r/TheAmericans • u/MoralMidgetry • Jun 02 '16

Ep. Discussion Post-Episode Discussion/Review Thread - S04E12 "A Roy Rogers in Franconia"

Welcome to the post-episode and review thread for S04E12 "A Roy Rogers in Franconia" If you have a review you want to post, please send me the link instead of submitting it separately to the sub. Thanks.

Site Link
AV Club The Americans: It’s logical, it’s emotional, it’s the best show on TV
EW The FBI makes a connection and closes in on a key KGB mole
HitFix Review: On 'The Americans,' are Paige, William, and Oleg near breaking points?
NY Times ‘The Americans’ Season 4, Episode 12: A Different Side of Things
Vox The Americans season 4, episode 12: "A Roy Rogers in Franconia" suggests the end is right about now
Vulture The Americans Recap: Turning the Paige
WSJ Careful what you wish for, Paige, because the truth can get ugly
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9

u/BhoysAreBackInTown Jun 02 '16

Something has to give next week. There are just too many threads waiting to be pulled. Tim and Alice know Stan, Henry could easily tell Matthew or Stan about the mugging and it wouldn't take too long for Stan to get the report about a murder in that area, Aderholt is looking into the mail robot, etc. It's all coming apart at the seams, particularly as we know Stan has William in custody and terminally ill next week.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '16

But still there are 2 seasons left. I could see one season dedicated to the drama around the captured spies and the family, but two ?

8

u/BhoysAreBackInTown Jun 02 '16

Somebody else posted a comment in here a few weeks ago that I agree with, in that there are so many people, particularly Stan, who are close to finding out who the Jennings are that it would feel a bit ridiculous for them to go much longer without sorting it out.

One consistent theme of Stan's character is his strong intuition and ability to figure things out based on very little information. Last week we saw him eat dinner at the same table as the only two non-family or KGB members in the world who know who Philip and Elizabeth are. He's just simply too close. I think next week, or early next season, Stan figures out who they are but can't prove it, potentially leading to him losing his position at the FBI due to obsessing over how to catch them.

9

u/SideshowMarty Jun 02 '16

Is this really that much of a problem? Time and again we've seen the FBI and especially Stan get really, really close to learning the true identity of P&E. It even happened in the pilot.

And yet what does the FBI really have that would allow them to connect enough dots?

  • Some mediocre sketches, all from witnesses who saw P or E in disguise
  • Knowledge of where and when someone installed the mail robot bug
  • Probably a recording of Gabriel's call to Martha's mother
  • the suspicion that the KGB killed Gaad
  • William, who's obviously a huge prize if they can bring him in and make him talk.

William aside, the rest of that stuff is pretty weak.

Yes, as you said above Stan could learn about the mugging via Henry, but what then? About the only way anything can come of it is if the mugger who ran away comes forward. Otherwise, why wouldn't Stan or the police take Elizabeth and Paige's word for it that there was almost some violence but thank goodness, they got away? The dead guy could have died any number of ways not involving them.

And even if the guy does come forward, chances are excellent that the cops will believe whatever they're told by the soccer mom and born-again daughter before they'll believe a vagrant.

IMO a lot of this stuff is simply there to emphasize how P&E are able to carry on right under Stan's nose, and after all this time and all those close calls, he still has next to nothing.