There was a time when I was urgently Googling between seasons, desperate to know if the next one had wrapped, was there a date yet for its TV premiere, and was it going to be on UK domestic telly. By the end of season four the passion had cooled, and by the end of the fith it was all but burned out. The sixth, as if to make up for No.5's tedium, served up kill upon kill, a real bloodbath, and to little effect. The much praised final episode was actually a bit deficient, given all that had happened. A longer, deeper confrontation, something to compare with, say, Carrie's interrogation of Brody in season 2 of Homeland; by comparison The Americans' garage showdown and downbeat ending was a damp squib.
But it had all started so, so well. The first couple of seasons were energetic entertainment, full of hand to hand combat, and sweaty couplings to satisfy lust, love, or liaison. The show went on to ask questions about how a person's identity is formed, changed, compromised, complicated by life, that were quite fascinating. Of course, this series is based upon real life KGB espionage. Such sleeper cells really existed and went active when called upon by Moscow. By focusing on the family the show's creators keep the missions and their fallout relatable to the audience.
The Americans recapitulates the tiresome trope of, what I call, Precocious Yet Annoying Older Sister Teenage Girl Character. Paige Jennings is the sister of Homeland's irksome daughter, Brody's kid, only her capacity to vex everybody is many times higher in this case. There is also Clueless Younger Brother Character (again, like Homeland). Other flaws of the show are the prosaic dialogue which occasionally falls completely flat, and the age old problem of refusing to shake up the situation, thus allowing the drama to stultify. If you make the mistake of binge-watching the show, as I did when I ran through the whole thing once again - it's limitations become all the more painfully apparent. The show's general dourness also gets magnified.
But the first four seasons are well worth seeing, and the performances from the recurring cast are usually first class. It's just a pity they couldn't have taken more liberties, been bold, as the show moved on. The fourth season has the character of a leave taking, but yet the show was recommissioned and to poor effect. Much more could have been done with The Americans. Ultimately, it became, like family life, too routine.
Good but not the miracle that its most ardent admirers like to pretend.
But it had all started so, so well. The first couple of seasons were energetic entertainment, full of hand to hand combat, and sweaty couplings to satisfy lust, love, or liaison. The show went on to ask questions about how a person's identity is formed, changed, compromised, complicated by life, that were quite fascinating. Of course, this series is based upon real life KGB espionage. Such sleeper cells really existed and went active when called upon by Moscow. By focusing on the family the show's creators keep the missions and their fallout relatable to the audience.
The Americans recapitulates the tiresome trope of, what I call, Precocious Yet Annoying Older Sister Teenage Girl Character. Paige Jennings is the sister of Homeland's irksome daughter, Brody's kid, only her capacity to vex everybody is many times higher in this case. There is also Clueless Younger Brother Character (again, like Homeland). Other flaws of the show are the prosaic dialogue which occasionally falls completely flat, and the age old problem of refusing to shake up the situation, thus allowing the drama to stultify. If you make the mistake of binge-watching the show, as I did when I ran through the whole thing once again - it's limitations become all the more painfully apparent. The show's general dourness also gets magnified.
But the first four seasons are well worth seeing, and the performances from the recurring cast are usually first class. It's just a pity they couldn't have taken more liberties, been bold, as the show moved on. The fourth season has the character of a leave taking, but yet the show was recommissioned and to poor effect. Much more could have been done with The Americans. Ultimately, it became, like family life, too routine.
Good but not the miracle that its most ardent admirers like to pretend.