The Americans is one of the best spy shows ever created. There are a million to choose from but The Americans is a true top among the best. It follows to KGB spies (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) posing as Americans in suburban Washington D. C. at the height of the Cold War during the Regan administration. We watch as the pressures of the job and raising their unknowingly American born children out them at risk of being discovered. To make it even worse, their best friend neighbor (Noah Emmerich) is an FBI agent who job is to uncover Soviet spies. I can't recommend this show enough. Just go watch it, but make sure you give yourself a lot of time because you're going to want to binge it as fast as you can. I loved every second of every episode!
472 Reviews
Great final season and episode
nufafa5 June 2018
Although I have found the series a bit repetitive over the years, the final season has been exceptional, with a beautiful final episode that will be always remember.
I think is one of the shows that better uses the silence to explain things, and in the last episode music plays also a big role.
The acting of Rhys, Russell and Emmerich is exceptional and I'd love to see them in the nominations and awards' lists.
Brilliant!
Supermanfan-1310 February 2021
There's a reason that The Americans is one of the best reviewed shows and that's because it's fantastic! There have been a ton of spy shows over the years but The Americans is without a doubt one the best of them! It's easily one of the 2 or 3 the most thrilling spy show ever created! Loved it!
I've underestimated this show.
jjrt-6617818 January 2019
I've heard about this show countless times mostly in the US media.
I figured it was a very politicized show with the same old message
"US = Good, RU = Evil" This is what kept me from giving the series a go.
Only in late 2018 I've started watching and to my surprise It's not the case.
The show manages to give a fair and near unbiased view about Geo-politics, fractions, countries. espionage, ideologies.
Without telling you what to think or how to feel about it.
It doesn't demonize any side neither does it glorify the other.
For those whom refuse(d) to watch for the same reasons as me, if still curious just give it a try! It's actually a good show
A star is born...
savannahkhan2 February 2013
It is very rare that you have a near perfect episode, especially of a series on commercial television. But FX has done it here with The Americans. It is nearly flawless. Great mind candy for the thinking person, with something to come back to after the first viewing. I credit the success of The Americans to 3 things: Great script, great music, and Matthew Rhys.
The script is adult, no-nonsense storytelling built on an original premise, the Cold War. Those of us who are old enough remember this period, a period of the Russians-are-coming hysteria that was second only to the Civil Rights movement the decade before. An era very under- represented in film and ignored on the small screen, comes to life for a new generation.
Of course this era would be nothing without the music of this time and again, The Americans is flawless. "Harden my Heart" opens the series, and how appropriate. Disguised, and ready to perform sexual acts for information, we first meet the series heroine, Elizabeth Jennings whose heart is truly hardened. Fast forward to a back alley chase and we are introduced to our hero(?) Phillip to the pulsations of "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac. "Tusk" is appropriate here too. Just think about it.
Must mention these disguises too, which are not your silly, unrealistic mission-impossible disguises. No, the disguises in The Americans are really disguises and surprisingly, with very little disguise. What makes these disguises work for the Jennings is that the Jennings can act. With each disguise is a new personality. Elizabeth does her disguise well but the master of disguise is Phillip.
Phillip, played by Matthew Rhys, is special, or should I say, Matthew Rhys is special as Phillip. Rhys takes the art of disguise to the next stage. He is authentic, nerdy and funny in disguise talking to Martha, reminding you of a young John Ritter. And then as the kick-your-ass, baddest-ass-kicking daddy of them all over a barbecue pit, Rhys is wonderfully dangerous, stellar, and I can't get enough of him.
This series only has to live up to its pilot a little bit. The series has everything: originality, sex, espionage, suspense...did I say originality? And yes, Matthew Rhys who has the role of his life, I daresay, the role he has been waiting for, is the welcomed surprise here. Hat's off to casting. Can't wait to see what they are going to do with this.
The script is adult, no-nonsense storytelling built on an original premise, the Cold War. Those of us who are old enough remember this period, a period of the Russians-are-coming hysteria that was second only to the Civil Rights movement the decade before. An era very under- represented in film and ignored on the small screen, comes to life for a new generation.
Of course this era would be nothing without the music of this time and again, The Americans is flawless. "Harden my Heart" opens the series, and how appropriate. Disguised, and ready to perform sexual acts for information, we first meet the series heroine, Elizabeth Jennings whose heart is truly hardened. Fast forward to a back alley chase and we are introduced to our hero(?) Phillip to the pulsations of "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac. "Tusk" is appropriate here too. Just think about it.
Must mention these disguises too, which are not your silly, unrealistic mission-impossible disguises. No, the disguises in The Americans are really disguises and surprisingly, with very little disguise. What makes these disguises work for the Jennings is that the Jennings can act. With each disguise is a new personality. Elizabeth does her disguise well but the master of disguise is Phillip.
Phillip, played by Matthew Rhys, is special, or should I say, Matthew Rhys is special as Phillip. Rhys takes the art of disguise to the next stage. He is authentic, nerdy and funny in disguise talking to Martha, reminding you of a young John Ritter. And then as the kick-your-ass, baddest-ass-kicking daddy of them all over a barbecue pit, Rhys is wonderfully dangerous, stellar, and I can't get enough of him.
This series only has to live up to its pilot a little bit. The series has everything: originality, sex, espionage, suspense...did I say originality? And yes, Matthew Rhys who has the role of his life, I daresay, the role he has been waiting for, is the welcomed surprise here. Hat's off to casting. Can't wait to see what they are going to do with this.
A Gut-Wrenching Journey Deep Into the Mirror World of Espionage
wgingery22 May 2018
The fifth season's first episode featured the "Americans" digging a hole - a BIG hole. The scene goes on a long, long time. This is pretty much how the whole season feels. The show downshifts a gear or two, the payoff is elusive, and you wonder where it's all going; until, that is, the end finally does come, when it's a shocker. It is all done quite intentionally so as to set up the final season.
The Sixth Season of "The Americans" continues to fire on all cylinders: character development, acting, suspense, photography, writing and spy craft, all are splendid.
The focus is increasingly on Philip and Elizabeth, their relationship and inner development, while the other characters recede somewhat into the background, like subsidiary planets orbiting about a double star. Under extreme pressure to prevent disaster, they commit acts that may cause many viewers actually to come to hate them. in the end, no one gets off unscathed, and everyone is simply striving to stay afloat amidst the wreckage....
Which, in a way, is the point:
On the surface, "The Americans" is one of those "mismatched buddy" shows: a young couple teamed together purely for reasons of expediency. However, it runs much deeper than that. Beyond maintaining the charade of a false identity and masquerading as someone you are not, lies the complexity of their developing relationship: exploring the nature of love when you live with someone who lies for a living; understanding what drives them, the far reaching consequences of their choices, & the rationalization of their acts of violence.
At the heart of "The Americans" is a family infected by the conviction that loyalty to country overshadows family or one's own soul. As viewers, we're asked the tough questions: If the couple wore blue instead of red, would it change anything? Are spies heroes - or pawns? Is patriotism formed by rational choice - or the product of where we're born? At what point is the loss of one's humanity too high a price?
The Sixth Season of "The Americans" continues to fire on all cylinders: character development, acting, suspense, photography, writing and spy craft, all are splendid.
The focus is increasingly on Philip and Elizabeth, their relationship and inner development, while the other characters recede somewhat into the background, like subsidiary planets orbiting about a double star. Under extreme pressure to prevent disaster, they commit acts that may cause many viewers actually to come to hate them. in the end, no one gets off unscathed, and everyone is simply striving to stay afloat amidst the wreckage....
Which, in a way, is the point:
On the surface, "The Americans" is one of those "mismatched buddy" shows: a young couple teamed together purely for reasons of expediency. However, it runs much deeper than that. Beyond maintaining the charade of a false identity and masquerading as someone you are not, lies the complexity of their developing relationship: exploring the nature of love when you live with someone who lies for a living; understanding what drives them, the far reaching consequences of their choices, & the rationalization of their acts of violence.
At the heart of "The Americans" is a family infected by the conviction that loyalty to country overshadows family or one's own soul. As viewers, we're asked the tough questions: If the couple wore blue instead of red, would it change anything? Are spies heroes - or pawns? Is patriotism formed by rational choice - or the product of where we're born? At what point is the loss of one's humanity too high a price?
A couple of Soviet agents are totally convincing as The Americans
chucksteel5 February 2023
I am an American and when I was in high school around 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president, and I was taught in school in no uncertain terms that the Soviet Union was our enemy. So here I am 4 decades later, astounded to find myself watching a TV series about Soviet agents impersonating Americans on American soil, and cheering them on to succeed!
This is not because I'm a sympathizer with Russia (quite the opposite, actually) but rather because Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are so good at portraying their characters, I want to watch them continue what they're doing. I don't want to see them found out, arrested, or killed. That would ruin the fun!
These performances are amazing. They are Soviet agents from Russia, who have to pretend to be a normal American middle class couple in the suburbs. Raising a couple of kids who have no knowledge of their parents' real identity. While they are pretending to be Americans, they also have to assume alternate identities in the course of their spy work.
Meanwhile, as if all that wasn't enough, even though their work requires them to "be American" 100% of the time, they still must remain loyal to their motherland, and not get caught up in American capitalist values or consumerism, even though constantly being surrounded and enticed by it. I can't imagine what kind of mental gymnastics this would take.
Anyways this series is pretty amazing. I've been mostly isolated at home for the past 3 years (as of 2023), watching a lot of streaming video, and "The Americans" stands up there with the best.
This is not because I'm a sympathizer with Russia (quite the opposite, actually) but rather because Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are so good at portraying their characters, I want to watch them continue what they're doing. I don't want to see them found out, arrested, or killed. That would ruin the fun!
These performances are amazing. They are Soviet agents from Russia, who have to pretend to be a normal American middle class couple in the suburbs. Raising a couple of kids who have no knowledge of their parents' real identity. While they are pretending to be Americans, they also have to assume alternate identities in the course of their spy work.
Meanwhile, as if all that wasn't enough, even though their work requires them to "be American" 100% of the time, they still must remain loyal to their motherland, and not get caught up in American capitalist values or consumerism, even though constantly being surrounded and enticed by it. I can't imagine what kind of mental gymnastics this would take.
Anyways this series is pretty amazing. I've been mostly isolated at home for the past 3 years (as of 2023), watching a lot of streaming video, and "The Americans" stands up there with the best.
Near perfection
hemril26 February 2013
I don't want to repeat everything that has been already said about this series.
However, I think Keri Russell's presence in this series is the key to everything. Only her could have this cold outside look hiding a wounded soul that hangs on to what she believes in.
It is not only about the plot, but also the human toll the Cold War claimed in its path.
I think the series is very well rounded in terms of casting and writing. It has a rhythm that keeps the audience on edge.
This is, in my humble opinion, the best of the genre since Alfred Hitchcock gave us Topaz and The Torn Curtain. I give it a 9.
