Tag Archives: Americans

WTA 127- Season 6 Episode 10 START

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The Americans, our collective passion for 6 years, has finally come to an end. And what an ending! No one dies, yet everyone suffers mightily. A fitting conclusion to one of the best television shows in the modern era! Of course we could go on and on about S06E10 “START”, which aired on May 30, 2018. It was written by showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg and directed by Chris Long.

This is Episode 127 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episodes 128 and 129.

We have so many news items we could share, yet three really stood out. First up is Variety with a compelling oral history of the show. Next is The New Yorker’s recap of the finale that found it elegant, potent, and unforgettable. Finally Vulture breaks down the blistering vulnerability of finale’s garage scene.

Then we pick right up from the end of last week. Philip and Elizabeth meet and go to get Paige. Meanwhile, Stan continues following his suspicions about them and ends up confronting the three of them in a garage near Paige’s place. After one of the most tense and wrenching scenes of the series, Stan lets them go. As they leave, Philip tells Stan that Renee may be a fellow Soviet spy. Dennis breaks Father Andrei. Philip and Elizabeth decide to leave Henry in the United States and ask Stan to take care of him. After an awkward farewell call to Henry, the Jennings trio don new disguises to flee to Canada on their way back to the USSR. Just before crossing the border, US Border Patrol agents fail to stop them. Seemingly past the danger, Elizabeth then Philip both see that Paige has left the train and them. With nowhere to go, Paige returns to Claudia’s empty apartment for a shot of vodka. Stan visits Henry and reveals the truth of his family. Philip and Elizabeth fly to Europe and then drive to the Soviet border. Arkady meets them and drives them to Moscow, where they get out and look at the Moscow River at night. Philip tells Elizabeth “feels strange” and she replies in Russian “we’ll get used to it.”

Remember that we do love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please keep sending them in! You can email text or audio feedback to watchingtheamericans@gmail.com or signal us (we have replaced the operator!) at 919-907-0542. Follow us on Twitter @WatchAmericans. Please like us on our Facebook page Watching The Americans. And if you do enjoy the show, kindly rate us or better yet rate and review us in iTunes!

WTA 105- Seasons 4-6 Roundtable!

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Tovarischi! The debut of the final season of The Americans is here at long last! Before we start our regular shows, we have finished our rewatch of the entire series and asked some of our long-term audio contributors to help us break down Seasons 4 and 5 and speculate about Season 6! Joining us this time are our friends and co-hosts Kathleen (aka alternakat), Roland, & Barb who help us go through themes. characters and major plot points from the first three seasons of our favorite show!

We love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please send them to us! You can email text or audio feedback to watchingtheamericans@gmail.com or signal us (we have replaced the operator!) at 919-907-0542. Follow us on Twitter @WatchAmericans. Please like us on our Facebook page Watching The Americans. And if you do enjoy the show, kindly rate us or better yet rate and review us in iTunes!

WTA 89- Season 5 Episode 9 IHOP

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The slow burn of season 5 is really heating up! Henry off to boarding school? Oleg under fire? What will Stan do now? Is Tuan really calling home? And where is Paige? Plus: Martha and Gabriel! We are all eating pancakes and talking about The Americans Season 5 Episode 9 “IHOP” which aired May 2, 2017. It was written by Peter Ackerman and was directed by Dan Attias.

This is Episode 89 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 90.

We have fashion news to start this week from JCKOnline showing that you can let ‘The Americans’ be your guide to great ’80s earrings. Then we have a terrific interview in The Hollywood Reporter regarding spies, lies and intuition in a conversation with writer-producer Stephen Schiff!

Then we dig into a short stack of episode goodness opening with Kimmy’s Dad, Afghan blood and…Kimmy at 17! Philip can’t sing Dylan! Stan learns Gaad was killed by the KGB. He sees Gaad’s widow who wants revenge. Oleg is interrogated by the PGU. He goes home and his father tells him his mother came home from the camps broken. Oleg then gets Dmitri to save his son from the war with one name. Philip meets a cryptic priest. Martha gets an unwelcome visit from Gabe and tells him to never return. With the teen boys, Henry want to go to boarding school! Elizabeth can’t find Tuan, so they tail him to Harrisburg PA. And IHOP! He was just calling his sick adopted brother. Right?

WTA 88- Feedback for Immersion

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Claudia? Oh no! Oh yes! Our favorite (haha!) handler is back and so are we, talking about The Americans Season 5 Episode 8 “Immersion” which aired April 25, 2017. It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and was directed by Kevin Bray.

