# 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:** 13
**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, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/241 "2017-04-19T19:21:05Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > 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. I think it had to do with the fact that their entire existence and reason for being was to combat the evil capitalist American empire. But here they were, after all this time, having killed an innocent scientist because they made the wrong assumption about the intent of this research. Kind of forces them to take a look at who the good guys really are. Also, did anyone notice how they continue to lie to Paige about the wheat? They continued to claim they were trying to keep America from starving the Soviet Union. I guess they couldn’t deal with the truth or face their daughter in light of their discovery. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/242 "2017-04-19T19:44:09Z")
> [@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???” > [@Sefton](#): > > 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. … To me, it _was_ a major revelation–that Gabriel has, in some sense, given up on The Great Socialist Experiment. It was shocking. Before the scene I’d been wondering if the special wheat is actually headed for the USSR, after all…what if Gabriel has made a deal with China, or some other non-ally of both the US and the USSR? But after the scene, my final impression was that Gabriel is tired and not comforted any longer by his old idealism. Perhaps he will simply go back to the USSR and live in a tiny apartment and die alone. > [@E-DUB](#): > > 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. Cool! (I love that movie.) Do you appear in any background shots? ---
**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, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/243 "2017-04-19T20:16:43Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > So, in the library, Ollie was researching his mother, who it turns out spent 4 years in a labour camp after the war. Well, yes, she told him that (two episodes ago?). And then she told him to do whatever he needed to do in order to survive. He was looking at the details. The two interesting things to me were the name & the dates. She was already married when she was put into the labor camp (that wasn’t as clear to me when she first spoke about it). And second - it’s 1984. I believe Oleg is in his early 30s. His slightly older brother was killed in the war. From the dates, at least one of those brothers was likely born in the camp. As for Gabriel, I didn’t get the sense that he was giving up on the experiment yet nor necessarily that he knows it’s going to fail. But that everything he has done and continues to do has been mentally, emotionally, and psychically exhausting. During his talk with Paige, he spoke about sacrifice without a direct reward. That’s what he’s been doing; he doesn’t expect to be rewarded, but at the same time, he’s got nothing left to give. ---
**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, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/244 "2017-04-19T22:05:52Z")
We were on the street during filming (of Breaking Away), so it’s entirely possible. I don’t know for sure. I could be. ---
**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, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/245 "2017-04-19T22:56:59Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > 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. That makes some sense but would the CIA have an agent sleep with Stan? There is a perfectly logical reason why Stan wants to protect Oleg and he explained it. Oleg risked his life to give Stan that tip and it’s fucked up to punish him for it. ---
**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, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/246 "2017-04-19T23:40:03Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > That’s what he’s been doing; he doesn’t expect to be rewarded, but at the same time, he’s got nothing left to give. Imo, turning Misha away was the end. You can’t justify that at any time, let alone to Philip who has given his whole life to the cause. Gabriel has been there before, he knows what happens when systems and ideology go off the rails - putting soldiers in psychiatric institutions for disagreeing with the war they fought, and denying national heroes like Philip their children for fear of knowing that. It’s unraveling and can only get worse. ---
**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, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/247 "2017-04-19T23:46:16Z")
I’ve been reading about the [Committee on Human Rights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Human_Rights_in_the_USSR) for which the episode was named. It’s the only mission we’ve seen whose purpose isn’t explained. It looks like Elizabeth got contact info for Russians opposed to the USSR’s human rights abuses. I wonder if Gabriel decided to leave because he saw how badly his country treats its citizens. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/248 "2017-04-20T22:23:11Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > It looks like Elizabeth got contact info for Russians opposed to the USSR’s human rights abuses. I wonder if Gabriel decided to leave because he saw how badly his country treats its citizens. Gabriel already knew how badly the USSR could treat its citizens. As he said in his talk with Philip, he was one of the ones who were administering the bad treatment. He has first person experience of what had been and still could be done. ---
