The Americans (2013)

Watchseries; 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!

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!

The Americans watchseries. 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.

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 burgeoni

I was born in the Soviet Union and would like to notice that they managed to capture emotions and atmosphere of The Cold War. Thanks to the cast and creators for memories and having a great time.

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.

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.