The title ofThe Americanshaunts me.
The answer shifts, scene to scene.
When they talk about the Americans, they mean the United States government.
Credit: Eric Liebowitz/FX
Elizabeth makes the phrase sound particularly scornful.
She mutters about the Americans the way supervillains used to grumble about those accursed heroes.
Or is she dismissing a national state of mind?
Are these the Americans, a rotating titular role?
Heres a country where everyone is a little lonely, sort of kind, and kind of a sucker.
But the title also refers to Elizabeth and Philip.
This is ironic, because theyre not American, and doubly ironic, because they are.
They have a nice house, nice car, nice kids, a mom-and-pop business.
They are here under false pretenses, but that just makes them undocumented workers.
Theyre working hard to destabilize the American government, but so is the 45th President.
These characters are Soviet citizens.
But you got the sense that they were being changed by their experiences abroadcatching America like a virus.
It didnt always work out well.
I am not who I was, Nina said back home.
Her time in America changed her, but didnt help her.
She was executed, betrayed by both countries she betrayed.
Almost everyone onThe Americansis a little American, is what Im saying.
You could conclude that the title of the show is all-encompassing.
They are all Americans, because America itself is still a rather vague idea, encompassing multitudes.
But all of these conclusions are wrong.
Only one character onThe Americansis truly American.
He is Henry Jennings, my favorite character.
I barely remember anything Henry did in the early years.
He spent the fourth seasonthe shows best stretch of episodesplaying videogames in the corner.
Heres a typical exchange from any point ofThe Americans run:
One Character:Is Henry here?
Another Character:No.
Hes had subplots, sure.
Henry formed a sweet friendship with Stan, because Stan had to talk to someone.
Then it turned out Henry was really smart.
But was this setting up a final demotion of screentime?
Would he be banished to prep school to make more room for people who actually matter?
But anyone can matter.
Familiarity breeds fascination, or at least a more expansive contempt.
Harry Crane was the only character onMad Mento become less dimensional every season.
Henry is still onThe Americansthis season.
And in the first few episodes, he is still very distant from anything youd call the plot.
Im not sure that anything he does in this last year will really matter for the show.
Big sister Paige (the great Holly Taylor) is a more obvious inheritor of her parents confusing legacy.
She knows who Elizabeth and Philip are.
Or rather, she knows who her parentswantto be.
Theyve explained their work by emphasizing brotherhood-of-man heroism, skipping over the parts about seduction and murder.
And shestillthrew her cross necklace in the trash, seeking a more extreme form of world-changing activism.
If she kills her parents,The Americansbecomes a death metal album cover.
Paiges journey clearly represents whatThe Americansis purposefully about.
But what happens to Henry will be just as fascinating, because he represents everythingThe Americansis only accidentally about.
All he ever does is play computer games and talk on the telephone!
is how Philip describes Henry midway through season 5.
But Philips statement was meant to reveal how little he really understood his son.
That Henry is also the blankest character on the show could just be proof that ignorance is bliss.
He plays hockey and likes math, which could make him a renaissance man or a brogrammer.
You have to consider that Elizabeth and Philip have triedso much harderwith Paige.
They argued with each other about the best way to raise their daughter.
Meanwhile, the son they barely noticed is a scholar.
At one point, Henry was trying to convince his father to send him to that fancy prep school.
He had good grades, and this school could put him in with the right people.
Dont we wannacapitalizeon that?
For agents of a Marxist-Socialist state, here was the true tragedy.
(It sounds like an old propaganda horror film:My Son, The Capitalist!)
Last season suggested Henrys desired school was maybe too expensive for a travel agents income.
Like most fan theories, this is hilarious to talk about and dumb to actually think about.
I think Henrys actual role in this final season will be brief, but memorable.
And if he does nothing except play hockey?
Thatalsomatters: Henry will symbolize everyone who goes through life unaware of the forces defining the world.
He justisone: His national identity is a passive identity, like it usually is for too many people.
This makes him a resoundingly neutral character.
He is not a bad person, but he has no obvious social conscience.
This is because hes a kid, you could say.
You imagine Henry patiently teaching Dad how to send an email.
Hell, Henry couldbecomethe surveillance state, or one of its private-sector beneficiaries.
The late 80s was a great time to be a teenaged math genius.
Maybe he invested in Facebook.
Maybe he founded Cambridge Analytica.
Or maybe hes complaining about Cambridge Analytica on the Facebook page he cant bring himself to delete.
I have metAmericans American, and Henry is us.
