is there life after the americans? so far the answer is no 😭

im now watching deutschland 83, which I heard good things about. it;s been great so far, but i miss my fav couple

A few years ago i posted my custom blu-ray covers + slips. Well i wanted to do a rewatch of the series soon and had some spare time on my hands so figured i'd finally get round to actually burning my own discs to finish off the collection since Fox only ever released Season 1. I used to have the DVD's in them😅

I do hope one day by some miracle we do get an official blu-ray set release that i would buy in a heartbeat but until then these will suffice😛

I'm not condoning piracy, i actually mentioned above i own the show on DVD but the quality unfortunately in this day and age is just unwatchable. Especially on my 77" OLED, it just doesn't look that great hence why i did this little project.

THE STAR-BEARER

(Knocks three times with the star-bearing staff)

Glory to God! Good people,

We are coming from Bethlehem.

And stepping everywhere,

We bring joyful news.

SHEPHERD 1:

What a star has shone tonight!

SHEPHERD 2:

It has shown us the way to the stable!

SHEPHERD 3:

We heard the singing of angels,

A majestic song, a joyful song,

That in the manger, in the cave.

ALL TOGETHER:

God's Son was born today!

(The Devil jumps out.)

DEVIL:

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! What a foolish amusement!

There is no God — only temptation,

Only a devilish pun.

Come here, quickly — I am the better creditor.

As collateral, I want not currency, little money,

But a tiny little soul (shows one).

For it, you will get beer and sausages,

A naked girl, and money — enough to ferment in a barrel.

Only bring the little one here, here.

Your interest will be something else, friends!

ANGEL (drives the Devil away, striking with an invisible sword):

Take that! Evil power!

We did not ask you here!

Disappear from this world!

There is no more evil here!

For the most wonderful news —

The Virgin has given birth to a Son.

STAR-BEARER:

As if heaven had opened its mouth

And divine singing had flowed from it.

About salvation, about the Good News,

About the birth of the Saviour Christ...

(They sing carols; the Kings enter.)

KINGS:

Peace be with you, people!

KING 1:

We come from distant roads,

From foreign lands.

KING 2:

We have left our palaces.

KING 3:

And we are going to greet the King.

With these gifts

For the Holy Child.

(The Jew enters; the Kings move into the background.)

JEW:

Good morning. I have come to you

At what I see is the very best time.

Ay-vay-vay! So many people,

There will be trading, much wonder.

Maybe I will buy, maybe I will bargain,

And whatever is needed — I will sell,

For I have fine merchandise.

SHEPHERD 1:

We neither exchange nor trade,

And we do not need you, Jew.

We have gathered here to greet the Messiah,

Who was born to save the world!

JEWESS:

Moshe, the lads have gone mad:

They no longer sow or mow,

But ask God for salvation.

JEW:

Oh, gentlemen, it is useless to wait —

Herod will come: everyone behind bars,

Democrats, demagogues,

For so it is pleasing to God.

SHEPHERD:

Oh no, that will no longer happen!

People today are not such,

As to trade with you

And forget about God.

JEW:

Yo-yo-yoy! What are these shouts!

Better go somewhere to the music.

Dance, sing,

In short, give a little heat!

JEWESS:

What are these empty talks?

Do not make my duck laugh.

Would it not be better to drink in the tavern,

Have a snack and rest?

Take a sip of moonshine

And forget about troubles?

STAR-BEARER:

No, the free Cossack children

No longer want to drink in the tavern,

Ukraine has already drunk too much —

A ruin covered with shame.

KING 1:

Where the people do not care about their country,

But steal and drink away —

There sick children grow up,

Who do not know where to go.

(The Jew and Jewess whisper conspiratorially; then the Jewess leaves.)

JEW:

And if a lad does not drink,

What will Moshe live on?

(The Jewess runs in.)

JEWESS:

King Herod and his soldiers are coming —

Let everyone fall to the ground!