However, I think Keri Russell's presence in this series is the key to everything. Only her could have this cold outside look hiding a wounded soul that hangs on to what she believes in.
It is not only about the plot, but also the human toll the Cold War claimed in its path.
I think the series is very well rounded in terms of casting and writing. It has a rhythm that keeps the audience on edge.
This is, in my humble opinion, the best of the genre since Alfred Hitchcock gave us Topaz and The Torn Curtain. I give it a 9.
Don't Go!
electric-crow1 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Watching the last episode was like having to say good-bye to a lover........... or the shock felt by Keri Russell when she see's Paige....... well you'll just have to watch it.
I watched every episode and The Americans was truly a rarity in TV entertainment quality. It never compromised, never jumped the shark, and the last episode was one of the best endings, unlike most series endings who just mail it in with a bunch of feel-good pretentious schlock.
Great first 4 seasons but it seems to be getting slower and slower.
jrwmarchant8 May 2017
I have to say i enjoyed the first 4 season but i think it is loosing its way somewhat. For me the worst thread in the story is the daughter, its either the actress or the script, she is just to whiny now, probably why Gabriel parted saying that she should never be allowed to join them. Im hoping she can go to Uni far far away and be written out.
The pacing was fine in season 1 to 4 but it seems to have slowed down allot and some times is almost plodding alone. There have been some good individual episodes in season 5 but i want them to get back to the hunt for secrets and spies and not plod on with this whole family thing.
The pacing was fine in season 1 to 4 but it seems to have slowed down allot and some times is almost plodding alone. There have been some good individual episodes in season 5 but i want them to get back to the hunt for secrets and spies and not plod on with this whole family thing.
One of the best shows ever
3aleks13 October 2018
This show swings both ways
bongoz31 January 2013
I don't know who to root for in this show. Awesome!
Phillip and Elizabeth have been sleeper Russian agents in DC from the early 1960s to the early 80s, the show's setting. Reagan is the new President and is heating up the Cold War. Our two spies have been playing the role of typical American husband and wife, keeping their secret life even from their pre-teen daughter and son. Then an opportunity arises where Phillip, who has been tiring of his double life, is given a chance to take his family, whom he's grown to love, out of the game and into riches and safety. Elizabeth, also of two minds but for different reasons, is suddenly shown just how much Phillip loves her through his unhesitating sacrifice of this ticket to freedom. In the end it looks like it will be the two of them against the rest of the world. What will happen?
I have a few problems with the production, particularly the flashback sequences of the characters twenty years younger in Russia. They really should have used different actors. It is just the pilot, though, so we'll see how that goes.
On the plus side, there's good acting, good writing, and good character development. I'll be watching!
Phillip and Elizabeth have been sleeper Russian agents in DC from the early 1960s to the early 80s, the show's setting. Reagan is the new President and is heating up the Cold War. Our two spies have been playing the role of typical American husband and wife, keeping their secret life even from their pre-teen daughter and son. Then an opportunity arises where Phillip, who has been tiring of his double life, is given a chance to take his family, whom he's grown to love, out of the game and into riches and safety. Elizabeth, also of two minds but for different reasons, is suddenly shown just how much Phillip loves her through his unhesitating sacrifice of this ticket to freedom. In the end it looks like it will be the two of them against the rest of the world. What will happen?
I have a few problems with the production, particularly the flashback sequences of the characters twenty years younger in Russia. They really should have used different actors. It is just the pilot, though, so we'll see how that goes.
On the plus side, there's good acting, good writing, and good character development. I'll be watching!
Fire your costume designer
Sam_m2060425 April 2013
I served 2 years in Soviet Army. The military uniform worn by Soviet KGB General is laughable. Absolutely horribly wrong! Generals did not wear boots in the office, regalia is wrong, haircut unseen in Soviet military. I was laughing so hard during the scene in Moscow KGB office. It's a caricature of a high ranking Soviet officer. I did not expect a complete correctness in depiction of Soviet realities but some of what I've seen was poorly done. Everyithing goes for naive American audience. I haven't missed a single episode yet because it is intriguing. I'd prefer to be focused on on the content. But when I saw scenes that supposedly took place in Moscow, listened to the conversations in Russian then I got an impression that authors cared about overall impression without paying much attention to details.
Liked it initially, but fades over time
Dreameagl2 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I liked the first few episodes of The Americans. They had the right mix of ingredients: Action, Espionage, Sex, Love, etc. But after watching the whole first season, I got turned off more and more by the unrealistic and lazy writing and decisions. Why did the Russians ever lose the cold war if they were able to churn out unbeatable and undetectable super spies like this? How did the Americans ever come out of the cold war ahead if they are so unbelievably inept and storm trooper like stupid? I guess wigs and glasses are such perfect disguises that during the 80s nobody was able to see through superficial changes on a person. It is painful to watch how the actors have to avoid the natural instinct to touch their partners hair when he is in disguise. How can a woman go through months of relationship and finally marriage without ever touching a man's hair (and thus blowing this whole set-up)? Throughout the whole series it is being kept alive by the god-like abilities and intuition of the Soviet spies and the stupidity and ineptness of the FBI. All in all way too unrealistic to enjoy for more than a few episodes.
