Pilot is a great episode. The Americans is about deep cover K G B agents in America during the 1980s. The Pilot episode shows how the K G B agents use sex, violence, deceit, and treachery. The Americans is a graphic show both sexually and violently. The agents use and manipulate people, and live double lives. The human side where the agents pay a price is shown through the couples relationships. The agents never told their kids that they are K G B, never where married, or that they are from the C C C P. The parts that stood out for me while watching Pilot where: The agents have someone in the family car trunk and they can act so normal was a great shock factor in this episode. How the F B I agent was almost killed at the ending proved the point of how ruthless these agents are even if they appear not. Well acted written and directed this episode. I give Pilot a nine out of ten.
7 Reviews
Strong pilot for a series with an excellent concept
snoozejonc29 December 2020
Two Russian spies are in conflict over what to do with a captured defector.
I enjoyed this first episode of The Americans as it sets up a pretty intriguing concept and contains a number of solid performances.
The idea of a spy thriller from the perspective of Russian sleeper agents living a family life in the US is an excellent basis for both compelling plot lines and exploring themes about identity, trust, marriage, parenthood and political ideology. It's hard to tell if all this or more will be done from watching one episode, but I'm holding out lots of hope.
Right from the start we are informed who the characters are, what motivates them and what challenges they are likely to face in the series. I found all this to be an effective hook to watch more.
There were several memorable scenes, particularly those showing the seemingly conflicting motivations between the two central characters and some clues to how the feel about each other.
Sexual predators, sexual violence and the use of sex as a weapon was tackled in numerous scenes which were quite interesting. Some satisfying moments of justice were served, yet I get a feeling that the theme will be continued particularly from the perspective of the Elizabeth.
All performances were excellent and made the central characters highly watchable.
The cinematography was good but nothing particularly earth-shattering. I enjoyed the editing and the use of popular music to keep things interesting and define the period setting. On that note the period detail was pretty good but a lot more subtle than the likes of Stranger Things which prides itself on colourful 80s retro symbols in every scene.
My only negative is a rather obvious lack of effort to make Keri Russell look younger in the flashback sequences, but in the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world.
For me this is an 8.5/10 but as always on IMDB I like to round up.
I enjoyed this first episode of The Americans as it sets up a pretty intriguing concept and contains a number of solid performances.
The idea of a spy thriller from the perspective of Russian sleeper agents living a family life in the US is an excellent basis for both compelling plot lines and exploring themes about identity, trust, marriage, parenthood and political ideology. It's hard to tell if all this or more will be done from watching one episode, but I'm holding out lots of hope.
Right from the start we are informed who the characters are, what motivates them and what challenges they are likely to face in the series. I found all this to be an effective hook to watch more.
There were several memorable scenes, particularly those showing the seemingly conflicting motivations between the two central characters and some clues to how the feel about each other.
Sexual predators, sexual violence and the use of sex as a weapon was tackled in numerous scenes which were quite interesting. Some satisfying moments of justice were served, yet I get a feeling that the theme will be continued particularly from the perspective of the Elizabeth.
All performances were excellent and made the central characters highly watchable.
The cinematography was good but nothing particularly earth-shattering. I enjoyed the editing and the use of popular music to keep things interesting and define the period setting. On that note the period detail was pretty good but a lot more subtle than the likes of Stranger Things which prides itself on colourful 80s retro symbols in every scene.
My only negative is a rather obvious lack of effort to make Keri Russell look younger in the flashback sequences, but in the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world.
For me this is an 8.5/10 but as always on IMDB I like to round up.
Good, but...
ChopChops2 March 2014
It was a good story line but I'm deducting points for the fact that they did a poor job of capturing the mood of the era and some inaccuracies. There were several things that didn't jive with the times. One of them was the fact that several of the men in the episode had no hair, it was very uncommon to have shaved heads in 1981, besides Kojak at the time there were very few people that would've embraced that look. The scene where he was sitting in the park, there was a lady walking around with a modern stroller. And the police officers were talking into modern radios when communicating with each other, that would've never happened.
