Season finale and we have ourselves a William episode. Unfortunately things don't work too well for him, kind of a catch-22. You could sense this would be the case back when Gabriel told him it would be his last mission before going home a hero. There was no way things would go smoothy for William. For the final time this year, let's get into it...
-Right off the bat, the FBI is staking out William's place as he prepares the new bioweapon for a drop with Philip. Oddly enough, Philip is driving behind three FBI cars. They tail William as it cuts to the intro.
-Back from the opening credits and its Paige reading in bed while Elizabeth cleans her room. Paige suggests learning how to defend herself in case of danger, to which Elizabeth says she can teach her a few things. Spy Paige is coming.
-The FBI is tailing William and follow him to his drop with Philip. They suspect him to go to the park, but he seems to break off, causing Stan and Neil deGrasse tyson to speed up and try and nab him before he gets away. William senses danger and makes a break for it, running to the park, where Philip is. They corner him and a s a last resort he stabs himself with the deadly toxin. Leading us to our first (unfortunate) William Moment of the Week:
-Fuck you Oleg. You did this to William. You gave up the science leads to Stan, the blood is on your hands.
-Philip returns home following the William no-show. They think it may just be a cold-feet type of situation since Philip says he didn't see any surveillance.
-Kind of a shocker as we go to Russia and see who I believe is Philip's son. He's in a mental institution getting an evaluation to determine his metal state since he's been talking anti-Soviet things since returning from war, and "only a criminal or mentally ill person would do such a thing". Thankfully he has powerful friends and simply stopping that talk will get him released.
-William is in the biochemical treatment area, I do not know what those are formally called so bear with me. Stan and Neil are there and try to talk to him over the intercom. It's a great scene between characters who have never interacted before, and thus I present it to you in full:
Oh that Neil deGrasse Tyson bringing the jokes! Why yes, I will have a Coke! William's maniacal laughter after that really was awesome though. Gonna miss him. And since he isn't actually dead yet, no Crying Jordan.
-Elizabeth tells Paige that Philip is at EST. Cut to the EST class and Philip is speaking on the mic, talking about how he chose a job as a travel agent before knowing it was what he wanted to do, and that know he takes up with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach because he no longer wants to do it. The guy running the class tells him he should just quit, the world wont stop spinning if he does and that he's not that important. Oh the irony. Replace the travel agent lingo for KGB lingo and he really is that important. Philip says he can't just quit since he made promises and commitments to people who he loves and who trust him.
-Gabriel tells the two that they have William after he no-showed the two meetings. They think its possible that he could have turned, or just been captured, but regardless could give up information. Philip says that William definitely bitched and moaned so its possible. they leave Gabriels house since William has been there.
-Back to Russia where Lil Phil is somehow now out of the mental ward and goes to his family's house. A guy who ends up being his grandpa (mother to lady Philip knocked up) gives him a package from his mother who was arrested, and the kid asks about Philip. He wants to go find him. Yeah, good luck with that dude. Your working proficiency with the English language and lack of Russian accent will do wonders.
-Arkady is visited by the FBI who inform him of all the goings on: William, the bugging, Martha, Gaad. He's told he is being expelled from the United States and has 48 hours to leave the country. That was another great back and forth, the cool and calculated Arkady versus the in-your-face-style of the FBI guys.
-Cut to William and he is in ROUGH shape. They try and trick him into giving names by asking if there his anyone they should contact for him. William goes into a really powerful monologue...
Adds so much depth to his character. We got glimpses of this side of William through his interactions with Philip, but this added so much to it. All he had was his work. No relationships stuck. So it was work. Feel awful for him. Also, Fat Shaggy, you really need to ask if he's in pain? I know it's some interrogative thing, but really, you couldn't have gone about that in a different way that didn't make you seem dumb?
-Gabriel, Elizabeth and Philip still don't know that William basically committed suicide and isn't giving anything up. Gabriel tells them they should go home and welcomed with honors. Take the kids, pack up and ship off to Russia. Gabriel sneaky calls William a pansy, telling him his heart hasn't been in the cause for a long time. He tells Elizabeth she's been in it for nearly 20 years, and that the job isn't meant to last forever. They are understandably not happy, and the scene is cut into a bit with Paige playing with Tim and Alice's newborn baby to show how ingrained in America they are and how hard it would be to leave. And then a shot of Arkady taking shots as he thinks about having to leave. Another really powerful shot as he looks at a statue of Lenin
-Not Nina isn't gong to Kenya as the Centre wants her to stay and help Arkady's replacement for continuity and then stay on to help with a smooth transition. Sort of a bad time for Oleg to tell her he put in a transfer request to go back to Moscow and be with his family, though I see a lesser motive being lessening the temptation to keep meeting with Stan and possibly turning. Not Nina tells him he's a good son, which is the same thing Arkady said.
-Okay NOW William is in awful shape. Bleeding out the nose, puking up blood. He then goes on a HORRIBLE fever tirade about trying to get married before but it not working out and basically talking about the Jennings family and their marriage and kids and Elizabeth being pretty and Philip being lucky without naming any names. He says you wouldn't suspect them. STOP WILLIAM I WANT TO LIKE YOU UNTIL THE VERY END. Don't give up anyone!
-Paige and Matthew have a nice little talk about their parents and infidelity and then they makeout which I am not tuning into this show for.
-"You wanna pack, get the hell outta here?" "Maybe. I don't know." Philip and Elizabeth respectively. Then Stan comes home, alone luckily. Philip goes over to get Paige and Stan awkwardly tells him about the tonsil hockey. Cmon man, I know you're not in a marriage anymore but you have to have some sense about what to tell and what not to. That isn't something you tell. If my dad walked in on me and my girlfriend I would pray to every god there is he wouldn't tell her dad. And he wouldn't because my dad A) Doesn't like people and B) Knows social norms.
-After leaving, Philip tells Paige he doesnt want her seeing Matthew again. She is obviously going to think its just dad being an unreasonable dad, but the truth is she can't be emotionally invested with anything now that theres a chance they all go to Moscow at any moment. It was one thing before William was captured and they wanted Paige to have friends. A romantic relationship and the threat of the FBI knocking down your door or you fleeing the country is a whole different ballgame.
-The final shot of the season...
What a season. Some action, some emotion, story lines moving at a rapid pace. Last season set up some big moments for this season, and those moments are setting up some serious shit for next season. It sounds like I say that a lot, but its true. You have to move the stories along before the sparks meet the gunpowder. So what are we looking at for Season 5? The fallout from William, and maybe his final moments (that would be so painful to watch man). Will they find out he hasn't spilled anything? Will they have to go to Russia? If William dies without giving the FBI any new info, and every other lead having gone cold, where will Stan and Fat Shaggy turn next? Will Henry learn anything? Will Paige become a spy? How far into the future will the last two seasons go? Are we picking up where we left off (I think we are for next season), and will the final season deal with later events like the tearing down of the Berlin Wall? Will Lil Phil make it to America and somehow find Philip? Or will he somehow come across Martha and do sex with her? Sucks we have to wait til next March to continue the story. Even though we weren't left with an actual cliffhanger, that ending felt like one. The unknown of what the next move has to be.
Thank you to all who read these recaps at any point int he season. This is such a good show with so many layers, it could not have been easy to put up with my incoherent ramblings. I'll be back with The Americans with a preview before next season starts and all throughout our 5th year of the show. Any interesting news regarding the show I'll be sure to post about. Until then check out all the other stuff going on here. Revs stuff, random stories, and I'm thinking of other shows to do posts about (maybe just dumb scenes from Ballers?) For now at least, мейте хороший товарищей, Он горит.
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