Jon Keller returns for the SERIES FINALE of The Americans, “START.” Through the lens of promises, these three consider the episode’s beats step-by-step, from the initial scene with Philip and Elizabeth in the safehouse, to Stan’s attempts to locate them before setting up at Paige’s, to the confrontation in the parking garage. They reevaluate Stan’s position after the parking garage scene, and analyze the Jennings’ decisions around and phone call to Henry before turning to the train scene, Paige’s decisive choice, Stan and Henry, and Moscow.

Danielle tries to claim Renee-related victory in the Dossier, but John disabuses her of this notion. In Glas, they revisit Aderholt, get excited that Arkadii’s back (!), and analyze the Gregory dreamscape. In Borrowed Nostalgia For the Unremembered Eighties, they turn to their Gen-X correspondent, Jon Keller, to understand how large U2 loomed in 1987 before John FINALLY reveals the origin of the segment’s name. In the Cave, Tragedy SZN comes to an official close with a quick discussion of Euripides’ Heracles.

Neither sinus infections nor sadness over the conclusion of this journey could stop faithful NQGB hosts. Enjoy!

And, stay tuned for MORE end-of-The Americans episodes in the coming weeks before we say goodbye for good.

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Lilly Goren returns for the penultimate episode of The Americans, “Jennings, Elizabeth”! Together with Lilly, Danielle and John take up the theme of traitors to organize their discussion. Lilly prompts the trio to consider whether Elizabeth is a traitor, and if so, to whom/what entity? They unpack Elizabeth’s actions and choices, her conversations with Paige and Claudia, as well as her ongoing reminiscences. They analyze Stan’s suspicions and his conversation with Adherholt, and ask whether Stan or Oleg should be viewed as a traitor. The trio concludes the main discussion by touching on Philip’s call that causes Elizabeth to prepare the go-bag.

This week’s Dossier includes to Danielle wish-casting about Renee, and some questions from the others. Glas includes a lot of clergy-talk, as your hosts contemplate not only whether Fathers Andrei or Viktor are traitors, along with the (unfortunately for Danielle) return of Pastor Tim, who proves to be a real one. In Borrowed Nostalgia, Danielle rants about Paige’s anti-feminism, everyone laughs about Stan’s MS-DOS computer, and they offer the penultimate fit-check for the Jennings crew. Lilly delights us all in the Cave with a wildcard entry for TragedySZN with Shakespeare’s Richard III.

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Finally back in the same time zone, join John and a jet-lagged Danielle to discuss The Americans 6x8, “The Summit.” Together, they break from their typical form with a character-focused analysis, using Elizabeth Jennings to orient the entire discussion. They dig into Elizabeth’s moves around Jackson and Oleg, the opening exchange between Philip and Elizabeth, the Erica mission and her painting, and the conversation with Claudia in the safehouse through this prism. Of course, Danielle contemplates Renee’s role in the Dossier, and John poses a few questions to push Danielle into full tinfoil-hat-mode, before turning to Stan and Philip via Elizabeth once more in Glas, including sad-boy Philip’s own Soviet film club showing of Garazh. They give a shout out to Vidal Sassoon, indie video stores, and the arms summit among other things in Borrowed Nostalgia. In the Cave, Danielle asks us to contemplate the fallen Persian empire and its relationship to The Americans with Aeschylus’ The Persians and John sprinkles some Arendt into the mix for this week’s TheoryShip. Enjoy!

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay