A thread for The Americans on FX

So, this is really quite great, right? Less tiresome plotmechanics, more about the people and how they deal with their weird world. Really loved yesterdays episode. It's amazing how unsympathetic the characters are allowed to be. I mean, they haven't really done anything that Tony Soprano or Walther White wouldn't do, but... For some reason I'm more shocked at what's going on on a weekly basis in this show. It might be because the show still insists on us seeing them as decent people trying to do their best in a tough job, and it's just... weird...

I want to watch this! I subscribed to a couple FX shows on the iTunes store, what with not having cable television, and they kept showing promos. Is it set in the present?

It's set in 1980-81, and the main characters are undercover Soviet Agents. The historical setting is probably a good thing. I think it allows everything to be less black and white than it is on Homeland, but then again I've only watched two episodes of Homeland, so I hardly know what I'm talking about.

Uh yeah things aren't exactly black & white on homeland

Still doesn't mean that they can't be more grey on Americans. Like, the terrorists are still pretty much the bad guys on Homeland, right? At least the foreign ones, right?

pointlessly rapey first episode, omg the fbi guy moved in next door, 80s stuff! no thanks

is this good or is it good like mad men is "good"

nvm everything sucks

I wouldn't call the pilot "pointlessly" rapey, nor particularly graphic in its one rape scene.

And yes this has turned out to be every bit as good as I was hoping.

And this last episode adressed a few of the icky stuff with that rape-plot, and did it very, very well. Really, every episode is adding so much to the story at the moment. The characters and the world is getting so much richer from week to week, it is really exciting.

Yeah, this show is great. The conflicts between the lead couple - him being more sympathetic to the Americans/understanding of American culture vs. her still being super-antagonistic and unwilling to recognize that life in America even in 1980-81 was pretty sweet compared to the USSR - are handled very well. I also like that they get the look right; that early in the '80s was still basically the '70s in a lot of ways, so you don't see people wearing garish neon T-shirts and Wayfarers and whatnot. It has that dingy 1970s look.

homeland is pretty b+w.

so thoughts on this show

-great soundtrack so far: fleetwood mac, roxy music, echo and the bunnymen, and some early 80s sleaze/cheese (queens of heart, in the air tonight, harden my heart)
-noah emmerich is the gem of this series so far.
-john boy as an upper level fbi agent
-use of wigs, tv critic speniwall says it the best:

"Phillip and Elizabeth have access to some really high-end wig technology for 1981, no? I'm very impressed by the stuff Phillip wears in particular, since it has to hide his big afro"
-hopefully more justified alum show up, given Marge's appearance and Yost's contribution as an exec producer.

Poor Philip, many of his wigs and disguises seem to be variation on 'sex offender'. That wig in the garage scene? Woof.

good mustache

This is excellent. Feels pretty realistic. I read the Mitrokin Archive recently, a massive history of the KGB based on papers smuggled out by a defector, and it's clear the writers have as well. Aside from that the look and feel is very good.

Last episode I've watched is the one set around the Reagan assassination attempt, best one so far, really illustrating the massive gap between the KGB's ability to collect intelligence and their ability to analyse and act on it. Also swung the Phillip and Elizabeth power dynamic back to Phillip.

I think this is the most interesting thing about the show, the idea that you have these two independent agents acting out a lie even to their kids and you have one clearly assimilating into the US and one building a shell to prevent it. I loved seeing Elizabeth wince when her kid said Poland was a part of Russia. I can see her inner torment about her children not being raised as good communists.

FYI This is all on Hulu so no need to buy on iTunes

Nice, I hadn't noticed! I'm sure they'll yank it at some point, but I'll get on that

pointlessly rapey first episode, omg the fbi guy moved in next door, 80s stuff! no thanks

― adam, Thursday, February 28, 2013 1:25 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

basically, jfc the pilot was laying it on thick

it wasn't "pointless" but that's kind of the problem, felt like a plot device

i'll watch a couple more episodes cause i'm weak and hopeful

sick of being promised 'the golden age of television' and getting empty crap

If you are expecting to see the best stuff ever then this isn't it, but it's totally fun rollicking espionage junk ... and surprisingly romantic at times?

yeah i'm not actually surprised. but there are SVU marathons like twice a week, i don't need more junk, and p much every serial drama is junk right now.

junk lyfe

@ zachlyon: So, you don't like plot, yet you don't like Mad Men either :) Like, what tv-shows do you like?

