Well, well, well - look what happens when your chickens come home to roost. John and Danielle are back at it for The Americans Season 6 Episode 2, “Tchaikovsky.” Tackling the ways past decisions and events shape the present conditions for different characters, they begin with some meta-reflections on what it means to be in the sixth and final season of the show. They then unpack the different chickens that Elizabeth, Philip, and Stan must contend with over the course of the episode. They touch on Elizabeth’s lies, Paige’s existence as a spy, and Sofia and Gennadi. In the Dossier, Danielle once again beats the drum of Renee as a spy, which John (as usual) ‘no-comments’ - stay tuned for more Renee check-ins in later episodes. Glas has Claudia and Erica, and of course, MAIL ROBOT BACK! We are treated to a chat about Reagan’s dementia and Jack Kevorkian in Borrowed Nostalgia. There’s another installment of TRAGEDY SZN in the Cave as Danielle guides us on an exploration of Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers, with the added bonus of some creative TheoryShips too. Enjoy!

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

We are back, Arkadii is SO back, and it is time to embark on the final season of The Americans here on Not Great Quite Books! For the first episode, "Dead Hand," Danielle and John accept the season premiere's invitation to consider all things art: the arts of spying, how spying may prevent one from appreciating art, the art of national identity, and much more. In unsurprising but nonetheless engaging developments, Danielle is still highly suspicious of Renee in the Dossier, and has pronounced Season 6 Tragedy SZN (proffering Ajax this time around) in The Cave, while John has much to say about The Sadboi Summit of 1987. The episode's creative deployment of 1980s bangers, Soviet Film Club, and saturation in the politics of 1987 round things out.

Did Danielle and John convince themselves to start a travel agency, use an Ancient Greek word for its name, and seek brand deals for it? We think you already know the answer to this one.

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Danielle and John are BACK* from their long espionage sojourns and reunited to preview The Americans Season 6. Having both rewatched the S5 finale, they note their surprises and ideas upon this revisiting, before talking through what the show asks of its viewers and what Danielle expects, predicts, and wants heading into Season 6.

*"we are SO back" reserved for the actual start of S6 episodes

Season 6 episodes coming your way in 2026.

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay