# 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:** 15
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/281 "2017-05-03T17:20:48Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I enjoyed seeing the phone center lady. But I was unclear on what was going on with that (Eastern Orthodox?) priest. Can anyone else shed light? I was also confused. I guess he’s another one of the sources that Gabriel was running, and for now he thinks he should be reporting to Phillip, but Phillip doesn’t think so? But what about Claudia? ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/282 "2017-05-03T18:00:57Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I enjoyed seeing the phone center lady. But I was unclear on what was going on with that (Eastern Orthodox?) priest. Can anyone else shed light? I think the center were trying to arrange their somewhat clumsy version of therapy on him. Gabriel was not just the Jennings’ supervisor, he acted as their mentor/father confessor – the guy they griped and bitched to about their job as a release valve. Even when Gabriel was on the scene, the Center seemed to have their ‘concerns’ about Philip’s attitude. With Gabriel gone, and the Jennings clearly distrusting Claudia, someone (perhaps Gabriel himself) tried to arrange for Philip to have a new confidante. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/283 "2017-05-03T18:06:17Z")
So Henry is really geeked by the idea of this elite boarding school. Wonder if he knows more than he’s letting on? Wouldn’t it be hysterical if he’s figured out the whole shooting match? I mean Mom’s little hidey-hole in the basement is one of the first things I would have found when I was his age. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/284 "2017-05-03T18:23:36Z")
One big problem with Henry going there is logistics. If the Jennings have to disappear in the middle of the night, they can’t do that with Henry in New Hampshire. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/285 "2017-05-03T18:41:38Z")
At one point, Tuan said he wanted a dog. In another episode, he said he wanted P&E to visit more. Never mentioned the (former) brother with leukemia. I think he’s lying. He looked like he enjoyed hanging out with his friends. I think he wants to defect so that he can live a regular life in America. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/286 "2017-05-03T20:31:24Z")
yay - Kimmie is 17! /and breathe … ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/287 "2017-05-03T21:08:18Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But I was unclear on what was going on with that (Eastern Orthodox?) priest. Can anyone else shed light? I guess Greek Orthodox. A character like this would have grown up under the military Junta, though by the early 80s Greece had its first socialist government. Maybe being a priest is a good enough cover. I’m seeing this as furthering the theme of things slowly disintegrating - no one in Gabriel’s place and it’ll take months for someone to take over. It follows on from Gabriel feeling morally compromised on Misha, P&E lying to Paige about the wheat, the eae with which te TASS lady was recruited ($500 a month and some teeth), Ollie being intimidated and investigated, and now Tuan afraid to even mention his brother with leukemia; these are not signs of a happy ship. Where are we now, 15 months from Gorbachev? Glad Martha understands what really happened and has moved on from Clarke. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/288 "2017-05-03T21:26:09Z")
I still think that Martha is a strong candidate for suicide. She can’t ever go home and she’ll never fit in. Gabriel’s outreach to her _seemed_ sincere, and she told him to get lost. So why are the snoops dogging Oleg. Think maybe they saw the approach from CIA and are just making sure nothing’s cooking there? ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/289 "2017-05-03T21:27:34Z")
Isn’t it because he’s investigating the food scam and those running the game want to scare him off? ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/290 "2017-05-03T21:43:11Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > One big problem with Henry going there is logistics. If the Jennings have to disappear in the middle of the night, they can’t do that with Henry in New Hampshire. Good catch; I didn’t even think about that. Granted the Centre might still deem it worth the risk given the possible connections he could develop. Of course this would all depend on letting Henry in the loop and him going along with. Henry might not be as gullible as Paige. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/291 "2017-05-03T21:49:26Z")
The ivy league school is obv. the antithesis of everything P&E stand for: elites vs. proletariat I knew socialists who have sent their kids to fee-paying schools but that was when local schools were quite poor. If you don’t have the explanation of an otherwise poor schooling, it has to be morally problematic. I just don’t know if the idea of a scholarship eases that issue or clouds it … ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/292 "2017-05-03T22:08:16Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > I’m seeing this as furthering the theme of things slowly disintegrating - no one in Gabriel’s place and it’ll take months for someone to take over. Claudia is in Gabriel’s place and she has already taken over, it’s just that her relationship with P&E is not very warm and open. I agree with whoever said that the priest was Gabriel’s doing, not the Center’s. I don’t think the Center would even want to waste time and expose him to the risk of talking to that guy just to learn about which priest is drinking too much or what people confess to. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/293 "2017-05-03T22:31:46Z")
Oh yeah, that reminds me about something said about Claudia’s return above. Didn’t she tell P&E that she had just returned from Russia? Except, haven’t we regularly/recently seen her meet with Gabriel in the U.S. keeping apprised on the Jennings. Got to make you wonder if she’s working the Stan beat with his new girlfriend. Or she’s been taking the lead on the recruitment of Paige… or could there be more than P&E realize about Henry’s new enthusiasm for scholarship and elite schooling? ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/294 "2017-05-03T22:36:29Z")
