[usr 5]
At the height of the Cold War two Russian agents pose as your average American couple, complete with family.
“The Americans” has accomplished a rare thing. A perfect ending. It elicits a feeling that should have its own word for when it happens. It’s the pinnacle of pleasure and satiation, a near hedonistic feeling of witnessing the perfection of wholeness. And it’s funny because I never expected to feel this (or anything) for “The Americans.” I tried to get into it when it first premiered in 2013, but something felt off-kilter or too staged. I had no interest in The Cold War nor of espionage. But that was my mistake. While “The Americans” is all about The Cold War and is all about some espionage, it is also about something far more complicated and interesting and yet integral to all walks of life: family. Family is the thread that kept me interested. The façade of family and the existential crisis that slowly simmers and then boils over into the separate lives within the Jennings family unit. No one is who they say they are, even when they think they are. Double lives (and double lives within double lives) are tricky and while there may be triumphs, no one is truly triumphant.
Season Six begins in 1987, three years after the end of Season 5. Paige (Holly Taylor) is in college and is starting to work more closely with Elizabeth (Keri Russell) while getting lessons on Soviet culture from her mother and Claudia (Margo Martindale). These lessons on culture are some of the most tender and inviting moments in the series as Paige takes in the music of Tchaikovsky, watches Soviet television dramas, and learns to cook and consume (body and soul) food. It’s a schoolroom and sanctuary. But melancholy lingers within the walls and drawn curtains. The pain of memory and life left behind resurfaces time and time again.
This pain is best captured during a scene between Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth. Elizabeth returns home with food from one of these culture lessons. And like a child who knows they are breaking the rules, she reveals the food to Philip and it’s as if they are cradling a newborn creature for a moment, full of awe and longing, fully aware of the danger that even a dish of food could bring them. Philip declines the dish and proclaims he had Chinese and Elizabeth, without a moment’s thought, slowly empties the container into the trash. Of all the violent actions within the show, that seemed the most violent and painful to watch. Longing and defeat.
It seems to be a theme throughout the season. Philip has somewhat retired from the KGB and monitors the few loose ends he has, but mostly runs the travel agency while Elizabeth takes on a multitude of assignments. Her weariness is palpable but she carries on with her assignments and keeps her convictions and loyalty to her country strong. All while attempting to mold Paige the best she can.
Season Six is just as busy as all the other seasons. Full of assignments. Full of tension. And waiting. There’s a sizeable body count that includes far more intimate and disturbing kills. The stakes have always been high, but it seems everyone is nearly out of breath. It’s as if everyone knows the end is near but boldly denies its natural right to its face, and then it happens. The inevitable. FBI Agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) brings his initial hunch about the Jennings full circle. Agent Beeman is the only one that truly wins. And the Jennings (minus one) must flee.
The series finale episode “START” gives us a final run of disguises, close calls, and plot twists as Elizabeth, Philip, and Paige begin their journey to the USSR. It’s decided that Henry (Keidrich Sellati) is to be left behind at the boarding school. He’s remained clueless and is the only one that has a chance of leading a normal American life. But during this journey, Paige goes rogue and it’s one of the most beautifully defiant scenes in the series. Elizabeth and Philip are left to one another. Left together much in the same way they were put together in the beginning, a bittersweet endnote as they stand together looking out at the nightscape of their country. The city lights glittering, political currents shifting before their eyes, you can’t help but wonder if they’re thinking if it was all for naught.
Now available on DVD
