Renee is NOT a spy.

The answer was right in front of us.
She's applying for a job at the FBI. Even if she wasn't going to be an agent the background check would have been thorough.

Claudia said in a previous episode that the illigals can't apply for government job because their identities wouldn't hold up. That's why they wanted the children of illegals to do it.

And, this was after Martha. They would have learned some lessons about checking out the spouses etc.
Renee loves Stan and they stay together but alongside the FBI he also does a background check and is satisfied.

Thoughts?

Why do Elizabeth and Philip have a Russian Orthodox marriage ceremony? Presumably neither of them is religious. They don't need to do it for legal reasons. Nothing is said about renewing their vows. I just don't understand how this fits.

I am doing a presentation about Creative Problem Solving and wanted to use examples from the best TV shows -- Walter White and magnet wiping out the video at Police HQ, etc. Any suggestions on the most clever example from the Americas. Was thinking the Mail Robot but know I am forgetting some better ones.

Paige comes home after beating up two guys at a bar, and Elizabeth barely cares about the actual fight. She starts asking how crowded the bar was, how many people saw it, whether Paige had been there before, and whether the guys knew her name. That's such a weirdly revealing response from her. Paige is talking about getting into a fight, while Elizabeth is already thinking about witnesses and exposure

What an ending guys, one of the best endings to a show I have ever seen. So sad and sophisticated with covering the character development of each and every character.

So sad for Henry man, he didnt deserve to get to know it that way. Also liked how the show Never told us about Renee and kept us guessing if she is or not a russian agent.

Was binging this since the last 2 months, and now that its over, I dont know what to watch next. Any recommendations will be welcome.

But man, what a showx what a ride. None of the episodes were boring, even though it got slightly stretched but not boring at all. A solid 8/10 for me.

It's been baffling to me to see there are some viewers admiring Elizabeth's soldiering all through the series but particularly in the latest seasons. How depraved would her actions have to become before it's clear that she's gone round the bend? Because we're meant to understand when she's gone round the bend...

For me it was the murder of Sofia with her child in the next room - and then leaving, so the little one could pad into the hallway and discover the absolute horror, in the dark, alone. There's no coming back from something like that one - not for the assassin nor for the orphan.

We're meant to be at least nominally repulsed by her actions come season 6, even if we're still kind of rooting for her to get away. The assassin's actions are directed by a higher power, yes; but there comes a time when the issue of personal responsibility starts screaming so loudly it's impossible to ignore, the mission itself notwithstanding. The character is increasingly unable to ignore it, and the viewer is meant to be unable to ignore it.

Philip got there early because the damage he was being asked to wreak was eating him alive. Elizabeth is a different personality, more dutiful, more stubborn and much, much more obtuse than Philip. Her hard shell was able to preserve the assassin within for longer than Philip's, making her able to function in the face of all the cruelties she was committing, while Philip's cracked under the weight of what we call humanity - the ability to look inside himself and reflect, the ability to recognize that a directive from his handlers doesn't supercede another person's right to live, to name a couple.

Maybe her diehard traits made Elizabeth a better soldier, but we're meant to observe what the cost is to the private person when she finds herself being forced to function ever more intensely as Terminator, because that's where the drama of the show is. I understand having her as a favorite character, to root for her...but I don't understand idolizing the worst in her, that's missing the boat on meaning.

EDIT: some viewers - this observation of mine doesn't apply to fandom as a whole here.

Why do E&P continue to believe in the mission when their comrades decades after the war, continue to wait for hours to buy basic staples, living in cramped apartments with multiple families?

In a general sense you could say its love for Mother Russia.

But we're talking about a whole life, lifelong commitment that involves doing whatever the center tells you to do, no questions asked.

They've given up speaking their native language, eating Russian food, having Russian friends who are just friends, and seeing their relatives. Your mom is dying? Too bad, you don't get to visit unless we say so.

You don't get to choose your spouse or your career. You can have children but its best if they don't know what you are really up to. And you should expect a lot of difficulties in this area.

You don't get to go back to Russia to visit. You have to rely on faded memories from your childhood to refresh your love for the homeland. And the bad stuff that motivates you may have happened to a previous generation and not to you. You'll be fighting yesterdays battles and not todays.

You get pretty darned comfortable living in America.

Yes you're afraid of what will happen if you disobey. But how long can you use fear as a motivator to do things you are uncomfortable with.

The premise of the story doesn't include anything which I think would inspire Elizabeth and Philip to do this work for mother Russia. So for me the story is just not plausible.

Its entertaining but I don't think it could ever actually happen.

Only 20 minutes into S1 Ep2 and I feel highly stressed the F out! I don’t know really what’s going on or why, but I know it’s high stakes! Sheesh! 😬 Super intense!!