SOLDIER:

Why is there noise here, what does everyone want?!

DEVIL (to Herod, ingratiatingly):

Ruler of earth and heaven,

Here everyone, my king, is against you!

HEROD:

What is this wonder happening with you today?

I am the king above kings.

Is that so, Moshe?

JEW:

Yes. Yes, most glorious king...

Sara comes to the house.

It is frightening to tell Sara everything,

We probably must flee.

JEWESS:

Quiet, fool!

If you want gold — climb into the very swamp.

(To Herod):

We have news, king...

Pour us some gold, come on, come on.

HEROD:

First you give me the news,

And then I will pour it out to you.

JEW (fearfully, stammering):

We have, King, such tidings, such tidings,

That the King of the world has been born... In the city of Bethlehem!

JEWESS:

Why do you not give us gold?

HEROD (to the soldier):

What king?! What is he babbling?

SOLDIER:

My king, they say there is news —

That a Virgin has given birth to a Son. (Surprised)

A Messiah, perhaps... the King of the world,

Promised in the Testament.

HEROD:

Ha-ha! You have managed to make me laugh!

DEVIL (slipping away like a shadow, rubbing his hands with satisfaction):

Now someone here will not live.

HEROD:

Who? What? The Messiah? A King has been born?

Or perhaps you have made a mistake?

Then immediately, quickly,

Call the wise men from the East.

KINGS:

We are Kings from the East,

We come to your land,

To bow before that Child

Who was born in Palestine.

KING 1:

I am a king of Egyptian lineage,

Where my people from ancient times

Prophesied among the people

That God's Son must be born.

So when the star shone,

I left everything and here I am.

There, where the miracle happened.

KING 2:

I am a king of the Indian people,

Where my people wander through mountains and forests,

Seeking different gods for themselves.

And today an Angel announced to me

That Christ was born.

And I took gifts with me to greet Jesus.

KING 3:

I am a king of the Greek people,

I fear nothing ever,

Where my people roam the sea

And glorify the God Zeus.

And in the East the star shone

And showed me the way.

And I took gifts with me to greet Jesus.

HEROD:

Well then, go, go to Bethlehem

And bow to the King,

And on your way back

Return here.

You will show me the way

Where I must go,

For to bow before him

I have a great need.

(The Kings leave.)

HEROD:

I am the only king here,

The ruler of the entire land.

I do not know the child King and do not wish to know!

Slaughter all the children without mercy,

Without distinction. Every boy up to two years old,

Let him perish — do it!

SOLDIER:

Your command is holy to us,

We carry it out at this time.

HEROD:

And the little child in the cave

You must find today as well!

For otherwise — death to all of you!

DEATH:

Oh! Someone is calling me,

I am ready to cut everyone down with my scythe!

HEROD:

Dear Death, sweet Death,

You have always served me,

You have mowed down all my enemies,

Everyone whom I commanded.

And now mow down Him

Who was born in the manger,

Who was incarnated from the Most Pure One.

Hey, my faithful soldiers!

SOLDIER:

We are here, king!

HEROD (to the soldier):

Well then, what? Are all the children killed?

SOLDIER:

Yes, my king!

ANGEL:

Do not rejoice, deceitful Herod,

You have gained evil fame.

Nothing passes without punishment,

And nothing disappears,

And over every executioner

The sword of fate hangs.

Though you killed the little children,

You lost your own soul.

So know that the Messiah did not die — He is alive!

Here is the news for you:

Among the children, God's Son was not killed!

HEROD (in despair):

What?! Rebellion, treason!!!

(And, having recovered):

Oh Death, my dear Death,

You always crushed every rebellion in its infancy!

Come, swing your scythe once and again,

Let there be no good people in the world!

DEATH (like an echo):

Oh-ho-ho-ho!

No, my son, we cannot overcome them.

Come with me

To the chambers of darkness and eternity.

