Those dirty reds

[matt j]

American cable station FX debuted their new series The Americans this week, and I have to admit I'm totally hooked for this season. Great cast, nice early 80s setting, good action, Soviet spies next door...

Highly recommend the pilot, one of the best I've seen in a long time.

Anybody else catch it?

[Amor de Cosmos]

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Yes. It's certainly got potential, particularly if the writers emphasise the internal fissures in the family delicately. The parenting angle, for example, could be fascinating if done with a light touch, but if too overwrought it'll kill the drama. I'd like to see three or four shows before saying too much one way or the other.

[Tramp The Dirt Down]

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If this on FX/FOX channel in the UK yet?

[Amor de Cosmos]

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Three episodes in it's possible to assess how this series is working. The central idea of embedded Soviet spies in in Reagan's America has great possibilities. Fortunately the writers realise this and we get enough political/historical context around the action to keep us interested.

Unfortunately comparisons with Homeland are inevitable and here The Americans suffers badly because the actors, especially the three leads, just don't have similar dramatic chops. Keri Russell is particularly weak in a role most female actors would die for.

The only other minor criticism I'd have is that the shows are a bit overly episodic, I'd look for a bit more continuity. I'll continue watching though because it's such a damned good concept, it's just too bad they couldn't have done better with the casting.

[Ginger Yellow]

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While looking to see if it was available for legal streaming/downloading anywhere (nope), I read that it was being picked up by ITV to air "later this spring".

[Come along, Min]

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I watched the first episode. It felt a little too corny for my sensibilities. Dont think I'll be bothering with the rest.

[matt j]

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After three episodes, I think there is a lot of potential here, as each individual one was solid.

I'm less down on Keri Russell than Amor is above, but was a little disappointed with the way they played her character in Episode 3. Her ending confession was well played, but she didn't give the audience much until that point. Intentionally or not, too much a cold fish.

I think Rhys is quite good (but no Damian Lewis - but who is?), but they writers need to find a better balance between his simmering rage side and his corny American father side.

I think the FBI guy (the third lead) is quite good as well, and like how they are playing him neither quite brilliant or dumb. He's good as his job, but his mumbling personality hides it.

In general, I agree with the reviewer at the AV club who wrote something along the lines of 'for once, a show where supposedly intelligent people aren't always doing stupid things'... ahem... Homeland (which granted, I still enjoy).

The episodic nature of "one task to complete", gets on my nerves a little, but if they keep building the further context as Amor describes, it should be a good season.

That being said, since I like it, probably cancelled at the end of this run.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Those dirty reds

I suspect it might, unless other channels pick it up. FX is pretty small and, I imagine, this show represents a large investment for them. It's only eight episodes, rather than the more usual thirteen, which also suggests it's a bit of a trial balloon.

I'd like to see it extended, to see how the advent of perestroika affects the characters, but mostly to see how/if the kids wise-up to their parents' activities as they get into their teens.

[Reed John]

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I like Keri Russel in general but agree she might be playing it too cold so far. And I agree that I'd like to see more of a flow to it. Their little adventures in espionage are not nearly as interesting as them wrestling with their basic predicament. Are we really a married couple? Should we defect? Why do we care so much about the Soviet Union? What do we tell our kids? Etc

[matt j]

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Yeah, that was my hope too. There is so much material to mine as you head to the late 80s.

I do like how Mrs. Jennings' keeps giving a few somewhat subtle hints about her real politcs to her kids. She's a union organizer at heart?

[Amor de Cosmos]

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The introduction in e03 of Margo Martindale as the Jennings' KGB connection is a good move. She brings some much-needed thespian heft to the cast. I hope her role is more than a cameo.

[Heliotrope]

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I really like it so far, but it's really because the theme is right in my wheelhouse--I love movies about hiding in plain sight, like black people passing for white, cat people amid the normal people, people in the witness protection program, etc. However, I've never really been into spy stuff before. I just wish they would cut out the fight(s) that seem to be mandatory for each episode and instead include more on interaction with neighbors other than Stan and trying to maintain the American facade.

