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The Americans (2013)

2013 · Crime,Drama,Mystery · spy-cold-war, period-near-history, family-relational

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The Americans is a US prestige spy drama set during the Reagan-era Cold War, following two KGB sleeper agents living as a seemingly ordinary married couple in suburban Washington D.C., directly next door to the FBI counterintelligence agent hunting them. It is a show of sustained psychological tension, moral ambiguity, and extraordinary performance — anchored by Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell — that asks viewers to root for the enemy and feel the cost of that empathy. The 1980s period detail, era-specific soundtrack, and refusal to deliver easy ideological verdicts make it one of the most intellectually and emotionally demanding entries in American prestige television. The series finale is widely regarded as among the best in television history.

From the reviewers

Rhys takes the art of disguise to the next stage. He is authentic, nerdy and funny in disguise talking to Martha, reminding you of a young John Ritter. And then as the kick-your-ass, baddest-ass-kicking daddy of them all over a barbecue pit, Rhys is wonderfully dangerous, stellar, and I can't get enough of him.
the disguises in The Americans are really disguises and surprisingly, with very little disguise. What makes these disguises work for the Jennings is that the Jennings can act. With each disguise is a new personality.
"Harden my Heart" opens the series, and how appropriate. Disguised, and ready to perform sexual acts for information, we first meet the series heroine, Elizabeth Jennings whose heart is truly hardened. Fast forward to a back alley chase and we are introduced to our hero(?) Phillip to the pulsations of "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac.
The show manages to give a fair and near unbiased view about Geo-politics, fractions, countries. espionage, ideologies. Without telling you what to think or how to feel about it. It doesn't demonize any side neither does it glorify the other.
I am an American and when I was in high school around 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president, and I was taught in school in no uncertain terms that the Soviet Union was our enemy. So here I am 4 decades later, astounded to find myself watching a TV series about Soviet agents impersonating Americans on American soil, and cheering them on to succeed!

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