I've been thinking a bit more about it: This last episode reminded me of the first few seasons of The Wire, where it was all about the different sides observing each other and smaller bits of plot rolling in to this weird ball of yarn. And then someone would tug at a single string (usually one of the 'good' guys, because they didn't really know enough to realize the consequences of what was going on) and the bodies would start falling. I mean, it's in no way the Wire, episode four of the Wire was several levels above anything in this show, but some of it operates in the same way.

i like shows that come close to the basic (not that i like this word but) depth of the worst movies on my netflix queue? it basically amounts to the wire and various recent shows on nickelodeon

i never gave much of a chance to mad men but it's always struck me as mostly-empty meandering

i like shows that walk with purpose and direction and swiftness, hard as they are to create obv

that's nuts. the first season of mad men was completely tightly wound. a few seasons in, it kinds of settled a bit.

the later seasons of Mad Men are more fun than the early ones, honestly. the little experiments like season 5's multiple timeline episode, etc.

tbh the only current show I really value is Justified so I like overplotty ridiculousness, ymmv yada yada

I guess I'm going to have to start watching nickelodeon.

you'd be surprised

I get finding Mad Men dull at first, but from near the end of S1 on (parts of S4 excepted), it hums along with quite a bit of purpose.

(vauge spoilers) At the end of the first season, someone walks into someone elses office, and explains the main plot of the season. That other person answers with 'who cares?' When even the people in the show think the plot is unimportant, I can see why other people would think it is meandering. The show has an accumulative quality, though, which is why it just keeps getting better.(/spoiler)

that _was_ the plot of the season!

i like where they're going with this.

they're breaking with history, yes? when reagan was shot at, they said that james brady died. not sure i heard anything afterward to contradict that (e.g. if it was a bad news report, temporarily hidden by the government, etc.).

homeland is pretty b+w.

― s.clover, Thursday, February 28, 2013 1:33 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

?? Really? Even with the drone attack and the fact that a lot of what I get out of the carrie/brody thing is that they are drawn to each other because they've both been damaged and effectively used up ad ppl by the govt

when reagan was shot at, they said that james brady died.

This is in keeping w/ the initial reports, which later of course turned out to be false. Pretty sure the correction appears later in the episode itself.

Killer ep tonight. 6 for 6.

Just watched all of these in a row over the weekend, not bad but I'm wondering how long they can keep up the game of cat and mouse with the FBI neighbor before they either run out of ideas or have to team up in some way? Also would like to see some flashbacks since they're supposed to have been in the US for years at this point.

Yeah, it's 1981 in the show's "present" and they supposedly came over in maybe 1963 or something, so THE ENTIRE SEVENTIES is a blank canvas.

team up? why wouldn't they just ice the dude

Elizabeth would. Not sure about Philip.

xp was thinking about if they were able to turn him or vice-versa, but yeah he'd probably more likely just get one in the dome

if they were able to turn him

That guy just killed an innocent Russian, one he was pretty sure all along was innocent, just for revenge. So I'm pretty sure he'd die before he turned.

The season finale contained some of the most tense television I've seen in some while. Can't wait for this show to come back.

Games Without Frontiers!

Is it coming back? I hope so, but haven't been able to figure out what sort of reception it's getting in the US.

Yeah, it's been renewed for a second season. I watched the last five episodes these last few days. A great debut season, all in all.

Yeah i loved this.

http://cdn1.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Annet-Mahendru-in-The-Americans-Comint.jpg

ok, my heart belongs to annet mahendru

also, margo martindale playing ms. pac man = A+

I don’t think I could watch this show through again but it has perhaps the most satisfying and powerful final episode of any series in this golden era of telly.

Omg the episode where Philip and Elizabeth separate, Amador dies, and Stan kills the jr kgb guy. Everything going to shit.

We just watched that last night! Husband never watched The Americans first time round. He was stunned that they packed so much into a single first-season episode.

I gave up on tyhe show when I was getting heavily into watching it 10 years ago or whatever that. Actually presumably a little less since reason I was struggling with it was I would be multitasking, pinning things etc as i sewed and continually missing subtitled bits so having to rewind several times an episode.
Don't know why i haven't gone back to it since cos it was pretty good.
Stan Beeman actor is now in Dark Winds I noticed.

This is most definitely not a show for multitasking (even beyond the constant subtitles).

Near the end of season 2 now, increasingly curious how they keep this afloat for several more seasons given how much has already gone down and the corners certain characters have been backed into.

