MovieChat Forums > The Americans (2013) Discussion > Kind of a boring ending

Kind of a boring ending

posted 6 years ago by Mister Babadook (2622)
12 replies | jump to latest

I mean they both retreat back to Russia and thats it? After all these years all the build up to them potentially being caught by Stan and they just have 1 conversation, Stan lets them go and they both successfully escape?

I dunno i was hoping for something more shocking and intense like one of them dying, one of them being caught while the other gets away. Both of them getting away and the kids essentially remaining safe in America is just a really boring ending to me, it hardly even felt like a finale, it kinda feels like theres more story to be told.

[–] winslow (1318) 6 years ago

it's over

[–] Mister Babadook (2622) 6 years ago

Yeah i know its over, what i'm saying is this ending didn't feel like a series finale, there was a ton of stuff left open and unresolved. What will happen to Paige and Henry? Is Stan's girlfriend actually a spy like the show has been hinting ever since she showed up? Will Philip and Elizabeth make it work in Russia or will they feel prompted to go see their kids in some way?

This honestly felt like an ending to any old season and there will be another season next year picking up with Philip and Elizabeth in Russia and showing how Paige and Henry deal with the fallout.

Nothing about this finale felt like a series finale. Just like with Dexter they didn't have the balls to kill either main character off or give some definite ending to their story. Probably thinking years down the lien they could bring it back so they wanted to keep everyone alive and out of prison.

[–] winslow (1318) 6 years ago

sometimes it's better to leave that to the viewer instead of doing what they did to the end of Dexter.

[–] Mister Babadook (2622) 6 years ago

I always think back to Six Feet Under and how no show will ever have a better more satisfying finale than that with no possibility at all of another season ever happening. Shows nowadays always gotta leave it open for some kind of return at some point, they don't have the balls to truly end it.

[–] Asolomi (5) 6 years ago

I'm OK, but not in love, with the ending. I'm replying to echo your sentiments on the finale of 6 Feet Under. Heck, I'd only seen the first season but tuned in for the finale and was blown away. One more Americans note, I DID love the way Philip, while doing the right thing, planted the seed of doubt and the associated paranoia, in Stan's head re Renee (also loved that the writers didn't give away her allegiance).

[–] carvinate (47) 6 years ago

They should have just turned themselves in and flipped, giving up the spy network and working out an asylum deal. It seemed dumb to go back when Elizabeth could be murdered by the anti-Gorbachev faction. Also, this was a shorter season and I guess the writers were pressed for time to come up with a perfect ending.

[–] winslow (1318) 6 years ago

In their interview, the showrunners said they worked on the script for the garage scene for months, and they weren't sure this would be the one until they did the table read. They knew since season 2 that they wanted Philip and Elizabeth to make it back with possibly one or both kids, they were just not settled on the logistics. I think it was better to show they remained loyal to the official government, at a huge personal cost. Their journey back to Russia was very tense, that's what they were going for with this episode. As a viewer, I could get a little bit of what they were feeling. By the time they got to the border, they had just resigned themselves to whatever their fate would be.

[–] carvinate (47) 6 years ago

Thanks for the backstory from the showrunners. I just wished they could have perhaps ended the show a few years after the wall fell. Phil and Elizabeth assassinated by the anti-Gorbachev faction, Henry living with Stan and graduating from college, Paige maybe reconnecting with father Tim on missionary work, Oleg released and going back to his family, etc...

[–] winslow (1318) 6 years ago

They left some opportunities for a followup, maybe a mini-series in a few years. I get the feeling as for right now, most of them want some time away from the show to work on different projects.

[–] Sandoz (2021) 6 years ago

I'm satisfied with how it ended. Not that I have anything against violence as a resolution to stories, but for a show that ran six seasons sometimes just *killing* your main character or characters can sometimes reek of trying too hard to wrap things up in some kind of neat bow. It worked ok for Breaking Bad, but then there are stories like The Sopranos or The Shield where it also worked not to have the main character go out in a blaze of fire. And I think in it's own way, the ultimate fate we saw of Philip and Elizabeth forced to return to a country that is less familiar to them now than it was when they left, and to not know if they're going to be welcomed back or face reprisals, is just as threatening to them as if they had been arrested or killed.

[–] ADBruno1985 (3303) 5 years ago

I see where you're coming from, but I feel like it felt. The show often went quiet and fizzled in places where it could've been louder. And that's fine, I think we've all seen/read plenty about why they deliberately made those choices. And that does make sense. But overall I agree with you, thought there'd be more action, maybe a death or two. And the scene with Stan confronting them in the parking garage, that is truly a great, but yeah, it felt like they were putting a bit much onto that one scene. Which on one hand is cool, makes the moment more iconic. But more of a chase or something. But I honestly thought the whole final season would be the family on the run, and I still think that could've been an interesting route, but we got what we got. And I liked it, just, yeah, could've been more.

[–] Batty67 (358) 5 years ago

I'm satisfied with the ending, but just. It fizzled. I really (really) wanted Elizabeth at some point get her ass kicked or just "lose" to someone, somewhere. She ended up a hardcore sociopath. Philip retained much more humanity and was weighed down terribly by all the things he'd done and suffering he caused. Elizabeth was way too flippant but acted in an unbelievable and inconsistent manner the last season or two.

Bellyaching aside: Ias an entertaining and well-produced show from start to finish. But it did pull the "Sopranos approach" to the finale.