I don’t know, that would require P&E to be pretty stupid. They know the FBI is onto the other Illegal, and that the other Illegal is also working with a Russian Orthodox priest. It’s a bit of a no-brainer that the FBI will be looking at every such priest, now.
While P&E have made mistakes, none were quite so numskulled as hanging around someone who literally has “Russian” right in his title when the FBI is on alert.
That’s a fair point. Mostly I just got it from them mentioning the Russian orthodox priest connection seperately from the other discoveries they made about the hideout garages, cars, utility bills. I figured making it stand out seperately and later might’ve had narrative purpose.
It’s possible that even with no further contact they still get caught due to the priest… ie, the FBI surveils him, sees him doing other dirty stuff, catches him, and says “ok, you can go to prison, OR you can help us out… now, it’s an off chance, but do you know any spies” or something like that.
One thing seems a little odd to me. I know that the “center” is stretch pretty thin, but now that they see Paige as a long-term investment the logical thing to do would be to have Phillip and Elizabeth actually become Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings because anything that would “blow” them would finish Paige as a long-term asset. (Maybe have them do zero-risk recon type stuff only or work as “spotters”.)
Right now the Centre is facing what they believe to be an existential threat. Until the Summit is over, they need to be balls to the wall.
I saw that as the show telling us exactly how screwed P&E might be. The other Illegals are using the same tactics we’ve seen P&E using, and now the FBI knows all about them. P&E have to switch up literally everything they do to avoid being caught. But can they do that? Years of effort and investment can’t be reproduced overnight. One or two things, like the priest, could be dropped, but all of it?
My impression is that the priest is way more reliable than that. He’s not doing it for money, he’s doing it because his faith tells him it’s the right thing to do. He’s already committed to a life that involved personal sacrifice, so I can’t see him thinking jail would be that much worse.
Thanks for that. Gonna keep a sharp lookout on future exterior scenes…
So, past seasons have had 13 eps. Is that what is planned for this final season?
My understanding is 10 eps for the final season. So we’re getting down there. So much of this show has been “slow burn” that I hope they don’t squeeze it all into the last episode just 'cuz they feel they have to.
I’m thinking when you add up that Father Andrei importantly represents the true joining of Philip and Elizabeth (who have grown very much apart [getting the band back together in Chicago notwithstanding]), and the fact that we were reintroduced to him this season in case we had forgotten about him, and now the FBI says “oh hai we’re watching some local priests lol,” there’s a chance he has an important part to play in the endgame however we get there.
That being said, what’s the biggest fakeout they’ve thrown us over 6 seasons? I’m sure there has to be some, I just can’t think of one right now.
It will go out in the mail tomorrow. Lower right corner.
Martha’s gun comes to mind or Callie Thorne as Stan’s first post-divorce girlfriend.
As the show continues to make Stan the duty idiot, I’m more and more convinced that he’ll be the one that brings them down. I mean, Stan can’t go 0-everything can he??
What has Stan done that makes him so wildly incompetant to you guys? You know he’s not watching the show, right? He doesn’t know what we know.
It does seem like Aderholt has his shit together, though.
I’ve finally caught up to the most current episode to join/read this thread.
I have issues with this fucking show and I have no idea why I keep watching it. Mostly to complain about the following:
That stew they made a few episodes back… “jarkoye”… that was some bullshit right there. It’s meat, onions, carrots, potatoes and salt & pepper and bay leaf. It’s basic peasant food. A staple. All the oos and aaahs were way undeserved. Philip was the only one with any sense at all about it. “Oh, sorry, I just ate”… <dump!>… And why the fuck can’t they keep some stew leftovers in the fridge? Like *that’s *the thing that will get their asses nailed as Russian spies. What a load of bullshit writing.
Paige, still fucking annoying little shit. I enjoyed seeing her get her ass kicked by her dad.
Elizabeth needs to die. She’s way too delusional. Maybe Philip can escape and enjoy the rest of his life living quietly in Belize.
Stan is overdue for a break. Maybe he can be the one to put a bullet into Elizabeth.
I can’t believe Philip fired Stavros. :mad: I liked Stavros.
Stan has sort of cluelessly bumbled his way through his career in counterintelligence, marriage, and fatherhood. He killed Vlad in cold blood out of some misguided vengence for the death of his horndog partner, had an affair with a Soviet national whom he was supposed to be using as an intelligence source, compromising himself and the entire operation, and allowed a Soviet operative to escape and didn’t connect the fact that Elizabeth disappeared at the same time for months. Basically, he’s a pretty shitty FBI agent and not a very good person despite his unbridled patriotism. (This in no way reflects Noah Emmerich’s portrayal of him, which is excellent.)
This is more about operational discipline of avoiding everything that might even vaguely look like being not Americans rather than any specific security concern over being found by Stan out over stew, as if Stan would know homemade zharkoye from Dinty Moore. Given that spies have often been discovered over table manners or minor cultural faux pas, it is not surprising. In reality, Soviet ‘illegals’ were given legends that had them coming from other non-Soviet nations so as to cover for the lack of perfect diction or cultural notions.
Stranger
Hmmm… I hadn’t considered that. Fair enough. But then shouldn’t they have been worried that someone would smell zharkoye while they were cooking it? Plus, the next time, they were planning on making goluptzi!
All references to “Dinty Moore” make me laugh. It’s a funny name.
Given that they were cooking in a safehouse, it seems as though they weren’t particularly concerned, and it isn’t as if zharkoye smells that much different from any other stew. Except for the parsnips, it is basically the same stew you’ll find in any American kitchen. It is best to bear in mind that while the essential premise of the show is based upon the actual Soviet ‘Illegals’ program, the reality involved a whole lot less active spying and (as far as we know) basically zero assassinations or kidnappings on American soil. The conflict over the zharkoye was really just a narrative mechanism to highlight the growing divide between Philip and Elizabeth, both operationally and personally.
And consider why you dislike Elizabeth so much; she is certainly dedicated to mission, and as such she is an enemy to the United States, but she has a consistent ethic about what she is doing: she is protecting Mother Russia from enemies who would have it destroyed, and she has maintained her true compass through challenges and regrets. Philip, on the other hand, has never been very clear about why he was kidnapping and killing people, and now he seeks to live the life of Westernized capitalist with no real ethic except to enjoy himself and grow his business, and clearly not wanting to return to the Soviet Union, making all of the murders he committed on behalf of the Centre pointless. Philip is not any kind of hero, and he has done absolutely nothing to redeem himself up to this point other than wallow in self pity. His reluctant acceptance of his alternate mission to stop Elizabeth and the more radical faction of the KGB is really the only thing he has done that makes him more than slightly sympathetic.
”Dinty Moore is the beer of meals!”
Stranger
Damn, if that’s the only difference in Evil Commie Stew, it means my mother is a Soviet Spy!
Oh, well, I never liked parsnips anyways.
No, I get that. I was just riffing. Should have added a smiley. 
Here’s the thing; she has not been to or seen Russia in over 20 years. Hasn’t even spoken with any civilian Russian who wasn’t an operative, a handler, or an “enemy of the state”. She’s been brain washed to believe that what she is doing is right, without question. She has also been shown to actually like/appreciate American life and she hates the fact that she likes it. So she fights her instincts to see the good in her American life in order not to have to face the shit and lies and manipulation of her Soviet upbringing/roots.
She might have fidelity to the cause, but not to her own doubts. She avoids reality. She is capable only of seeing the world as white v. black, good v. bad, Russia v. America.
Philip is flawed as well. But not to the same extent as Elizabeth.