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Post by Incandescence 112 on Apr 20, 2018 14:15:00 GMT -8
But in any case, I think we can agree that Walton Goggins is an amazing actor. Hell yeah he is! I tried to watch Vice Principals for him! The fact that he hasn't been hired for more things is an insult.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 20, 2018 14:31:12 GMT -8
He played the villain in Tomb Raider recently - not a great film, but a strong performance. And he'll be in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp. Guy's doing some good work lately, even if FX is in his rearview.
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Post by ThirdMan on Apr 20, 2018 20:47:34 GMT -8
Jer, I can barely find the time to watch two-hour movies these days: the Blu-Ray of Pixar's Coco, borrowed from my public library, sat on my shelf for two weeks, unwatched, before I returned it last night. Plus, only the first two seasons of Alias are reputed to be particularly good, and I think I watched the last few episodes of Season 5 anyways (can barely remember a thing about them). Garner never really did it for me as an actress, either.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 21, 2018 17:18:39 GMT -8
I know, I know. It's just that when you make a comment about how you're limiting yourself to shows with five seasons or less, I'm obviously going to start recommending five-season shows that have as many episodes as possible.
I'm charmingly annoying that way.
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Post by ThirdMan on Apr 25, 2018 11:37:31 GMT -8
I hope they don't spend too much more time with the terminally-ill female artist character. I mean, the woman playing her is a good actress, but this show already dabbles in despair and disillusionment enough. It needs an emotional charge right now, and not to just wallow in misery and depression. We're at the halfway point of the final season tonight.
I'm also unclear as to why Philip is struggling so much financially, as he's clearly still doing some spy work, which should supplement his income pretty well. Henry's schooling also feels like small potatoes at this point. I hope he finds out his parents are spies shortly, so his entitled attitude drops off a bit.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 25, 2018 14:11:42 GMT -8
I'm hoping they go somewhere with Henry before the show is done, because he's barely done anything of interest across the entire series. It's sort of astonishing that the show can do so well with one Jennings kid and so poorly with the other.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Apr 25, 2018 14:47:04 GMT -8
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 25, 2018 14:52:49 GMT -8
Wow. Henry is practically the Maris Crane of The Americans.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 26, 2018 8:40:23 GMT -8
Okay, "The Great Patriotic War" was pretty good, and the first substantial sign that the series is building to a real climax. It was a long episode - the show's lengthiest since the pilot - but it used the expanded time to really explain just how bleak and hopeless things have become for Philip and Elizabeth. Whatever doubt that remained about the destruction of their relationship has been irreparably damaged at this point.
With only five episodes left, it's anyone's guess where the show goes, but I'm guessing "nowhere good." Here's at least hoping they build on this episode and deliver a strong conclusion.
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Post by Jeremy on May 24, 2018 18:31:33 GMT -8
Well, the second half of the season has been stronger than the first, but... man, does this show feel past its expiration date.
We're hitting a lot of cues about Stan's investigation and the Soviet decline, but most of it just feels generic and routine, like the series is just going through the predictable final-season motions. What's especially frustrating is that there's literally just one episode left, and the series is still refusing to take any of its cards off the table. There have been no major character deaths, no game-changing twists - heck, Stan technically still hasn't blown the Jennings' cover.
The Americans has always thrived on tension-building, but it also has a habit of dragging out the tension of certain storylines far too long. I fear this is especially the case now, in the final season, when the series no longer has a "to be continued" stinger to fall back on. And unless next week's episode is one whopper of a finale, I don't see how they can justify all the wheel-spinning that's led up to it.
But hey... it looks like I'm in the minority here. Most fans seem happy, and critics will defend the show to its dying day. But I'm sorry, folks - I think the emperor has lost his clothes for a while.
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Post by ThirdMan on May 24, 2018 19:08:48 GMT -8
A lot of your desired payoffs read as "melodrama" to me, and I think the show has virtually always been drier and more restrained than that. But, I mean, they just killed off a pretty notable recurring character...
