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Review: FX's 'The Americans' brings the Cold War back to life

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys play KGB agents undercover in Reagan's America

By Alan Sepinwall Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 6:12 PM

  • Critic's Rating A-
  • Readers' Rating B
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<p>Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in "The Americans."</p>

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in "The Americans."

Credit: FX
The world is such a flaming hot mess today that you might think the Cold War era of FX’s “The Americans” — a new drama about a pair of deep cover KGB operatives living in Washington, D.C. at the dawn of the Reagan presidency — would feel almost quaint and reassuring. But what makes the series (it debuts tomorrow night at 10) so impressive is the way it treats the 1980s as its present, not its past.
 
We may know that the world didn’t end in a hail of atomic mushroom clouds, but for the characters in the show — both the actual Americans and the Soviet agents pretending to be — that threat I very real, and very omnipresent. Each side believes, devoutly, that the other is — to borrow a phrase from the series’ opening scene — “working to destroy our way of life.” The Soviets are terrified of Ronald Reagan, whom they believe to be a mad man, while the show’s American counter-espionage operatives treat their work as something resembling a holy calling. And though the show occasionally touches on the vast technological differences between then and now — it’s a big deal in one episode, for instance, that a KGB asset gets to wear a tiny special camera in her bra, when today she’d just take pictures with her phone and no one would think anything of it — for the most part, it treats the spy craft as very serious, dangerous business.
 
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys play Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, all-American couple raising two kids in the D.C. suburbs. Only it’s all a lie, except for the kids, who have no idea that their parents are Soviet spies, whose names are not Elizabeth and Phillip, and who may act married but have jobs that obligate them to sleep with other people to obtain information. (Not coincidentally, each of the first two episodes opens with a scene of one of them having sex with an asset, with the other either listening in or being briefed on it after.)
 
The duo have been in America for 16 years when the series begins, a point at which the lie can start to feel like the truth. When you share a bed with someone every night, raise children with them, go to the mall together, etc., it’s hard not to start believing in it. In an early scene, we see Phillip trying on a pair of boots at a department store, wistfully trying out a few country line-dancing moves, wanting very much to be a cowboy and not a cold warrior.
 
“You’re my wife,” he tells Elizabeth out of frustration when she spurns one of his advances.
 
“Is that right?” she replies, full of disdain for how her partner has been corrupted by the decadent West.
 
These are excellent roles for both leads, who get to flash far more steel than they did in the TV roles for which they’re best known (“Felicity” for Russell, “Brothers & Sisters” for Rhys). They give a pair of physical, committed performances — Rhys is particularly strong in the fight scenes, which are quick and brutal and feel very much of the era — and effortlessly shift between a variety of guises.
 
The series was created by Joe Weisberg, a CIA agent turned screenwriter, who first teamed with “Americans” producer Graham Yost (who also runs FX’s “Justified”) on TNT’ “Falling Skies.” Weisberg, Yost and pilot director Gavin O’Connor — who knows a thing about depicting both this period and American-Soviet tensions from his work on the film “Miracle” — have taken a no-nonsense approach to the storytelling. There are period touches like clothes (Elizabeth favors high-waisted jeans), hair (Phillip has a perm) and music (an early action scene is scored, brilliantly, to Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”), but never in a way where they call attention to themselves. This is just life for a pair of quasi-married KGB spies in 1981, and it’s messy and bloody and far more complicated than either of them expected when they signed up for the gig decades earlier.
 
O’Connor also brings with him “Miracle” co-star Noah Emmerich, who plays Stan Beeman, an FBI agent assigned to the counter-espionage unit who has the very good (or possibly bad) luck to move in across the street from the Jennings family. It’s probably more of a contrivance than was necessary for the characters to cross paths when they’re allegedly off the clock, but Emmerich shines playing a man who sees more than he lets on, and who has more in common with his new neighbors than either of them realize.
 
It’s been more than a decade since FX started making original dramas. Some have been great (“The Shield”), some have been brilliant but flawed (“Rescue Me”) and some simply not to my taste (“American Horror Story”), but all have been interesting in one way or another. Based on the admittedly small sample size of two episodes, “The Americans” feels like it could very comfortably slot in with the upper tier of FX dramas. That’s about as good as it gets.
 
Alan Sepinwall may be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

 

Alan-sepinwall-sm
Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
Related Searches: The Americans, Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell, Noah Emmerich, Graham Yost

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  • Default-avatar

    Justin

    whoa.

    i'm in! no way this can be better than the sandbaggers, though!

    p.s. keri russel looks amazing in the promo pic!

    January 29, 2013 at 7:24PM EST Reply to Comment
    • 500full_talkback_profile

      velocityknown PSS Keri Russell always looks amazing.

