Season finales of The Americans are an odd thing. The first two closers did pretty much everything you’d expect a finale to, wrapping up the season’s main story arc and giving us a gentle nudge in the direction that the following season will take. Last year, without a real overarching plot (*), the finale had nothing especially clear-cut to conclude, and so much of it was putting more of the pieces together with Paige, making sure that Martha didn’t get caught etc. Save for Paige calling Tim in the final moments, it was a pretty standard episode of the show, structurally. “Persona Non Grata,” tonight’s fourth season finale, was a mix between those two formats.
(*) Sure, you could argue that the season arc last year was the build to Paige learning of her parents’ identity, but not only did that amount to a more ongoing piece this season, it was less an ongoing plot than it was occasionally checked in with before the reveal three from the finale. In the first season, we had the lead up to Elizabeth and Philip nearly being caught by Stan, as well as everything with Nina, Amador etc.; season two had the Larrick story, Emmett and Leanne’s deaths and so on.
On the one hand, everything involving William and the bio-weapon threat was brought to a close as Dylan Baker became only the second main cast member not to survive a season (after Maximiliano Hernandez’s Chris Amador), infecting himself with the lassa virus and preventing any punishment or torture the FBI could do to him. On the other, Gabriel gave the Jennings couple the biggest of all offers: End the mission here and go home. That’s a real bombshell, even though they’ve already had to half-heartedly consider it earlier in the season when choosing how best to handle Tim. Back then, it wasn’t a reality: They considered leaving, but were pushed in and ultimately chose other directions. Now, they’re faced with the opportunity to end all of their problems and return home heroes. And, based on the way the final minutes of the finale played out, it seems like they’ll be staying.
It was always going to be the case. With the show renewed for 23 more episodes, there was no way that the Jennings family would be taken home because there is little to no story that can be explored there. But the impact of the proposal will hang over their heads as we begin to come into this final stretch. When I emailed executive producers Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields about this (unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make the one interview slot I had, thus no full post-mortem), they said: “We never seriously considered sending them back to the Soviet Union at this point in the story. But we felt for them as characters the idea of going was a real possibility, and the emotional weight of making that decision would have repercussions for them that would last into next season.”
And choosing to go home is a real possibility for them, especially after all that’s happened this year. Emotionally, this has been by far the most difficult season. That mid-season time jump was crucial to give these characters a break before they broke themselves (and that had already begun in the est/Martha/Gregory-related argument in that eighth episode), but even seven months later, things have been tough. Having to betray a friend in the way that she did is incredibly difficult, even for someone as strong and committed as Elizabeth, and it’s pushed her towards an edge that we’ve rarely seen her even come close to; Philip, meanwhile, has looked over multiple times in the series to date, as was astutely pointed out by Gabriel. Giving them an out really dangles the carrot in front of their eyes, and leaving it there, almost taunting them, does set up an interesting scenario for the pair next season.
(*) There was a fascinating article doing the rounds early last month in The Guardian about Tim and Alex Foley, whose parents were revealed as Russian spies in June 2010. Since their parents were exposed, the kids have had problems trying to remain citizens of Canada, where they were both born. Weisberg created the show partly based on their story, and so I’m beginning to wonder whether the eventual endgame involves Paige and Henry experiencing something similar. I only mention this now because looking at the pieces on the board, there may come a point where the options for Philip and Elizabeth are to either take the kids back to the USSR to live peacefully, or to remain in the US and risk them experiencing the same fate as the Foley boys. Predicting the future of the series isn’t something I do often, but it’s hard not to wonder if this is where we’re heading.
As for William, there won’t be the heroic return Gabriel promised. That was a death sentence if ever I’ve heard one, and while I’m not surprised that “Persona Non Grata” followed through on that impending doom, I am a little disappointed, both because I had hoped the show would dig itself out of that “One Last Job” trope and because Dylan Baker has been an absolute pleasure to watch this season. Baker’s wonderful deadpan delivery has provided huge amounts of genuine and much-needed humour in a season otherwise full of dark, depressingly emotional moments. And yes, it doesn’t help that we also lost Richard Thomas, who did much the same thing over the years, a few weeks back, but William has been such a complex character that to lose him is a real shame. That being said, The Americans isn’t short of compelling characters, and I imagine that next season will either introduce another new face (or two) and/or do so much with the existing characters so that William’s impact falls to the back of my mind. Still, doesn’t mean I can’t be disappointed with it now.
Like I mentioned at the top, the finale was a weirdly structured episode, and it ended on a cliffhanger, though one far less monumental than any of the past three season enders as Philip told Paige that she shouldn’t be seeing Matthew. Interesting that this came up now after he was fine with the two being friends last week, especially considering how much she telegraphed their deeper connection, though I feel that this is a direct result of Gabriel’s offer and is perhaps to save her the heartbreak should they leave; equally, the daughter of a Soviet spy being involved with the American son of an FBI agent? That’s a terrible mix. Either way, a somewhat small-scale way to end the year, but frankly, after such a rollercoaster ride this season, I’m content with that. The biggest and most important cliffhanger came ten minutes from the end anyway.The first three seasons of The Americans were utterly superb, and yet this season has managed to top them all. We’ve just witnessed the best show on television in 2016 thus far (and perhaps overall, come December), and I’m eager to see where the final 23 take us.
Notes:
• In William’s final hours, Baker hit some new emotional beats as he described why he enjoyed doing his job over the years, making me seriously question how we coped before he came along and how we’ll cope now that he’s gone. That being said, how long before Stan has his Hank Schrader moment after William talked vaguely about the Jenningses?
• When you look at how well Agent Wolfe has done in the months since Gaad was fired (or even just since he died), it’s difficult to know exactly why the FBI continued with the former head of Counterintelligence for as long as they did. He, along with the Deputy Attorney General, gave Arkady his marching orders (he was declared a persona non grata, a subtle reference to the episode's title) in response to their capture of William. Lev Gorn hasn’t been given much to do this season, but I liked his resigned expression as he later contemplated the news. Also, the Oleg-Tatiana exchange was great fun: "We didn't always agree, but Arkady Ivanovich was a good man." "He's not dead."
• OK, look, The Americans. You had your fun taking Nina, Martha and then Gaad away from us. But this finale took away William and is splitting up Oleg (who is heading home), Arkady and Tatiana (who is remaining at the Rezidentura for “continuity”). Why does this show hate its characters - and its character-loving viewers - so much?
• I rarely comment on where the show is placed in time, but the closing moments of the finale took place on January 22, 1984, thanks to Henry watching the Redskins get annihilated in Super Bowl XVIII. That means that two months have passed since the return from the time jump (11/20/83 for The Day After). Considering that the opening eight episodes took place over approximately three weeks, that’s a huge acceleration.
• The final montage of the season was backed by Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire” as the Jennings couple contemplated Gabriel’s proposal, Paige met Tim and Alice’s baby and Arkady sat in his office for the last time. Another great one.
• It would have been really awkward had the Jenningses moved to the Soviet Union, given that Philip’s son Mischa is heading for the States to look for him. That’s going to cause so many problems and I’m feeling giddy just thinking about it.
• I’d like to thank everyone who has read my reviews over these past 13 weeks. It’s been a real blast writing about this show, and I can’t wait to do it all again next year. I’ll also have a season review up in the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for that.
What did you think of “Persona Non Grata”? Leave your thoughts in the comments and be sure to vote in our poll below!
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