FX’s acclaimed espionage-drama still has one of the most emotional endings in recent TV history.

The Americans ending explained: Do Philip and Elizabeth get caught?

FX's acclaimed espionage-drama still has one of the most emotional endings in recent TV history.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on *The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer*, and many other publications.

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January 30, 2026 5:00 p.m. ET

Matthew Rhys as Philip and Keri Russell as Elizabeth in the series finale of 'The Americans'. Credit:

Jeffrey Neira/FX

- *The Americans* stars Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell as Soveit spies posing as an American family during the Cold War.

- The series, which won a Golden Globe for Best Drama, ran from 2013 to 2018.

- The espionage thriller is available to stream on Hulu.

For all its cutthroat espionage and subterfuge, *The Americans* was always a show about family.

Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg's Emmy-winning series, which ran on FX from 2013 to 2018, starred Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell as Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, a seemingly ordinary couple in the 1980s living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with their two kids, Paige (Holly Taylor) and Henry (Keidrich Sellati).

The truth, however, is that they're intelligence officers with the KGB tasked with spying on Soviet targets. They've been undercover for 15 years by the time the series begins, but a fly buzzes into the ointment when they realize their new neighbor, Stan (Noah Emmerich), is an FBI agent.

Throughout its six seasons, *The Americans* masterfully navigated the dual lives of its protagonists — and the ways in which they inevitably began bleeding into one another. This resulted in an ensemble of complex, often maddening characters.

"One of the best things about *The Americans* was how dexterously the story could shift your allegiances, until it seemed impossible to pledge allegiance to *any *flag," ** noted in its review of the series finale in 2018.

As more and more viewers continue to discover the series, which won a Golden Globe for Best Drama, we're revisiting its emotional ending (and what the creators and stars told us about it).

Does Stan catch Philip and Elizabeth?

Noah Emmerich as Stan in 'The Americans' series finale.

Philip and Elizabeth seemed to skirt closer and closer to calamity with each passing season, but in season 6 their luck finally ran out. The FBI are closing in on them, and the bureau's capture of KGB collaborator Father Andrei (Konstantin Lavysh) spells doom, as he's seen them without their disguises.

The finale begins with the pair knowing it's time to return to the Soviet Union, especially after hearing talk of a potential coup against President Mikhail Gorbachev. As they plot their move, Philip makes the hard decision to leave Henry behind. Not only is he away at private school, but, unlike his sister, he's oblivious to their secret lives.

"His future is here," Philip says. "This is where he grew up."

Holly, on the other hand, does know their family's secrets. They go to her dorm room, unaware that it's being watched by Stan, who can no longer run from his suspicions about his neighbors and friends.

Stan confronts them in the dormitory's parking garage. They trot out their usual lies, but he's not buying it. Soon, his gun is out and he's ordering them to lay down on the ground. Knowing he has no choice, Philip confesses. "We had a job to do," he says, confirming years of fears and suspicion on Stan's part.

Stan, devastated by their betrayal, still can't quite wrap his head around it. "You were my best friend," he says. "You made my life a *joke*."**

The best TV series finales ever

Three rounds with 'The Americans'

Philip manages to defuse the situation (or at least catch the disoriented Stan off guard) by revealing how he and Elizabeth feel betrayed by their own comrades turning on Gorbuchev. It's imperative, he says, that they get back to their homeland to help try and prevent the coup. "Whether we get to live in peace or not depends on this," he asserts.

But what clinches it is the revelation that they're leaving Henry behind. Philip paints himself as the villain, acknowledging that he's abandoning his son. Paige then asks Stan to care for Henry, who the family emphasizes knew nothing of their true identities, in their absence.

Philip encourages this. "He loves you, Stan," he says. "Tell him the truth."

A dumbfounded Stan doesn't stop them when they get in their car. Though he stands in their way at the exit, he eventually steps aside, allowing them to leave.

"I think it’s somehow a triumph of humanity on some level over politics or good versus evil or good and bad, you know?" Emmerich said of Stan's choice during a post-finale chat with EW. "There’s a real deep, profound connection between these characters, between Stan and Philip and Paige and Elizabeth and Henry and I think when it all comes into that moment, Stan’s not capable of destroying all that, even though he would be justified in doing so."

Does Paige go to Russia with Philip and Elizabeth?

Holly Taylor as Paige in 'The Americans' season finale.

