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The Americans (FX) - Series Premiere: Synopsis and Review

Updated on June 19, 2013
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Jumping on the bandwagon following the huge success of Showtime’s ‘Homeland’, FX has cast Felicity Porter (Keri Russell, ‘Felicity’) and Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys, ‘Brothers & Sisters’) as 1980s KGB spies. And right here is where the comparison ends.

‘The Americans’ heroes are Philip (Rhys) and Elizabeth (Russell) Jennings, KGB spies posing as a married couple living in Virginia, near D.C. So from an American point of view, these people are actually the enemy, which can possibly question the viewer’s loyalty in the future.

From the opening sequence, it becomes clear that the two form a well-oiled team while on the job. Outside of that, though, they are mostly pretending. There is definitely some form of attraction, but they have never been in love with each other the way you’d expect a married couple with a 13 year-old daughter (Holly Taylor) and an 11 year-old son (Keidrich Sellati) to have.

This week’s assignment is to capture a KGB colonel who is now working for the FBI. Because the Bureau is all over his disappearance, they can’t bring him to the Soviet embassy. Therefore, they have to keep this man in the trunk of their car, in their garage in the suburbs. While Philip is out gathering intelligence on the FBI’s progress, it is revealed that Elizabeth and the captured KGB official go way back, and not in a good way.

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What really makes the show interesting, though, is the Jennings’ family life. As mentioned, Philip and Elizabeth don’t have a loving relationship like they are supposed to, but their children know nothing about the real identities of their parents. Therefore, the pair continuously has to pretend to be a couple, something that must be very difficult to keep up.

The KGB official offers the Jennings 3 million dollars from the trunk of their car, and at first Philip jokingly talks about accepting the deal and defecting as well. Over the course of this episode, defecting starts to become a realistic option to Philip. Elizabeth, however, is either very loyal, or still has a grudge against the guy, and would rather stick to the mission. When Philip finds out what happened all those years ago between the two, he snaps the guy’s neck, almost as an act of love, or at least affection, towards Elizabeth.

Flashbacks reveal how the two first met when they found out they were assigned together, and how they first arrived in the United States. When Elizabeth is hesitant to sleep with Philip at first, he matter-of-factly says: “Take your time, but at some point they’ll expect us to have children”.

In a plot-twist that is more fit for a comedy series, the FBI counterintelligence officer (Noah Emmerich, ‘The Walking Dead’) assigned with their case moves in across the street. However, the writers use this to make fun of their own show, bringing the couple in some very awkwardly funny situations.

Even though the plot of ‘The Americans’ is slightly remindful of ‘Homeland’, the shows are completely different. ‘The Americans’ is much more subdued and thoughtful, even though it has action sequences as well. While the spy missions are an essential part of the show, they are more used as a plot device to tell us about the motives and relationship of the main characters.

At the same time, ‘The Americans’ writers know exactly what this show is like and use this to insert comical relief to the show. When their daughter is working on her social studies homework, the Cold War comes up, and when their son is working on his physics project, Elizabeth stresses that while landing on the moon is great, the real accomplishment here is getting into space in the first place. Another great example of this is the score that is used in the action sequences. Tension is definitely involved, but at the same time the whole situation is subtly ridiculed.

The 1980s setting is present in the show, but not too prominent, and helps create the right atmosphere for the show. At first glance it seems very convenient that these Soviet spies aren’t allowed to speak Russian, but on second thought that seems plausible. Especially when in flashbacks, Russell sort of speaks English with a thick Russian accent, it becomes clear that it wasn’t just an excuse not to speak Russian.

To some people, the slower and more thoughtful pace of ‘The Americans’ will seem boring, but the psychological aspect of the show and the humor that is thrown in completely make up for that. On top of that, the premise of the show ensures that here are myriad possibilities for future plot developments, and judging the pilot, I am confident that the writers will pick the right directions to go.

‘The Americans’ airs on FX on Wednesdays at 10/9c.

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