# The Americans; season 5 (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255 "2017-03-03T01:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/221 "2017-04-18T22:44:12Z")
Of course, Henry also missed out on meeting grandma in Berlin. You have to wonder what dumb ole’ Henry has twigged over the years. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/222 "2017-04-18T23:05:16Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Paige hasn’t actually _done_ anything yet that she could get into legal trouble over, has she? Some of her q+a with Stan’s son, maybe? Well, there was a murder in the car lot. Maybe self defence but you obv. have to report that stuff. She’s also kind of aware of Soviet undercover operates working against the state, so nothing too serious … tbh, in terms of spying there’s nothing I recall that fails the plausible deniability sniff test, up until meeting Gabriel - who could just be an old family friend anyway. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/223 "2017-04-19T00:41:05Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Paige hasn’t actually _done_ anything yet that she could get into legal trouble over, has she? Some of her q+a with Stan’s son, maybe? Arguably by not reporting her parents to the authorities she’s guilty of [misprision of treason](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misprision_of_treason), but she’d never be charged with that let along convicted. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/224 "2017-04-19T03:10:07Z")
Paige is the worst spy ever. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/225 "2017-04-19T03:37:56Z")
What’s the deal with the Russian woman who Stan and his partner are trying to work? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/226 "2017-04-19T03:39:49Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Of course, Henry also missed out on meeting grandma in Berlin. > > You have to wonder what dumb ole’ Henry has twigged over the years. From what I remember of the real-life illegals arrested in the early 2010s (whose arrests and public exposures were the inspiration for this show), more than a few of them had kids who never had a clue to what their parents were up to. I like to imagine the final episode of this show will be set in 2012, or whichever year the real illegals were being arrested. 60-somethings Philip and Elizabeth get arrested (or maybe just one of them survived until then). An adult Henry is completely stunned, and even more stunned when Paige reveals that she had known since her early teens. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/227 "2017-04-19T07:32:36Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What’s the deal with the Russian woman who Stan and his partner are trying to work? Apparently, she works for the Soviet equivalent of the API. ([wikipedia article on TASS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_News_Agency_TASS)) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/228 "2017-04-19T10:11:25Z")
Interesting, downbeat episode. > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Well, there was a murder in the car lot. Maybe self defence but you obv. have to report that stuff. Yes, she failed to report it which is not that serious a crime. But I think it’s more than “maybe” self defense. And it’s certainly not murder. IDK, based on your British spelling you’re not in the U.S., but here “homicide” and “murder” are not synonyms. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/229 "2017-04-19T12:59:31Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Arguably by not reporting her parents to the authorities she’s guilty of [misprision of treason](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misprision_of_treason), but she’d never be charged with that let along convicted. Except, for her to be guilty of that, her parents have to be guilty of treason. And they’re not; they have no duty of loyalty to the US, as they are not and never were American citizens. They’re certainly guilty of espionage, but that’s not treason if you’re actually from another country. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/230 "2017-04-19T13:55:30Z")
Here is a tidbit that I read elsewhere regarding Stan’s girlfriend and whether she isn’t who she says she is: When they are watching Breaking Away on tv, she mistakenly refers to the scene where she skinny dipped as taking place near the “U of I” instead of IU. Maybe it was a writer’s error. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/231 "2017-04-19T14:32:48Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Here is a tidbit that I read elsewhere regarding Stan’s girlfriend and whether she isn’t who she says she is: When they are watching Breaking Away on tv, she mistakenly refers to the scene where she skinny dipped as taking place near the “U of I” instead of IU. Maybe it was a writer’s error. I’m more inclined to think she’s with the CIA than a Russian spy. Given Stan’s insistence on protecting Oleg, the CIA naturally wants to know why. It’s underscored by the fact that they have asked Stan’s boss to fire him. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/232 "2017-04-19T14:34:36Z")
As a personal aside, I was in Bloomington during the filming of “Breaking Away”. While returning to Michigan after a road trip to Arizona a college friend and I made numerous stops on the way back, including one there to visit his old roomie who was in grad school. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/233 "2017-04-19T14:36:00Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What’s the deal with the Russian woman who Stan and his partner are trying to work? FBI counter-intelligence is not so much trying to convert Russians to become assets as harass Russian intelligence into not trusting their own people and inducing them to recall and rotate them frequently. That’s why Stan and his partner are being so blatantly obvious about it and not doing much in the way of providing strong incentives to the people they are allegedly trying to turn. ---
**Author:** ![golffan1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@golffan1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/golffan1963)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/234 "2017-04-19T15:52:31Z")
Did anyone notice the look on Phillip’s face after Gabriel’s final admonition to him about Paige? It was as if he was thinking “Well, what the hell! We’ve gone through all of this angst over Paige…and for what???” I think there may have been some other things running through his mind, but don’t want to go into too much detail in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet. Either way, his reaction was priceless! ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/235 "2017-04-19T15:53:27Z")
For a moment I thought it was Stan’s girlfriend’s getting out the cab to meet tree hugging wheat guy. My eyes did a couple of loops before settling down again. That would have been complicated … ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/236 "2017-04-19T16:16:59Z")
> [@golffan1963](#): > > Did anyone notice the look on Phillip’s face after Gabriel’s final admonition to him about Paige? It was as if he was thinking “Well, what the hell! We’ve gone through all of this angst over Paige…and for what???” > > I think there may have been some other things running through his mind, but don’t want to go into too much detail in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet. > > Either way, his reaction was priceless! Yeah, I noticed it. To me it seemed as if he almost felt insulted. As in, “What do you mean? Are you saying my daughter isn’t suited to be a spy?” No Phillip. No she is not. She’s a whiny brat who can’t keep her mouth shut. You’re lucky we let her live after that whole blabbing to the reverend incident. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/237 "2017-04-19T16:24:54Z")
I was expecting some kind of major revelation in the last scene. Gabriel might tell Philip about Mischa, he might confess that he’s defecting to the US, or he might say that the Center considers Philip a liability. But all we get is a warning about Paige. If Renee isn’t in the KGB, maybe she’s with the NKVD. I can’t believe they hired Laurie Holden just to be a pretty face. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/238 "2017-04-19T18:52:02Z")
I thought it revealing that Gabriel has no reason to go back; two not close relatives, is all. Curious exchange with Elizabeth: “Gabriel, why are you leaving?” “It adds up, some of its okay, some of it isn’t. But it adds up”. All very cryptic, as was his very last observation to Philip about Paige. I can only think it’s as per before; he now senses the end of the great experiment. He knows things will get very messy and he doesn’t want to lie to them further. I guess in relation to Paige specifically, he was also finally speaking for himself and not The Centre. So, in the library, Ollie was researching his mother, who it turns out spent 4 years in a labour camp after the war. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/239 "2017-04-19T19:05:05Z")
Also this wheat plant they dug up, literally sitting bang in the middle of every scene involving Gabriel, right between him and either Philip or Elizabeth. Either the damn plant or the whole wheat story arc serves as some kind of literally device; metaphor, allegory, whatever, please make it go away. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/240 "2017-04-19T19:14:51Z")
Now that Morozov isn’t a concern, what is Tuan doing? Is he still maintaining the second house? He’s the most interesting character of the season, but he barely gets any screen time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=13)