Finally, a great television series.
mrblumis23 February 2013
I'm not going to spoil any of the episodes so read on. I'm just saying I've been waiting for years for a television series that sets the hook and does not let you go. Very intense, great social issues, Keri Russell is spectacular. I just started "Nashville" the series this year and thought that was the answer, but "The Americans" has bumped Nashville down to number 2. Some of the younger crowd who does not know the 80's, or the cold war between the USSR and the US, might not feel the intensity compared to us who felt the tension of the time - when WWIII felt on the doorstep. The first ten minutes of the series opener was the best ten minutes of any television series opener in history. The pounding music, the action, the mystery, the excitement was unbelievable. I just hope the writers can keep it going for the next ten years.
The entire series - exceptional writing, acting, production, directing
inro-871-6713113 July 2018
Just want to thank Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich and the entire cast and crew for bringing such powerful, creative and nuanced television to our screens. It seems to me that episode after episode we are drawn in every decreasing circles to the inevitable finale; raw, unsparing and unafraid to explore the result of clinging to idealogy.
The very last episode felt so unexpected and actually I don't know why, it was inevitable, but this aching portrayal of worlds (personal and external) dissolving echoed parallels of the time and an eternal human truth, this is what we all struggle with ultimately, letting go of attachment to any idealogy or concept good or bad.
The very last episode felt so unexpected and actually I don't know why, it was inevitable, but this aching portrayal of worlds (personal and external) dissolving echoed parallels of the time and an eternal human truth, this is what we all struggle with ultimately, letting go of attachment to any idealogy or concept good or bad.
Best ending to a series
scotthd-8440612 April 2019
I always have the feeling that endings to series are predictable and never have the wow factor. I gave just seen the last episode and I can't stop thinking about it 2 days later. Brilliant ending loved it ! Just wow and thank you for making it a great series.
'The Americans' subverts a genre, along with its audience
jenmatsui26 April 2013
Who doesn't love a cold war drama set in the early days of the Reagan administration about deep cover KGB spies posing as a wholesome "all American" family living in a DC suburb? And in a perverted twist of fate, next door to the FBI counter-intelligence agent tracking these rumored agents, who exist primarily as mere urban legends in the paranoid imaginations of overly-thinking spooks. Needless to say, they ARE real and even more deeply rooted in Mom and Apple Pie than their believers would think possible. Not just disguised infiltrators, but perfect replicas of the Sears portrait American family in a simulacrum America as imagined by a Soviet espionage agency. That is to say 'Mom' and 'Dad' carry out often brutal espionage missions against the enemies of their Soviet homeland on American turf, while raising their 'American' kids, often with the unintended sit-com inducing results inherent in trying to maintain harsh Soviet-style discipline while pretending to be the indulgent and "decadent" parental units of innately suspicious, wise beyond their years 'tweens. Their situation is further complicated by a newly sworn-in US president with a more aggressive, anti-Soviet foreign policy, and their newly appointed handler "Claudia" - a matronly old Stalinist whom neither trust, and who will test the limits of their loyalties with far reaching consequences.
By the first episode, the emotional complications of their own arranged-in-a-KGB training camp marriage are starting to take their toll on 'Catherine' and 'Philip' with the latter showing signs of a flagging fealty to the Motherland and a deepening emotional bond with his de facto wife. Catherine, for her part, while still the mentor-pleasing star pupil of her Soviet special agent training academy maintains her stealth focus on the mission. If her heart is with the former Panther she had recruited years earlier, her body is a machine that belongs solely to the state, functioning simultaneously as a sexual weapon and a shape shifting, blow- deflecting device that can pack a school lunch. Kerri Russell, even in her '80's 'mom jeans', could serve any Bond girl her dinner in a dog dish.
Long story short: I'm just loving the s#*t out of 'The Americans', which could have just as easily been another 'Homeland' - in other words, more paranoid post 9/11 agitprop about the heroic government agents doing battle against a stealth enemy and his prayer beads. Unlike the aforementioned 'Homeland' that centers on Carrie Mathison's bug-eyed certitude of a turned 'evil-doer' in her imaginary-seeming cross hairs, 'The Americans', with the "blink and you'll miss it" sly humor so emphatically absent in the 'counterterrorism' genre it subverts, tells the story of subterfuge on American soil through the eyes of a Cold War nemesis. Where Homeland's Claire Danes channels Ann Coulter playing a Gena Rowlands 'woman-on-the- verge' protagonist you want to shoot with a horse tranquilizer, 'The Americans' - both husband and wife - dispenses with the Emmy-baiting histrionics, allowing the complexities of their characters to take shape through their interactions with each other, their children and the Americans they emulate. 'Catherine' can't seem to pronounce the A-word without revealing her contempt for her adopted homeland, while 'Philip' is at pains to conceal his love of hot dogs and a burgeoning middle-aged complacency at odds with the escalating danger of their missions. The perverse nature of their facades is encapsulated in a few second shot of the family appearing at the doorstep of their newly arrived next-door neighbors, bearing cake to welcome Mr and Mrs Beeman. The viewer gets a glimpse of the inner-turmoil behind their overly-rehearsed, "American" smiles with the knowledge that there is a near fatally wounded man bound and gagged in the trunk of the family sedan. Carrie Mathison would have pounded down their door at 3 am, brandishing a pistol and screaming about birthday cake until someone from Homeland Security dragged her back to her rubber room with a warning.
Their friendly neighbor Agent Beeman, whose backyard barbecues they attend as a family, pursues them via a beautiful Russian consulate employee he has managed to 'turn' through blackmail, murder and sex, not realizing of course, his somewhat doofus neighbor 'Philip' and his lovely wife are the chimeric KGB phantoms responsible for the growing body count among his ranks, which in time will include his own partner. In the meantime, 'Philip' has honey trapped a plain Jane clerical worker in the FBI who thinks her new beau works for the Vice- President. Non-American actor Matthew Rhys as "Phillip" disguised as "Clark" the bumbling suitor brings levity and a lovely pathos to the otherwise heart-stopping drama.
