The Americans (TV Series) The Colonel (2013) User Reviews

"That's why, darling, it's incredible"

[bongoz · 2 May 2013]

It *is* incredible. The writers, producers, actors - they pulled it off. Bravo, kudos, and applause!

What a magnificent way to end the first season. The edge-of-your-seat tension. Paterson's sad, dramatic death at the hand of Claudia. (I verified on Wikipedia that they had tasers in the eighties - so that's what "taser" stands for.) The Colonel was the real deal, saying all the things we used to say about SDI at the time, how impossible the technology was. ("Research physicists need Porsches, too!") Nina now has Stan right where she wants him, and we have Phillip and Elizabeth right where we want them.

But there's Prince and his testimony, Paige and her hereditary "inquisitiveness", and dumb-dumb Martha and her loose cannon. Our antiheroes will be on their guard after the Weinberger sting (I would hate to be that maid right now), but will it be enough?

Bring on season 2!

Breathless!

[gmoore44 · 10/10 · 27 July 2019]

The season 1 ending was pulse pounding, following the action, and seeing it unfolding. I don't want to go any further, to avoid posting spoilers. Let me just say that this series had me hooked halfway through Episode 1, and it just kept getting better and better. One of the best series I have ever watched. I put it alongside Mad Men and The Sopranos, as the best series I've watched.

Grade A+

Tense and exciting finish to series 1 with great character moments.

[snoozejonc · 9/10 · 18 January 2021]

The meeting with the Colonel is set but the Jennings' suspect it might be a trap.

I enjoyed this one for the suspense, excitement and character development.

It is impossible to go into details of the plot without spoilers, but it's safe to say that it contains several extremely tense moments of FBI and KGB agents in the field. There are also some very compelling character moments, particularly involving relationships between characters. As always there is a high level of intricacy and irony on display, owing to the fact that as an audience we know everybody's secrets.

There are some well made action sequences that are as thrilling, if not more so, than anything I've seen in modern spy movies such as the Bourne series. With it being a television show, I feel like I know the characters and am more invested in what happens to them than in a movie.

The episode ends with a strong musical montage sequence, much like those seen on season finale's in shows like The Sopranos and The Wire, which works very well, particularly for the time period.

All performances as excellent as always, but for me Margo Martindale stands out in an episode that gives some much needed reveals about Claudia.

This is a strong end to the first season and it did its job in making me want to find out what happens next.

Awesome ending..

[SaratBhaswanth · 9/10 · 2 May 2013]

First i ended up seeing this serial by picking this at random. But, slowly the story seemed fascinating (probably some more bigger word). I was worried about how the first season could end. The director showed me the answer. Very tense situations in this episode really brought me high and raised my further expectations for the upcoming season.

The song situation at the closing end seemed promising and the screenplay at the background was superb.

Thanks again to the team... Hoping that we would be more interested for the continuation...(S02)... Probably this deserves a 9.5 rating..... I hope the viewers reading this review should feel the same.

A great season finale!

[mm-39 · 9/10 · 3 May 2013]

A great season finale! The spy games continue. The Colonel episode has traps, double lives, people being played, and the stress/violence of espionage. A shared experience creates bonding and the season finale bonds the family. The F B I is onto the deep cover K G B agents, but their training and wits keeps them alive. Next season will be great! The series has a double agent, and a mole who is willing to save his own skin. I believe season two will be better than season one. I see some new specialized characters coming in. I can see the C I A becoming involved. Maybe there will be a Iran-Contra scandal brewing. A well written, acted and directed series. Nine out of ten.

Brilliant Season ending

[michael-247 · 10/10 · 5 June 2013]

Well I'll admit I'm not normally a person who likes this kind of 'predictable' type of 'Cold War' stuff however I can only say I'm a bit too impressed after watching it all! We have an ending with quite believable people in the 80's doing the 'get 'em to believe we are close to war', just to stir up the population and keep them interested.

I can imagine Season two with 'Nina' getting the upper hand. The 'Jennings' being closer together than the average 'married' couple with their siblings. Elizabeth finding out that her 'handler' was actually more close and friendly than she could have imagined. The downside to the series is not the actual content but perception by the general public. Are we to admit hoping that the integrated (into society) 'spies' actually succeed? The episodes want us to hope they do! To me this is a kind of 'day to day' existence of a 20 year on reflection of 'Dr. Strangelove' - as in the actual 'living' instead of the military approach.

