What was the deal with Williams Mrs? She was apparently recalled, and he wishes that he had been assertive in standing up to the center about that, but William in his death delirium talks about fighting…
Hang on, this storyline with Micha (Philips first son) obv. has direction. He’s been let out of prison (apparently he has friends in high places, not that he knows who), effectively given loads of money and passports and basically pointed in the direction of the DC suburbs. Gabriel says you can go home, and Micha is heading to the US. Not a coincidence.
I can’t think this will be a short or season long arc. You have to think Micha is fundamental to the final two seasons … this is ultimately about a family now.
Agreed. And it would seem that his storyline provides us with insurance that the Jennings will stay put. An arc with Mischa trying to trace the Jennings as they’re on the run or as they return to Russia…how could that be interesting?
What would be interesting: his finding them, and how each of the Jennings reacts. And what has he been tasked with doing–what’s his assignment?
Also arguing for the Jennings staying where they are–if they don’t, we’d lose the whole ‘will Stan finally figure this out?’ tension. Poor Stan–he deserves a plot payoff of some kind!
…on Philip getting cranky with Paige about her romance with Matthew: I agree with those who say Philip is concerned that Paige’s well-intentioned efforts to get useful information will end in disaster, due to her inexperience and lack of training (and to her teenage-emotionality).
…on William infecting himself: it’s true that the showrunners have successfully established William as a bit of an unstable mess. But they haven’t really established that he feels so guilty about any particular thing he’d done, that he’d deliberately give himself a gruesome death. I’m having trouble buying his self-infection as plausible. The one thing we knew about William, was that he’d been having an attack of conscience about letting that pathogen loose on the world–but that’s exactly what he’s done!
Granted, that plot development allows for tension (what will William give away as he raves and rants in his dying hours? etc.) But it still seems a bit slap-dash.
…A mark of how well-made this show is: my only other complaint is about the black-boards in the EST scenes. They have clearly been printed out on a computer. Sure, writing in chalk is a lost art in 2016, and no one wanted to ask even the most lowly production assistant to do it, but come on–no one writes that neatly and uniformly, in such straight lines!!! Where’s the realism???
Even so, why not wait and see if you are staying around before you pick that fight. If you get out of Dodge, the point is moot.
Maybe Philip had already made up his mind. The Center wasn’t ordering them to go, after all. It was Gabriel pushing them hard in that direction, but he was leaving it up to them.
Philip asks Elizabeth, who has an intense stare thing going on, “Are you trying to picture (the kids) there?” When Elizabeth replies “yeah,” Philip scoffs and shakes his head. And earlier, when Elizabeth asks Philip if he ever wonders what home looks like all these years later, he shows zero interest in being nostalgic. So I’m guessing he’s already made the decision to stay.
I mean, from a thematic standpoint, we all know it’s highly unlikely that they are leaving. I’m just explaining why I think that last scene wasn’t incongruous.
This sort of reminds me of this program I watched a while ago. Back in around 1986 a Minnesota public television station spent a year or so watching and recording state-run Soviet television transmitted from a Soviet satellite. They show clips of news reports, “commercials,” and even a Soviet comedian (and after watching his set, you’ll be glad it was Yakov Smirnoff who made it out and not him). The clips are followed by a panel of experts in Borisandnatashaology who give more context. It’s pretty fascinating to get an actual glimpse into the world the Jennings would be going.
Yeah, add me to the group that was underwhelmed. Essentially the only “big” reveal was that the dying guy made a reference to a couple with kids. And they introduced Phillip’s son, who presumably will get to America and meet up with Phillip next season. Didn’t exactly get me on the edge of my seat awaiting next season…
This sounds cool. I look forward to checking it out when I have time.
One nitpick I would make is that as weird as it might sound, I’m not sure 1986 Soviet TV would illustrate the kind of world the Jennings would arrive in, though obviously it would be the world they’d be living in just three years later. In 1983, Andropov was still Soviet leader, and then when he died in '84, Chernenko took over for a year or so until he died. Gorbachev’s ascent to the top spot in '85 ushered in *glasnost *and perestroika, which presumably was reflected in 1986 TV. (And which, BTW, I predict Oleg will be deeply involved in.)
We already knew about the son from when we saw his mother tell Philip about him.
The general consensus on these boards from a few years back was that the “son” was another KGB test. Last season we got some second hand information from Gabriel that the son was real. This weeks episode is the first direct confirmation.
A lot of folks (here and at another board) are making a thing about William revealing that his contacts are a couple with children. This isn’t that big a general reveal, as we saw another couple with kids, the ones whose son killed them a couple of season ago.
Still, at some point maybe toward the end of season six, Stan has to have a “Hank Schrader” moment. (Phrase stolen from other board.)
In other words, the general consensus was wrong. The writers already informed us that the son existed when his mother told Philip.
If you rae married sleepers you would imagine having children would be appropriate, like most people do when they’ve been married a while. Not exactly a huge reveal.
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I don’t think so.
How many tests has there been anyway.
More a motivational tool than a test. And the writers themselves were not decided before this season as to whether he really existed or not.
Are you saying you haven’t been expecting that moment since the first episode when an FBI agent moved in across the street from a KGB couple?
You’re right, it does sound weird to make that nitpick.
What struck me is that we never saw William actually die. Sure, he’s done for and we will never see him again (except maybe in flashback), but he was beginning to deliriously let slip information to Stan & Aderholt when we cut to another scene. I’m convinced something slip to them that will the creative Powers That Be are with-holding for the moment, only to drop it when we least suspect it next season.
Personally, I think Stan was acting just a little too chummy and “Awwww! Look at the kids necking!” with Philip at the end. Stan had just busted a KGB sleeper agent who worked in a repository for biological weapons, and then spent several days watching this guys slowly “leak” out of every orifice. I can’t believe Stan would be that happy and chirpy and upbeat when he got home. And then as Philip and Paige walked out the door, he’s in the background giving them a weird look.
Stan knows or at least strongly suspects something. Don’t forget that pause he had at the beginning of last season after Gaad got into a fight with “the female illegal” (Elizabeth), and then later Stan saw Elizabeth had hurt herself by “carrying the groceries in.” Stan has already been suspicious of his neighbors…in the exact same way he was suspicious of Martha. Stan trusts his gut instincts, a talent that’s served him pretty well.
I get what you’re saying about Stan, but another way to look at it is that the Jennings are now Stan’s entire life, for the most part, outside of work. He isn’t seeing anyone (right? he broke up with whomever he was seeing, I think?), he’s closer to Henry than Matthew, he invites himself over for dinner, he does manly stuff like drink beer and play racquetball with Philip. So coming home from a blown operation and 3 days of watching a KGB agent ooze his guts out to find your real family and your surrogate family getting closer must’ve been a shot in the arm to him, like hey, after a really bad day, it’s nice to see something go right for a change. Plus, Stan kind of has to have that overjoyed reaction to contrast and give more weight to Philip’s own “this ends now” reaction.
I don’t think he’s giving them a weird look when they are leaving, though. I think he’s just watching them leave.
The composite sketches alone they have of Philip and Elizabeth should have almost done it.
Yeah, but recall that the FBI sketch artist accidentally did a sketch of Martha, which Stan then showed to Gaad. His reaction was “Who is that?” And Gaad saw Martha every day of the work week!
The early 1980s FBI had the worst sketch artist ever, apparently.
I took the scene this way, too. I don’t think the writers are showing us a Stan who suspects the Jennings. (Yet.)