This revive prompted another (third or fourth?) rewatch for me. I'm a few episodes into S2. Adding to posts above, it amazes me how many peripheral characters they trotted onto this show for an episode or two. One of countless examples: the guy who cleans machinery at the defense plant, the one where--instead of killing him--Elizabeth takes the photo of his kid as insurance. There are still things that nag at me like the first time--e.g., the unrealness of the Clark-Martha relationship (even though the payoff for that down the road was great)--but obviously you don't keep going back to something unless you like it a lot.

Clark and Martha does occasionally feel a bit like something that would strain credulity over the course of a half hour sitcom episode (doesn't she have a brassy next door neighbor to encourage her to kick that scrub to the curb?!), but I guess it's also a testament to the selective blinkers people often wear in relationships.

The thing I keep coming back to though is...I don't care how securely you clip that wig to your head, at some point over the course of multiple years of intense intimate encounters you're gonna at least snag your watch chain on that thing and yank it off.

I recently did a full rewatch, and it held up quite well. A few things that stood out:

The FBI has really terrible sketch artists

I was surprised how much they glammed up Elizabeth in the early episodes vs the rest of the show

The thing where Paige bombards them with an endless torrent of questions got old real quickly

Philip and Elizabeth sure loved to murder people

It would be awesome to hear someone do a version of The Aristocrats joke, but it's The Americans and just a retelling of the plot to the show

Philip and Elizabeth sure loved to murder people

Oh, they are MAD for the murdering. Just mad for it.

Okay, lol, just got to the episode where Martha mentions that she's been aware of Clark's 'toupee'.

The FBI has really terrible sketch artists

lololol so true

Glad there are others watching for first time or rewatching. But you guys are going too fast lol. I’m going to have to bow out of the thread for fear of spoilers.

Maybe it was said upthread (haven’t looked). Want to give a shout out to the Jennings kids. Well acted and well written roles - at least up to S1E9. They brought home the consequences to Philip and Elizabeth for separating. Not just a business decision.

The kids are right up there with the Soprano kids and Sally Draper. They're totally credible as kids. A.J. Soprano's great, but he's great because he's weird and neurotic and all the rest; Paige and Henry are normal and interesting at the same time.

Whenever Elizabeth says she's been doing laundry, or she has some laundry to do, it reminds me of Patrick Bateman returning videos in American Psycho.

Thought Holly Taylor was an excellent on this show, one of the best child actors I've seen in anything. Disappointed I haven't seen her in anything else since (I do see on Wikipedia she's been working, but nothing I've seen)

Yes, she is a v credible TV teen. Which is to say (admiringly) that she would never make it on a CW drama.

She was in a few episodes of Manifest, which my partner and I angrily hatewatched all 3 seasons of. She plays a bonkers religious lass. Its probably not sitting through that show to watch though.

More religion! Just finished the episode where Paige silently says grace at dinner, horrifying Elizabeth. That whole subplot still kills me. "God, no--our 14-year old daughter is messing around with drugs having sex flunking out of school turning into a Jesus freak."

There are posts about this I never read near the beginning of this thread, so this is the first time I caught the writing credit for Oliver North (S2, E9)! It's actually a really good episode...have to believe he was primarily a consultant for the Contra camp stuff.

Yeah, that credit jumped out at me, too. Very weird in the context of the show. Expecting to see an episode directed by Gary Hart at some point.

"Faction 237"--wonder where they got the number from?

Why does Larrick inspire such fear with Elizabeth and Philip Jennings? I know what he did, but they're dealing with nasty people left and right, and they never blink an eye.

(Or actually, he didn't even commit the murders--it's what they think he did.)

I believe they feared that Larrick had uncovered the details of their personal lives. Like it's one thing to have someone gunning for them personally and another to believe that some maniac knows about their kids and where they live.

That's right, he figured that all that out via the call center.

Two funniest lines to date:

Paige: "Are you trying to turn me into a travel agent"

Elizabeth (I mentioned this one earlier--it's so funny): "I said, 'Wait till your father gets home.'"

"Munchkins," the episode where Gaad is murdered and Pastor Tim disappears, is one of the best in the entire run, I think.

I don't find the Elizabeth-Young Hee relationship very credible, though. Twice, Elizabeth makes it clear to Philip and Gabriel that she had developed a deep bond with Young Hee, and doesn't want to see her hurt. In all their interactions, though, when Elizabeth was responding to every joke of Young Hee's with that phony laugh, that deep bond wasn't even close to being evident. (Not to mention that the portrayal of Young Hee is...a little broad.)

This time around, I'm starting to think--a question I posed somewhere above--the Jennings are far more evil than either Tony Soprano or Walter White. They really ruin (or take) the lives of some innocent people.