The 'cast' is an amazingly good selection. They show total dedication and whilst working as a team actually show 'devotion' to each other and carry it off perfectly. I bet in Season 2 there will be some impressive scenes. In reality and the reality is to me, how the hell can they live such double lives? I know from history people have done this and merge it so well however eventually they get older and the 'active' parts tend to fade somewhat and this is not really a 'desk job' is it? All in all a brilliant translation of what 'actually' was found to happen. I wonder in what year it'll stop though? M

Review of Season 1: Episodes 10-13

[851222 · 9/10 · 16 February 2015]

Greetings from Lithuania.

The last four episodes of "The Americans" were nicely done as well as the whole season. If you liked previous episodes, you will like these four as well. The story progressed, with some double crossings and etc. Nothing groundbreaking didn't happen. First season has ended, and i think i will check the second one - it's not my favorite TV show out there, but it does it's justice for an evening. The ending wasn't anything special, it was another nice episode of this show.

Episode 9 - vote 9, episode 10 - vote 11 - vote 7, episode 12 - vote 9, episode 13 - vote 9.

A modern spy concept, back in time.

[michaelchikliscares · 9/10 · 13 August 2019]

A story about two spies who were recruited for the program in America, the end montage is well done , the music by Peter Gabriel sets the tone well for Season 2 of The Americans, their kids don't have a clue who they really are. That is what excited me at first view of this episode.

I really love both, Elizabeth Jennings and Philip Jennings , how their relationship has molded over the rocks they been facing. I have not finished the series, so one by one starting season 3 soon.

Season One

[zkonedog · 5/10 · 27 June 2019]

When I bought this first season of "The Americans", I was fully expecting it to fill a little bit of a "show-hole". I had heard great things about the show, and it seemed to consistently rank high on "best of" lists. Unfortunately, I made it through just six episodes of this first season before deciding that it not only wasn't for me, but I wasn't really even enjoying it all that much. So, though unpopular, this review will be a bit of a counter-perspective to all the four/five-star rankings here.

The basic setup of "The Americans" is that Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys) and wife Elizabeth (Keri Russell) are spies for Russian living on American soil. They have the perfect cover as the seemingly all-American family with children Henry (Keidrich Sellati) and Paige (Holly Taylor). However, as the show begins, Ronald Reagan is now the U.S. President, signaling a much more difficult time for Russian spies. Oh, and Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) has just moved in next door. Stan is a government agent who, along with boss Frank Gaad (Richard Thomas), work specifically on counter-intelligence.

While the setup for "The Americans" seems dynamite, the plot and characters don't fit the bill. The main problem is that there is absolutely no background given on the Jennings coupling. In order for this show to work, viewers really have to care about their cause, and that isn't even touched on here. In terms of character-development, I also found things to be rather stale, if you will. I was hoping for complex motivations and angles, and instead I got a relatively simple spy thriller.

I feel a little bit bad giving up on the show so soon, but never once in the six episodes I watched did it ever grab me as "anything special". Again, this is mainly because I wasn't sucked into the main tensions of the piece like I should have been. I usually will give a show a bit more slack then this, but I felt I had reached the point where I understood what the show "was going to be" going forward. Even just six episodes in, it felt like a chore to watch, and that's when it was time to re-evaluate. Perhaps we are spoiled by the current binge-watching atmosphere and expect shows to hook us in right away, but I just didn't see where this one was going.

If someone comments on this review and talks about how much the show improves as it goes along, I would be willing to stick with it a little longer. However, as it stands right now, it was a failed experiment in my book. I'm doubly confused: 1. I was so sure I would like it; and 2. I ended up almost being bored by the episodes I did watch.

The closest "comp" I can give "The Americans" is "Homeland" (both shows start off with incredible premises), but the latter blows the former out of the water in terms of investing viewers into the characters/plots right away.

Hard to follow

[lluca-47748 · 5/10 · 1 June 2020]

Good plot, but lacks the spice. Something like "Mission impossible" without the good acting. Could not be captivated.