# 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:** 5
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/81 "2017-03-16T08:23:24Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > That’s not a continuity error - Philip and Elizabeth were dressed as the Eckhart’s when they were driving Tuan home. When they drove back to their home in Virginia, they were in their “Jennings” clothes. In between scenes, they stopped somewhere (presumably Tuan’s house) and changed. I would have to re-watch it to be sure, but I think they even switched cars. (And earlier in the episode, Elizabeth was shown driving the Jennings’ car, establishing that it was ‘her’ car.) Good call. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/82 "2017-03-16T12:42:36Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’s something that would be in a cheesy bar with lots of ferns. It would seem classy to someone without a lot of class. So that was just to convey that both of the agents lacked class? If so, sorta fell flat with us. And about the callipygian Keri Russell. As uncomfortable as I find it to suggest any nudity could be gratuitous, why do they decide every few episodes that they need to show her ass again? Is it merely so they can run the “This show contains nudity!” warning/teaser before each segment? Was the shower scent any more effective for showing her butt then if it were shot from the waist up? ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/83 "2017-03-16T13:48:37Z")
I think the piano was more a joke about what was trendy at the time. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/84 "2017-03-16T16:21:37Z")
Yep, didn’t they used to have the same kind of thing but with fish in. Strange time the early 80s … ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/85 "2017-03-16T19:56:03Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > \ > > And about the callipygian Keri Russell. As uncomfortable as I find it to suggest any nudity could be gratuitous, why do they decide every few episodes that they need to show her ass again? Is it merely so they can run the “This show contains nudity!” warning/teaser before each segment? Was the shower scent any more effective for showing her butt then if it were shot from the waist up? Ah that “nudity” disclaimer in ANY show piques my husband’s interest. 🙂 ---
**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:** [March 16, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/86 "2017-03-16T20:34:01Z")
It’ll actually be part of the deal with Keri - you get the sense from the podcasts they’re all very much invested in the project and a team. I guess, if Matthew wants it, he’ll get his manly chest scene soon, as well. It was basically Keri saying ‘look at this - at my age and not long after child birth’. And she has a point … ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/87 "2017-03-16T20:56:37Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > Ah that “nudity” disclaimer in ANY show piques my husband’s interest. 🙂 My wife and I used to joke about Americans and Justified depending on the warnings: **What? Only nudity, strong language and drug usage! Where’s the graphic violence?!** Up\_the: Yeah, I was wondering who called for it - the actress, the writers, the director, … ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/88 "2017-03-18T04:05:51Z")
Tiny nitpick: When we saw Elizabeth pull onto the two-lane highway on her way to the greenhouse with the bugs, I noticed that the centerline on the highway had a rumble strip. Here in Texas, those only started showing up on highways around ten years ago. Was Illinois that far ahead on rumble strip technology? Little stuff like that sticks out to me. In the first or second season, when Phil moved out of the house and into a motel room, the motel had ADA-compliant lever doorhandles instead of the more period-appropriate doorknobs. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2017, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/89 "2017-03-18T04:23:59Z")
They might have the budget to swap out door handles, but I doubt they have the budget to build period appropriate roads. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/90 "2017-03-18T22:28:06Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > They might have the budget to swap out door handles, but I doubt they have the budget to build period appropriate roads. Oh I get that. Repaving a highway just to eliminate the rumble strip would be a bit expensive. I was surprised they didn’t do something about door handles, though. I want to say the room even had a magnetic card style lock, rather than a key. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/91 "2017-03-20T17:38:00Z")
I enjoy looking for anachronisms. This show does very well. They usually get all the obvious one that other shows miss. I was looking at the farm for inaccuracies (machinery, silo, buildings etc), and missed the highway! Scene I’d like to see: the preview seems to show P&E confronting a worker at the bug farm, “you’d better tell us”. I’d love it if the guy was some farm boy who’s been carrying hay bales and feed sacks since he was five, was the star of the HS wresting team, played linebacker, and has grown up with three older, bigger brothers who picked on him mercilessly. So fighting is like second nature. And he sends P&E packing, lucky they still have their teeth and ribs intact. The show always makes it too easy for the stars in fights. I know it’s been mentioned, but I hope E is just giving Paige a pass on her “hitting”, because if Paige hit me with those “punches” I’m not sure I’d feel them. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/92 "2017-03-21T12:27:58Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I enjoy looking for anachronisms. I noticed the wall mounted shampoo/conditioner dispenser in the butt scene. Don’t think hotels had those until some time well after the 80s. And I think my wife and I have commented on the door levers, such as on Paige’s bedroom. Back in the 80s, I think those would have been very unusual in a home. BTW, what is your understanding of their main residence? To me, it looks like a townhome/duplex where their house shares a wall with another house, and both likely have garages and front doors off of the same driveway/entryway. The building sure looks like that. They always go off to the left, though I have never noticed the neighbors’ garage door which should be to the right. It sorta bothers me, that they never show or even mention the folk they share a driveway with. And I find it curious that spies would choose a home like that where their comings and goings would be more obvious, rather than a detached home. Finally, relatively frequently (including in this last ep) they will just park their car in the middle of the driveway, which would block the neighbors’ ingress/egress. Yeah - I buy every single other aspect of the show, but THAT takes me out of it! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/93 "2017-03-21T13:42:31Z")
There was a discussion about this in the season 4 thread, starting [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19399566&postcount=544). It got a bit contentious over the definition of “triplex”. The actual location of the exterior shots is a triplex (three-unit building). I think the consensus is that in-show started with it being a triplex, and it’s now a large single house, probably to avoid the question of who are the neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/94 "2017-03-21T17:21:48Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > There was a discussion about this in the season 4 thread, starting [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19399566&postcount=544). It got a bit contentious over the definition of “triplex”. Oops! Looks like I initiated that discussion. Still seems like an odd choice by whomever decided where to shoot the exteriors, when they could have chosen any of numerous single-family suburban streets. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/95 "2017-03-21T18:30:24Z")
Please don’t tell me if you look it up on IMDB - hate, hate that silly spoiler stuff - but I’m a little itchy for a visitation from Pastor Tim and his formidable wife … ---
**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:** [March 22, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/96 "2017-03-22T02:20:08Z")
Holy Crap, that was Martha! 🙂 ---
**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:** [March 22, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/97 "2017-03-22T05:01:45Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Holy Crap, that was Martha! 🙂 Yeah. Poor thing. I wonder if she has learned Russian or made any friends. Did the lab director guy say that the bugs are weeds or wheat? ---
**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:** [March 22, 2017, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/98 "2017-03-22T12:21:22Z")
Yep, the bugs are wheat pests. As for Martha I’d say she’s doing relatively OK. She’s living in Moscow (as opposed to Siberia) and is trusted enough to do her own grocery shopping in public. Those are both good signs. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/99 "2017-03-22T13:48:17Z")
So far, this is my least favorite season. We know that the US never sabotaged the USSR’s wheat, so unless the writers are taking liberties, P&E are wasting their time. Oleg and P&E are approaching the same question from different angles: why can’t the USSR feed itself? It’s an important question, but it’s not really entertaining or even interesting. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255/100 "2017-03-22T13:55:32Z")
My guess is that they are going to find out (after a severely overkill body count) that the US was actually testing pest resistant wheat and not pests that can ruin USSR’s food supply. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-5-open-spoilers/781255.md?page=6)