“You asked for the truth, and with that comes responsibility,” Elizabeth tells Paige in the garage (which is fast replacing the master bathroom as the set du season). The burden that comes with having knowledge and choice is the driving conflict in this back half of the season, with week after week of difficult decisions being matched with long-standing secrets coming to light. Lies are often designed to keep life simple, but once they’re revealed, a domino effect of new choices, and new consequences always follows. Clarke revealed to Martha that he wasn’t who he said he was, and Martha chose to stay with him; Elizabeth chose to tell Paige about her past as an activist, and Paige chose to keep digging for more answers. Instead of simply doing what’s demanded of them, and denying their own individual agency, the Jennings have made their lives far more complicated by taking personal responsibility for their actions.
As a result, The Americans itself has become far more complicated, and I won’t lie by saying I don’t have concerns about next week’s season finale. Like the last few weeks, “I Am Abassin Zadran” had a lot of story to tell, and not a lot of time to tell it. Many scenes tonight feel cut off at the knees, quickly and efficiently delivering the plot purpose of what we’re watching, but rarely getting the chance to expand into anything other than piece moving. When you look at the number of dangling threads on the show that the finale might have to address, it’s staggering: Paige and Elizabeth’s possible Russia trip, Lisa’s photos from Northup, Nina and Anton, Stan and Oleg, Oleg and Operation Zephyr, what’s going on with Zinaida -even Kimberly, a character so core to the middle of the season, is becoming an afterthought to the season as a whole.
Then of course there’s Martha, whose survival to the end of this hour might be the most shocking thing about “I Am Abassin Zadran.” One does not place a spontaneous “check in with loved ones” phone call on a cable drama without invoking some seriously bad mojo. Martha’s in a tight spot, now that Stan has her scent, and I’m not sure Philip revealing himself (or, at least, his wig) is going to help much. The show has one more hour to decide whether they can try to maintain this untenable relationship, or put an end to it. Given how attached we all are to Martha, there’s no lamb more likely for sacrifice come next week.
Really what we’re seeing is The Americans dealing with the repercussions of a choice the show made earlier this year: craft a complete series instead of a complete season, even if that means risking an unfulfilling cancellation (which, thankfully, didn’t come to pass). I doubt even half of the season’s stories will have concluded by this time next week, which is something I’m fine with; few shows play the long game as skillfully as The Americans. In a way, we’re meant to identify with the Jennings family now more than ever: unsure about all the decisions we’re seeing being made, but asked to have faith that they’re in our best interest.
- Stray Thoughts
-Oof, that shot of Henry before the credits was another depressing entry in “Ignored Son Weekly.” I’m telling you guys, there’s something brewing here.
-“They got to somebody inside and it wasn’t me. Work on that,” Stan tells Aderholt in a huff after being asked about Nina. There’s a hilarious, great use of the mail robot making noise in the background that transitions the scene to Arkady getting a feed from the real snitch in the F.B.I.
-In part, my concern over the speed of things lately is because the last scene of “I Am Abassin Zadran” is a knockout. The slow pace at which Philip removes the Clarke disguise –one hairpin delicately removed at a time- gives so much room for Alison Wright and Matthew Rhys to deliver the full power of that scene on an emotional level, not just a plot one. The thought of losing Martha is one thing, but losing Wright too…I’d rather not think about it.
