The Americans

            In The Americans, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys play Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, a pair of KGB spies on a deep cover mission in the United States. The KGB carefully trained Phillip and Elizabeth to assimilate into American culture. They did not allow Phillip and Elizabeth to know about each other’s pre-KGB lives or to speak Russian to each other. In the United States, Phillip and Elizabeth run a Washington D.C. travel agency and have two children, Paige and Henry. The first season of the show impressed with its strong cast of characters and performances, a compelling grasp of the escalating Cold War in the 1980s, and a wholehearted embrace of the moral ambiguity of spycraft.

            Russell especially shines as the true-believer Elizabeth. The first season charts Elizabeth’s devotion to the Soviet Union and her distrust of her handler, Claudia (Margo Martindale, and the orders coming from Moscow Centre. Elizabeth truly believes in the supremacy of communism over the decadent West. She never eschews an opportunity to remind Phillip of corruption and evil of America. Her devotion sometimes blinds her to the reality of her situation. In a late season episode, Elizabeth and Phillip intercept and kill a KGB assassin. The KGB had ordered the assassin to start killing scientists related to the Strategic Defense Initiative Program, but then changed its mind. