stan gave himself to his work and his relationship with Renee, was she real?

In the light of the next day,  the FBI searches through the Jennings’ home. “Nothing to win and nothing left to lose.” Stan looks exhausted and defeated as he walks away from his colleagues.  Renee watches the action from across the street, she has an odd look of pity on her face, and it is it because she knows Stan has been humiliated or because she’s known all along?  The Amtrak rushes towards the northern border. Paige, Elizabeth, and Philip all sit separately as to avoid detection.  Stan approaches Renee and she gives him an embrace, he pulls away.  Soon, he drives off.  Renee stares at the men removing evidence from across the street.

U.S. Border Patrol agents board the train Philip is checked first.  The agent looks at his passport and compares it to the “wanted” photo he has with sketches of Philip and Elizabeth in their various disguises.  Philip passes the passport check.  A different agent checks Elizabeth’s passport.  He fails to connect her with the pictures in the sketch.  Philip and Elizabeth breathe a collective sigh of relief and the next stop is announced as Montreal. “With or Without You” begins to play again as Elizabeth looks out in horror to see that Paige has disembarked from the train.  The song wails, “WHoooaaa, hoooooo…”  Philip gets out of his seat but neither of them is able to do anything at this point.  Philip sits down next to Elizabeth. “And you give yourself away, and you give yourself away.”  Paige walks on alone, defiant and with an uncertain fate.  Will she throw herself at the mercy of the FBI, perhaps one day working in counter-intelligence?

Stan arrives at St. Edward’s hockey rink to speak to Henry.  Paige sits down on a bench at the train station, truly alone.  Stan and Henry sit together. Henry looks out at the rink and shakes his head in disbelief. Stan places his hand on Henry’s knee in a futile attempt to reassure the teen.

Elizabeth wakes up with Gregory Thomas, the jazz musician she knew long ago.  She turns and cuddles with him.  He places his hand on her mildly swollen belly.  She takes a long drag of his cigarette, “I don’t want a kid anyway.”  She looks at the art on his walls and then sees the portrait of the woman in black and white that Erica painted that she later burned.  She looks over to the nightstand and sees a picture of Paige and Henry done in Erica’s style, black and white with a hint of red.  The children look younger and lost.  Elizabeth wakes up with a start on a plane.  She looks over at Philip who’s seated across the aisle.

Paige returns to the “safe house” once occupied by Claudia.  The flat is still furnished but the occupant is long gone.  Paige retrieves a frozen bottle of vodka and takes a shot. What is she thinking about?  The Tchaikovsky record that Claudia once used to help Paige “understand” her culture begins to play.

Elizabeth and Philip have reached the border of the Soviet Union by car. They look at each other before advancing slowly to re-enter their homeland.  Elizabeth explains something to the guard; he makes a phone call before waving them through.  Will they get the hero’s welcome they were promised or will they be in trouble?  They continue to drive through the frozen, foreign terrain.  Finally, they meet up with Arkady and get into the backseat of his car.  The music continues mournfully.  They drive on towards Moscow.  Philip and Elizabeth fall asleep in each other’s arms.  In the darkness they finally near the bright lights of the city.  Philip asks Arkady to pull over.  Philip and Elizabeth exit the car to get their first view of the city.  

They both stare down at the lights and then Philip says, “Colonel, I can’t even remember his name now, when he first asked me he said it would be a hard life.  They didn’t want me to think it would be some big adventure.  I said I wasn’t afraid of that.”  Elizabeth looks at the horizon, “Who knows what would have happened here.  I probably would have worked in a factory, managed a factory.”  She looks back at Philip, “You might have, maybe we would have met on a bus.”  Philip gives a strained smile.  Elizabeth says finally, “They’ll be okay.”  Philip adds, “They’ll remember us, they are not kids anymore, we raised them…” Elizabeth nods, “Yes.”  Philip adds, “It feels strange.”  Elizabeth switches to Russian finally, “We’ll get used to it.”  The two look down at the land that they only vaguely remember as home. 

The ending was powerful, the sense of longing and dread, hope and redemption. It’s unclear what will happen to Philip and Elizabeth but it seems that they are at peace with the fact that despite everything they have each other.  Paige and Henry will also have each other but it will undoubtedly be a complicated relationship.  Especially when Henry realizes his entire family was dishonest with him.  Stan seems truly alone, it’s doubtful Renee will get a job at the FBI but just as doubtful Stan will ever be able to trust a new woman in his life again. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, maybe one day the family will be able to be together again.  But it’s unclear if the KGB will forgive Elizabeth for disobeying orders.

The final installment of the series was epic and poetic as we said goodbye to our beloved but deeply flawed characters.  I believe it was the best ending to a series I’ve seen besides Breaking Bad’s “Felina”.  There were some loose ends, but I view that as an opportunity to weave together a new narrative for our favorite characters.  The show had so many relatable moments and characters.  As a child of the eighties, the powerful wash of nostalgia also helped fuel the content.  The final song “With or Without You” perfectly captures the longing for the series to both end and continue.  Maybe one day they will announce a spin-off to answer these lingering questions but for now, the series ends with mystery and tragedy which makes for the best of the real and fictional worlds.

The Americans, Season 6, episode 9, Jennings, Elizabeth

After last week’s “Summit” the only way to go now is down the cliff to crash land into the finale.  This penultimate hour packed in key moments from Elizabeth’s past, which will prove crucial to informing her upcoming choices.  Stan struggles to find the missing pieces that link illegals’ activities to those of his neighbors.  Oleg withstands pressure to betray his country and his secret mission.  And Paige uses her newfound powers of observation to discover new horrifying truths about her mother’s work.  The themes of protocol, jealousy, and betrayal are intertwined throughout the stories of our key characters as they try to make difficult choices.

The opening sequence before the credits occurs without dialogue.  Elizabeth is out in the field in a teased wig and glasses to keep watch on Nesterenko from an inconspicuous spot within a hotel lobby.  The Soviet negotiator was spared last week because Elizabeth felt he was not a traitor.  (She has no such qualms with cold-blooded execution of any American or others who may reveal her identity.)  Philip in a “light disguise” consisting of a baseball hat and glasses drops a coded note for Oleg.

 Stan types Elizabeth’s name into his database at the FBI.  He tries different combinations, including Philip and their travel agency to attempt to discover evidence to support his suspicions.  He gets on hit on a Philip Jennings, but discovers it’s a twenty-three year old African-American man from Florida, not his neighbor.  After failing to get a meaningful hint from the database, Stan leans back in his chair sighing.  Elizabeth watches Nesterenko closely, leaving the hotel lobby when his small group heads up to the presumed safety of their hotel room.   Philip leaves a chalk mark on a blue mailbox to signal Oleg to check for his coded message.

Philip toils away at the travel agency office, looking longingly at Elizabeth’s empty desk.  Stan pays him a visit; Philip gives him a tour of the expanded office.  Philip awkwardly introduces Stan to another colleague, “He’s an FBI agent, be careful what you say!” Philip jokes.  Philip tries to interest Stan in some travel packages for the FBI and the exchange feels forced and uncomfortable for both men.  Out of earshot of others, Philip apologizes for trying to make a sale.  The men speak move into Philip’s office.  Stan asks about Elizabeth’s whereabouts and Philip states they had another fight about the business.  (Which in a way is true.)  Stan reports that Renee is seeking a job at the FBI.  Philip cautions him about that arrangement.  Stan offers Philip a loan but Philip is too proud to accept.  Stan pats his friend on the shoulder.

Elizabeth continues her “stakeout” of Nesterenko; she watches his movements around the State Department.  The group always travels at least three men strong.  In those days it would have been likely to have surveillance on high-ranking Soviet officials.  Nesterenko might know he’s being watched.

Elizabeth smokes and has a flashback to her youth.  She waits alone in a dark apartment.  Oleg sees Philip’s chalk-mark on the blue mailbox, he manages to acknowledge the mark without turning his head like a true professional.

An aerial shot zooms down on Buenos Aires, where Pastor Tim receives a call from Stan.  After a brief re-introduction and a few pleasantries,  the discussion turns serious.  “I’m speaking to you now as an agent of law enforcement.  Is there anything that I should know as an FBI agent about the Jennings family?”  Pastor Tim must be grateful that video calling is decades away because his face betrays a genuine concern and he chooses his words carefully, “I’ve always been impressed with them. Paige has always been a thoughtful and caring young woman.  Her parents weren’t members of the church.”  Stan asks a different way but Pastor Tim replies with “Not really.”  Perhaps he’s suspected that his “relocation” had something to do with his knowledge of their identity. He’s now happy and safe and certainly wouldn’t want to jeopardize his family by speaking to the FBI.   Stan keeps hitting dead ends.

Elizabeth sips coffee from a café near the State department.  She continues to reminisce about an experience from her youth.  She walks down a darkened street alone.  At an intersection, she comes across an accident involving a motorcycle, and a horse.  Two men lie in the street moaning in pain.  One man looks at her and pleads for help; Elizabeth looks at him before hurrying away.  Why did she refuse to help the injured men?  Does she regret her actions now; is she trying to save Nesterenko as an act of redemption?

Stan seeks out Dennis at the office.  Dennis is up to his ears with work but the two old partners always seem to take time for each other.  Dennis finally agrees to attempt to grab lunch so that they can talk.  On the way to the elevator, they discuss Renee’s upcoming interview. Dennis senses something is troubling his friend.  Stan spills, “I know this sounds crazy, but I can’t get this thing out of my head. You know Philip and Elizabeth, when I first meet them I was working on the Timoshev thing.  Philip and Elizabeth drove the same make and model of car that was seen where he was kidnapped.  Different license, but you know… It’s stupid.”  Dennis looks at Stan intently.  Stan continues to whisper, airing his suspicions about Elizabeth’s departure on Thanksgiving and Philip following her the next day.  It seems beyond coincidental that is preciously when all the bad events were taking place in Chicago.

The men pause when the elevator arrives; they continue the whispered conversation in a nearby alcove.  Stan discusses the Gregory Thomas case, and how Elizabeth may fit the description of Gregory’s girlfriend at the time.  He admits to looking around the Jennings’ home in their absence.  Stan admits, “I couldn’t get it out of my mind, what if?”  Dennis looks incredulous, how could Elizabeth have been Gregory Thomas’s girlfriend?  Dennis concludes, “Philip and Elizabeth Jennings are not Russian spies.”  Stan affirms, “I know it sounds crazy but, remember what William Crandall said before he died, ‘pretty wife, a couple of kids…’”  Dennis scoffs, that description is far too vague to be useful.  Dennis receives word that his boss needs to speak with him immediately.  Stan leaves his old friend who despite his dismissive words knows that Stan is a good agent whom he trusts.  Dennis will undoubtedly be looking for more evidence of Stan’s theory.

Oleg picks up the message from Philip.  At the FBI, Agent Wolfe and Dennis speak to the Russian Orthodox priest Father Viktor.  Wolfe makes it clear that he’s not being harassed because of his faith but they do have questions about the church’s hierarchy.  Fr. Viktor is savvy; he knows that the FBI is looking into how the KGB and the faith interact. The priest is upset with those who use their “contacts back home” in order to secure promotions within the church.  Fr. Viktor is ready to name the priests he finds corrupt.  He names Father Andrei, he’s about to name another priest when Dennis is summoned with an urgent message.  “The team on Acrobat just radioed in, it looks like he pulled himself into the black for several minutes," Dennis orders them to search him and bring him in for questioning immediately.

Oleg strolls down the street, Philip’s note in his pocket.  FBI agents roll up in a car, say his name and handcuff him upon retrieving the evidence from his coat pocket. Oleg is silent during his arrest and looks resigned to his fate.

Elizabeth continues to watch Nesterenko; she’s now outside on a park bench.  She continues to think about this incident from her youth.  She answers the door in the dark apartment to greet another woman.  Elizabeth says in stilted English, “I got the signal, I picked up the package but something went wrong. On the way back there was an accident, a policemen was dead, another man hurt very bad, a horse.  I didn’t know if I should help him, we are not supposed to stop on an operational run.  If police would have arrived they could have questioned me while I still had it…” The older woman looks at her with concern.  She explains that if Elizabeth had been in America that her behavior would have been justified but “You don’t leave a comrade to die on the streets of Moscow.”  From this memory we get insight into how seriously Elizabeth has always been towards her work.  It also recalls how Elizabeth reprimanded Paige harshly earlier in the season at the scene of Renhull’s murder.  Elizabeth’s training was very strict, but she was even cold by her mentor’s standards.  Back in the present time, Elizabeth watches the doors of the State Department.

Stan is given the first interview with Oleg with Dennis and Agent Wolfe watching in the next room.  Oleg states he can’t cooperate.  Stan cautions him to think about his wife and son; he could face up to twenty to thirty years in prison.  Stan recounts the series of events, which coincides with Oleg’s arrival in the U.S.; two agents were murdered in Chicago, Renhull’s “suicide” and the deaths at the defense contractor’s warehouse.  Stan wants to know what the message says and who sent it.  Oleg looks at him fiercely but remains quiet.

Elizabeth smokes and approaches the State Department entrance when she sees the negotiators on the move.  She scans the scene around the men and focuses on a woman in a blonde wig and overcoat carrying a newspaper.  (Perhaps she recognizes the wig?)  The woman attempts to uncover the weapon hidden in the paper as she nears the trio of men.  But Elizabeth pulls out a silenced weapon and shoots the woman in the back.  The men stop in shock.  The woman’s wig falls off to reveal dark brown hair.  (It looks like Tatiana but it’s hard to be sure.  Who would have been able to complete this mission is not clear.)  Nesterenko checks the assassin’s pulse.  He looks around nervously; probably certain that he just avoided being assassinated.  Elizabeth runs off briskly.  It’s a bold move for Elizabeth to have saved Nesterenko.  It’s likely the next assassin will be coming for her.  The men look around in disbelief.

Oleg waits in a bleak holding cell.  Stan is allowed to speak with him again.  Oleg looks up at the speaker in the room.  He whispers over Stan’s shoulder, “People in the KGB are trying to get rid of Gorbachev.  This is what I’m doing here; we have reason to believe that they are trying to make a move around the Summit.  The message, the dead drop, I don’t know what it says but it’s probably about that, if it is, they need to get it, you need to help me get it there.”  Stan absorbs this request but he refuses to send a coded signal back to the Soviet Union.  Stan asks for Oleg to decode it but he states he can’t because it would reveal the sender’s identity.  Stan says the FBI is looking for illegals in the D.C. area, if Oleg helps he will be able to walk free.  Oleg looks at his old nemesis and replies, “I can’t.”  Stan brings out a picture of Philip and Elizabeth but Oleg responds only with a nod of “no.”  Oleg is a well-trained officer; he will not betray his comrades.  
Stan says, “Let me tell you something Oleg, “Your old buddies in the KGB want to get rid of Gorbachev? I could give a shit.”  Oleg nods, he replies, “I can spend the rest of my life here.  I don’t know, but think about it, I have friends, a family, a father a mother, a brother who died in the war and all of us want a better future, just like you.  Peace, food to eat, all the same things, do you think it doesn’t matter who are leader is?”  Oleg explains this is the reason he was willing to risk everything, for the future of his country.  “Can you get that through your thick head?”  The two men sit together for a moment in uncomfortable silence.  Oleg’s words seem very prophetic. While Gorbachev was in power, things were improving but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin was unable to keep corruption out and now Putin's regime resembles the old Soviet days. 

Elizabeth has changed out of her assassin clothes to visit Claudia. Claudia, not knowing anything is amiss offers her some home cooking. Elizabeth declines the food and continues to stand.  “Nesterneko is alive, I stopped it.  I also contacted Gorbachev’s people, I told him all the things you were planning.  It’s over.”  Claudia sits up and gazes intently at Elizabeth.  “Do you realize what you’ve done?  They’ll take apart the Centre’s leadership.  The people who’ve supported you all these years, they’ll put them in jail. All of us.“  Elizabeth looks steely, “There is still time for you to get out.  I imagine that you could get by anywhere.” Claudia looks at her with distain, “Do you think you are doing me a favor?  I had so much faith in you.  I never lost faith in you, you always reminded me of women I fought with during the war, the way you put country over self.  But now I see you never really understood what you were fighting for.”  Elizabeth seethes, “I’m still fighting for those things.” Claudia wonders if Elizabeth “started to young.”  Strangely, this is the same argument Elizabeth used when discussing why Philip quit the business to Paige.  Claudia delivers another verbal blow, “I thought I knew you…” Elizabeth counters, “You thought you knew me, if you really knew me you’d know never to lie to me!”  Claudia recounts the work, sacrifices, and time with Paige.  “It was all for nothing, the damage you’ve done today is indescribable.  Far worse then all the good you’ve done all these years.”  Elizabeth seems to ignore this deep wounding statement and asks where Claudia will go.  Claudia responds, “Back home to fight for what’s left of our country. We took it back from our enemies before and we’ll do it again.”  (Implying here that Elizabeth and Gorbachev are the “enemy.”)  Claudia asks condescendingly, “What’s left for you now, your house, your American kids, Phillip?”  Elizabeth stares at this sad older woman eating alone.  She leaves without another word.

Philip meets with Father Andrei in a light disguise of hat, glasses and a moustache.  When the priest asks Philip how he is he states he’s better in some ways having left the work behind.  Father Andrei replies, “Quitting was never an option for me.”  The men begin to walk, he asks about their marriage.  Philip explains Elizabeth has accused him of breaking some of his vows, of not being completely honest with her. Father Andrei notes that Elizabeth isn’t someone who trusts easily, that if she trusts him that something worth fighting for.  Philip notes that Elizabeth “cares about the whole world.”  He asks what the priest what he planned to discuss with Elizabeth that day.  Father Andrei explains that he heard a rumor that Father Viktor was going to speak to the authorities about him because he’s always been jealous and suspicious of the connections he had to the people back home.  Philip is horrified to learn that the “authorities” mean the FBI, and Father Viktor is speaking with them today.  Father Andrei asks if he’s in trouble, noting that he’s always very careful.  Philip quickly scans his surroundings, looking for anyone who could be an undercover agent.  He tells Fr. Andrei that they could be under surveillance at the moment.  Philip tells the priest that he should consider buying a plan ticket home and leaving the U.S. as soon as possible.  The men part ways after Philip says quickly, “Take care Father!”

Philip walks briskly continuing to look around for a tail and then crosses the street.  After a minute, he breaks out into a run.  A man in a vest barks into a walk-talkie, noting that they have a suspect on the move.  Several men chase after Philip but he manages to evade them and removes his jacket, glasses and changes his driving cap for a knitted beanie.  On another street, Philip manages to hail a cab and avoid capture.  It’s a very close call.

Elizabeth rinses her face with water from the kitchen sink.  Paige arrives.  Elizabeth tries to act casual despite her worsening situation. Paige explains that she was with her friend Brian the previous night. “The one that you thought I slept with to get information, turns out we really like each other,”  Brian told Paige he was at a party with other Congressional interns and a young man named Jackson was very drunk.  Jackson discussed how he had slept with an “older woman” and how he felt she tricked him and he ruined his life.  “Now he’s quitting and going home.  He works for Sam Nunn, this happened in the middle of the Summit.  Was it you?”  Elizabeth denies it but Paige persists.  “It was all in that book, that’s why you were so weird about Brian,” Elizabeth swears that she didn’t sleep with Jackson.  Paige says, “Looking back I’ve always known, every time, every lie, my whole life!” Elizabeth denies she had “anything to do with that boy”.  Paige accuses her about lying about everything, her whole life, “No wonder Dad can’t stand to be in the same room with you, how many times, how many men? Were you doing this when I was a baby?  You’re a whore!  Does Dad know he married a whore?”  Elizabeth tells Paige to stop it but she persists. “That moment you told me who you really are I should have done what Henry did and get as far a way from you as possible.” Elizabeth counters that the sex never meant anything to her and that “I wasn’t brought up like you were. I had to fight always, for everything. I had to give everything!  If I had to fight so that my country would survive, I would do it gladly!  We were proud to do whatever we could! Sex?  What was sex? Nobody cared, including your father!”  Paige leaves the house.
In this scene and in the flashbacks, the viewer finally gets more insight into the bleak post-war Soviet Union Elizabeth was brought up in.  Both Philip and Elizabeth suffered the horrors of the war and perhaps believed that through working in the KGB they could prevent another great tragedy in their country.  Claudia also referenced the war in her final conversation with Elizabeth, the women who fought in the war were considered heroes and patriots. Claudia dismissing Elizabeth as not as patriotic as her comrades in arms was a huge insult. 

Dennis is working in the vault with his team to try to find the unknown man who met with Father Andrei. (Philip)  They are going to search all the warehouses and safe houses they have uncovered.  Stan asks Dennis, “Are we assuming if he’s running that’s where he’ll go?”  Earlier in the hour, it was noted that the garage surveillance has yet to yield any leads.  Stan is hoping to get the surveillance photos of the incident. Father Andrei is on his way to the FBI for questioning.

Elizabeth smokes and has one final flashback of her mentor.  “The most important thing is to not lose who you are over there.”  Elizabeth might be pondering her “American” kids as she tries to formulate her next move.  The phone rings. Philip is calling in from a payphone, “I was hoping to make it home for dinner but things are very topsy-turvy at the office.”  It’s a code about the danger he’s in.  Elizabeth runs downstairs to obtain her “bug-out” bag.  Inside the electric panel, she grabs various passports, currency and her wedding rings.  She turns out the light, closing the door on Elizabeth Jennings.

The preview for the finale shows Stan attempting to call Philip and Elizabeth at home but only reaching their answering machine.   Philip and Elizabeth decide to get Paige and flee to New Hampshire, from there they are likely to catch a ferry to Canada.  Paige asks if they can trust Oleg, Philip responds “Yes.”  Stan is shown looking sketches which are clearly of Philip and Elizabeth saying, “All this time, I’m gonna kill them!”

I really am not sure what would constituet a satifying finale.  The series has focused on Philip and Elizabeth, both deeply flawed protagonists. Do we want to see Stan capture them or see them get away free to start a new life? It would seem plausible that Elizabeth and Philip would have to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives, even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. What will Oleg's role be in bringing them in? Will Henry ever discover who his parents are and where they went? Will Renee's role finally be revealed?  I look forward to an intense and bittersweet ending. 

The Americans, Season 6, Episode 8, Summit

 

The whole season has been organized around the historic events of the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit of 1987.  Elizabeth has been tasked with representing the forces which wish to remove Gorbachev from leadership while the United States also has its share of skeptics regarding a lasting peace between the two countries.  I had been operating under the assumption that we’d have a full-length final season but unfortunately, this hour is the pen-penultimate installment of the series.  There are so many things I’d still love to see and explore and I fear that time is running out for both our characters and the many plot threads.  The show’s pace continues to be heart pounding and the stakes have never been higher for the hopes of peace and change and the destructive forces bent on remaining in control. 

The season has highlighted Elizabeth’s descent into her worst impulses, unchecked by Philip.  Meanwhile, Paige has nearly finished her training but still is ignorant of the many atrocities carried out by her chosen organization.  Oleg was absent in the episode, how will his story play out?  Stan has been fully re-immersed into counter-intelligence.  Will he be the man to crack the case or another causality of Philip and Elizabeth Jennings?

The hour opens again with an argument between Philip and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth returns home to find Philip looking pensive in the living room, “I know Chicago was hard, I won’t need you again, I promise.”  Philip tries to interject but Elizabeth continues to say that he shouldn’t worry about her because she knows what she’s doing.  “Do you? You’re wearing cyanide pill around your neck!”  Philip explains his interactions with Oleg without naming him. “He said there are people at the Centre who are trying to get rid of Gorbachev, he’s trying to prevent that.”  Philip elaborates that he knows about her trip to Mexico to meet with the general whose part of the plot to overthrow Gorbachev.  “He asked me to tell him what you were doing, and I did.”  Elizabeth looks stunned.  Philip says, “I told him you were the most dedicated, loyal person to ever serve the organization.  I told him about the sensor, Renhull, that you were looking into one of our negotiators who you thought was a traitor. That you were going to Chicago.”  Elizabeth accuses Philip of pretending to care about her when he was, in fact, passing on her activities.  She yells, “Go to hell!”  Philip highlights all her recent activities, from the kidnapping plot to the murder of Gennadi and Sofia.  He states he didn’t think she knew why she was doing any of these things.  Elizabeth is further agitated to learn Philip has been passing on information on her activities for several months, “You should have told me.”  Philip claims he tried.  Philip defends his actions, stating he was trying to get her to think, to ask questions to be a human being.  Philip says he would do anything for Elizabeth, and that he just did (in Chicago) but he won’t anymore.  He cautions her, “We believed in something so big, they tell us what to do and we do it, that’s the job. But WE do it, not THEM. So it’s on us, all of it…” Philip exhales deeply as Elizabeth storms out.

Elizabeth meets with Jackson at a fancy restaurant.  She’s flirty yet distracted at the same time.  She says she can’t stay but encourages him to sit down.  Jackson is interested in the management-training program and wants him to apply.  Elizabeth makes it sound like a dream job full of money, travel and “being with people who care about culture as much as you do.”  Elizabeth takes the young man’s resume and asks him for a report about the work he’s been doing for Senator Nunn.  She encourages him to be detailed, stating people at her firm have the highest security clearances.  He’s to turn in this report within twenty-four hours. (Still ahead of the Summit.)

The vault is a hum of activity.  One member is looking into local Orthodox priests.  Stan hasn’t found anything related to his vehicle investigation.  He asks Dennis about how Oleg might be connected to all these events. “We haven’t forgotten about him.”

Claudia watches Gorbachev’s arrival speech on television with Paige and Elizabeth. All women share a look of concern.  Paige asks Claudia if she has met Gorbachev, the old woman says “No” with an air of contempt.  Elizabeth notes that during the summit they’ll be busy discovering what is being said behind closed doors.  Claudia reminds Paige, “The work never ends.”  Paige is dismissed so that Elizabeth can speak with her handler privately.  Elizabeth notes that her target Nesterenko will be meeting with a group of Americans, she will bug Haskert’s briefcase to be able to listen to the discussion.

Elizabeth arrives at Haskert’s home in her nursing shift.  Immediately she can sense that something is different because usually, Glenn is working.  Elizabeth enters the bedroom and finds Erica breathing irregularly.  Her husband admits, “I did it. But something went wrong.”  He explains that he gave her the extra morphine he’d been saving but is distressed to see her continue to suffer.  He said Erica was begging him to help her die.  Elizabeth explains that the morphine didn’t work because Erica developed a tolerance to it. (As a former nurse this enrages me, in a dying patient one doesn’t worry about physiological tolerance, you simply give more medicine to relief suffering!)  Glenn blames himself for this “mistake”, he says, “I waited too long, I was so selfish.  I had to go to my goddamn meetings, she said so, she was angry and she said so… She was right, I called my office and said I’m done, I can’t come in anymore.”  Elizabeth looks murderous, she’d tortured Erica for months only to have her plans foiled by a compassionate husband.  Elizabeth instructs him, “Glenn, it’s going to be all right.  Say goodbye to her now.”

Once Glenn has left, Elizabeth looks around the room and grabs a paintbrush.  Elizabeth touches Erica’s forehead, as she looks around at all the disturbing paintings of women in anguish.  In an almost Biblical betrayal, Elizabeth kisses Erica’s forehead and then proceeds to choke the dying woman with it.  Erica flails and finally, as she vomits green fluid like a grisly final painting.  It’s difficult to watch, especially to a person who has lost several family members under hospice care.  This portrayal of messy death was almost too realistic.  Why would you end this woman’s suffering in such a violent way?  Philip is right, I’m not sure Elizabeth is a human being anymore.

Elizabeth calmly wipes off the vomit from the brush and places it in her pocket before wiping off Erica’s face.  She goes downstairs to inform Glenn  “She’s gone. You should head upstairs and spend some time with her, it’s your last chance.”  Elizabeth uses the time to photograph as many of the diplomat’s documents as possible.  It seems nothing will distract Elizabeth from her mission.

In the vault, the team studies a wall of sketches from Chicago.  One agent says, “It’s impossible, all those disguises.”  The pictures show some of Philip and Elizabeth’s most recent disguises.  Dennis looks at the wall, “Well, they’re either all the same people or all different people.”

Glenn calls Elizabeth back upstairs after several minutes.  He insists that she take a painting as a memento from Erica.  Elizabeth decides to take a large canvas portrait of a woman in black and white.  In a sense, all the paintings could be Elizabeth in her various disguises.  Elizabeth can barely fit the large canvass into her old station wagon.  Back at the garage, Elizabeth stares at the artwork.  She cuts it from its frame and places it on the floor.  She is set to burn it but hesitates.  She rolls up the canvas to put it away.  However, she knows she can’t keep it.  She unrolls it and destroys the art with more reverence than she murdered the artist.

Elizabeth greets Jackson warmly at her hotel room.  She presents him with a new briefcase as a gift for his new position in the management-training program.  Elizabeth has left a pair of lacy panties on the sofa she pretends to apologize for the mess.  She offers him a drink, cooing that he doesn’t want to “corrupt him.” Jackson confirms that he’s twenty-one.  He’s brought VCR tape of the Big Heat. (A gritty film noir from 1953 about a corrupt police department. VCR and chill?)  She notes that her “colleagues” were impressed by his report; he should expect a call with an official offer next week.  She explains how her job transformed her life.  Jackson demurs, “Thank God I went to Rififi.”  Elizabeth notes that she’s made her look good, even at her age.  Jackson stutters that she doesn’t need to worry about her looks.  She taunts him and he leans in for a kiss. The seduction will ensure Elizabeth will have the young man wrapped around her finger.

Stan looks through old photo albums and finds a picture of a double date with Elizabeth and Philip.  He looks intensely at Elizabeth’s face and removes the photo from the album.  Renee returns home.  She opens a letter. “Did Dennis do this, I got a job interview at the FBI next week!”  Stan is excited for her, stating he’d knew they’d be interested in her private sector credentials.  Renee asks, “What will they ask me?” Stan assures her it will be like any other job except they’ll want to know if she’s a loyal American and if she can keep a secret.  He assures her they will love her at the FBI.

Jackson enjoys some breakfast in bed while watching Jane Pauley on television discussing the Summit.  Elizabeth dresses and states she has a hectic day ahead.  She asks him to do for her a favor, “One of my clients is working with the Department of Defense, they have a major meeting at main state today.  I was supposed to get him these documents before but his flight is delayed and I’ve got meetings all over.” Jackson assures her he can help.  Given the amount private consulting and lobbying that is done in Washington, her requests seem plausible.  She kisses him and calls him “her knight in shining armor.”  It’s hard not to feel sorry for him.

Philip crunches numbers at the travel office.  He attempts to call Henry.  After a moment, it’s clear Henry isn’t available.  Philip needs his son as a foil for all the stress he’s under. Can he keep Henry ignorant of the family’s real problems?

Stan has gone on a road trip to Roy Rogers. (Perhaps a nod to Season 4, Episode 12, Roy Rogers in Franconia.)  Stan asks to speak to a cashier named Curtis.  Stan asks him about Gregory Thomas, the jazz musician whom Elizabeth recruited.  Stan slides a picture of Elizabeth and asks if she was the woman with whom Gregory was involved with at the time. Curtis can’t definitively answer, stating it was a long time ago.  He does remember, “She was beautiful, had incredible hair like those Vidal Sassoon ads.  She smoked like a chimney.”  Stan seems to check this detail mentally with the flowerpot in the Jennings’ yard.  Curtis gets up to leave.  He gives Stan some food on the house. “You kept your word, I did a little time after but never for that.”

Elizabeth calls her new love kitten Jackson from a payphone.  She explains the meeting was cancelled and she needs the documents brought to her room. (How convenient!) She asks for him to meet her in her car.

Philip pays a visit to his former employee Stavos.  The man looks disheveled, he refuses Philip’s request to come inside his flat.  Philip sighs, “I just want you to know how sorry I am.”  Stavos reminds him he already said this when he was fired.  Philip explains although it may look like his life and the business is flourishing, the reality is the business may fail. “We’re doing pretty bad, personally, financially, in a way, it’s probably better that you got out sooner.”  Stavos recounts how long he worked for the agency, he’s watched their children grow up. Then he adds something surprising in a whisper, “Whatever was going on in the back room, I never called the police.  I never said anything to anyone and I never will.”  Philip’s face falls as he’s forced to look at his Old World former employee in a new light.  He should be grateful for Stavos’s loyalty and discretion.  Stavos shuts the door on Philip.

Elizabeth smokes as she waits for Jackson to bring her the box of documents from the State Department.  He looks like he’s seen a ghost.  Elizabeth greets him warmly but soon picks up on his distress.  She orders him into her late-model Mercedes. “What Jackson, I’m not a mind-reader!”  Jackson explains he went to the room to get the box and another meeting was taking place.  He notes that there were no canceled meetings shown for that room.  Elizabeth adopts a condescending tone, “Well, I don’t know how the rooms work at State Jackson!”  The young man shows her that he found a bug in the files. “Listen, this is not a big deal!”  Jackson disagrees, “You had me bug a meeting at the State Department!”  Elizabeth dismisses his concerns, calling him naïve and explaining this is how things are done in the “real world.”  Jackson doesn’t think the police would find this behavior as merely a way of getting a “completive edge.”  Elizabeth turns to a more remote location, not a good sign for young Jackson.  Jackson insists he’s not being “overly-sensitive” and states he’s not an idiot.  He knows what she’s doing is wrong.  Jackson offers to call his father and ask him if this is how business works.  Elizabeth grabs the young man’s arm and orders him to close the door.  He obeys but looks at her with tears in his eyes, “I want to go.”  Elizabeth makes him promise not to tell anybody about what has happened. “Tell me you understand.”  Jackson looks at her with fear, “I don’t understand.”  Elizabeth pauses before letting go of his arm, she instructs him to go back to university, finish and go into his father’s paving business.  She orders him out of the car.  Jackson flees for his life.

The next scene is perhaps the one of the most ominous of the hour.  Philip stands in front of a mirror being fitted in a grey suit. The tailor coos how good Philip looks in his new threads but Philip just stands there like a statue.  Philip only says, “It’s fine.” Is he picking the suit he wants to be buried in?  What is he planning on doing before he exits the earth?

Elizabeth listens to the conversation between Nesterenko and the Americans.  The Soviet man discusses the nuclear disarmament treaty.  The view sees Elizabeth’s face through a mirror as she listens.  Nesterenko says Gorbachev is committed to not only reduction of their nuclear weapons but to the goal of a nuclear free world.  Elizabeth looks stunned by this idea.  (Similar to when she discovered last season the goal of the GMO crops was to solve world hunger, not starve the Soviets.)

Elizabeth meets with Claudia in the park.  (Claudia wears a deep purple jacket, the same color as Renee’s.  Is Renee possibly Claudia’s boss or is it just a coincidence?)  Claudia chides Elizabeth for “smoking too much.” (Which may have tipped her off to Stan!)  Elizabeth explains that Erica died and they had to get the recording from her contact in Senator Nunn’s office, leaving out a plethora of gory details regarding those events.  Elizabeth says Nesterenko didn’t say anything of note on the recordings.  Claudia states she has orders for Elizabeth to “take care of him” in the next few days.  The two part ways on the path, physically and figuratively.

Philip wears a disguise and goes to a video rental store and chooses a tape to rent.

Elizabeth waits for Nesterenko to emerge from the State Department. She has a metal device wrapped up in a newspaper.  Is she planning on injecting him with poison?  She exits the car and walks briskly towards the men.  She nears Nesterenko but does not touch him with her weapon.  She seems as surprised by her own actions as she walks away.

Philip puts in the video at home, it’s a show called The Garage, a movie which was made in 1980 and banned by Brezhnev for taking on Soviet corruption in a satirical way.  Why is Philip suddenly nostalgic for his culture?  Is he planning to end his life?

Elizabeth waits for Claudia at the safe house.  She explains that Nesterenko wasn’t a traitor and that she couldn’t kill him as ordered.  “We haven’t seen anything to see or prove…” Claudia cuts her off, “It needs to be done. It needs to be done whether your convinced or not.”  Claudia explains that she’s been “Protecting her from knowing everything so that you can do your job but if you’ve lost confidence…” Elizabeth assures Claudia that she has not lost her confidence but that she needs to know.  Claudia begins a rant about Gorbachev whom she accuses of having no idea of “our history, our ideals.”  She fears it’s almost too late to stop Gorbachev’s reforms, she explains that once Elizabeth kills Nesterenko they’ll alter her reports on him to fit their narrative of Gorbachev’s treachery.  Elizabeth is surprised that Claudia seems to know everything about the “Dead Hand” operation. “We were protecting you. As long as you didn’t know all of these details and things went badly we could simply say you were doing your job.”

Claudia explains their ultimate plan is to get members of the Party to remove Gorbachev.  They wish to prevent Gorbachev from returning to the Soviet Union after the Summit.  Elizabeth wants to know who ordered this plot, shocked by the divisions within the Party she always assumed spoke with one voice.  Elizabeth doesn’t want to be part of a coup d’état, especially when she heard the Gorbachev’s dream of a nuclear-free world.  “I won’t do it.”  Claudia smiles, “I can’t make you do anything. But Elizabeth, keep quiet, after all these years of serving your country don’t throw it away now.”  Elizabeth leaves without saying another word.

Philip watches “The Garage.”

Stan watches the moon from across the street, he sees as Elizabeth’s car returns home.  Renee turns out the light.

The episode’s final scene is back in the Jennings’ living room.  She seems surprised to find Philip watching a video in Russian. He quickly switches it off.  Elizabeth tells Philip, “I need to talk to your guy.”  Philip wonders why then states he can only be reached by “dead drop” because he’s under surveillance.  Philip tries to explain his actions, “I just was looking for a way to deal with all this crap.”  Elizabeth responds, “And you settled on betraying me?”  Philip responds, “I was putting our country first which is what you would have done, I’m sorry.”  She nods, asking if she can get a message to him (Oleg).  “Tell him what he’s worried about is happening, the leaders of the Centre are trying to get rid of Gorbachev.  Claudia just told me.  They wanted me to kill that negotiator that I was worried about, Nesterenko.  But he’s not bad. I’ve been watching him. They want to falsify my reports to seem like he’s trading a highly classified military system to the U.S., but he’s not.  Our people are working with the general I met in Mexico.  Our people want to get this done so that Gorbachev doesn’t even return from the Summit. Can you relay that message for me?”  Philip confirms the message.  She says she has to back out to work, possibly to protect Nesterenko.   Philip gives her a message that she is to meet with Father Andrei.  “I can’t, you meet with him, and maybe he’ll give you absolution.”  It appears they have finally got back on the same team and it feels glorious but doomed.

As unbearable as Elizabeth’s actions have been this season, can she still redeem herself by helping Philip and Oleg?  Stan seems very close to cracking the identities of Philip and Elizabeth, will he be hailed as a hero or a fool.  Or will Renee murder him if he gets too close to the truth?  What will be the consequence for Elizabeth for not following through with the assassination of Nesterneko?  Will Paige be informed of more dark truths about the organization before she commits to it?

Next week is the penultimate episode.  Stan calls Pastor Tim in South America.  Paige questions her mother about her involvement with Jackson.  Philip meets with Father Andrei and notes that they are being watched. Oleg goes in for questioning at the FBI.  Stan has a bold theory, what if the Jennings’ are Soviet spies?

There are many theories about how the series will end.  I prefer to just wait and see what happens.  The series has been brilliant but this season has been the most intense so far.  While I’m devastated the show is ending, I think it’s the right decision to end while the show is at it’s peak of perfection.

The Americans, Season 6, Episode 7, Harvest

This hour was gripping and emotional punctuated by brutal action sequences.  The spoken dialogue was not as important as what the characters were choosing not to say.  The title’s name comes from the FBI’s codename for the illegal they are tracking in Chicago but it served as an organizing concept for the hour’s themes.  Philip travels to assist Elizabeth in the extraction or “harvesting” of their spy to safety.  Dennis has gleaned a cornucopia of information through “Harvest” about the techniques and practices by covert agents all over the country.  Stan harvests the seeds of doubt he’s held for many years regarding Philip and Elizabeth.  The final season has tipped over the halfway mark and the tension continues to rise as each minute unfolds.

