Sam: A couple of unexpecteds happened this week, but I think this show lost me so long ago that it didn’t even interest me. (I suppose my overall negativity toward this show doesn’t spruce up the conversation much, does it?)

First, I forgot to mention last week that the developments with Clark/Phil and Martha are entertaining in a terrible way. I feel horrible for her, since she’s getting completely duped. But it is funny to watch Phil in these moments.

This week took it to a whole new level though. Granny playing his mom and Elizabeth playing his sister? Martha’s mom’s comment that “I can see the family resemblance!” just made it that much better. I laughed, not because it was funny, but it was just so…laughable.

I did not think Nina would get out alive whenever Arkady and team found out she was the mole, but the way it happened when it actually did just saved her for Season Two, I think. Somewhat lame, but better than perhaps the cliché “she’s gonna get shot” story. I now shift my money to Granny getting axed in the last episode. (On a side note: we still haven’t seen that scene of her and Arkady in the car shot by SIPA, have we?)

The Paige-Matthew dynamic was somewhat predictable, and honestly, I’m not sure how much it actually adds to the story as a whole, except that Paige can talk to Elizabeth about her relationship problems. Not so interesting.

Overall, I just can’t wait until this season is over, so we can go back to reviewing some actual good shows. Your thoughts?

Jay: Have we finally gotten to that point now? Where, just before the season finale, we guess who’s getting killed? I love this part.

So you’re going with Granny, eh? That’s not a bad guess, although I’d be sadder to see her go than you would, I think. Can’t we just kill off Elizabeth, Paige, Henry, and Gadd? That’d be a good start. In all seriousness, although I don’t have a particular guess for who’s going to die — Granny seems as good a guess as any — one thing I feel somehow fairly confident about is that something dramatic will change in the relationship of the Beemans to the Jennings.

Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked if Stan identifies the Jennings as the Russian spy couple that the FBI’s begun hearing about lately. But it would have to be done in such a way as to leave Stan, Phil, and Elizabeth all alive. I’m not sure how this will happen, but I am weirdly confident that something along these lines will take place in the finale this Wednesday. (It’ll be fun to see just how wrong I turn out to be.)

Nina’s story didn’t make a lot of sense to me. So she gets promoted, and a jingoistic pledge to support the motherland suddenly jolts her back into reality? (That, and a conveniently placed portrait of Vlad.) And now she’s suddenly remorseful for spying on Russia? Give me a break. What drives me so crazy about this show is the way it lurches from one point to another without actually building the underlying narrative structure necessary to make each new moment feel realistic. For example, when Nina seems to realize Stan was the one who killed Vlad, what made her suddenly think that? There was absolutely no logical reason why she’d suddenly recognize the truth, except for the fact that it helped move along the story. This has been an overriding problem for The Americans all season long.

What are your finale predictions, other than Granny’s premature end?

P.S. Nope, we’re still waiting on that scene with Arkady and Granny in the car. I’m guessing it was shot for this upcoming episode, although I suppose it’s theoretically possible that A) it’s for something next season or B) it was thrown out and never used in the episode for which it was shot.

Sam: Good point about the Arkady and Granny scene. I suppose it might’ve gone nowhere. I love your proposal to off Elizabeth, Paige, Henry, and Gadd. Personally, I’m cool with Henry. The rest I could care less about.

You’re absolutely right about the ridiculousness of the Nina storyline. As you note, the problem is not just on an episode-by-episode basis, it’s been a series-long issue. There is little cohesiveness to the series as a whole, and the piecemeal manner in which they try to tell the overarching story is shoddy work.

My finale predictions are similar to your thoughts on the Beeman-Jennings’ relationship. I think the season will end with Stan realizing that Phil and Elizabeth could be the couple they’re looking for (and then next season will start with Phil and Elizabeth framing an unsuspecting couple to take the fall). Whatever happens, I think the ending will be set up as a cliffhanger (though I will have little desire to watch Season Two).

I fully expect at some point that Stan and Sandra get divorced, and Stan goes all crazy super agent and figures out a whole bunch of stuff. Probably Season Two material. But the finale will probably see one or two of the main characters either get hurt or thrown into a precarious situation (i.e. Phil and Elizabeth almost getting outed).

How do you think this finale will link to the subsequent season?

Jay: I think we’re basically aligned in our expectations. (Actually, again, if I had to guess, I might go with Arkady being killed somehow. We’ll find out soon.) I think the essential connection to Season Two will involve Stan’s discovery of the Jennings as suspects.

One possibility that is just occurring to me now, however, is one in which Stan knows about the Jennings but doesn’t do anything about it right away, choosing instead to use them to unwittingly lead him to their superiors. Alternatively, he could recruit them (more likely, Phil) to help him get to their higher-ups. The alternative is possible, as well: the Jennings know Stan has found them out, and so they try to lead him astray all while living under the constant threat of arrest. There are a million possibilities, almost all of which would drastically change the basic storyline of the show. (Not that that would be a bad thing, mind you.)

My personal hope is that Elizabeth gets beaten up by Granny. It would be poetry and karma all wrapped up in one.