Also love the early-'80s popular culture references. Especially amused by the episode "Gregory," a lot of which was set a few blocks from where I was a college student when this was taking place, and it actually is the heart of lefty Philadelphia. I thought I had an eagle eye, but there are people on the web who are commenting "She's wearing Guess jeans, but they didn't come out until 1982." Damn, they are good.

[Reed John]

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I like doing that with anything set in the 80s.

I'm not sure the show has said when it takes place. It refers to Reagan's election as fairly recent, but it may be 81 or 82 or 83. Not clear.

[Amor de Cosmos]

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It's almost always the vernacular stuff that film/TV gets wrong, even the shows that are really excellent in other areas of research. Speech, especially slang expressions; how people physically greeted each other; the way they danced. Rarely are these correct.

[Reed John]

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This episode centers on Hinkley shooting Reagan. They spotlight Alexander Haig's hilarious ignorance of the Constitution when he claimed to be in charge.

This nails down the setting as 1981, but I saw a minivan in the background. They were released in 1984.

[Amor de Cosmos]

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The first season just wrapped. It did improve as it progressed. Less routine violence, and more complexity and depth. As expected Margo Martindale as "Grandma" was an excellent addition, (though it looks as though she won't be back next season.) More emphasis on the Russian embassy staff added a missing dimension too. We were left with Paige wondering why Mum spends so much time in the laundry room. Bodes well for next year.

[matt j]

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I thought it was a really solid season. The writers did a nice job of pulling all the threads together for the finale, but left loads of stuff for season 2.

I'm not convinced Margo won't be back (she was quite good), but perhaps in a different position. Maybe the rezidentura needs a new face?

[Amor de Cosmos]

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I hope she is. Her spiky relationship with Elizabeth was one of the best things about in the series.

She's a wonderful actor, the kind that would be a household name in the UK but, unfortunately, lives on the margins in the US.

[matt j]

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If I was one of the writers, and were looking for a way to keep Margo in the cast, I'd do nothing more than say "sure, she goes to Moscow. Then they immediately send her back to start working on Stan through Nina."

[G-Man]

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If Margo Martindale is in it, I want to see this. Her season-long turn in the outstanding Justified was utterly compelling.

[G-Man]

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And I did watch it. I really enjoyed it. It's a bit odd rooting for the communists over the usual "good guys".

The set and costume design is great. It's recognisably enough early '80s without going in for knowing nostalgia or unnecessary cultural references for the sake of it.

[dalliance]

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Although the first season has just about finished airing here, I'm only 3 episodes in but enjoying it so far.

I'm a bit of a sucker for Cold War espionage stuff and I wondered how long it would take before a poison tipped umbrella featured in a plot (Episode 2). I'd agree I think with Amor about the central pairing lacking something in terms of substance: Whether its their performances or the way their characters are written I'm not sure, but to me the balance between how they convey their American and Russian instincts is weighed too far towards the American side. When she has those stern moments talking about the Fatherland they jar a bit with me.

The other slight surprise was how early in the first episode the option of defection was mentioned and discussed. For a story like this defection is the nuclear option and I thought that would come up a lot later on.

[Amor de Cosmos]

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I felt better about Russell and Rhys as the series moved on. I still don't think they were ideal choices but, Russell's portrayal of Elizabeth especially, has gained more substance.

There's a rumour that, Claudia — Margo Martindale's character — will not return, or only briefly. As she's in a new CBS series this autumn. If true that would be a great loss IMHO.

[matt j]

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Season 2 finished. Thought is was great. Really a well-contained season with some brilliant acting throughout.

Really impressed with the young Russian technical agent that got added at the beginning of the season, his storyline fleshed out and he really put in some fantastic performances in the end game. Great casting, and a real pleasant surprise.

[Reed John]

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I feel like we have another thread on this somewhere, or maybe it was just that wingco and I talked about it on facebook and I'm remembering that.

I've been watching this, but I can't say I really love it.