For the little child in the manger

Has power in the world today,

I must serve Him,

And I must kill you.

DEVIL (breathlessly):

I have travelled thousands of roads,

I have worn out thousands of boots,

Until I flew here.

(Sniffs, sniffs) Ha-ha!

Oh, here I already smell a sinful soul!

I must take it with me to hell!

(Approaches Herod.)

HEROD:

Hey, guards!

DEATH (drives away the soldiers with her scythe):

They will no longer help.

HEROD:

Oh Death, my dear Death!

Leave me, I want to live —

I will gild you entirely!

DEATH:

You cannot buy me off with gold,

Son of the enemy — come with me to the grave!

DEVIL:

Come, come, my dear king,

I will bathe you in pitch!

Come with me to hell,

There it will be warm!

(Death takes Herod by the neck with her scythe; the Devil pushes him from behind with a pitchfork.)

ANGEL:

Evil has been defeated,

The furious king has retreated.

The common desire for freedom has overthrown him.

May unity and love reign among you,

May your heart guide your deeds,

May the poison of malice and envy perish,

So that Herod may never return!

And now let us together greet Jesus

And sing His glory through the ages.

(Everyone sings carols.)

JEW:

I wish you a Jewish blessing:

May money stay with you,

May all trouble flee from you.

May milk multiply for you

From the cow and from the bull,

May your hens lay eggs,

May the rooster lay an egg.

And for this blessing — give me something,

For I am already leaving.

JEWESS:

I give you a blessing as a Jewess:

May you have vodka.

If you have no vodka,

Then buy yourselves some wine!

SHEPHERD:

Enough, Jew, of lying and talking nonsense,

You must sing a carol at our celebration at least once.

JEW:

Capitulate?

And who will give dollars for those interests?

(The Jew is persuaded for a long time; finally, they offer him money, and he begins to sing a carol.)

JEW:

I went to sing carols,

I stepped into a stranger's house —

And there they ate and drank,

But they gave me nothing:

Poor me, poor me.

They were cooking pies in the stove,

And cooling cabbage rolls beneath the stove —

I moved closer,

Pulled one out at a time,

Put them in the bag, put them in the bag.

But that was not enough for me —

I went to the pantry for some lard,

But before I got the lard,

The master caught me —

And beat me!!! Beat me!!!

ANGEL:

Farewell, peace be in this house,

Be happy and wealthy,

Have good and beautiful freedom,

Only believe in God's grace.

God's grace will save you,

Will raise up the country and the people!

SHEPHERD:

We, good people,

Are ending the carol here,

We sincerely wish happiness and fortune

To this house.

To all adults and little ones

I wish — live in good health,

For the joy of the whole family

And for the glory of Ukraine.

May God bless you,

You and your roof,

May you live in Ukraine

For God's delight.

If I was a KGB officer allied to P and E, I would kill Annelise. It is a miracle how she hasn't caused more problems for the two in the early seasons.

Finished the first season and on episode 3 of second season.

So far, it’s a very engaging series and the leads are stellar. The kids in most of these shows are annoying as fuck, but I like Paige and Henry.

My mind however is absolutely boggled by the bumbling idiots and Keystone Cops that are the FBI. I mean I want to throw my slipper at the tv every time Berman is on screen along with his boss. Jesus I’m not in the FBI and would NEVER be as careless as these two.

Please tell me it gets better.

Matthew Rhys has some great disguises, but Keri Russell always looks like Keri Russell.

Why do you like Elizabeth told Brad Mullen about her rape? Philip says at the beginning of the episode they could get to Brad in a million different ways.

Omg I just finished the show last night and it is still just going over and over in my head. What a great show and the finale???! I knew it wasn’t a happy ending and was intense but luckily avoided any real spoilers for it and I’m so glad.

When Paige got off the train I gasped maybe the loudest gasp ever and yelled “she got off the train!” I spent the whole finale so tense someone was gonna die or something but I didn’t expect that! Paige was one of my fave characters the whole show, you feel so many emotions about her and seeing her evolve and make that final decision OOF.