**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 20, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/249 "2017-04-20T23:31:29Z")
I read a piece on, I think, Entertainment Weekly that posed the question: based on the parents link to labour camps, could Ollie and Philip be brothers … It makes you wonder what people think they’re watching. It really fucking isn’t daytime soap. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/250 "2017-04-24T08:06:04Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > 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. Everybody’s spidey-sense is tingling over Renee, but if Renee is CIA then it’s pretty serendipitous because Stan meets her before he learns that the CIA is planning to blackmail Oleg. I mean, super duper counterintelligence guy not seeing he’s being played has a nice thematic balance to it (and this time by his own country), but the question is why would Stan even be on the CIA’s radar at that point? I don’t think it’s the CIA that wants Stan fired, it’s the deputy AG himself. He can’t afford to have an agent making threats like that, so he gives Stan what he wants, but the price is he’s fired. Favorite moment- “I feel like one of the guys in the posters.” ---
**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 24, 2017, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/251 "2017-04-24T11:32:43Z")
The point was made on the podcast this week that all Renee has do do is turn up, at that point paranoia is rife, at least with the audience and Philip. Smart dramatic device. To paraphrase Freud (on cigars); sometimes a blonde is just a blonde. Or not 😉 ---
**Author:** ![golffan1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@golffan1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/golffan1963)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/252 "2017-04-26T20:39:59Z")
Have to say…the latest episode…aired in the US on 4.25.17…worst in the history of the series. Absolutely nothing of consequence happened…at least from what I saw anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/253 "2017-04-26T20:54:43Z")
I found the episode absorbing. The relationship between Claudia and Philip & Elizabeth developed; Stan and Aderholt gained a new Soviet asset; we learned what the agricultural defector’s wife has been getting up to; and we saw some cracks in Tuan’s loyalty, maybe (what with P&E continuing to decline to spend time with him, he has apparently decided…something). This show can be slow-build rather than action-packed; it’s not for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/254 "2017-04-26T20:59:06Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Everybody’s spidey-sense is tingling over Renee, but if Renee is CIA then it’s pretty serendipitous because Stan meets her before he learns that the CIA is planning to blackmail Oleg. I mean, super duper counterintelligence guy not seeing he’s being played has a nice thematic balance to it (and this time by his own country), but the question is why would Stan even be on the CIA’s radar at that point? … The _CIA_ knew they were going to use the Stan tape to manipulate Oleg _before Stan knew_. They may have wanted close eyes (presumably Renee’s) on Stan in advance of his learning about the plan–to see how he’d take it. ---
**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 27, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/255 "2017-04-27T00:23:51Z")
Ouf … to say the meeting with Claudia was _frosty_ wouldn’t be understating things … Smart mirroring of women; Elizabeth with Paige (on empowerment), the Russian language teacher and the Lotus 1-2-3 woman (on married affairs). I like how the subtlety of marriage is sometimes portrayed in this show; the cancelling of planned meetings with wheat guy and Lotus woman was pretty sweet, as was E stroking P’s ego when he got dumped. And also neighbour Stan coming by and talking about his son and their kids and wondering what happened. Nice that Henry is finally pulling the babes, while Tuan is like some kind of terminator machine. I guess that was a warning for Ollie to back off. Where are we going with the lady from TASS … It’s crazy how all the spy stuff and family life sit easily side-by-side. ---
**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 27, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/256 "2017-04-27T01:30:45Z")
I thought the whole Phillip getting dumped thing was hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/257 "2017-04-27T02:58:24Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I thought the whole Phillip getting dumped thing was hysterical. I agree. Anyone else catch the two KGB “henchmen” leaving the apartment twice? 😛 ---
**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 27, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/258 "2017-04-27T03:15:52Z")
So did we know that Claudia had a daughter & grandchildren before this episode? ---
**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 27, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/259 "2017-04-27T04:45:46Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > So did we know that Claudia had a daughter & grandchildren before this episode? Do we even know now? Maybe that was just her trying to bond with E. ---
**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 27, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/260 "2017-04-27T13:09:06Z")
I don’t know how much more horrible overacting I can take between Elizabeth and Paige. It’s cringe-worthy and makes me want both characters to be killed in a horrible car wreck. And no amount of garage combat training is going to fix Paige’s angst and mental weakness. She’s a child and she can’t be trained by her parents to be a spy. It’s completely unbelievable. Tuan wants his “parents” to be home more but he never says why. He just comes across like he’s lonely and needy. …I liked the show okay up until last season. Now I just want everybody to be outed, arrested and to die disillusioned in Guantanamo prison. Except Oleg. He’s a good guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=14)