SPOILERS AHEAD
There is no rest for the wicked indeed.
I’m of course talking about Russia using 2nd generation illegals to become spies for the Mother Land. This is perhaps the biggest revelation that the 2nd season finale has brought us. I always imagined Paige and Henry becoming spies but the cute kind, you know, the one where Ricky Gervais lends his voice to a dog while Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are replaced by Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Lopez.
This 2nd generation illegals program is the key to the mysteries of the sophomore season. Claudia has been looking for the one who killed Emmett and Leanne and it was Jared all along. Not only was it shocking, it was also a necessary set up for the third season which I think is genius. It’s going to up the level of how much Philip and Elizabeth can sacrifice for Moscow plus it will be another issue that they will definitely need to tackle in relation to their marriage and their parenting.
“Paige is your daughter, but she’s not just yours. She belongs to the cause and to the world. We all do. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”
I was also happy to see Margo Martindale for the finale. We barely saw her on season 2 but I’ll get what I can take. Since she’s busy with her other show I don’t think we’ll see more of her on the 3rd season.
Anyway, moving on to Agent Stan Beeman’s. Stan has his own issues and we saw it being resolved alongside Philip and Elizabeth’s problem, it’s like two great things happening on one finale! But it’s not that great for Nina who was the major loser in this episode (aside from Larrick and Jarred). At this point, her future is still unsure, but she has two Knights that are willing to do everything for her so I’m not really worried. We’ll probably see Nina on the 3rd season.
Meanwhile, on Martha’s house, the biggest development is that she bought a gun. Nothing big really happened on her side and that’s probably good for Martha fans and Alison Wright who plays the character. She didn’t die this season so we can expect to see more drunk conversations between her and everyone.
As for the episode itself, it was another solid offering from the cast and crew of The Americans. What I love about the show is that they can neatly tie every season which is satisfying. There were also no cliffhangers and that’s huge because I find them cheesy and a lazy way to end things. What’s also great is that the battles that Stan, Philip, and Elizabeth fought were more personal rather than for the good of their respective countries. This show has managed to open up their characters and let us see their inner struggles, the thing that trumps everything. This, as a 2nd season ending, will be a good tone for what’s about to happen. It may not happen, I wish it did, nonetheless, excellent season 2 The Americans. Bravo!