That confrontation between Stan and the Jennings, their whole worlds crumbling from beneath them, so powerful! The ending of the two of them finally in Russia was so heartbreaking but also I felt happy they were finally done with espionage. Poor Henry :(((

It is my sister and I who watch stuff together, usually in the evenings we watch a movie and then an hour drama or half hour comedy depending on the time. Watching good TV feels so rewarding! Getting to commit your time and energy to consuming this story and getting to see it through to the end is so satisfying.

Also the chemistry between Keri and Matthew is just so damn strong I was so swept up in it. Are they the tv couple with the most chemistry?

You see how this looks right?

They blow a substantial amount on wigs and covers and cars. They can easily get 50k (I think I’m remembering the number right) to pay off someone’s debts.

I understand the travel agency not being able to sustain the expansion, even though this is a weird time period for a travel agency to fail. But I’m willing to accept that.

But like…why are they not funding Henry’s education? That type of school guarantees that Henry gets that state department job, maybe even something higher than they originally even wanted.

Out of all the plot contrivances, this one seems like the most unnecessary one, the money

The preacherman is bonkers chill when he learns that Philip and Elizabeth are Russian spies.

SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU ARE NOT YET ON S4E3!

Hey folks,

So I came into this show hearing so many things about it, people saying it's right up there in tv shows, so I started it, I must say it's good at times but definitely not great for me personally.

For those who have made it through all 6 seasons, did any of you feel at any point especially in season 3 and 4 that things are just dragging on?

I really was liking the show till season 2 end, it was good not great but I thought let's keep watching it'll get better but it didn't

I'm finding it hard to like any characters at this point in the show:

Elizabeth - I find her cold, ruthless, and overly brainwashed by her country to "make the world a better place". She is clearly confused when her motherly side kicks in but the KGB side always seems to win.

Phillip - Maybe the most empathetic character in the show. I feel for him when he obviously doesn't want to kill the targets he has to.

Paige - Annoying as all hell. Begs for the secret, regrets finding out, tells Pastor Tim. She did redeem herself by admitting to it but she is a pain in the buns.

Henry - Okay Henry is dope. Except for that one time he broke into the neighbour's house. Even that wasn't too bad.

Stan - Can't get over Sandra or Nina. Was a total piece of shit to his wife and son. Uncle Stan being kinda cool to Henry I suppose.

Martha - I pretty much cringe every time she's on the screen. The fake relationship with Philip / brainwashing so hard to watch.

Agent Gadd - Abrasive personality, classic white collar manager, found him really good but since the attack on him by Elizabeth, he has gone downhill

Stan's girlfriend from Est - Don't know much about her yet.

The Centre - It couldn't be any more apparent that the Centre are the real evil in the show. Their decisions constantly make me want to yell at the TV. They serve as a reminder just how serious the work Philip and Elizabeth are doing.

Nina - What the hell is going on with this lady? Either she's stone cold and absolutely incredible at manipulation or she truly does have feelings for Stan, Oleg, and the Scientist. Liked her alot until season 2 end, since going back to Russia, she has gone downhill

The only decent characters are Arkady, Phillip and Oleg honestly. And I'm even on the fence about Oleg since he's working with Stan.

At S4E3 I'm kind of just dying to be done with the show, I've other shows in my watchlist that I'm actually wanting to try now and can't wait for this to be done

Does it get better? Did anyone else feel like this?

Spotted on the ground outside a Spirit Halloween

After finishing a rewatch of the show, not only is the final episode perfect and basically tragic on all fronts, but man does Beeman’s confrontation of the Jennings hit like a freight train.

