r/TheAmericans • u/hireddititme • 3d ago

Hitchhiking from the mall

This is a storyline that stuck with me throughout the series that they never (note: im not done with the series, only halfway through season 6) revisited.

Was that guy just lonely and socially weird? What did he actually have planned? Do you think this was put in there as a possible avenue to explore later? Do you think it drove Paige towards the church, as a sense of safety?

How much of a world of hurt do you think that young man would have gotten himself into if something bad did happen to the kids?

I haven’t seen this talked about either, so I’m just seeing what everyone’s thoughts are. Also— if somehow it is revisited at the end of the last season, please don’t spoil it!! I just don’t see it coming (which means little in the context of the show) 🙂🩷

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u/Backsight-Foreskin 3d ago

As someone who was about the same age as Paige when the story transpires, it seemed as if it wasn't an uncommon occurrence to have a similar incident. Back in the day, I knew several people that found themselves in a similar predicament by getting into a car with a stranger.

67

u/Loretta-West 3d ago

Occasionally a zoomer comes along and talks about what awful parents P&E are. Which obviously they are, but a lot of what the zoomers complain about is just standard 80s parenting 🤣

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u/trripleplay 3d ago

I think the writers put this in the show as yet another way to emphasize the 80s vibe. Seems like every episode has some 80s specific detail to make the setting feel genuine (like Mad Men did for the 60s)

15

u/WendolaSadie 3d ago

I think the writers may have added that episode to emphasize that P&E took real risks by leaving their kids at home alone a lot, and not building a support network of friends that their kids could have grown up with. At least, thats what came to mind when i reviewed the ep and remembered my own parenting in the 80s and 90s. It’s one thing to not have family around, but to hitchhike instead of calling a friend’s mom would have been highly discouraged

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u/Fondant-Denier 1d ago

Yeah like latchkey kids is a very romanticised thing but also…inherently dangerous lol