The hour begins with Philip paying a visit to Stan’s where Henry has been enjoying some Thanksgiving leftovers.  Philip explains how he has to leave for Texas immediately to help Elizabeth with a “difficult client.”  Stan agrees to look after Henry by providing him company and meals until he needs to travel back to his boarding school.  When Philip says he has to leave Henry seems unfazed, he’s more eager to watch Police Academy with Stan.  Stan follows Philip outside, “Is something going on?”  Philip tries to appear casual but Stan notes, “I’m good with these things, knowing when someone is not telling me something.”  Stan elaborates that’s he’s noticed how late they work and stressed Philip appears.  Stan pushes, “Are you involved in something?  You can trust me.”  Philip explains his troubles as related to the travel agency, stating that he fears it may be failing.  Stan extends his friendship and states that he’ll be there for Philip.  The men embrace before parting.  Stan accepts this story on the surface but one can also sense that his professional investigative intuition is that something else is causing Philip’s distress.

Philip arrives in Chicago, with a goatee and blonde wig he resembles an older Shaggy of Scooby Doo fame.  He enters the Edison Park Hotel where Elizabeth is staying.  Despite the phone call, she’s surprised that Philip came to help her with the extraction; she looks younger than usual in long-sleeved white t-shirt and acid wash jeans.  Elizabeth suggests that they go out to eat.  The couple eats Chicago style hot dogs in silence.  Later in the privacy of the hotel room, the couple can finally speak freely.  Philip states that Stan was “giving him a hard time” before he left but he thinks Stan believes that their problems are all about the travel business.  Elizabeth hopes that Stan will not continue to be curious.  Elizabeth takes Philip’s hand as they fall asleep.

The next day wearing their respective disguises Elizabeth shows Philip the location where they hope to grab the man despite his heavy FBI surveillance.  Philip is concerned about the tight timeline of approximately thirty seconds.  Elizabeth can’t think of a safer alternative but adds, “I feel a lot better about our chances with you here.”

Stan drives Henry to the bus station, apologizing for not being able to bring him all the way to his boarding school.  Henry discusses his wealthy friend Brandon.  His best friend, like most of his fellow classmates, are much wealthier than the Jennings’.  Henry theorizes it might be nice to have a mom like his friend, at his “beck and call.”  Stan says that might “get old” for the teenager and tries to defend the Jennings’ by saying, “Work has a way of getting in the way.”  Henry doesn’t think it’s normal how hard his mom works, especially her missing the Thanksgiving meal.  Henry is frustrated with both parents, “I don’t know why I even bother coming home for the holidays.”  Henry does understand his parents are having problems with the business.  Stan probes, “Does this kind of thing happen a lot?”  Henry has grown accustomed to the fact that business comes first for his parents.  “When they get a phone call in the middle of the night they run off to work, you’d think they were brain surgeons.”  (Although Stan has observed some of this activity, Henry has just confirmed their unusual schedule.)  Stan asks about other relatives but Henry has never met any other family member, even “Aunt Helen.”  Stan remembers that incident from years ago.  It’s clear Stan has been thinking about the lives of the illegals, not having any other family certainly raises his suspicions.  Henry adds philosophically, “It’s important to take care of family when the chips are down.”  Stan ponders these details in a new way as they drive on.

Back at the hotel,  Philip expresses his doubts that they will be able to pull off this mission.  Elizabeth tells Philip about her trip to Mexico City in October and vaguely describes the top-secret mission.  She reveals the spy they are extracting is working on the same project.  She shows Philip the locket containing the cyanide capsule.  Neither Elizabeth or this man can be taken alive and that's part of the reason she's been sent.  Philip is understandably concerned, but Elizabeth has explicit instructions not to tell him because he “quit.”  Philip requests the tablet so that he can flush it down the toilet.  Elizabeth refuses.  He wonders why she showed him then, “You’re always asking me to tell you things. So I told you.”  Despite her hardness, Elizabeth wanted to explain her mission to at least one other person. (Even Claudia is not privy to it.)  The couple looks at each other intently.

Philip drives a flatbed truck to a vacant lot where some workers are loitering, waiting to be hired.  He states he needs five men; a large African-American man helps recruit the men. (Another local operative.)  Elizabeth smokes as she waits near a group of shuttle-type vans.  “Harvest” drives a small blue compact car; FBI personnel are following him.  The FBI agents communicate Harvest’s movements through the radio.  Philip drives the shuttle van with Elizabeth and one of the day laborers.  The older woman, Marilyn, keeps a lookout from the street; she clicks the walkie-talkie to signal to Philip that Harvest has passed her location.  (My apologies for not remembering her name, which hasn’t been uttered once since last season’s episode Midges!)  A large blue van pulls out, probably to provide more cover for Harvest.  The day laborers appear to be street construction workers, the African-American man tells the FBI car to stop while they unload the flatbed truck.  The FBI notes, “Harvest is out of view.”  Elizabeth knocks on the door of the blue compact car, “Mother’s expecting you!”  The man exits the car for the shuttle van while the day laborer becomes the driver of the compact blue car.  The FBI agent is motioned to move ahead.  Philip, Elizabeth, and Harvest drive on in silence.  The agent tailing the blue car thinks he’s still following his target but only has a partial view.  The agent pulls past the blue compact and realizes he’s lost Harvest.  The agent pulls his weapon on the day laborer in the blue car while barking into his radio descriptions of the vehicles and their directions to his team.  Philip and the others exit the shuttle van to a waiting grey windowless van driven by Marilyn.  Two FBI agents block the oncoming van, ordering them to stop.   Marilyn is shot in the head as she attempts to speed away. Elizabeth quickly takes control of the van.  Harvest shots back at the FBI agents, killing them and taking a bullet to his gut.  Philip attempts to help by applying pressure but it’s likely a mortal wound.  Nonetheless, Harvest continues to give Elizabeth driving directions so that they can escape.  Harvest looks down at his wound and gives some final messages to Philip as he dies.  He speaks in Russian, relying on of a message of love to his mother and hate for his father.  Finally, he adds in English that the sensor schematics are in France.  When he’s finished, he removes the tablet from his locket and dies in a matter of moments.  The scene is raw especially notable for the agent’s slipping into his mother tongue as all pretense is blown away.  Philip perhaps is thinking about Elizabeth dying in a similar manner. 