Jeffrey Neira/FX

Paige agrees to flee with her parents, though she's not really given a choice. She's also uncomfortable with the family leaving Henry behind, worrying about his future. Still, she joins Philip and Elizabeth when they discard their American possessions, gather counterfeit passports, and don travel disguises.

But she can't talk to Henry when Philip and Elizabeth call him at school. Knowing they can't tell him the truth (or tip him off), the call is awkward, with Philip and Elizabeth's proclamations of love leaving him confused. Paige knows this is no way to say goodbye to her brother.

"I'll see you next week," Henry says before returning to a ping-pong tournament, oblivious to the fact that this is the last time he'll ever speak with his parents.

It makes sense, then, that Paige would choose to stay in America. When border agents board during a stop (each with wanted posters of Philip and Elizabeth), Paige disembarks. Philip and Elizabeth, who fool the officials with their disguises, only realize she's gone when they see her on the platform outside the window, the train rolling towards its destination.

The last time we see her, she's pouring herself a glass of vodka in the abandoned safehouse used by Claudia (Margo Martindale).

"We felt like it was one thing to leave her in that moment, in the decision, and yet another to see her sometime later living with it, as she’s going to have to for the rest of her life," Weisberg told EW. "When you see her sitting there, she’s sitting there with a heavy heart."**

What happens to Henry?

Stan (Noah Emmerich) tells Henry (Keidrich Sellati) the truth about his parents on 'The Americans'.

Henry only learns about his parents' departure when Stan arrives at his private school to let him know. We don't hear their conversation, but we see the confusion and sadness on his face as he learns the truth.

"I think Stan has real love for Henry and I don’t think that’s polluted," Emmerich told us. "I think he believes Paige when she tells him that Henry didn’t know. There’s no one this is more tragic for than Henry. This is a completely innocent child whose life is just destroyed, and all he has in that moment is Stan. So there’s something quite beautiful about that. And I think Stan will take care of Henry in a real way."**

Is Renee a spy or what?

One of the more frustrating dangling threads of *The Americans* concerns Laurie Holden's Renee, the mysterious woman who shacks up with Stan in the show's last two seasons. There's ample intrigue as to whether or not she, too, is a spy, Russian or otherwise. But there's no definitive answer.

Philip, however, plants a seed in Stan's head that she *could* be a spy before leaving the parking garage, and later we see Stan watching her closely as she sleeps in his bed. There's also that inscrutable look on her face as she watches the FBI swarm the Jennings house in the finale's last act.

It sure seems like something's up, but Weisberg refused to indulge our conspiracy theories when talking to EW after the finale. "We’re definitely going to keep that a secret," he said.

Emmerich, too, refused to share any kind of definitive answer. He did, however, concede that he doesn't think Stan's "going to let that lie."

But he still accepts her comfort in his vulnerable state. "All he’s got left in that moment is Renee, and she’s not even really there anymore for him because of that question," Emmerich continued. "It’s been poisoned. Maybe it’ll be cleaned up, maybe it won’t, maybe it will have the worst of all possibilities, but it’s not known at the end of our story."**

How does The Americans end?

Keri Russell as Elizabeth and Matthew Rhys as Philip look out over Moscow in 'The Americans' series finale.

The Americans ends with Philip and Elizabeth making it to Russia, where they meet up with Arkady (Lev Gorn) and journey to Moscow. When the city lights breach the horizon, they pull the car over and look at the metropolis they haven't seen in decades.

Elizabeth ponders what her life would've looked like if she'd never left. "I probably would've worked in a factory, managed a factory," she says. "Maybe we would've met. On a bus."

But it's Paige and Henry that consume them. "They'll be okay," Elizabeth asserts.

"They'll remember us," Philip replies. "They're not kids anymore. We raised them."

Being back in Russia, where they're known as Mischa and Nadezhda, is uncomfortable. Perhaps they can sense what the viewers already know — that the collapse of the Soviet Union isn't far off.

"It feels strange," Philip says. In Russian, Elizabeth replies, "We'll get used to it."

"They’re home, but they’re there without their children," Fields said of the sequence in a chat with EW. "It’s a lot for them to take in, and it’s a very different place from the one they left so many years ago."****Speaking of the final shot of the city looming before them, Weisberg adds, "We also saw that final shot as a complicated urban and industrial tableau, and even at night you can tell that it doesn’t really look like an American city. They’re looking at their home, but it looks very different from any time they would have seen it so many years ago. So it’s got a prettiness to it, but it’s also got a roughness to it."**

Where can I watch The Americans?

*The Americans* is currently available to stream on Hulu.

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