The Americans

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Is there a thread for this? Went back 20 pages, ctrl+f for "ameri", and didn't find one.

I'm a bit behind (~5 episodes) because of shit and whatever, but I started catching up this past weekend and Season 2 has been very strong. Like very, very, strong.

The pacing continues to be on target. Music is terrific. Seemingly historically accurate to what I know of the era. Acting is great all around (who knew Keri Russell was so talented?). Some of the best supporting characters on tv. Great balance of suspense, drama, action, terror, and the strangest times for comedy (like what Mad Men is amazing at).

This is FX's Breaking Bad. And like Breaking Bad in the first couple seasons, the product is top notch while the ratings are disappointingly low. Hopefully it catches on.

[johndeeregreen]

Eh, it's ok. Soviet couple posing as Americans take on impossible mission after impossible mission and odds, somehow succeed with impunity, it clashes with their personal life which they resolve, rinse, repeat.

Nowhere near Breaking Bad/at best the 3rd best show on FX right now/not even close to the best show FX has ever had/etc. Pretty mediocre show, just good enough to continue giving a chance while not good enough to be must-see tv.

[irondarts]

It's a very good show.

Season 1 was good, but Season 2 has been very strong.

I don't think it's anything near BB level, and I think Fargo is a better FX show, but it's still very quality stuff.

It's amazing how many good TV shows are going right now.

[dunksby]

Eh, it's ok. Soviet couple posing as Americans take on impossible mission after impossible mission and odds, somehow succeed with impunity, it clashes with their personal life which they resolve, rinse, repeat.

Nowhere near Breaking Bad/at best the 3rd best show on FX right now/not even close to the best show FX has ever had/etc. Pretty mediocre show, just good enough to continue giving a chance while not good enough to be must-see tv.
It had good premise, very good setting and a fresh POV, but they ruined it trying to appeal to most. I couldn't care less about their family issues (Jennings or Beemans) even the love triangle of Stan/Nina/Olegg is such bullshit.

[irondarts]

Really, really good Season 2 Finale tonight. Next season should be very interesting.

[Sarcastic]

Eh, it's ok. Soviet couple posing as Americans take on impossible mission after impossible mission and odds, somehow succeed with impunity, it clashes with their personal life which they resolve, rinse, repeat.

Nowhere near Breaking Bad/at best the 3rd best show on FX right now/not even close to the best show FX has ever had/etc. Pretty mediocre show, just good enough to continue giving a chance while not good enough to be must-see tv.


Yea because a chemistry teacher becoming a drug kingpin, and escaping impossible scenario after impossible scenario for years, is more plausible.

[Take Your Lumps]

Yea because a chemistry teacher becoming a drug kingpin, and escaping impossible scenario after impossible scenario for years, is more plausible.

Ya but there's drugs and gunz, that's how u know itz kewl.

[Thorpesaurous]

I really enjoy this show. I always record it, so I can't speak to last nights episode yet.

I agree a bit with JDG up there, not so much the impossible mission after impossible mission, but there's this seemingly lack of any kind of endgame. This year was actually a little more focused around the 80s notion of "stealth". But even then they seem to have so little of an idea as to why they do the things they do other than to follow their orders. I find it sometimes undercuts the characters, which are otherwise pretty richly written. The side plot about taking out that military guy this year has been weird to me. And the time structure is all kinds of out of wack. It's one of those shows that makes me wonder if these people require sleep. Raise the kids, sneak out and have a secret marriage at night, kill a couple people, break into a lab a state over. They're very busy people.

The day to day stuff to me is the best part. They've sprinkled in 80s stuff almost perfectly to my taste, without it being garish. Both kids I find to be really good, especially the daughter, which may just be good luck, but you never know when you get stuck with the Chris Brody kid on Homeland and can't do anything with him. Stan has been developed great. And their relationship works great.

I also find this to be some of the hottest stuff on tv even though it's on basic cable. Carrie Russell looks great. And the Russian girl is spectacular. And the constant use of sex for leverage comes off almost more erotic than the more graphic displays in stuff like Game of Thrones.

[johndeeregreen]

I'm done with this show. I keep waiting for something I can't see coming a mile away to happen, and for 2 straight seasons it hasn't materialized. It's really become stagnant and unoriginal.

[Thorpesaurous]

I liked it. I like raising the stakes by pulling the kids in. And I like Beamen being completely crushed. Him with nothing to lose becomes far more compelling to me.

[johndeeregreen]

Yea because a chemistry teacher becoming a drug kingpin, and escaping impossible scenario after impossible scenario for years, is more plausible.
BB at least had its unpredictability, and with it, the ability to build tension and uncertainty in its viewer. The Americans has none of that. That's just a "for-instance," there are many ways that BB was superior.

And I'm not even one of those clowns who didn't know BB existed til season 4 and then are crowning it as an all-time great show. To me it was an excellent series but a far cry from being the greatest we've ever seen. The comparison was originally made by the OP.

[ArbitraryWater]

https://i.gyazo.com/c9535977a1a74f7c58d37d10201e40d5.png


.. what say you?

Really this good?! :biggums:

[ZeN]

https://i.gyazo.com/c9535977a1a74f7c58d37d10201e40d5.png


.. what say you?

Really this good?! :biggums:
it's very very good but It doesn't hit the entertainment beats that breaking bad did. The Americans is intelligent and poignant but it's not always fun.

[Thorpesaurous]

it's very very good but It doesn't hit the entertainment beats that breaking bad did. The Americans is intelligent and poignant but it's not always fun.


This statement is pretty much spot on. But I will say this, I don't recall a show getting as much better over three years as I think this has. It feels like the show has in a lot of ways gotten simpler. The grander scheme of things has been pared down to more immediate stuff, like Paige finding out, which by the way it doesn't hurt that she's a really good actress. I apparently said that a couple years ago too, but she's gotten better with more meat to chew in the story. And finally paying off the Martha story line was really worth it. It pinched the Stan plot closer together.

I agree it isn't always fun. We're often dropped into a plot without knowing where it's going. And the long sequences in Russian about the larger scope of things isn't often easy to track. But like I said, it feels like a lot of that has been pared down now, and the story has started to feel more intimate. I think Frank Langella has helped, by sort of translating the larger story.

[Patrick Chewing]

I've only seen Season 1 and kind of lost interest to see Season 2, but it would have been more appealing to me had the husband actually defected behind her back.