Also the scene where Elizabeth's character is sitting in the bedroom and she uses a wireless remote control to shut off the TV, while remote controls existed at the time it was very, very unlikely that somebody would've had a wireless one to control the TV in their bedroom. In 1981, even cable companies did not provide you with a wireless remote.
Then there were the scenes at the mall, malls at the time were still in their infancy stages and would not have look anything like a modern mall especially the department store scene.
Lastly, I take issue with their house. First of all, it looked way too modern from the outside. Also, that while they did a good job with the kitchen making it look period, the rest of the house still looked way too modern such as the painted moldings, which at the time would have been wood stained. The garage had unfinished walls, which is more a of a recent practice by contractors.
I would've really liked to see them do a better job with setting the mood of the era, other than that it was a good storyline and I will continue to watch.
Also the scene where Elizabeth's character is sitting in the bedroom and she uses a wireless remote control to shut off the TV, while remote controls existed at the time it was very, very unlikely that somebody would've had a wireless one to control the TV in their bedroom. In 1981, even cable companies did not provide you with a wireless remote.
Then there were the scenes at the mall, malls at the time were still in their infancy stages and would not have look anything like a modern mall especially the department store scene.
Lastly, I take issue with their house. First of all, it looked way too modern from the outside. Also, that while they did a good job with the kitchen making it look period, the rest of the house still looked way too modern such as the painted moldings, which at the time would have been wood stained. The garage had unfinished walls, which is more a of a recent practice by contractors.
I would've really liked to see them do a better job with setting the mood of the era, other than that it was a good storyline and I will continue to watch.
My favorite episode and what a start to an amazing series
alexguin9 April 2018
I love this episode, the amount of story tension they managed to fit into an episode a little over an hour is amazing. This is combined with awesome music choices such as Tusk by Fleetwood Mac during the chase scene just added that extra umph that made me fall in love with the series.
strong character development in the pilot!!!, as strong of a start as it gets.
belaidinazim-570608 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Pilot is a great episode. It surprised me because it started a little slow in the first 20 min, a lot of confusion about who is who. But once it settles down, it flies and blows you away.
The episode starts by our main characters kidnapping a guy who turns out to be a Russian traitor which helps us realize that they are Russian KGB agents. And in the mist of that mess, we discover that the agent assigned to their case is their neighbor, which complicates things even more.
Let's take a step back to the opening scene when we see Elizabeth using sex to get information, which tells us that this character can and will do anything to accomplish the mission, we see afterwards that she want kill this Russian defector so badly because he raped her years ago, But she didn't tell Philip, which makes us wonder the kind of relationship they have, especially after he kissed her afterwards, and she stopped him, he also said "you are my wife", which makes us conclude that they are just couples on the outside even after years. There were other layers to the story, mainly Philip feeling the possibility of betraying Russia and running away, especially that he is feeling the pressure from his neighbor who gave him a scare when he asked to join him exactly where the defector was held, but that was dealt with quietly. And then he finally approached the idea to Elizabeth who has been suspecting him all time long, but she just laughed at him, and slapped him once the conversation got tense. Then the biggest moment of the episode in my opinion came when Philip killed the traitor as soon as he knew about the rape incident which surprised me and especially Elizabeth, when you consider the fact that he was his way to get out of this situation. As a result of that she felt like he really cares about her. So, they finally have sex as soon as they dispose of the body, she also tells him personal stuff about her before she became an agent, which is apparently illegal. All this character development was in the pilot which is crazy for me.
We finish by one of the most suspenseful scenes in recent memory. Stan gets suspicious and breaks in and checks the car. We knew the body isn't there anymore, but there was a scene before that when Elizabeth was cleaning it, but it appears that she didn't finish, which kept me on the edge of my seat. Great writing trick btw. The scene ended when we realized that Philip was there, that was just the icing on the cake.
I expected a great show because I am late. However, this pilot raised my expectations even higher. I hope it meets them.
The episode starts by our main characters kidnapping a guy who turns out to be a Russian traitor which helps us realize that they are Russian KGB agents. And in the mist of that mess, we discover that the agent assigned to their case is their neighbor, which complicates things even more.