'The Americans' despite its Cold War, espionage-based story-telling and often stomach churning violence is at heart, a very human drama about the charades involved in maintaining an 'identity' (we are all implicated as impostors), while highlighting the futile, tit-for-tat end- games played by nation states all claiming a non-existent moral high ground.
By the first episode, the emotional complications of their own arranged-in-a-KGB training camp marriage are starting to take their toll on 'Catherine' and 'Philip' with the latter showing signs of a flagging fealty to the Motherland and a deepening emotional bond with his de facto wife. Catherine, for her part, while still the mentor-pleasing star pupil of her Soviet special agent training academy maintains her stealth focus on the mission. If her heart is with the former Panther she had recruited years earlier, her body is a machine that belongs solely to the state, functioning simultaneously as a sexual weapon and a shape shifting, blow- deflecting device that can pack a school lunch. Kerri Russell, even in her '80's 'mom jeans', could serve any Bond girl her dinner in a dog dish.
Long story short: I'm just loving the s#*t out of 'The Americans', which could have just as easily been another 'Homeland' - in other words, more paranoid post 9/11 agitprop about the heroic government agents doing battle against a stealth enemy and his prayer beads. Unlike the aforementioned 'Homeland' that centers on Carrie Mathison's bug-eyed certitude of a turned 'evil-doer' in her imaginary-seeming cross hairs, 'The Americans', with the "blink and you'll miss it" sly humor so emphatically absent in the 'counterterrorism' genre it subverts, tells the story of subterfuge on American soil through the eyes of a Cold War nemesis. Where Homeland's Claire Danes channels Ann Coulter playing a Gena Rowlands 'woman-on-the- verge' protagonist you want to shoot with a horse tranquilizer, 'The Americans' - both husband and wife - dispenses with the Emmy-baiting histrionics, allowing the complexities of their characters to take shape through their interactions with each other, their children and the Americans they emulate. 'Catherine' can't seem to pronounce the A-word without revealing her contempt for her adopted homeland, while 'Philip' is at pains to conceal his love of hot dogs and a burgeoning middle-aged complacency at odds with the escalating danger of their missions. The perverse nature of their facades is encapsulated in a few second shot of the family appearing at the doorstep of their newly arrived next-door neighbors, bearing cake to welcome Mr and Mrs Beeman. The viewer gets a glimpse of the inner-turmoil behind their overly-rehearsed, "American" smiles with the knowledge that there is a near fatally wounded man bound and gagged in the trunk of the family sedan. Carrie Mathison would have pounded down their door at 3 am, brandishing a pistol and screaming about birthday cake until someone from Homeland Security dragged her back to her rubber room with a warning.
Their friendly neighbor Agent Beeman, whose backyard barbecues they attend as a family, pursues them via a beautiful Russian consulate employee he has managed to 'turn' through blackmail, murder and sex, not realizing of course, his somewhat doofus neighbor 'Philip' and his lovely wife are the chimeric KGB phantoms responsible for the growing body count among his ranks, which in time will include his own partner. In the meantime, 'Philip' has honey trapped a plain Jane clerical worker in the FBI who thinks her new beau works for the Vice- President. Non-American actor Matthew Rhys as "Phillip" disguised as "Clark" the bumbling suitor brings levity and a lovely pathos to the otherwise heart-stopping drama.
'The Americans' despite its Cold War, espionage-based story-telling and often stomach churning violence is at heart, a very human drama about the charades involved in maintaining an 'identity' (we are all implicated as impostors), while highlighting the futile, tit-for-tat end- games played by nation states all claiming a non-existent moral high ground.
Intriguing
mohan5931 January 2013
It is early days yet, but the pilot was so engrossing (and Fox infuriating with its endless barrage of commercial breaks), it deserved a review.
Set during the Cold War when relations between the Big Two are still ebbing and flowing, we are taken on an intriguing ride on the back of an American couple: Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell). They make an everyday pair but there is something brewing from (and between) them. Their motives are ulterior, the tension palpable, the strain of a highly dangerous mission clearly burdening them. Despite two kids, Elizabeth has a singular purpose, a determination not as concrete in Phil's heart which is in a state of mental flux. He is getting weary of the masquerade but is a thorough professional, as his slick talents in hand-to-hand combat and imposture bear testimony. Not every step goes perfectly to plan, though. A tricky hurdle comes their way and as Phil and Elizabeth eradicate it, she begins to understand Phil's dilemma and choses to defend him from her superior.
Meanwhile, the FBI is hot on the trail of three people suspected of espionage, one of whom has a description. Through a cruel twist of coincidence, the Jennings become neighbors to one agent Stan (Noah Emmerich) whose sixth sense makes him doubt and investigate them, even as Phil gathers intelligence that the Feds have them on their radar. As the stakes in this fascinating game of cat-and-mouse rise, there are glimpses into who Phil and Elizabeth really are, what brought them here, and how they end up together.
It is an engrossing story, interspersed with great moments of tension, decadence, and charm (who would've thought Phil Collins and Fleetwood Mac could make such inspired choices for background score?). The writing is top-notch. Matthew and Keri are excellent casting choices, since portraying enemies as genuine people is not as easy as it looks. A very positive start from the show's makers.
Can't wait for the next episode!
