Favored members of the party likely have a better experience than others. Access to nicer living arrangements, consumer goods, automobiles, food, vacation areas, etc., etc.
Phillip and Elizabeth had been away from the USSR for something like 20 years when the show takes place. I took those sorts of conversations as a sign that they were viewing their memories of Mother Russia through rose colored glasses. And they probably just dismissed anything negative they heard about life in the USSR in the present day as American propaganda.
I always kind of figured that as KGB agents, they were treated as heroes after returning home, and like the post above mine mentions, that would have gotten them access to nicer things than the average Soviet citizen. Sure, they did foil their coup attempt against Gorbachev, but I don’t know if the higher ups actually found out about that.
Those things I listed were the nicer things!
Yes, I know, they put Rudolf Able on a stamp, despite not actually accomplishing anything except getting caught.
What, they didn’t make it look like the grimmest place on earth (or the moon, for that matter) enough for you? Every scene set in the Soviet Union looked like it was filmed through a wet sock. Sunless, joyless, cold, outdoors, indoors, every single shot. I had a hard believing anyplace could ever look that unrelentingly gray.
I feel like EVERYTHING I have ever seen about Russia, especially the Soviet era, makes it look ghastly.
Her handler took her to a playground where she could watch little kids having fun. I don’t remember if they were going to give her one to look after or not.
There was a scene where she was alone in her new apartment frying potatoes or something. That’s about all we saw of her life in Moscow.
I think it was made clear that she was going to get a little girl.
I don’t remember that, but…I won’t argue it, either.
If I recall correctly it wasn’t explicit. They knew that Martha really wanted a daughter, and the handler pointed out that all of the children were orphans. Martha seems to connect with a young orphan girl, and I think the handler even says something to Martha like “we want you to be happy” or something along those lines. The implication is that Martha adopts the young girl and finally gets the daughter that she always wanted. I wouldn’t exactly say Martha lives happily ever after (it is the Soviet Union, after all) but it is a happy-ish ending for Martha.
We don’t actually get to see Martha take the young girl home, but I think the implication is pretty strong.
This is true, but even the highest ranking members of the nomenklatura only enjoyed a lifestyle comparable to middle class Americans. It wasn’t anything like how oligarchs live.
Also life is really going to go downhill for Nadezhda and Mischa when the USSR collapses in a few years.
They’ll probably open another tour bureau and clean up selling vacations to places like Egypt and Majorca. In a few years, that’ll be big business.
Your memory is astonishing. I just watched it a couple of days ago when did you watch it?
I watched it a couple of years ago.
I saw commercials for it when it first came out and I didn’t think that I would like it. A lot of people said it was good, but then every time I watched a trailer for it I thought meh, that’s not going to be good. Then I finally watched it on Amazon Prime and really liked it.
I think the trailers that they put out for it don’t do the show justice.
I hated when Liz dropped the Cuda on the guy in order to create a job opening.
I mean, no gearhead is going to work on a car with just a jack. I had my first jackstands before I could drive.
Plus, she killed him to create a job opening! Fuckin’ DIE, Elizabeth!
Yeah, Elizabeth’s body count was pretty major.
Y’all remember the old woman who liked to work late? That one stuck with me from the first time I saw it.
Unfortunately, I know one personally who did. He was killed when the jack slipped. So, sadly, this one is actually plausible.
Besides, she taught him a valuable safety lesson. Bet he never did that again.
I’ve always wished Paige had read about the sailor who was murdered because of her playing “Spy.” That might have knocked down her lofty ideals a bit.
From a purely practical point of view, Elizabeth should have killed the kid she seduced. She was taking a big risk by letting him get away.
They killed the entomologist for no reason at all. The guy was terrified. If they had just knocked him out and left quietly, the cops would have had a mystery with no answers.
And they also made a point of blaming a lot of the USSR’s problems on behind the scenes manipulations by the US. Elizabeth at least was clearly portrayed as a true believer in everything the USSR and communism stood for, so it wouldn’t be too hard for her to rationalize believing the propaganda.
My wife and I just finished watching all six seasons. Seasons 1-3 were interesting and well-paced, but then 4-6 really started dragging. We had never before made it through an entire series, although we did try, with The Queen’s Gambit, Breaking Bad, and Ozark. After a while it just feels like a soap opera and they’re holding us hostage.
We had to work to finish The Americans, but we made it. I didn’t really like the ending.
Elizabeth should have killed the college kid.
Pastor Tim and his wife should have been killed.
Stan should have taken Philip, Elizabeth, and Paige prisoners.
In the end it was just meh.