The Americans sixth and final season approaches...

Elizabeth would find out and kill his a$$

 

@albert_m - If The Center was paying for Henry's school that would blow his cover. They would have to maintain the illusion that Philip was doing it on his own from the travel agency gig.

I think we do have a lot to go on with my Henry theory. Hey, I don't mind being wrong, but why would the show even waste our time with Henry's hardships? Why even show how much Henry wanted to go to that school? Then there is the enigmatic "Chris." Maybe I'm being paranoid, but they never really said what her parents do. She came over for supper that one time. She could very well be Henry's future partner.

No one would suspect Henry and that may be what The Center and the showrunners want. They already set the precedent for this kind of activity, given that the other Russian spies had no idea that their son was a spy, too. Hell, that boy killed the lot of them!

If Philip and Elizabeth go into meltdown over the summit, then who steps in to right the ship? None other than Dead Eye Hank. Heh.

I'm making all of this up, of course.

 

It wouldn't be hard for them to provide the cash to Philip in a way that wouldn't be an issue.

I don't discount the possibility of Henry being involved though. The child of another couple in an earlier season was involved of course.

 

But after Philip pretty much retired (only doing the odd job, retrieving the bug from Kimmie's father), do they even supply him with money anymore?

It's a separate topic, but I've always wondered how The Center took care of them, monetarily. There's the money coming in from the travel agency, but if that is their only source then the KGB certainly aren't taking care of them well.

So, if the KGB is footing some of the bill, and Philip retires, let's say they cut his money off, but wouldn't Elizabeth be getting her extra? If she gets that additional scratch, then shouldn't she be able to afford the school?

Then again - which is very odd - they've made it clear that they've divided up the kids since Paige is now working with Liz.

 

We didn't know that the guy they killed in that wheat lab wasn't trying to sabotage the Soviet grain supply until after he was dead.

For all we know, the Center could have been sending their people to the travel agency to prop up the business. And it could be that they are now drawing customers away to punish him for walking away from his assignment.

 

My point is that if Henry is being groomed and sent to an elite prep school to get into an elite college to get into a key gov't role, then the center would not endanger that plan and would use every resource to make sure that Henry stays on track.

 

Something tells me Stan has suspicions about Phillip and Elizabeth. His over the top speech before the Thanksgiving dinner may have been to gauge Phillip's reaction.

Also, I don't think Elizabeth is gonna make it out of Chicago alive. Her telephone conversation with Henry almost seemed like she realized she may not see him again.

 

So did they have the scene of Philip firing his employee for intentional ironic humor tension release?
I was half expecting the employee to yell, "You Capitalist scum" at Philip in anger for being fired.

Or was it just the return of Mail Robot that served as comic relief?

Countdown to the end and the tension keeps building...

 

Random observation: Turkey with red wine? That’s an odd choice. Maybe less so now, but 30 years ago?

 

Different red wines.

 

Great season. Great show. Only 4 episodes left. They must be running out of wigs.


Tried to post a spoiler but I don't think it worked.

 

She's close!

 

I don't think so, but if you saw the preview for next week they definitely made it look like Stan starts to figure it out.

I think Henry had more dialogue in the last episode than he’s had in the entire series before this.

 

It feels like Phillip is being made the primary point-of-view character. He has an internal conflict and it is further dramatized and complicated with every episode. Elizabeth’s misgivings are all but gone. The more she murders the more emotionally distant from her we become. That suggests that Phillip will have the “big decision” and will be the last left standing, even if where he stands is behind bars.

 

I could see Phillip sacrificing himself for Elizabeth or Paige or both. He’s easily the most sympathetic figure at this point. His fate will probably end in death or terrible tragedy.

 

Has she ever had any? She's always been the true believer of the two.

 

I agree. I think the most profound tragedy for Phillip will be confessing to Stan to try and save Elizabeth or Paige or both, then living out his days in solitary knowing Elizabeth is (probably) dead, Paige is imprisoned for life, and Henry will never see or communicate with him again. He’ll know his children both consider him a traitor (for opposite reasons!) and, worst of all, he could have prevented it all by agreeing to Elizabeth’s suggestion that they take the whole family home to Russia last season.

That’s my guess.

 

That’s true. I think she hesitated about recruiting Paige. Once that happened, she was all in.

 

She is a tried and true, kool-aid drinking whatever they tell me is true cold war commie.

 

So Nadezhda is solid as a rock. Focused, determined, unwavering. Hmm, maybe. But the mission certainly is taking it's toll. Her claim that all the smoking was relaxing her was unconvincing. Her husband is looking at their daughters' future and seeing predatory sex and cold blooded murder or, alternatively, line dancing, with boys. We don't know what's happening with Elizabeth particularly regarding Paige.

Spoiler: I'm pretty certain that

Claudia doesn't get a vote.

 

I'm expecting a Prizzi's Honor kind of ending where Phillip and Elizabeth are ordered to kill each other, but maybe that's too predictable.

 

Stan is in a no-win situation. "Yeah, I lived next door to some Russian spies for years. What of it?" is the conversation he will have with someone at the "New Directions" career skills workshop he'll be attending.
I agree with you all that Phil falls on his sword for his family. Not that it would do any good, unless Elizabeth & kids can get the hell out of dodge quickly.
I did not watch the previews (because The Americans previews are, by far, the most spoilery in the business), but I get the drift that Stan is finally seeing the light. I think in the dark recesses of his mind he never got over coming up snake-eyes searching the Jenningses' garage way back in Season 1. But it is fascinating that the FBI gets clued into the illegals by doing real, almost banal, detective work, using car registration records. All of those endless scenes showing the illegals doing the automotive dosey doe when they tail targets was clearly a clue the producers have hidden in plain sight all this time.
Who knew Henry could speak? (I'd love to see a new sitcom with Henry and Paige-"My Sister The Spy").
And speaking of country dancing-you go, Phil, keeping the country radio station playing!
Kudos to the music supervisors for going deep with that Tears For Fears track.

 

I love the theorizing everyone's doing here - keep it up!

I just think Elizabeth has to die in the end. Since it would probably kill her to watch her beloved CCCP bite the dust, we may as well kill her a couple years early. Phillip is going to have to be jailed when Stan figures things out, so let's tag him with Elizabeth's killing, too. That would be the final nail in his relationship with Paige, too. It would all give The Americans a suitably dark, Russian-style ending.

 

I think Philip's going to die...

 

Philip takes both their lives to save Paige. Show ends fading out as Paige opens the door only to see Claudia with her assignment.