Set during the Cold War when relations between the Big Two are still ebbing and flowing, we are taken on an intriguing ride on the back of an American couple: Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell). They make an everyday pair but there is something brewing from (and between) them. Their motives are ulterior, the tension palpable, the strain of a highly dangerous mission clearly burdening them. Despite two kids, Elizabeth has a singular purpose, a determination not as concrete in Phil's heart which is in a state of mental flux. He is getting weary of the masquerade but is a thorough professional, as his slick talents in hand-to-hand combat and imposture bear testimony. Not every step goes perfectly to plan, though. A tricky hurdle comes their way and as Phil and Elizabeth eradicate it, she begins to understand Phil's dilemma and choses to defend him from her superior.
Meanwhile, the FBI is hot on the trail of three people suspected of espionage, one of whom has a description. Through a cruel twist of coincidence, the Jennings become neighbors to one agent Stan (Noah Emmerich) whose sixth sense makes him doubt and investigate them, even as Phil gathers intelligence that the Feds have them on their radar. As the stakes in this fascinating game of cat-and-mouse rise, there are glimpses into who Phil and Elizabeth really are, what brought them here, and how they end up together.
It is an engrossing story, interspersed with great moments of tension, decadence, and charm (who would've thought Phil Collins and Fleetwood Mac could make such inspired choices for background score?). The writing is top-notch. Matthew and Keri are excellent casting choices, since portraying enemies as genuine people is not as easy as it looks. A very positive start from the show's makers.
Can't wait for the next episode!
Help! Im in love with Keri Russel
sirlife-5380413 May 2022
Espionage drama with family life at its core
HuntinPeck8022 August 2023
There was a time when I was urgently Googling between seasons, desperate to know if the next one had wrapped, was there a date yet for its TV premiere, and was it going to be on UK domestic telly. By the end of season four the passion had cooled, and by the end of the fith it was all but burned out. The sixth, as if to make up for No.5's tedium, served up kill upon kill, a real bloodbath, and to little effect. The much praised final episode was actually a bit deficient, given all that had happened. A longer, deeper confrontation, something to compare with, say, Carrie's interrogation of Brody in season 2 of Homeland; by comparison The Americans' garage showdown and downbeat ending was a damp squib.
But it had all started so, so well. The first couple of seasons were energetic entertainment, full of hand to hand combat, and sweaty couplings to satisfy lust, love, or liaison. The show went on to ask questions about how a person's identity is formed, changed, compromised, complicated by life, that were quite fascinating. Of course, this series is based upon real life KGB espionage. Such sleeper cells really existed and went active when called upon by Moscow. By focusing on the family the show's creators keep the missions and their fallout relatable to the audience.
The Americans recapitulates the tiresome trope of, what I call, Precocious Yet Annoying Older Sister Teenage Girl Character. Paige Jennings is the sister of Homeland's irksome daughter, Brody's kid, only her capacity to vex everybody is many times higher in this case. There is also Clueless Younger Brother Character (again, like Homeland). Other flaws of the show are the prosaic dialogue which occasionally falls completely flat, and the age old problem of refusing to shake up the situation, thus allowing the drama to stultify. If you make the mistake of binge-watching the show, as I did when I ran through the whole thing once again - it's limitations become all the more painfully apparent. The show's general dourness also gets magnified.
But the first four seasons are well worth seeing, and the performances from the recurring cast are usually first class. It's just a pity they couldn't have taken more liberties, been bold, as the show moved on. The fourth season has the character of a leave taking, but yet the show was recommissioned and to poor effect. Much more could have been done with The Americans. Ultimately, it became, like family life, too routine.
Good but not the miracle that its most ardent admirers like to pretend.
But it had all started so, so well. The first couple of seasons were energetic entertainment, full of hand to hand combat, and sweaty couplings to satisfy lust, love, or liaison. The show went on to ask questions about how a person's identity is formed, changed, compromised, complicated by life, that were quite fascinating. Of course, this series is based upon real life KGB espionage. Such sleeper cells really existed and went active when called upon by Moscow. By focusing on the family the show's creators keep the missions and their fallout relatable to the audience.
The Americans recapitulates the tiresome trope of, what I call, Precocious Yet Annoying Older Sister Teenage Girl Character. Paige Jennings is the sister of Homeland's irksome daughter, Brody's kid, only her capacity to vex everybody is many times higher in this case. There is also Clueless Younger Brother Character (again, like Homeland). Other flaws of the show are the prosaic dialogue which occasionally falls completely flat, and the age old problem of refusing to shake up the situation, thus allowing the drama to stultify. If you make the mistake of binge-watching the show, as I did when I ran through the whole thing once again - it's limitations become all the more painfully apparent. The show's general dourness also gets magnified.
But the first four seasons are well worth seeing, and the performances from the recurring cast are usually first class. It's just a pity they couldn't have taken more liberties, been bold, as the show moved on. The fourth season has the character of a leave taking, but yet the show was recommissioned and to poor effect. Much more could have been done with The Americans. Ultimately, it became, like family life, too routine.
Good but not the miracle that its most ardent admirers like to pretend.
One of the best historical and social lessons about the 80's
stahl9814 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Let me start off by saying a couple of things:
1. I don't leave many reviews, this might be my 2nd overall, this may say something to you if I bother to leave this here.
2. I was born in 1981 in a country behind the Iron Curtain, so until the end of 1989 I got to experience, through the eyes of a child, at least a part of what communism meant for me, my family and my country.
3. History and the Cold War are some of my passions, there's never enough material to cover about it, ever. A lot to discover, each day. US became a mirage for me, and I grew up trying to learn much more about their culture and history, their way of life.