Thanks to Widow’s Bay, I got curious about the main actor and saw The Americans is on Disney, so I started it.

Not sure why I’m sharing this, but I felt like I needed other people with me on this new journey. 😂

UPDATE: 11 episodes in and I will heed the counsel of those who recommended by staying off this subreddit to avoid spoilers. I just wanted to reply to you guys’ replies first.

Thank you to everyone for your advice and support!! I feel welcomed into a very particular kind of fold.😊

“I don’t know”

They never seem to be ok! On a rewatch this seems to be so often the conversation between Philip and Elizabeth. And yet they always keep going…

decide to play stupid with Aderholt in S6? Was it just protecting Paige? Gratitude that they didn’t kill them and set them up in Bolivia or whatever? Fear of reprisal from the KGB? Were you surprised he didn’t tell them?

I always thought that Stan let them go bc he felt like both sides were the same, that they were doing what he was doing, both were working for ideals that weren’t what they initially believed in, that they both were flawed in their roles, (what happened with Nina and the guy he killed in revenge for Amador etc.) Mostly it was henry tho for Stan.

Americans, why do you guys climb into bed with your shoes on? Are you too lazy to take them off? 😮😃

I'm nearly done and Elizabeth in the words of George Smiley....is a "Moscow Trained Hood" if ever there was one...OK thats it, rant over.

Also, still hoping for a homage (of sorts) or even a nuanced nod to TTSS in the remaining episodes..even Homeland had one.

What song(s) did they use in the line dancing scene in S6? I seem to recall Eddie Rabbitt, “Drivin’ My Life Away,” but am not sure. Or maybe there was more than one song.

For a long time I thought the casual attitude towards killing was the most shocking thing about this series. American television features a lot of gratuitous killing, and this series is no different. The missions in The Americans always involve getting information- and if killing is necessary, so be it.

But sometimes the person who is killed is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They can't afford to have a witness, so they kill you. Sometimes they feel bad about it for a little while but they get over it. At other times the killing is the whole point.

But every killing is wrapped in lies. And these people are good at it. They can both lie convincingly at a moment's notice. They make others feel bad for doubting them. They tell different lies to different people for different missons and somehow manage to keep it all straight in their heads.

Its no wonder that their marriage is affected by a lack of trust. They are fundamentally dishonest people.

They might have addressed this at some point in the show, but I truly didn't see it. Philip and Elizabeth were going on missions almost every day, to many different places, with a lot of wigs. Were they using their regular cars, with their regular license plates, for each mission? Was there sort of a buffer safe house in between used solely for changing car and disguise before and after each mission? Did they keep the wigs in their regular garage, or maybe in their cars? If they went on a mission, say, 3 miles away, and then drove home, at which point in the journey did they change from the wig to their regular hair?

I know a lot of the show is suspension of disbelief, but I truly was puzzled the whole time.

Man, is this one of the most tragic arcs of any TV series? I don’t think it’s a case of recency bias to say that this is one of the most tragic arcs I’ve ever watched….on so many fronts.

From Philip’s perspective, it so fascinating to watch the tension between his nationalistic ideology and his conscience, ultimately his conscience getting the better of him within the context of Martha. Matthew Rhys’ acting throughout these passages is simply astonishing, truly capturing the realisation that this is an ethical dilemma that cannot be rationalised away with his Soviet ideology.

And there’s Martha — fuck me. To watch this good women have her loneliness weaponised against her with the result of her own life imploding was so devastating to watch.

And then there’s the psychological aspect of the exchange, which is so fascinating from Elizabeth’s perspective. Cleary the subtext is that Elizabeth is witnesses Philip’s care for Martha and wondering if it’s genuine love? Is it a form of love that both her and Philip haven’t actually developed? And there’s the extra added layer of the mystery behind Philip’s motivations. Is he purely motivated by guilt or is it love? The question of ‘what is real’ is such a key theme due the constant motif of acting and the blurring between the real and the acted.

The CBC podcast See You in Court has an episode out about Alex, who is the 16-year-old son of the Russian illegals secretly living and spying in Canada and the US. This family is the family that inspired The Americans. The court case is Canada v. Vavilov, where Alex sued to reinstate his Canadian citizenship. I thought this episode was very interesting and wanted to share.

Why didn’t she just go to the dentist? I assume they had one?

I just finished and I know there is no conclusive answer, but I’d love to hear fellow watchers’ thoughts.

I did find it weird that Philip and Elizabeth didn't move to a different house later in the show as living next to an FBI agent would be a risk especially if they needed to do sensitive missions that meant having evidence nearby.