Happy 2023 everyone! January is upon us and it’s not typically a strong month for television premieres. It’s tough to find shows worth talking about. I had to look really hard for a couple of options but then I found it. Two of the greatest shows of all time (or at minimum over the last 15 years) both premiered in January. So I ultimately had the decision to make, how do I decide between the two?
Then I thought, why decide? Why not do both? This will be a rare double feature for Retrospecticus.
The second series premiered ten years ago. I only recently watched this series over the pandemic because it’s been on my list for quite a long time. I had heard good things about it from critics I trust, but none of my friends had seen it (with some having zero knowledge about it). A coworker of mine at the time discovered that we were both watching it so we used it as a way to talk about stuff. The series eventually grew on me and climb my TV series all-time list quickly.
The Americans, created by Joseph Weisberg, is about two KGB spies living in Washington D.C. during the final decade of the Cold War. To the regular citizen, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip (Matthew Rhys) Jennings are two people living the American dream. They own a successful travel agency, have a daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) and Henry (Keidrich Sellati), and are active members of their community and neighborhood. What people don’t know is that Elizabeth and Philip are both spies from the USSR, trying to get American secrets back to Russia. The Americans lasted for six seasons for a total of 75 episodes. The Americans can be streamed on Hulu in partnership with FX.
It’s shocking that FX manages to make some of the best shows ever created. I really enjoy most of the content FX puts out so it’s no surprise that The Americans is among one of the better shows on the network.
FX was already a premier destination for television but The Americans cemented the channel as a premier place to find great entertainment.
This starts and ends with Russell and Rhys. I knew Russell was a great performer but Rhys was a new discovery for me. They both managed to be great together, individually, and with their kids. We get a lot of backstory about them about why they ended up joining the KGB. Their story is filled with many twists and turns. They’re not the best couple because their natural tendency is to be dishonest with one another. Their stories go in wildly different directions, but through it all, they manage to be together.
Their neighbor Stan (Noah Emmerich) plays a great cat-and-mouse game with the Jennings. Their relationship was solid for a long time, even though Stan was investigating KGB agents infiltrating American secrets. The tension over the years grows more and more as Stan pieces everything to finally get the answers he needs. Emmerich is great as Stan, breaking rules and making mistakes left and right. He also is a talented FBI agent who gets the short end of the stick on multiple occasions. We should feel a little bad for Stan, but he also gets his justice in the end. Not in the way he hopes, but it’s still something.
The story for the series is a great homage to the 1980s. The Americans knew how to do the 1980s well with subtle and deep cuts. Whether it’s fashion or a news event or even a television event like David Copperfield making the statue of liberty disappear. This set the tone for how the 1980s would dominate TV from shows like Stranger Things and The Queen’s Gambit. There’s an episode that talks about the EPCOT center at the Disney resort in Florida opening.
This is also a show that does spy work differently than a lot of other shows. This is a lot more focused on secret identities, developing assets, and stealing information versus the storm-in and kill-everyone-in-sight spy work we see in a lot of modern movies and shows. The missions are longer term, having to take time to develop a lot of different moving parts, and things get messed up quite often. It’s a nice change of pace and helps that the action is sparse to make it much more notable. Some may find it boring, but others, like me, found it much more exhilarating.
The truth of the matter about The Americans is that it’s my favorite show of all time.
It caught my attention and just go better with each season. It manages to keep up the tension throughout the course of the series and sports some amazing spy work. The performances are outstanding and it’s criminal that it didn’t receive hardly any awards love. Rhys and Russell share a beautiful love story because of this series and Rhys in particular has been launched into leading man status. This also capitalized on 80s nostalgia but in a different way. To me, The Americans are perfect and also severely underrated.
In honor of The Americans turning ten this month, I put together the top ten episodes of the series. Spoilers ahead.