The Americans has drawn me through its story, and I remained hooked till the end, because what the producers, actors, all involved managed to create is (at least) a credible work of art, a credible testimony of a past world that I can only understand now through adult eyes.
Yes, maybe my opinion should not be on top, as there are surely a lot of you who were a bit older during the 80's, and also lived there then. But I love this show, and I feel like writing this.
Was everything perfect in the show? No, it wasn't - there were some episodes (especially in season 5) with pretty much no action, season 5 puts more stress on the psychological side, Phillip trying to get away from the nastiest part of the job, while we watch Paige finding out the truth about her parents and slowly getting prepared to be part of the action. Did they always nail the haircuts? Or the type of cars used? No, they didn't - but this also makes the show more interesting. The 80's were set for the action, but any decade would have been good all the same. The idea of the show is what matters most. Moreover, their haircuts and cars are really average - as they didn't try to attract any unwanted attention. All the action comprised in these seasons would not have been achieved by just 2 guys, also in such a short period - most likely, but the show is what it is also because of this action.
A lot of people are upset now about the show's ending. I can get that.
But I also get the message that the producers wanted to give. The questions remained unanswered about the protagonists' fates equal the ones about their past, before Stan became a neighbor to the Jennings, or after the Jennings reached the States up to the 80's.
In real life, those illegals, many of them, were caught and arrested, but swapped to Russia for some other prisoners - and the details of their lives as US citizens are even more blurry. Art is about filling in those gaps with fiction and grains of truth.
The Americans starts in one point in those peoples'lives and ends in another. It's never meant to be a biography, but what it manages to do a damn good job in depicting life, ideas and emotions - as they COULD have been experienced back then. It managed to get me hooked, and the music was so nicely chosen. The ending only proves that people can be only human, in the hardest moments...
Goodbye, dear show - it's been a nice ride!
Totally recommended.
One character short of being potentially the best TV programme of its decade.
peter-dunne25 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The Americans is a beautifully dark descent into the world during the Cold War, with some truly fantastically written characters, brought to life by brilliant performances across the board.
I love almost every aspect of this show, and am so disappointed that I can't give it a 10/10, but there is one reason that I just can't give it full marks...Paige.
Simply put, the character of Paige completely kills this show. Every time it builds pace, her annoying presence derails it. To begin with you can understand why she's such an annoying brat, but it gets so old, so fast.
If Paige had been written out of the show at early-mid season 4, it would have been perfect. Sadly they allowed her to continue the onslaught that murdered the interest I could hold in this story.
I love almost every aspect of this show, and am so disappointed that I can't give it a 10/10, but there is one reason that I just can't give it full marks...Paige.
Simply put, the character of Paige completely kills this show. Every time it builds pace, her annoying presence derails it. To begin with you can understand why she's such an annoying brat, but it gets so old, so fast.
If Paige had been written out of the show at early-mid season 4, it would have been perfect. Sadly they allowed her to continue the onslaught that murdered the interest I could hold in this story.
Too overrated
imdb-ary4 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This show's totally unbelievable, no way it deserves the high rating it has. Soviet spies, back in the day, were suppose to be the best in the world you know? I mean they were able to steal the technology for nuclear weapons pretty much as soon the US finished the Manhattan project. No country has ever had an espionage coup that big. I've read the KGB even had one of their guys working as the HEAD of FBI counter intelligence right up to the nineties! But in this show the Soviet spies are like trigger happy morons. These people, they kill their own agents at the drop of a hat. They shoot people on the street in broad daylight. Blow up cars, houses, kill police, FBI agents. Why is it real life Soviet spies were undetected for long? Its because they DIDN'T do all that stuff. Good god the spies on the show are even worse than James Bond.
In the mole episode, apparently all it took for the Soviets kill their own US ambassador was for someone to ask for him by name (in an "so obvious its stupid" manner). If that actually worked in real life, you might as well just keep doing that and Soviets would of killed off all their top officials on their own. No need for the cold war at all. The Soviets know the Americans know they're looking for the mole. After three desperate calls trying to finger the ambassador by name, any person with a brain would realise its a heavy handed attempt to pin him as the mole. That makes it less likely not more. Not to mention the guy they're trying to pin it on, is the head US ambassador. You could not pick a more unlikely guy in the entire embassy. They know the mole is someone IN the embassy, its perfectly reasonable someone was setting him up.
But instead of conducting a through investigation, like questioning everyone's where abouts, who had access to the room, etc. (Or even relay false info to narrow the suspects down) They just ship the ambassador guy back to be shot. (And no randomly tortured the rockstar spies who bought them the intel in the first place does not count as an investigation).
Another thing I didn't like is how the two main characters are total sluts. They're more like prostitute than spies. The even more unbelievable thing is that it actually worked. Lol. For some reason, instead of sweet nothings you'd say to your lover, the targets always to blab out top secret information as soon as their pants come off.
In another episode I remember the wife actually start hating the husband for sleeping with his old flame. Are you serious? What a hypocrite. Both of them had been sleeping around like gigolos, for god knows how many years, and suddenly she wants to jeopardize their entire relationship just because the guy got together with his ex. Ergg.
I'm mostly through season 1 but I can barely stand it. Unlikable douchebag characters, stupid writing... or maybe its just the writers want to paint the Soviets in a bad light? I donno. But for anyone who's ever read a real spy novel, these guys might as well be Dr Evil in a James Bond movie, totally unrealisitic.