I don't think they're more evil, they are committed to a cause that is much bigger than them. The ending for them is sad but also redemptive

Tony Soprano is gross, he ruins so many lives. And Walter White also 'just wants to protect his family' but becomes incredibly soulless and evil.

they are committed to a cause that is much bigger than them

But Lois Smith has their number (the older woman at the repair shop Elizabeth kills): "That's what evil people tell themselves when they do evil things."

I love that they titled an episode "Amber Waves" after Boogie Nights.

clem, as a Canuck, it occurs to me that you may be not be familiar with 'America the Beautiful.

Thanks! I actually was half-kidding, assuming it must have come from somewhere else (haven't noticed a big Boogie Nights feeling anywhere else in The Americans). But I didn't know it was "American the Beautiful."

"America"...

"Do you want to hear about Lotus 1-2-3?"

Probably the most relatable moment for me in the whole show

About halfway through S5. One thing I love (and how it plays out from here): the enigma of Renee. One thing that grates on me (already mentioned): Elizabeth's phony laugh when working someone. Whether Young Hee, the wife of the agriculture dissident, or the guy from Topeka, it's the same every time and far more transparent than any of these people seem to realize.

Don't read this if you're not onto the last season.

Something that doesn't make sense to me: the idea that the travel agency could go under. Everything about the Jennings, including the travel agency, was fabricated from home. Couldn't they just get "the Centre" to wire them (or physically transport) whatever funds are necessary to keep it afloat?

This was something I wondered too. Is the idea supposed to be that they built the business from scratch with zero help from the USSR?

I think at some point Philip says something about the travel agency having been set up as a front.

In a way, though, it's irrelevant: the travel agency is central to their cover, so if the KGB wants to keep them viable, they'd finance its survival.

Finished this morning.

Some things I called attention to earlier in the thread didn't bother me as much this time. I said I wanted an a-ha moment; in a way, you do get one when Gregory's associate says "and she smoked like a chimney." (If you like a-ha moments; I do, many don't.) The confrontation in the garage did not seem as prolonged as on previous viewings, and Philip did not seem as grovely. Unforgettable line: "I don't know how to say this, but Renee might be one of us."

And the final shots of Paige at the depot are art.

And the final shots of Paige at the depot are art.

Genuinely my favourite final episode of the current era

I still feel like Phillip saying that about Renee was a last bit of manipulative malevolence on his part. I dont know if he knew or not - but I feel like he wanted Stan to suffer/forever be unsure or something?

Intriguing, but for me, it was done in good faith. Philip was always unsure about that--he asked Elizabeth, asked Gabriel, never got an answer. I think his friendship with Stan and regard for him was genuine.

You never do find out about Renee, but the last shot of her--looking over at the FBI searching the Jennings home, seemingly a little too interested--makes me think she was indeed "one of them."

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/301/611/b9a6412424d49ebbeaa9c33a63280a5a48-04-renee-the-americans.rsocial.w1200.jpg

Watching the Adam Curtis documentary on the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the ruination brought by shock capitalism, added a grim coda to the fates of Martha, Philip and Elizabeth. In my head, Philip managed got convince Elizabeth to use their spy/travel agent skills to slip through the porous border to somewhere less hellish. (I know, I know—it’s debatable whether they deserve that mercy, but still...)

finally finished the Americans. what a show. i loved Oleg coming back in season 6 but i felt the show lost a bit when Martha, Nina, Pastor Tim, Gaad, Gabriel and the rezidentura went away. almost like the show's worldview was collapsing inward to Philip and Elizabeth. the endings for the kids resonated really well but i wasn't convinced that Holly would choose to follow Elizabeth after the lies etc.

the art in season 6 was very moving. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/arts/television/the-americans-fx-final-season.html

this was also very good: https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/the-americans-series-finale-oral-history.html

Oleg, Nina, Pastor Tim, and Gaad were four of my favourites.

Really late on this, but we finally finished the series last well. I really enjoyed it, thought the ending was really great for the tone of the show.

I really had laugh, though, when Elizabeth went to Illinois (during the one subplot that I could have totally lived without) and we got to marvel at all of those mountains in the central Illinois distance.

I tried watching the first season a while back but the DVD that I got from the library turned out to be pretty damaged and at some point it just wouldn't play anymore, but I forget exactly how far I got. The last episode I remember is where they get the drop on some other agent trying to kill them and they all get stopped by a cop so then they pretend the agent is drunk and he sings some Kenny Rogers -- is that episode 7?

Also, it's been probably two years since my first watch, should I just restart from the beginning?