The Americans' Season Review

The Americans closed up its first season last week, and I have not a doubt in my mind that it was easily the best show that premiered this spring TV season.  Not that there was really much of a contest anyway.  The closest competitor is House of Cards, which while entertaining, suffered from mediocre writing. (Here's the review; I'll post my thoughts on the other spring shows below)

I have chosen to make this spoiler-free, because I really want people to watch this show.  I want a person who has never seen this show to read the review and choose to watch it.  I can't do that with spoilers.

Given that information, I really debated whether or not to even write this post, because I posted most of what I would say in my pilot review. (By the way, you should read that post too!)  Ultimately, I decided to just combine this review with thoughts on other spring shows (To clarify, shows that premiered this spring.)

The premise of this show is that a Soviet couple has implemented themselves into America as spies in a long-form mission to win the Cold War.  Their marriage doesn't really start being a marriage until the first episode.  The rest of the season explores them trying to make it work.  The other players are an FBI agent, a KGB operative forced to work for the FBI when she gets caught smuggling, and the couple's boss who tells them the orders.  (My pilot post provides more background info, but you probably already know the gist of the show)

Think of a reason why you watch television.  It can be any reason at all.  Got it in your mind?  Well, this show should supply that.  It has action, sex, spy missions, the complexities of trust in a marriage, a look into a past decade, and the tensions of the Cold War.

If you literally watch TV for none of those reasons, I have no idea why you watch TV.  As far as I know, they are true to the time period of the 1980s.  I wasn't alive, but based on the critics who I follow, it achieves Mad Men levels of accuracy.  It gives a good sense of how people acted in the Cold War.  For someone like myself, this is a very cool drop into history.

Each episode has a mission for the couple to follow.  They are pretty fair in giving kick-ass stuff for the husband, Phillip Jennings, and the wife, Elizabeth Jennings.  Marriage is already hard and difficult.  But in a business where the husband and wife's job description includes being unfaithful when necessary, it complicates things to the extreme.  While Phillip and Elizabeth get closer, there's a contrast with the FBI agent and his wife who are growing farther apart.

This show hits right in my wheelhouse as I like to study history and I absolutely love spy missions.  Also, there's no episodes where nothing happens.  There's at least one action scene in every episode and I believe there's a sex scene in almost every one.  To use one example, Game of Thrones usually needs a few episodes where nothing happens in order to get to the good stuff, but The Americans always has things happening, no matter how relevant to the long-term.

What really brings the show and makes it great is the phenomenal acting.  I have never seen Matthew Rhys in anything before this, but he's a fantastic actor.  Keri Russell is similarly great in this role.  I cannot emphasize enough how important great acting is in a show where actors have to play different characters within the show.  They kill every scene they are in.

Noah Emmerich, who plays Stan Beeman the FBI agent, is also amazing in this.  He was incredible in two episodes of The Walking Dead he was in, and he does not disappoint here either. The KGB double agent is played by Annet Mahendru who is gorgeous and holds her own in acting as well.  The child actors are actually good at acting, so no need to worry about them holding down the show.

The pilot is a great episode of television, but it's not even the best episode in the season (that would go to the finale!).  So watch the pilot, enjoy it, and carry with you the knowledge that it gets better or more fulfilling.

Other Shows that Debuted in Spring
1. The Following - Congratulations to Kevin Bacon and Kevin Williamson for creating a ratings hit, but this show sucks.  Bacon is great in his role, but James Purefoy is unconvincing as a charming criminal mastermind.  Not totally his fault, the dialogue in this show is subpar.  Edgar Allen Poe is used to defend his serial killer antics, which is ridiculous and certainly starts the show on a bad path.  What got me to stop watching was when it was clear that anybody not named Kevin Bacon could be a follower, which is dumb.  Like I said, it doesn't help that I don't get why everyone wants to follow Purefoy.  The script and Purefoy don't do a good enough job.  Given that apparently even FBI agents might follow his word, that's kind of important.

2. House of Cards - I have a season review of it, but to summarize that review: Everything's great but the plot, which has a few too many implausibilities and inconsistencies for my liking.  Problems not bad enough for me not to tune in for the second season.

3. Carrie Diares - I'll admit I only watched one episode, but that episode was surprisingly good.  It's way too girly for my liking and I think they over-exaggerate 80s fashion.  But AnnaSophia Robb is so engaging and great that I want to watch more of this just for her.

4. Bates' Motel - I've also only seen one episode, but that episode was also pretty good.  I don't have much else to add, that my review doesn't already cover.

5. Hemlock Grove - Yeah, I was hoping Netflix would have a string of shows that were great, but this show breaks that run already.  Just atrocious acting holds back any potential I had for the show.  Unlike the previous two that I hope to watch some time, I gave up on this show and do not plan on continuing.

Playlist
1. "Portrait of Red" - Virginmarys
2. "Lost that Easy" - Cold War Kids
3. "I Will Wait" - Mumford & Sons
4. "When Worlds Collide" - Ces Cru
5. "Smooth" - Santana ft. Rob Thomas