In the mole episode, apparently all it took for the Soviets kill their own US ambassador was for someone to ask for him by name (in an "so obvious its stupid" manner). If that actually worked in real life, you might as well just keep doing that and Soviets would of killed off all their top officials on their own. No need for the cold war at all. The Soviets know the Americans know they're looking for the mole. After three desperate calls trying to finger the ambassador by name, any person with a brain would realise its a heavy handed attempt to pin him as the mole. That makes it less likely not more. Not to mention the guy they're trying to pin it on, is the head US ambassador. You could not pick a more unlikely guy in the entire embassy. They know the mole is someone IN the embassy, its perfectly reasonable someone was setting him up.
But instead of conducting a through investigation, like questioning everyone's where abouts, who had access to the room, etc. (Or even relay false info to narrow the suspects down) They just ship the ambassador guy back to be shot. (And no randomly tortured the rockstar spies who bought them the intel in the first place does not count as an investigation).
Another thing I didn't like is how the two main characters are total sluts. They're more like prostitute than spies. The even more unbelievable thing is that it actually worked. Lol. For some reason, instead of sweet nothings you'd say to your lover, the targets always to blab out top secret information as soon as their pants come off.
In another episode I remember the wife actually start hating the husband for sleeping with his old flame. Are you serious? What a hypocrite. Both of them had been sleeping around like gigolos, for god knows how many years, and suddenly she wants to jeopardize their entire relationship just because the guy got together with his ex. Ergg.
I'm mostly through season 1 but I can barely stand it. Unlikable douchebag characters, stupid writing... or maybe its just the writers want to paint the Soviets in a bad light? I donno. But for anyone who's ever read a real spy novel, these guys might as well be Dr Evil in a James Bond movie, totally unrealisitic.
The Americans should used as a guide for how to make good tv
abcprivateemail29 September 2022
TV/MOVIE EXECS, PRODUCERS, SHOW RUNNERS, DIRECTORS, AND WRITERS TAKE NOTE: The Americans should be your guide for how entertainment does NOT need constant, long fights, car chases, or emotional outbursts. It does NOT need clearly defined, black & white, un-nuanced good guys versus bad guys. It does NOT need music shoved in the audience's ears. A show can have audiences other than just teens with Attention Deficit Disorder.
It can, like The Americans, be built on: a great premise plus a fascinating story that takes its time developing; suspence and drama; writers who don't over-write scenes and let superb actors wordlessly convey thoughts and emotions with facial expressions and body posture, to the point of having a wordless 2 minuute long dinner scene that conveys more relationship tension than any screaming match could; subtle background music (without singers) that seamlessly blend into the background (until season 6).
So many things that I've griped about in IMDB reviews of other shows or movies over and over, The Americans did right, especially in seasons 1 through 4. One of my favorite things about the show is that it made me feel for people on both sides of the cold war... no one seemed completely good or completely bad. The characters were deep and complex. The situations written for them were complex, with choices that had pros and cons no matter what path they chose, and decisons made sometimes seemed like the best choice based on info at hand, until more info was revealed indicating how assumptions, conjecture, and mistrust can mislead those decisions.
After I quickly got over my initial kneejerk reaction of "this is trying to copy Homeland, except set in 1980s cold war", I loved the show. My complaints for this show: 1) season 6 the music suddenly became obnoxious, intrusive, and inappropriate, especially the first half of S6. 2) Season 5 a new young character was introduced, and they kept randomly bouncing back and forth between an older main character and the new young character, with too little explanation of what was happening, and for much of the season I mistakenly thought they were flashbacks to a younger version of the main character. Then later the new character just disappeared from the show and all the time they spent on that character in S5 seemed pointless. The new character didn't impact the story at all and seemed like a waste of time. They could have resolved this in the series ending, but didn't. 3) although most reviewers loved the ending, I found it a bit baffling... parts of it were good, but several characters made decisions that seemed like very sudden, drastic, unrealistic shifts in personality.
It can, like The Americans, be built on: a great premise plus a fascinating story that takes its time developing; suspence and drama; writers who don't over-write scenes and let superb actors wordlessly convey thoughts and emotions with facial expressions and body posture, to the point of having a wordless 2 minuute long dinner scene that conveys more relationship tension than any screaming match could; subtle background music (without singers) that seamlessly blend into the background (until season 6).
So many things that I've griped about in IMDB reviews of other shows or movies over and over, The Americans did right, especially in seasons 1 through 4. One of my favorite things about the show is that it made me feel for people on both sides of the cold war... no one seemed completely good or completely bad. The characters were deep and complex. The situations written for them were complex, with choices that had pros and cons no matter what path they chose, and decisons made sometimes seemed like the best choice based on info at hand, until more info was revealed indicating how assumptions, conjecture, and mistrust can mislead those decisions.
After I quickly got over my initial kneejerk reaction of "this is trying to copy Homeland, except set in 1980s cold war", I loved the show. My complaints for this show: 1) season 6 the music suddenly became obnoxious, intrusive, and inappropriate, especially the first half of S6. 2) Season 5 a new young character was introduced, and they kept randomly bouncing back and forth between an older main character and the new young character, with too little explanation of what was happening, and for much of the season I mistakenly thought they were flashbacks to a younger version of the main character. Then later the new character just disappeared from the show and all the time they spent on that character in S5 seemed pointless. The new character didn't impact the story at all and seemed like a waste of time. They could have resolved this in the series ending, but didn't. 3) although most reviewers loved the ending, I found it a bit baffling... parts of it were good, but several characters made decisions that seemed like very sudden, drastic, unrealistic shifts in personality.
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