Regardless, that last scene with Russell and Martindale was masterfully-handled, and was a big payoff to their characters' longstanding tension, IMO.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on May 24, 2018 19:51:26 GMT -8
Well, the second half of the season has been stronger than the first, but... man, does this show feel past its expiration date. We're hitting a lot of cues about Stan's investigation and the Soviet decline, but most of it just feels generic and routine, like the series is just going through the predictable final-season motions. What's especially frustrating is that there's literally just one episode left, and the series is still refusing to take any of its cards off the table. There have been no major character deaths, no game-changing twists - heck, Stan technically still hasn't blown the Jennings' cover. The Americans has always thrived on tension-building, but it also has a habit of dragging out the tension of certain storylines far too long. I fear this is especially the case now, in the final season, when the series no longer has a "to be continued" stinger to fall back on. And unless next week's episode is one whopper of a finale, I don't see how they can justify all the wheel-spinning that's led up to it. But hey... it looks like I'm in the minority here. Most fans seem happy, and critics will defend the show to its dying day. But I'm sorry, folks - I think the emperor has lost his clothes for a while. ...are we watching the same show?? Because my qualms with the last episode are the exact opposite of yours! I think the show has been moving too fast with some of the beats. That being said, "Jennings, Elizabeth" was a great episode. Great character work for you-know-who. (Pastor Tim) Fantastic use of subtext and flashback and stuff. Are you hoping Stan will catch wise to the Jennings? Because that's not going to happen. The question going into the finale isn't "how are they gonna get caught?", it's "how are they gonna live with themselves for the rest of their lives?" (And of course, "where's Henry?")
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Post by Jeremy on May 24, 2018 20:29:58 GMT -8
I don't really care much about "how" the show's various plot threads resolve itself, as long as they're resolved in a way that's intriguing and fits with the show's theme and tone. (Heck, there are a few plot threads that are probably better off left dangling.) But pretty much all I hear people praising about this season is its level of tension. And tension can be great, so long as there's a purpose to it.
I normally wouldn't be so concerned about the show's ending if the show itself hadn't spent so much time building up to the idea of shocking, deadly, terrible end. But the final season has inexplicably decided to stretch out its path to the most obvious climax (the FBI closing in) for as long as possible, and has filled in much of the time in between with... pretty much the same story beats we've seen in the last few seasons. There have definitely been some good moments (last night's episode had two, in the Elizabeth/Claudia scene and Paige's confrontation), but so much of it feels like the season could have been trimmed to half its length. By dragging it out, the writers have only increased the tension and made the bar they need to clear even higher.
I dunno. Maybe the finale surprises me somehow. But I'm kind of skeptical at the moment.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on May 25, 2018 9:31:44 GMT -8
But those people are wrong, because tension isn't the point of this show.
What The Americans has been knocking out of the park as of late is the character beats for Philip and (in particular) Elizabeth. Philip hasn't been able to justify his actions for a long time, but he can never really get the absolution he wants-- not through EST, not through capitalism, and certainly not through his idiot Russian Orthodox priest. Elizabeth never had this problem because she's been a true believer in the Soviet cause, but perestroika has made it harder and harder for her to continue justifying the day-to-day violence of her job. Seeing Elizabeth begin to grow her own moral compass separate from the Soviet line: that's what made these past few episodes compelling. Because it's a resolution of the defining character dynamic of the show.
It doesn't matter whether Stan catches the Jennings or whether the Soviet Union dissolves, no more than it matters whether the guy in the Members Only jacket offed Tony Soprano. All The Americans needs to do is nail the landing with regards to the Jennings family. I have faith they can do that.
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Post by Jeremy on May 25, 2018 9:57:52 GMT -8
I imagine the finale will do right by the Jennings clan, since the Philip/Elizabeth/Paige material is really the only part of the show that's still clicking. It just bugs me that the show is still trying to hang on to every other plot thread it can manage, instead of letting a few of them go and putting more emphasis on the central family. (Which I'm really hoping gets plenty of screentime in the finale.)
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