The priest guy is supposed to be doing his own reporting to the Centre until the replacement arrives. He couldn’t report because he couldn’t use the equipment and got bounced to P. P obv. gave him a brush off. No info on Claudia other than the meeting to try and defrost the relationship. No idea of the value of the Intel or even if he was relating it to P in code. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/295 "2017-05-03T22:42:45Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > He couldn’t report because he couldn’t use the equipment and got bounced to P. P obv. gave him a brush off. Or, that’s the story Gabriel told him to tell so that he could get a meet with Phillip arranged where he could so helpfully offer to help him talk through stuff that’s bothering him. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/296 "2017-05-04T00:17:55Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > But Stan was never going to be part of that operationally. The only thing the CIA liaison dude who came to Stan and Wolfe was expecting was some professional courtesy. “Anything you can give us about how you gained his confidence, anything we can tell our officers in Moscow?” That’s exactly the sort of thing I meant when I mentioned that for the CIA trying to run Oleg, “continuing cooperation from Stan would obviously be a plus.” ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/297 "2017-05-04T03:03:54Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > No info on Claudia other than the meeting to try and defrost the relationship. Just saw this bit, not sure if you edited it in or I just missed it before, but still not sure what you mean. Claudia is their new (old) handler. That was made clear by something to the effect of “Don’t handle us, just tell us what to do and we’ll do it.” ---
**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:** [May 4, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/298 "2017-05-04T03:59:41Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > …The travel agency scene seemed to indicate that they do actually actively run the place. Sheesh, how much can two people do?.. I’d love to see something like the Jennings suddenly finding one or more of their employees has been embezzling from them; attracting unwanted attention from the IRS. On top of the latest crap the Centre is throwing at them. Either that or Elizabeth get’s forced to do jury duty. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/299 "2017-05-04T04:25:01Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > So why are the snoops dogging Oleg. Think maybe they saw the approach from CIA and are just making sure nothing’s cooking there? Food scam, plus institutional paranoia, he was just in America. I think Oleg relaxed during the interview since its clear they have nothing on him. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2017, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/300 "2017-05-04T10:11:30Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > One big problem with Henry going there is logistics. If the Jennings have to disappear in the middle of the night, they can’t do that with Henry in New Hampshire. Huh? I had thought just the opposite, that this made it much easier to do stuff like that. > [@Sefton](#): > > At one point, Tuan said he wanted a dog. In another episode, he said he wanted P&E to visit more. Never mentioned the (former) brother with leukemia. I think he’s lying. I often critique the idea of watching and interpreting the show in a “meta” manner rather than just directly deciding what the characters might realistically do. But in this case, I think we are meant to think of Philip and Elizabeth as super-interrogators, especially in the case of someone they are familiar with like Tuan. So I would be surprised if they showed them grilling him and staring into his eyes, then had them (especially Elizabeth) find his story believable, but then ultimately have the truth be something else. > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > yay - Kimmie is 17! > > /and breathe … LOL 🆒 > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Isn’t it because he’s investigating the food scam and those running the game want to scare him off? That’s what a lot of people are saying, and it’s certainly plausible. My assumption has all along been that it has something to do with the CIA brush passes (which also included in one case someone talking to him in English). It’s fortunate for Oleg that he got rid of the tape and map before they searched his room (though I suppose he would have refused the search if he had not). > [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’d love to see something like the Jennings suddenly finding one or more of their employees has been embezzling from them; attracting unwanted attention from the IRS. On top of the latest crap the Centre is throwing at them. Either that or Elizabeth get’s forced to do jury duty. I love those ideas, especially the last one. It would be so random and inconvenient. Plus then we’d get to see how she reacts to the American justice system. > [@AK84](#): > > Food scam, plus institutional paranoia, he was just in America. I think Oleg relaxed during the interview since its clear they have nothing on him. Oleg was very clever (as usual) in the way he handled that (meaning, of course, that the writers are writing him in a very sophisticated manner). He not only didn’t act defensive and nervous, he didn’t clam up and insist he hadn’t done anything. He was open about having had a relationship with Nina, and not only admitted he was angry that she was executed, but that he was still angry. Then he just shrugged “what could I do?”. (If it was the Stalinist era, of course, he would probably have to play it differently, Winston Smith style, not admitting to any anger or deviation from party orthodoxy.) It really is quite the absurd request to ask him every American he interacted with even casually at a sporting event or whatever. I suppose he’ll just think of a few names/interactions, or even just make them up to give them something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=16)