Let's take a step back to the opening scene when we see Elizabeth using sex to get information, which tells us that this character can and will do anything to accomplish the mission, we see afterwards that she want kill this Russian defector so badly because he raped her years ago, But she didn't tell Philip, which makes us wonder the kind of relationship they have, especially after he kissed her afterwards, and she stopped him, he also said "you are my wife", which makes us conclude that they are just couples on the outside even after years. There were other layers to the story, mainly Philip feeling the possibility of betraying Russia and running away, especially that he is feeling the pressure from his neighbor who gave him a scare when he asked to join him exactly where the defector was held, but that was dealt with quietly. And then he finally approached the idea to Elizabeth who has been suspecting him all time long, but she just laughed at him, and slapped him once the conversation got tense. Then the biggest moment of the episode in my opinion came when Philip killed the traitor as soon as he knew about the rape incident which surprised me and especially Elizabeth, when you consider the fact that he was his way to get out of this situation. As a result of that she felt like he really cares about her. So, they finally have sex as soon as they dispose of the body, she also tells him personal stuff about her before she became an agent, which is apparently illegal. All this character development was in the pilot which is crazy for me.
We finish by one of the most suspenseful scenes in recent memory. Stan gets suspicious and breaks in and checks the car. We knew the body isn't there anymore, but there was a scene before that when Elizabeth was cleaning it, but it appears that she didn't finish, which kept me on the edge of my seat. Great writing trick btw. The scene ended when we realized that Philip was there, that was just the icing on the cake.
I expected a great show because I am late. However, this pilot raised my expectations even higher. I hope it meets them.
The Americans Pilot
dalydj-918-2551753 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Washington 1981 and we get our first sight of Elizabeth (Kerri Russell) in a blonde wig as she try's to get some info for a man working close with the president. 3 days later this Intel has come in handy as she, Philip (Matthew Rhys) and another agent are waiting to abduct someone important from that Intel. The plan seems to go well except instead of an easy pick up Philip must chase down this guy. They catch him but they come up with some witnesses and a injury. Elizabeth and Philip are late to bring this guy to the checkpoint so must keep him in the back of their car. Flashback to 1969 and we see Elizabeth in training with Timochev and what he did to her. To present time and we learn that Philip and Elizabeth are Russians disguised as Americans with children of their own unaware of their parents past life's. Elizabeth is the stay at home mom while Philip must go out and see what people have heard about their missions, he is then named Clarke in a wig hearing all that is known is people took Timochev into the car. Elizabeth seems to be weaker then Philip as she seems to be losing the point of the mission. The family now has new neighbours who include FBI Counter-Intelligence Agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) as the husband which makes the pair suspicious. Another flashback to 1962 where Elizabeth and Philip first met getting ready for their mission. The FBI know about this guy being taken but they have no idea whom it might be. When Philip wants to make a deal with Timochev Elizabeth does not allow it to happen and the couple must fight him off getting bruised with him being killed. The pair get rid of the body which seems to turn the two on. Stan somehow out of no where believes the Jenning family seem different. Elizabeth and Philip may act as a couple but really then know nothing about each other only with some information coming out through bed talk. One final flashback as we see the first time the couple arrived in the states. Stan in the middle of the night broke into the Jennings house but when he finds nothing he just leaves. This was an interesting premise and while I can see this story told well over many years I found the pilot just fine with nothing special. The main actors are great but the character of Stan becoming suspicious so early confused me a bit.
EPISODE GRADE: B- (MVP: Kerri Russell)
EPISODE GRADE: B- (MVP: Kerri Russell)
A good start
gedikreverdi5 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
They kidnapped a deflected Russian spy and killed after they cannot contact to the embassy because they're being monitored. He had raped the woman back in the education days in Russia. He wants to turn himself in and become American and she is a real patriot. Their kids are oblivious to all this. A new neighbor moved across the street and the father is an FBI agent. He checks the trunk in secret but they already dumped the body. And the man standing in the dark with a gun was really cool. I loved the 80s movies feeling to it.
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