Lotus 1-2-3 (Season 5, Episode 3)
The joy of The Americans is that each major mission lasts the length of a season. Season fives involve what was perceived as an American pathogen created to destroy crops. As the mission unfolds, everyone eventually realizes the pathogen doesn’t destroy crops, it’s meant to enhance them so they can grow in practically any environment. This discovery destroys Philip, as he has killed a few innocent people in order to stop the pathogen. It was a profound moment for Philip about his feelings about the KGB.
Only You (Season 1, Episode 10)
If there was ever a person that Elizabeth truly cared about, it was Gregory (Derek Luke). Having been recruited into the KGB, Elizabeth and Gregory carry on an affair together while also serving maybe as a better partner than Philip. The KGB burns him and Gregory is killed by the police. Gregory’s death hit the hardest, even in the first season where we barely got to know him, AND in a series filled with death all around.
The Day After (Season 4, Episode 9)
Back in the day when TV movies or special TV episodes were must-see showings, The Day After shows the potential outcome of nuclear war. The truth of the matter though is that this was potentially a real-life consequence of what could possibly happen if things between the Soviet Union and the United States escalate.
Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep? (Season 3, Episode 9)
In a rare moment where Elizabeth truly shows some humanity, the mail robot at the FBI is sent for repairs after it’s kicked. The mission to bug the mail robot falls on Elizabeth and Philip but the moment of the episode is when Betty (Lois Smith), the person who does the accounting at night, catches them in the act. The conversation between Betty and Elizabeth is one of the best of the season (and the series if I’m being honest).
Harvest (Season 6, Episode 8)
This set up what would ultimately become of the final two episodes. Philip goes to help Elizabeth with a mission in Chicago. Not everything goes according to plan. This episode is staggering episode with great tension, action, and payoff. It also showed that Philip, despite their differences, truly cares about Elizabeth and would risk just about anything to help her.
The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears (Season 4, Episode 8)
This is an episode where the pressures of being a spy finally get to Elizabeth and Philip. They’re ordering to take a break after a series of high-profile issues. Philip’s asset Martha (Alison Wright) has fled the country and Elizabeth’s asset Lisa (Karen Pittman) had to be killed due to something being compromised. This was a risky episode because it also jumps a few months later
Jennings, Elizabeth (Season 6, Episode 9)
I equate this episode to Hank finally figuring out who Heisenberg is and coming to terms with the identity of being someone close to him. Stan finally realizes that the Jennings are spies and he puts on a full-court press to find them. In turn, Elizabeth and Philip have to flee the country, leaving everything they built behind.
Stingers (Season 3, Episode 10)
This is when the conversation people have been waiting for all series finally happens. A typical kitchen talk turns into a revelation that Paige has been waiting for: her parents are KGB spies. This makes them closer while leading to eventually Paige being recruited eventually to the agency.
Chloramphenicol (Season 4, Episode 4)
Setting aside the issue of Elizabeth being exposed to the deadly pathogen, this episode for me is all about Nina (Annet Mahendru). She fell into a bad situation being an asset and eventual love interest of Stan. She ends up being exchanged to the USSR and is subsequently imprisoned for being a traitor. Just when you think she’ll be set free, the rug is pulled from under you and she is executed. It’s pretty heartbreaking.
The Start (Season 6, Episode 10)
TV shows rarely age well but it’s pretty incredible when your final episode is your best episode. Between that garage scene with the fleeing Jennings and Stan, the drama of what Paige was going to do (the train scene with Paige was another gut-punch), and seeing if they did manage to escape to the USSR, the final episode of The Americans will go down as one of the best series finales of all time.
Honorable mention: Echo (Season 2, Episode 13)
All of the final episodes of each season are fantastic. In the season two finale, Jennings learns that Paige is to be recruited into the KGB as part of a way to recruit candidates who have clean American backgrounds.
Honorable mention: Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1)
This show had me hooked from the start. There’s something about a show incorporating In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins that just gets me going. This set up just how much
What are your favorite moments from The Americans? Comment below or send me a message on Twitter to let me know!
