The Americans

[BH]

Is this show going overboard?   The bad guys feel bad when they accidently kill someone.  But the "good guys" show no remorse over deliberately killing an innocent person in order to send a message?

I just hope they save their marriage. Their hearts need mending. And what about the kids?

[CBStew]

Is this show going overboard?   The bad guys feel bad when they accidently kill someone.  But the "good guys" show no remorse over deliberately killing an innocent person in order to send a message?

I just hope they save their marriage. Their hearts need mending. And what about the kids?

Good point.  Giving equal significance to the impact of the marital problems of the spies on their kids and the killings of FBI and KGB agents does smack of shark jumping.

[BH]

This show is getting really stupid and drawn out. The main agent (keri russell) is supposed to be incapable of loving her husband, because she loves her country so much. But she loves 2 other KGB guys and goes against superior orders to kill a CIA head. Then she wants to reconcile with her husband, who moves on, so that storyline can keep getting dragged out. Her weird relationship with the old lady she beat the hell out of seems completely out of left field. I hope Stan kills everyone in the season finale.

[R-V]

This show is getting really stupid and drawn out. The main agent (keri russell) is supposed to be incapable of loving her husband, because she loves her country so much. But she loves 2 other KGB guys and goes against superior orders to kill a CIA head. Then she wants to reconcile with her husband, who moves on, so that storyline can keep getting dragged out. Her weird relationship with the old lady she beat the hell out of seems completely out of left field. I hope Stan kills everyone in the season finale.

Yeah, the first 5 or 6 episodes of this were the testicles, but the last few weeks have been very slow and kinda boring. Hopefully things will pick up in the finale.

[morpheus]

This show is getting really stupid and drawn out. The main agent (keri russell) is supposed to be incapable of loving her husband, because she loves her country so much. But she loves 2 other KGB guys and goes against superior orders to kill a CIA head. Then she wants to reconcile with her husband, who moves on, so that storyline can keep getting dragged out. Her weird relationship with the old lady she beat the hell out of seems completely out of left field. I hope Stan kills everyone in the season finale.

I haven't watched any of this show.  Does she at least get a little nekkid?

[Quality Start Machine]

This show is getting really stupid and drawn out. The main agent (keri russell) is supposed to be incapable of loving her husband, because she loves her country so much. But she loves 2 other KGB guys and goes against superior orders to kill a CIA head. Then she wants to reconcile with her husband, who moves on, so that storyline can keep getting dragged out. Her weird relationship with the old lady she beat the hell out of seems completely out of left field. I hope Stan kills everyone in the season finale.

I haven't watched any of this show.  Does she at least get a little nekkid?

good question.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

This show is getting really stupid and drawn out. The main agent (keri russell) is supposed to be incapable of loving her husband, because she loves her country so much. But she loves 2 other KGB guys and goes against superior orders to kill a CIA head. Then she wants to reconcile with her husband, who moves on, so that storyline can keep getting dragged out. Her weird relationship with the old lady she beat the hell out of seems completely out of left field. I hope Stan kills everyone in the season finale.

Yeah, the first 5 or 6 episodes of this were the testicles, but the last few weeks have been very slow and kinda boring. Hopefully things will pick up in the finale.

I stopped watching a few weeks ago. So, what, they're still dragging out the whole "our fake marriage is real, no it's fake, but wait I want it to be real, but wait I don't love you at all, but then maybe I do" thing? That sounds just like the first seven weeks.

[R-V]

This show is good. I like to watch it.

[CBStew]

This show is good. I like to watch it.

Thank you, Chauncy.

[Powdered Toast Man]

This show is good. I like to watch it.

Keri Russell butt shots EVERYWHERE.

I too like this show, and find it nice to put my eyes on.

[R-V]

Why aren't you watching this show? Stop reading this post and go catch up on it, you hooplehead. Then come back here and we can rap about it.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Why aren't you watching this show? Stop reading this post and go catch up on it, you hooplehead. Then come back here and we can rap about it.

I'm not watching, but I saw that Oliver North got writing credit on the last episode. What's the DEAL with THAT?

[Slaky]

Why aren't you watching this show? Stop reading this post and go catch up on it, you hooplehead. Then come back here and we can rap about it.

I'm not watching, but I saw that Oliver North got writing credit on the last episode. What's the DEAL with THAT?

I also noticed that. Season's finally picking up steam. I think it's been a bit slow. It's a pretty sad show overall and I think it's working toward a turn by Phillip. I could be wrong and it's all just a tease. But they keep dropping hints that the wife is way more into the Motherland than he is.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

For the record, here's the deal with that:

When the producers of the FX series "The Americans," an espionage thriller set in the early 1980s, began preparing a story line about the government's covert efforts to help contra rebels in Nicaragua, they wanted to consult with someone well versed in this chapter of recent history.

So they reached out to colleagues within Fox, the parent company of FX, and were soon connected to an expert with unique firsthand knowledge: Oliver North, the former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and National Security Council aide, and a central figure in the Iran-contra scandal.

Mr. North provided the producers of "The Americans" with so much detail and color for the April 23 episode that he was rewarded with a story credit...

...

Mr. North said "The Americans" was "very accurate" in its depiction of the increasing desperation of its K.G.B. couple and the success of what he called "Ronald Reagan's strategy for doing in the Evil Empire."

"What a great opportunity it is to showcase the man who changed the world for the good, for my kids and my grandkids," Mr. North said of Mr. Reagan.

[R-V]

Why aren't you watching this show? Stop reading this post and go catch up on it, you hooplehead. Then come back here and we can rap about it.

I'm not watching, but I saw that Oliver North got writing credit on the last episode. What's the DEAL with THAT?

I also noticed that. Season's finally picking up steam. I think it's been a bit slow. It's a pretty sad show overall and I think it's working toward a turn by Phillip. I could be wrong and it's all just a tease. But they keep dropping hints that the wife is way more into the Motherland than he is.

I like that this show is slow/sad - to me it's a great character study that says, yeah spying shit is cool, but there are *actual people* who have to do that shit, and man it takes a hellacious toll on them. I think Phillip is maybe just a bit less dedicated to the cause than Elizabeth is, but not by much - he just isn't as vocal about it, and happens to also enjoy the amenities of American consumerism. I do think he's able to compartmentalize that. What he is increasingly unable to compartmentalize is how many poor innocent bastards he's had to kill this season - the busboy and computer geek earlier in the season, and now in the latest episode, the snot-nosed young soldier and the septic truck driver who he proactively tried to save, and ended up being unable to. Add that in to the guilt trip his handler gave him over the submarine plans - which I really do think Oleg nailed as being way, way more attributable to Soviet incompetence than to, gasp, the Americans having the GALL to plant fake plans - and he's on the verge of a meltdown.

And we haven't even talked about Stan's steady decline into Soviet asset. Is he starting to realize that he's been played like a drum by Nina and her Soviet hindquarters?