# The Americans: Season 6 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379 "2018-03-28T22:50:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**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:** [May 18, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/441 "2018-05-18T18:36:27Z")
I predict that Claudia is going to end up unknowingly eating that little pill. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/442 "2018-05-18T19:28:11Z")
I kinda got the impression E spared the young guy through a sudden attack of conscience. Similar to her refusal to kill the diplomat. (BTW - what was she going to do? Was that some kind of dartgun in her paper? Was she going to shoot him pointblank in front of 2 witnesses?) When P said what he did at the beginning of the ep, I said to my wife, “How did he ever dream that that would go well.” And I figured he’d better start sleeping with one eye open. Then, despite the series working hard to paint E as a complete animal, she acts against the Center’s interests/directions. But then at the end, she cracks that P can seek absolution from the priest. Yeah, people are complex and all that. But to me, as a somewhat casual fan, it impresses me as rushing towards a tidy resolution. So - bets on which characters we will NOT see/hear of again in the last 2 eps. Any chance Tuan will show up? How about Martha? Man, it took me a while to figure out where the fastfood guy was from! They’ve got a whole bunch of obscure characters and plotlines they can bring into play. I hope they don’t do it in a manner that suggests they are being overly cute. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/443 "2018-05-18T19:39:20Z")
Wait, refresh my memory about the fast food guy because I totally blanked on him while watching. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/444 "2018-05-18T19:40:59Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I predict that Claudia is going to end up unknowingly eating that little pill. Yes, that would be perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/445 "2018-05-18T19:49:37Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > When P said what he did at the beginning of the ep, I said to my wife, “How did he ever dream that that would go well.” And I figured he’d better start sleeping with one eye open. I think he really loves her. I think it was that much more a tactical move on the Gorbachev angle - after all, he can’t be at all sure that telling her is the right play, he can’t have any certainty that she will come around as it transpired she did later in the episode. He told her for her own sake because he genuinely cares for her, and the idea that she’s walking around with a suicide pill is devastating for him. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/446 "2018-05-18T22:18:35Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Having Stavos feel suspicious (let alone confident enough in his suspicion to mention it like this) seems out of place. P&E are very careful about disguising everything they do, and constantly being in and out and traveling is not really suspicious for travel agents. I hope what he thinks he knows doesn’t become a big plot point. But then what is the point of the scene? I guess to make P&E more paranoid and start second guessing themselves. I’m guessing it’s a reflection on the theme of loyalty that runs through the whole show. Both Philip and Elizabeth were at a low point in loyalty levels having kept some big operational secrets from each other and here is recently fired Stavos, a background charter in both the show and the Jennings lives, who has every reason to go to the cops letting Philip know that he’s been loyal to them this whole time even if they didn’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/447 "2018-05-18T23:00:24Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Wait, refresh my memory about the fast food guy because I totally blanked on him while watching. Stan got the Roy Rogers dude Curtis to give up Gregory way back in season one. That’s why Stan is coming back to him with the photo, to see if he can confirm Elizabeth was involved with a known KGB agent. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/448 "2018-05-18T23:22:09Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Having Stavos feel suspicious (let alone confident enough in his suspicion to mention it like this) seems out of place. P&E are very careful about disguising everything they do, and constantly being in and out and traveling is not really suspicious for travel agents. I hope what he thinks he knows doesn’t become a big plot point. But then what is the point of the scene? I guess to make P&E more paranoid and start second guessing themselves. I guess I read it as sure, P&E are great at spycraft and acting on the individual level. They’re master of disguises, etc. But maybe the Center training just doesn’t cover the level of normalcy in patterns of behavior that you need to complete fool someone who you work day-in day-out with for 15 years. Ie, they’re fantastic at coming up with excuses for having to be away or be in private or whatever, and no one watching them casually would ever get suspicious… but they focus so much on that side of things that they don’t really think about the larger picture that someone like Stavos would see. ---
**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 19, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/449 "2018-05-19T00:55:00Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I guess I read it as sure, P&E are great at spycraft and acting on the individual level. They’re master of disguises, etc. But maybe the Center training just doesn’t cover the level of normalcy in patterns of behavior that you need to complete fool someone who you work day-in day-out with for 15 years. Ie, they’re fantastic at coming up with excuses for having to be away or be in private or whatever, and no one watching them casually would ever get suspicious… but they focus so much on that side of things that they don’t really think about the larger picture that someone like Stavos would see. But the flip side of that is that people get used to even strange behavior patterns after a while, and it becomes normalized. I still don’t see how a husband and wife having frequent private conversations in the office of their business is suspicious. They could be talking about finances (business or personal), their kids, their in-laws, their weekend plans, their sex issues, or their relationship more generally. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/450 "2018-05-19T01:53:23Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But the flip side of that is that people get used to even strange behavior patterns after a while, and it becomes normalized. I still don’t see how a husband and wife having frequent private conversations in the office of their business is suspicious. They could be talking about finances (business or personal), their kids, their in-laws, their weekend plans, their sex issues, or their relationship more generally. Stavos might know enough about the working of the business to know that the frequent trips out of town make no sense, business-wise. ---
**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 19, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/451 "2018-05-19T01:57:56Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Stavos might know enough about the working of the business to know that the frequent trips out of town make no sense, business-wise. I could see that, but he referenced the back room, specifically. If he had said “all those trips you said were for clients—what clients?’ it would have worked much better for me. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/452 "2018-05-19T23:45:35Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > True, but for all we know, Joe Weisberg is going to pull a Tarantino (_Inglourious Basterds_ variety) on us. Christoph Waltz also played Ernst **Stavro** Blofeld! > [@Dinsdale](#): > > You sure? I figured it was fitting that Kojak’s partner ended up as an unsuccessful travel agent! 😉 Telly Savalas also played Ernst **Stavro** Blofeld! And…and, the only other living actor who played Blofeld is Max Von Sydow, the famous chess player from neutral Sweden. This can’t possibly be a coincidence! :eek: OK, OK it’s _Stavos_ (no R, gotcha.) ---
**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:** [May 21, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/453 "2018-05-21T14:06:08Z")
Finally, a great episode. The best in a long time and not the least because Paige spent most of it waiting in the car. I know I keep harping about how much I hate her but she’s a fucking horrible actor and she ruins every scene she is in. Except when P beat the crap out of her. Now, if they could just wrap up the show without having us listen to P swallowing loudly… ---
**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:** [May 22, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/454 "2018-05-22T04:39:48Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I don’t get what Stavos is supposed to know, or why he is assuring Philip that he won’t tell. He’s acting like he has figured out they are actually Russian spies, but that he himself is a Russian immigrant and/or communist sympathizer or something, so he won’t give them up… but on reflection that makes no sense. > > Surely Phil & Liz aren’t dumb enough to let him actually overhear them, their tradecraft is always portrayed as impeccable. So what is Stavos supposed to think is the significance of frequent secret conversations… so far as he knows, between an American husband and wife? I think the point is that they’re not quite as “impeccable” as they think they are. So far, the series has been mostly from P&E’s viewpoint, which is a viewpoint from people who have deluded themselves, over the course of decades, that the USSR are the “good guys”, despite all the readily apparent evidence that they’re not. This is the same. They’ve convinced themselves that they’re Super Spies that no one would ever suspect, but are they really? Look at the scene with Claudia and Elizabeth, They’re walking in the park, talking, and then pretty obviously do a hand-off of a piece of paper. There’s not an FBI agent in the world who would miss that if they were surveilling either of them. But they think they’re being clever. Stavos is the same thing. They’ve spent years using the travel agency as a front, assuming no one would ever notice anything “off” about them. But Stavos did notice it. If they’re so “impeccable”, why do they even have long-term employees like Stavos? It wouldn’t be that hard to find an excuse to roll over their staff every few years, so that no one even has the opportunity to put two and two together. But they didn’t do that. ---
**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 22, 2018, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/455 "2018-05-22T05:17:53Z")
Those are good points. I did notice the handoff in the park, and wondered why they would do it that way. Wouldn’t it make much more sense to simply do handoffs at Claudia’s place (or, if that’s not her place, a safe house or whatever)? I wonder if stuff like that is there just to be cinematic. But I still think if Stavos became suspicious, it would be because out of town trips were said to be for the sake of dissatisfied “big” clients he saw no sign of—either of the dissatisfaction, or maybe even the clients themselves. To have some vague sense that “something was going on in the back room, but I didn’t call the police” doesn’t scan for me. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/456 "2018-05-22T06:18:59Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But I still think if Stavos became suspicious, it would be because out of town trips were said to be for the sake of dissatisfied “big” clients he saw no sign of—either of the dissatisfaction, or maybe even the clients themselves. To have some vague sense that “something was going on in the back room, but I didn’t call the police” doesn’t scan for me. I think “the back room” was just Stavos being dramatic. He’s noticed some weird stuff, for reasons such as you’ve mentioned, and put it together that not everything is on the up-and-up with P&E. The back room is mentioned in the same sense that “a back room deal” might be mentioned. It’s not necessarily a literal back room, although in this case, the metaphor has a real-world analogy. ---
**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 22, 2018, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/457 "2018-05-22T07:27:10Z")
Okay, fair enough. I don’t want to be mad at the show, and that works well enough for me. ---
**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 22, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/458 "2018-05-22T22:59:21Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It will go out in the mail tomorrow. Lower right corner. I guess they must have more than one copy, as there is no mark there. Oh well, thanks for trying! ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/459 "2018-05-24T04:36:49Z")
Oleg better survive (so scared for him). I want to see the Jennings on the run just to get rid of that sad-sack look Phillip was sporting the entire episode. Only disappeared when he almost got red-handed with Andre. And Paige is the biggest idiot in the world (except for maybe Elizabeth who tried too hard to lie to her?) Good episode- will be interesting to see how this ends though I’m not sure I’m ready for it to be over. ---
**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 24, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379/460 "2018-05-24T04:46:55Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I think “the back room” was just Stavos being dramatic. He’s noticed some weird stuff, for reasons such as you’ve mentioned, and put it together that not everything is on the up-and-up with P&E. The back room is mentioned in the same sense that “a back room deal” might be mentioned. It’s not necessarily a literal back room, although in this case, the metaphor has a real-world analogy. Stavos: “Mr. Jennings! All the time I see sales receipts for WIGS from fashion stores! Thousands of dollars in receipts. Why on Earth would you buy so many WIGS?? Are you a DRAG QUEEN, Mr. Jennings???” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-americans-season-6/811379.md?page=24)