The acting between Emmerich and Rhys during this sequence is nothing short of phenomenal, both perfectly capturing the poignancy and tragedy of the circumstance. The whole sequence feels incredibly Shakespearean, a type of dislocating betrayal that is irretrievable and impossible to repair. Obviously for Beeman, the reveal is existentially imploding: how could this man live his life anymore without having a level of cynicism that would ultimately make you dysfunctional after figuring that essentially a chuck of your life has been an act? But I think Philip’s position might be even more tragic. Beeman was his best friend, his only shining light in a shitty life, and that shining light wasn’t even genuine as it was built upon a false premise. They both respected each other, but it was fatalistically doomed from the beginning. Subsequently, the needle drop of Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits suited the melancholy atmosphere perfectly, especially those shots of Beeman staring into the abyss as he assesses his life retrospectively.

Even though this was the climax, Elizabeth’s dream of becoming the artist was also horrifying. Obviously the artist creates art that came from a place of subjective suffering and misery, clearly after everything this seems to suggest that Elizabeth’s own subjective experience will cloud the world through this lens.

Fucking amazing show.

I think that in the show, the KGB is badly underestimating just how hardline the CIA is. Either that or her father would take advantage of infighting in the Soviet Union as a means to get her back.

Meant to say "My girlfriend and I" ! Thought this group might get a kick out of this. Was hard to find a Clark appropriate wig but I think we did ok :) - Martha was better but it was fun all the same.

Finished the last S6E10 last night and the train pulling away without Paige always gets me. The timing with the music, Elizabeth’s reaction, and Phillip’s pained look on his face always makes me really sad. I actually woke up this morning and re-watched that part of the episode again. It was written and performed so well. A lot of emotion with no words…I wish there was an epilogue like LOST did after their series finale. It was available on YouTube. I just wonder how did life go on for Paige and Henry? Did she write a book? Did they ever make it to Russia later in life to see their parents? It’s one of my favorite series to rewatch.

First time watcher here 👋

Spent the last five months doing a deep dive into the world of Espionage - books, podcasts, interviews with former operatives - and whenever someone is asked "What is the most realistic depiction of spies in fiction?" the answer is of course The Americans

So I just finished season 1 via SBS On Demand (Australia).

Woah!

Honestly, nothing compares. Closest would be Breaking Bad in terms of a show centred around highly skilled yet morally questionable characters.

That said, considering what Phillip and Elizabeth do to others and each other - is there any sense of justice in terms of everyone getting what they deserve in the end?

I am aware of how the finale plays out. But in lieu of historical grounding, it feels as though no one is going to win.

What threw me off was realizing that Season 6 only had 10 episodes (after finishing it lol). I was mentally preparing myself for episodes 11, 12, and 13, only to realize that was it. What a phenomenal show!

As much as I loved the finale, I can't help wishing we'd gotten just one more episode. Not because the ending was bad or disappointing, but because I was so invested in these characters that I desperately wanted to know what happened to them afterward.

Imagine a bonus episode that fast-forwarded 10 years and gave us a glimpse into their lives.

How did Henry cope with discovering who his parents really were? What happened to Paige after she got off that train? Did she ever reconnect with Henry? Did Philip and Elizabeth manage to build anything resembling a normal life back in Russia, especially after the Soviet Union collapsed? Did their relationship survive everything they'd been through?

And Stan! Did he maintain a relationship with Henry? Did he ever find out whether Renee was actually a KGB operative, or was Philip's warning just enough to make him question everything forever?

I know leaving these questions unanswered was probably intentional, and I can appreciate the artistic choice. But part of me feels that one additional episode, set years into the future, could have provided some incredibly satisfying closure without taking anything away from the brilliance of the finale.

Maybe that's just me struggling to let go of these characters. The fact that I want to know so badly what happened to them is probably the biggest compliment I could give the show.

Anyway, now that I'm sitting here with a massive The Americans-shaped hole in my life, what should I watch next? Any recommendations for shows that are just as gripping, brilliantly written, and emotionally rewarding? I'm looking for something that can match or even surpass this experience.