      (Minus Felicity season 2)

      January 29, 2013 at 9:24PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Jason Potapoff Always great (and a bit surprising) to see someone else mention The Sandbaggers.

      January 29, 2013 at 11:08PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    AB

    What don't you like about American Horror Story?

    January 29, 2013 at 7:40PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      James I'm pretty sure there is a lot he doesn't like about AHS, it's not for everyone but I think I enjoy AHS more than any other drama FX has done. Hopefully this show will be able to replace it on Wednesdays.

      January 29, 2013 at 8:15PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Susan

    I've been waiting for a series to take on this subject - very eager to watch this. (Plus, I lived next door to the Russian agents who were arrested in Westchester last year, so, um, yes - this is all too easy to believe!) Fingers crossed it lives up to your excellent review.

    January 29, 2013 at 7:55PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Jason

    Serious question - how are we supposed to "like" or "root" for Russian spies?

    January 29, 2013 at 8:18PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Sareeta By seeing things from their perspective?

      January 29, 2013 at 8:20PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Trevor The same way you like/root for the Strike Team or Walter White or Stringer Bell or Don Draper.

      January 29, 2013 at 11:30PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      rugman11 I do understand the problem though. When we're rooting for guys like Tony Soprano, they're generally doing bad things to bad people. In essence they're fighting the "other" who we do not identify with.

      With this show, though, they have to balance things perfectly because the "villain" is no the other, it's us. They have to make the Russians sympathetic while also making sure that their adversary (us) aren't villainized. It'll be a tough rope to walk.

      January 30, 2013 at 12:16AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Sareeta

    I'm really excited for this series. The teasers look quite good. Question: does it actually feel like the 1980s? The Carrie Diaries is supposedly set in the 80s, but neither the clothes nor the sets take me there.

    January 29, 2013 at 8:26PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    helen brakewater

    Having worked in the "holy calling", I look forward to this show and am glad to see a positive review from you Alan. Your reviews influence me and I am glad to see this positive start.

    January 29, 2013 at 8:42PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Jason Potapoff

    Write a comment...I may have to pick up FX Canada so I can watch this...

    January 29, 2013 at 11:09PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    mgrabois

    Even though it was a while ago, Keri Russel is still identified (by me, at least) as her iconic role of Felicity. How easy or hard was it to get past that?

    January 30, 2013 at 2:09AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Wendy

    Looking forward to this one. Thanks for the review.

    January 30, 2013 at 9:09AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    kneejerk

    Despite the parentage of this show, the premise just doesn't interest me.
    Which is a shame, cuz I wouldn't mind lookin' at Russell

    January 30, 2013 at 2:14PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Vince Why not just take an hour out of your life and give it a shot? It was a great first episode.

      January 31, 2013 at 2:30PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Scott H.

    Let me start off by saying the music was great in this first episode, so I liked that. However…

    A 'suspend-disbelief' red flag went up when the FBI guy came over to borrow the jumper cables. Sorry, but can't in a million years see an experienced high-level KGB operative taking him (an FBI agent!) into the very garage where he has a live person (potentially) banging around in the trunk of his car, even if he is tied up. Why would he do that?? How about: "Hey, lemme run out to my garage, be right back with those."

    Also, you're telling me the FBI man is gonna be compelled to break into his neighbor's garage and car trunk because of some tiny scratch on the side of his neck that he happened to notice earlier?? C'mon! #lame

    Anyone else notice those enormous plot holes?

    February 1, 2013 at 2:58PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Jeff Scott: No, he's compelled to break into his neighbor's garage because the car is the exact make and model as the car they're looking for. I'll give you the jumper cable scene, but you're just not paying attention if you had a problem with the last scene.

      February 1, 2013 at 3:30PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Scott H Jeff, Must've missed that when I grabbed something to drink. Even so seems like a pretty rudimentary lead, very early in the game, to make a move like B&E'ing into your neighbor's garage/car.

      And speaking of early, a little crazy that it's this soon the FBI man is on to his neighbors…considering they're so good and so careful about what they do that they haven't been allowed to speak even a SINGLE WORD of their native Russian language for 15+ years. The whole point of that is to never, EVER arouse any kind of suspicion from anyone. Well, so much for that I guess!

      February 1, 2013 at 11:07PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Jack Bennett

    THE AMERICANS IS GREAT TV--A CROSS BETWEEN THE SOPRANOS AND "24"-- DYNAMIC FAMILY INTERPLAY AND
    THE THREAT OF FOREIGN INTRIGUE COME TOGETHER.
    GREAT SUSPENCE AND GREAT ACTING.I CANNOT WAIT FOR
    WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AND SEE HOW THE SCRIPT WRITERS
    THICKEN THE PLOT. JB

    March 27, 2013 at 1:28AM EST Reply to Comment

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