The van arrives at a parking garage.  Elizabeth quickly unlocks and tries to start a large sedan.  Philip drags Marilyn’s body out of the van and eyes a fire ax mounted on a nearby wall.  Philip breaks the glass to remove the ax.  Elizabeth recognizes Philip’s purpose and exits the car to assist him.  Philip removes Marilyn’s hands with Elizabeth helping to stabilize her arms.  Philip hesitates a moment before beginning to decapitate Marilyn.  A woman walks briskly to her Volvo and speeds away listening to pop music, oblivious to the horrific scene.  Philip looks down at Marilyn between blows, her wig lies several feet away.  It takes three strikes to detach her head.  (This is graphic but realistic; the fire ax would not be sharp enough for this task.)  Once the grizzly task is complete, Elizabeth and Philip quickly change clothes. They place the old clothes and Harvest’s empty locket into a duffle bag.  Elizabeth gathers up the head and hands in a blanket and stuffs it in the bag as well before she places it the trunk of the car.

Stan visits Dennis in his office. Dennis is distraught.  He shows Stan the crime scene photos of the agents Harvest shot.  He notes Harvest was found in the van but without her head and hands, it's unlikely they will ever identify the woman. (Marilyn)  Dennis sighs, “You were right, all of it.  You said everything we do turns to shit! And now we got two of our guys dead and no illegal.”  Stan tries to offer Dennis some hope but Dennis shrugs, “I don’t need it.”

Pattie Smith’s “Broken Flag” plays as over a montage of the fallout from the Harvest incident.  Philip and Elizabeth speed away in silence. Dennis fills his team on details they’ve learned about the people involved with the extraction attempt.  Stan asks, “When are we getting sketches?”  The song is mournful, “Nodding through the lights down low, nodding for the passers underground. To and fro she’s darning and the land is weeping red and pale.”  Elizabeth exits the car and pulls out the incriminating duffle bag of body parts.  She places bricks inside the bag before chucking the Marilyn’s remains into the deep dark water.  Philip looks on as the song continues, “In the sky a broken flag.”  Stan pulls into his driveway and looks at the empty Jennings’ home. The song ends.

Stan walks across the street.  He notices the terra cotta pot filled with cigarette butts stained with Elizabeth’s lipstick.  After a moment, he jimmies open the door.  He walks around in the dark, staring at the photos on the wall of the “happy family” as if seeing it for the first time.  Stan replays words spoken by William as he lay dying from poisoning.  William narrates, “A couple of kids, the American dream, never suspect them.  She’s pretty, he’s lucky…”  Stan looks through Paige’s room, noting the cross necklace she no longer wears.  He spends very little time in Henry’s room, perhaps not wanting to invade the privacy of the boy he views as a second son.  Stan looks around the laundry room, he unscrews a light bulb and peers in the washer.  He opens the fuse box, which contains a secret compartment but Stan doesn’t find it.  Stan looks around the garage, he enters their sedan.  Although he hasn’t found anything concrete, the activities in Chicago coupled with their mysterious flight out-of-state has piqued his senses.

Elizabeth and Philip are disguised as a middle-aged couple on the flight home.  Their recent experiences and stress allow them to pull off the grey wigs.  Philip looks on as Elizabeth sketches the plane’s window. “Someone’s making me learn.” She explains. 

Once at home, Philip calls Henry at school even before removing his jacket.  It’s clear he’s remorseful about abandoning Henry.  Henry doesn’t seem that concerned about his parents having long grown accustomed to their absences.  After the call, Elizabeth states she has to leave again for work.  She's especially busy ahead of the summit which is to occur the following week.  She touches Philip’s face before she leaves.  Is she thanking him or is it because she fears she may not return home?

Elizabeth is at Erica’s bedside.  Erica channels her agony by trying to teach art to Elizabeth.  Erica looks at Elizabeth’s sketches and asks, “Why did you draw this?”  Erica wants Elizabeth to “bring herself into” the work.  Through her pain, she tries to explain that Elizabeth needs to “get out of her own way” to let the art come through.  Erica is exasperated; she refuses medication, “Shut up, I need to work!”  In this sense, Elizabeth can relate to the terminally ill woman, only the “work” is important in the end.

The vault at the FBI continues to buzz with activity.  Dennis rubs his temples while gazing at a wall of the crime scene photos from Chicago.  Stan offers to get Dennis some coffee.  It’s clear Dennis has been living at work recently.  Stan brings Dennis a box of documents. “Six years ago we had a team on a woman in Philly, the wife of an illegal that got killed.”  The woman was Elizabeth, would Stan be able to recognize her from an old sketch and in a disguise?

Elizabeth arrives at the travel agency to visit Philip. “Thought you were working?”  Philip asks.  Elizabeth says she wanted to “check on him” after what she saw on his face in the garage in Chicago.  Philip remains silent.  Elizabeth says she’s going to Paige’s later to explain the events in Chicago.  Philip discloses that he’s had to fire three people in order to save the business.

Paige asks her mother if the mission in Chicago was successful.  “No, it didn’t go well.  He died, Marilyn too.”  Elizabeth is vague regarding the details but states Marilyn was shot.  She states her father is fine.  Elizabeth says although rare, death can happen in their line of work. “You’re going to have to make a decision, commit to this work or get out! Because sometimes this is what we have to do, it’s not easy and it doesn’t always end well but it’s a commitment you have to make for life!” 

Paige explains she doesn’t really have any friends.  She doesn't relate to the liberal-minded people at the university,  she feels like they are blind to the truth. Whether it's religion or politics the desire to belong is a powerful pull. Paige will commit to her mother's "faith" to experience the feeling of belonging to a very exclusive club.  Paige states she’s not afraid of death as much as being alone.  She hopes to meet someone like her father to someday to share the work.  (Sadly, Paige's relationship with Matthew was probably the last chance she had at an honest relationship.)  Elizabeth disparages Philip, “He made a mistake when he committed to this life, he was young, younger than you.”  It’s frustrating after all that Philip’s done for Elizabeth she still hates him for “quitting.”  Elizabeth says this work has to be forever.  Paige affirms her commitment to the work.  Elizabeth says forcefully, “Then it’s time for you to apply for an internship at the State Department!” Paige walks away alone.

Philip sits alone in the living room.  He remembers Father Andrei marrying them in secret.  What does his commitment mean to him now?  That image ends this week’s episode. 

The grim reaper was busy this episode harvesting operatives on both sides.  Paige is deemed ready for her first assignment in the State Department. Does Elizabeth hope to have her in place prior to the Reagan-Gorbachev summit? Oleg was absent for this episode,  is Philip still thinking of betraying Elizabeth to help him?

  

The preview of upcoming events shows the counter-intelligence team looking at series of sketches with Dennis noting, “They’re either all the same people or all different people.”  Philip looks at a drawer of disguises and passports, “They tell us what to do and we do it, that’s how it works, but WE do it, not them so it’s on us.”  A montage of Philip and Elizabeth’s past atrocities are shown.  Jackson, the film noir enthusiast from Sam Nunn’s office reaches out to Elizabeth.  A photo of Elizabeth without a disguise appears to be in FBI possession!  Elizabeth tells Philip she knows what she’s doing.  Phillip asks, “Do you?”  After this week’s installment, I predict that the final hours of the series will continue to be a nail-biting ride until the finale.