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Post by ThirdMan on May 25, 2018 16:17:24 GMT -8
I've always thought of it as mostly a two-character show, and to me, the writers and lead actors have virtually always done right by Philip and Elizabeth, at least since the series shook off most of its soapier leanings after the first season.
I'd also like to point out that sequence where Philip asks Paige to come at him (combat-wise), and then puts her in a choke hold, to be particularly complex and harrowing.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on May 25, 2018 16:48:57 GMT -8
I've always thought of it as mostly a two-character show, and to me, the writers and lead actors have virtually always done right by Philip and Elizabeth, at least since the series shook off most of its soapier leanings after the first season. I'd also like to point out that sequence where Philip asks Paige to come at him (combat-wise), and then puts her in a choke hold, to be particularly complex and harrowing. I agree. As exciting it would be to have the final season be a long, intense showdown between Philip and Stan, it wouldn't be very Americans. Frustrating as it may be, it feels pretty true to the show, which I found frustrating for a somewhat large portion of its run due to the way it sidelined the spy story lines. That being said, I think Jeremy has a point-in the past, they've done a far better job (particularly in the fourth season) of balancing intense spy stuff with the domestic side. The past two seasons, it's been pretty much all of the latter. I think I was wrong earlier in this thread-the domestic stuff is good, probably better than the spy side. But balance is key. Instead of a sprint to the finish line, it resembles a leisurely stroll instead.
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Quiara
Grade School
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Post by Quiara on May 30, 2018 19:58:29 GMT -8
Good finale.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on May 30, 2018 20:30:46 GMT -8
I unabashedly loved the finale. The scene with Stan in the car garage is one of the best scenes in the entire show.
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Post by ThirdMan on May 30, 2018 21:27:39 GMT -8
Yeah. A pretty strong sendoff.
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Post by Jeremy on May 31, 2018 4:45:19 GMT -8
I thought the finale was good. Definitely one of the stronger episodes of the final season - more organically character-focused, with some interesting send offs. I really like the way they left the Jennings family, and how they "resolved" the Renee mystery.
My one real complaint is that, even at this late date, the show still can't help pulling a few of its punches. I was loving the garage scene until Stan brought up the Teacups, and Philip and Elizabeth just kept denying that they're murderers, despite all the obvious evidence Stan has built up at this point. It just seemed like an easy and convenient way for the plot to have Stan let them go, even if it later paid off for the characters.
Also, the "Brothers in Arms" montage was pretty great, but it's too bad it will only be remembered as the second-greatest TV scene to use that musical cue.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on May 31, 2018 7:22:53 GMT -8
My one real complaint is that, even at this late date, the show still can't help pulling a few of its punches. I was loving the garage scene until Stan brought up the Teacups, and Philip and Elizabeth just kept denying that they're murderers, despite all the obvious evidence Stan has built up at this point. It just seemed like an easy and convenient way for the plot to have Stan let them go, even if it later paid off for the characters. But I'm sure Stan sees right through their nonsense this time. My take was that he lets them go mostly because of the message they have to get to Gorbachev, and partly because of his personal feelings. Oh, and Philip's parting gift to Stan was wrecking his marriage. Brutal.
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Post by Jeremy on May 31, 2018 10:54:44 GMT -8
But it would have been an even bigger gut-punch for Paige to find out, right there, the full extent of her parents' crimes. I was really hoping there would be some sort of momentary reckoning between Stan and Elizabeth, but the episode just reined it in.
Of course, if they had gone that route, the image of Paige on the train platform might not have been quite as shocking. And that is the gut-punch the episode needed to deliver more than any other. Philip and Elizabeth escape with their lives and their freedom, but destroy the lives of both their children in the process. That's a fitting sendoff right there.
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Quiara
Grade School
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Post by Quiara on May 31, 2018 11:32:48 GMT -8
Where does this stand in the pantheon of prestige TV finales, incidentally?
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Post by Jeremy on May 31, 2018 12:44:29 GMT -8
I'm already hearing critics call it one of the best series finales of all time, but I'm not really polishing it a pedestal. It's a well-done and fitting finale, but (like much of Season Six) it feels too mild and muted, particularly in its last few minutes, to be an all-time great finale.
Then again, it's hard to find many prestige dramas, outside of The Shield or Six Feet Under, that are widely hailed as brilliant. So maybe the Americans finale will rank relatively high in the grand scheme.
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Post by ThirdMan on May 31, 2018 15:13:42 GMT -8
Honestly, I remember very little about the SFU series finale, aside from the death montage, and even that I found a little hokey due to some dodgy old-age makeup. Good use of the Sia song, though.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on May 31, 2018 17:14:59 GMT -8
Where does this stand in the pantheon of prestige TV finales, incidentally? Below The Shield's. That's for sure. Definitely better than The Wire's, The Sopranos', Breaking Bad's. A bit worse or on par with Justified's, I think, which wasn't as good as The Shield's, but was still great, with a perfect final scene. It wasn't a masterpiece of the highest order, but it was excellent. Much like the show itself, I think.
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Post by Jeremy on May 31, 2018 20:14:45 GMT -8
I'd actually hesitate to call the Americans finale better than any of those others, with the exception of the somewhat underwhelming Wire finale. Breaking Bad's final episode may suffer from something of a wish-fulfillment quality, but it's still a thrilling bang-up finish for the series. And the Sopranos finale is quite powerful as well. (All anyone ever talks about is that final diner scene, but there are plenty of great moments throughout the episode.) Justified has a great finale, so long as I ignore anything involving the awful character of Boone.
I'd at least feel fine putting "START" above the Deadwood finale - although Deadwood is my favorite of the big prestige dramas, its final episode leaves something to be desired. (In truth, it was never meant to be a final episode in the first place, but it works as a final sendoff for the series well enough.)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Jun 1, 2018 7:26:32 GMT -8
The Americans is kind of interesting as far as prestige dramas go-- they usually start out low-key and then start escalating tension, whereas The Americans started out very cloak-and-dagger and with cars blowing up and slowly got less and less "exciting" until the finale was just... people talking, mostly.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jun 1, 2018 12:19:56 GMT -8
The Americans is kind of interesting as far as prestige dramas go-- they usually start out low-key and then start escalating tension, whereas The Americans started out very cloak-and-dagger and with cars blowing up and slowly got less and less "exciting" until the finale was just... people talking, mostly. I don't really think that's a strength though. In fact, that's probably the main thing holding me back from loving it as much as everyone else. There's no singular focus for the story or characters. Where Philip and Elizabeth end up, plot-wise and character-wise doesn't feel like a natural extension of a 6-season story, or a 5 act Shakespearean Tragedy that you mentioned last year. Their final tragedy is losing their children.....one of whom they've completely ignored and one of whom they've given trust issues for the rest of her life, at best. What's the real, over-arching story of The Americans? Plot-wise, Season 5 is basically revealed to have been a complete waste of time. The "big" decision to stay didn't actually have any consequences for them. They basically get the happiest possible ending. I should probably wait a couple days before posting my thoughts, sometimes. My opinion has steadily gone down since I've seen it. It was really well-made, but I don't think the show actually has an overall great story to tell. If they wanted the whole story to be about two spies who become disillusioned with their cause, that doesn't really work. Philip was already that way in the pilot, and Elizabeth very suddenly made that turn in the third-to-last episode of the entire series.
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