Sam: I will admit that I really did not want to watch this episode, but it actually surprised me with keeping my attention throughout nearly the whole episode. Sad that I couldn’t say the same about just about every other episode, but I’ve beaten that dead horse silly already.

The main part about this episode that kept my interest was obviously the whole double meeting assignment given to Phil and Elizabeth, especially leading up to the moment Phil swoops in his old car and carries Elizabeth away to safety (but not before she apparently gets shot in the stomach).

As interesting as that was, though, there were way too many silly story lines that pulled that together. For one, Nina’s whole double agent bit has just gotten ridiculous. You touched on it from last week’s episode: she basically got off for treason with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Um…didn’t the KGB take out one of their own they didn’t trust in an earlier episode? She works in the frickin’ US office, so she seems like she’d be an even greater threat.

Stan’s character is also interesting, because he plays this stone cold agent on one hand who detects that one dude was “off” so wants to keep him closed up in solitary confinement until he hollers. But on the other hand, he’s not attentive enough to tell that Nina played him? Her reaction to his response that exfiltration would NOT be happening was absolutely absurd. Shouldn’t she have flipped out about 100x more than she actually did? Frankly, he should’ve then been comforting her, not the other way around.

One more major gripe: has Paige really NEVER tried to go to her parents’ room when she’s had a nightmare before? How old is she now? Like 13? NOW she decides to go to her mom’s room? And that whole thing about the laundry room. Good for her for asking Elizabeth why she didn’t hear the washing machine, but that whole last scene of the episode/season was just stupid. Yes, Elizabeth is great about covering her tracks, but the dragged out way in which Paige went downstairs would make you think she’d never seen the basement/laundry room in her own home before.

Oh, and we finally saw the Granny/Arkady in the car scene. After watching that scene, I have to say: they went through a lot of work just to shoot that one scene…

What were your thoughts on this season finale?

Jay: Ah, you basically nailed it. You know, I think it’s been awhile since I’ve pulled out the ol’ Homeland comparison, but this seems like a more appropriate time than ever, so here goes.

Homeland‘s Season 1 ended on an absolutely scintillating note: Carrie, getting zapped, hallucinating and/or dreaming as her memory is essentially erased Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-style, suddenly makes the connection she’d been unknowingly sitting on all this time, with the help of one word: “Issa.” The ending was perfect, brilliantly setting up a (pretty spotty) second season and closing out the opening one with a bang.

Now contrast that with the closing scene of Season 1 of The Americans. You already nailed it: a 13-or-so-year-old girl who runs to her parents’ bedroom when she has nightmares (isn’t she a good five years beyond that point by now?), randomly suspects that something horrible is happening in the basement, and even more randomly starts sifting through the folded clothes, as if she’ll find something unsavory between a pair of hand towels. Oh, and the usual overly distracting music blaring in the background. The ending couldn’t have been more mundane. In many ways, it’s a perfect scene to end The Americans‘ first season because it exemplified so many of the show’s flaws in those last couple minutes.

So no, I can’t really disagree with any of your critiques. On the other hand, I was also more engaged by the storyline in this episode than I think I’ve ever been all season long — despite the myriad flaws — so they must have done something right. One of my favorite parts was exactly what you highlighted: the double meeting in which Phil and Elizabeth insist on protecting each other, blissfully unaware that it’s the “safe” job that’s really the most dangerous one of the two.

On the other hand, was there any good reason to include the storyline about Granny killing the assassin? What, to show she’s a bad-ass? Weren’t we already supposed to know that earlier? Also, I’m a bit surprised our theories about Stan figuring out the Jennings didn’t come true, nor did our predictions of doom and gloom for Granny or Arkady. So really, nothing happened. Elizabeth got shot. And that was Season 1 of The Americans. In many ways, this episode was very much a Homeland Season 2 type. The difference is that, by that point, we’d developed enough of a rapport with, and respect for, the writers that a few glaring flaws in an episode wouldn’t ruin it for us. I can’t say the same for The Americans.

What do you think the chances are that you’ll come back for Season 2? What would it take to reel you back in? (And when is Homeland back on?)

Sam: It has honestly been a while since we’ve been able to make a good Homeland comparison, and you’ve done it brilliantly. Yes, a bizarre waltz through the basement laundry room by a rather non-essential character captures perfectly the banality of The Americans as a whole. Nice.

In response to your thoughts on Granny, I thought it was so silly, too. But, I suppose it’s to add to Granny’s mysteriously effectiveness as a super spy. Who suspects the bumbling grandma, after all? I was disappointed that no one we predicted would get taken out actually did get taken out, though. Perhaps that’d be too much of a ripple for The Americans.

My chances of coming back to watch Season 2 are pretty slim. I have absolutely zero interest in the whole affair with Nina (she annoys me nearly as much as Granny does now), and you know I could care less about the marital issues between Stan-Sandra and Philip-Elizabeth (or for that matter, Clark-Martha).

The only thing that would even get me to watch another episode is to see if (or perhaps when) Stan catches Philip and Elizabeth. Will he do what his job requires him to do or will his friendship with them cause him to hesitate and pull a Carrie-like stunt? But, I think I would be perfectly content to just read up on what happens instead of wasting more time watching this terrible “show” (soap opera might be more like it).

What about you? Will you be watching Season 2? In hindsight, it might’ve been more fun to watch a new show like Da Vinci’s Demons or something. Not as spy thriller-esque, but still plenty interesting. Homeland, though, has a release date for Season 3: September 29. Let the countdown begin!

Jay: It’s hard to say whether I’ll be back for Season 2. Realistically, I’m guessing I’ll get roped into doing it against my own better judgment, just out of a vague curiosity. What worries me, though, is the critical reception the show has received, which has been overwhelmingly positive. With Homeland, Season 2 went so far off the rails — at least relative to Season 1, that is — that the critics came out in force, virtually guaranteeing some sort of course correction for Season 3 (one hopes so, at least). But with The Americans, for whatever reason everyone but us seemed to love it, meaning I can’t imagine the show changing its formula all that much next season. In the end, there just wasn’t enough action or character depth in it for me.

Maybe it’s just that, after making it halfway through The Wire and having become a huge fan of another spy series, Homeland, my expectations for The Americans was just too high to begin with. But that’s a problem I’m more or less OK with having.