This is Episode 88 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 87 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

There’s some cool history and tech for you this week! We have to handle Directorate K busting in on us while we we’re watching the lead officer in our local GRU. To relax after a terse confrontation, we play some Pitstop which is a true fave of all the boys in SIS-1. Then since we are starving we head over to Armand’s Pizza while listening to Peter Gabriel on our Compact Cassette in the dash! Then there are awesome new getups again with nice hair and more of your feedback than ever!

And we do love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please keep sending them to us! You can email text or audio feedback to watchingtheamericans@gmail.com or signal us (we have replaced the operator!) at 919-907-0542. Follow us on Twitter @WatchAmericans. Please like us on our Facebook page Watching The Americans. And if you do enjoy the show, kindly rate us or better yet rate and review us in iTunes or Stitcher!

WTA 87- Season 5 Episode 8 Immersion

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This is Episode 87 and contains the news and our episode breakdown and analysis. To hear our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments stay tuned for Episode 86.

Two cool news items came out this week! First up poet Evan McGarvey writes a very thoughtful piece in Paste about familial miracles and The Americans’ graceful approach to the parent-child bond. Then The New York Times has a terrific interview with Irina Dvorovenko (Evgheniya Morozova) revealing that the former ballerina doesn’t miss ‘Swan Lake’!

Then we get into the episode! Immediately after last week! Philip gets home and is dismissive of Gabriel and Elizabeth disagrees. He tells Elizabeth that Gabe doesn’t want Paige to be a spy, and Elizabeth is surprised. We finally meet Henry’s girl Chris! And she likes Pitstop! Philip and Elizabeth are evasive with Stan about Paige and Matthew’s breakup. Stan and Dennis work their new TASS source who is very nervous and has bad teeth. She should avoid Philip. Oleg is approached by Directorate K who perform a search of his room and find nothing. Daddy is NOT happy. Claudia (BOOOOO) returns, all warm and fuzzy. Kidding! She waits for Philip and Elizabeth at Gabe’s meeting apartment and is apparently back to being their handler. She later meets with Elizabeth and starts sowing the seeds of dissention about Paige’s future. Gus gets dusted by Deirdre who says he’s too wishy-washy. Elizabeth encourages Philip to get her back, and he does by telling Deirdre that he is married! Philip and Elizabeth in cool new outfits find that Mrs. Morozov has a lover who is CIA! Blackmail time! Tuan meets with Philip and Elizabeth and tells them they could make Pascha so miserable he would insist on going home with his mother. Elizabeth does more physical training with Paige, and she tells her about her rape and subsequent training. She pushes Paige to keep working on her own. They later take a walk and Elizabeth reveals she should have been…a doctor!

WTA 84- Feedback for Crossbreed

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Gabe leaving? Mischa gone? Stan and Dennis with a win? Detective Oleg? Paige and Marx and…Gabe? Minds are blown all across America with The Americans Season 5 Episode 6 entitled “Crossbreed”! It aired April 11, 2017, was written by Stephen Schiff, and was directed by Roxann Dawson.

This is Episode 84 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 83 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

Exciting history and music get us started! We join Elizabeth and Ben in some mystic Tai Chi while listening to the incomparable Peter Gabriel sing Lay Your Hands on Me. That gives us the strength to break out of a Soviet Corrective Labor Colony! After returning to America, we then engage in a rousing bout of agricultural crossbreeding! Then it’s wigs of the week and more feedback than ever!

WTA 82- Feedback for Lotus 1-2-3

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Who knew that spreadsheets and lovemaking go together so great? Philip sure does now after Season 5 Episode 5 of The Americans entitled “Lotus 1-2-3”! It aired April 4, 2017, was written by Joshua Brand, and directed by Noah Emmerich.

This is Episode 82 and contains our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. Please check out Episode 81 to get the news and our episode breakdown and analysis.

This episode was overloaded with history & tech! So, we catch a rerun of Romancing the Stone just before we decide whether or not to enlist in The Peace Corps. As we head down to sign up, we tune in to The Rolling Stones classic Slave. Waiting in line, we read some of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. Once we are done, we head over to McDonald’s, which isn’t serving Fatteh. After a delightful meal, we work on our old-school PC doing Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets, then take a spin in our classic GAZ Volga, and in 80’s fashion, shamelessly tossing out the styrofoam clamshell containers from our burgers! Then you provide terrific feedback, including a cool Vulture piece courtesy of Regina!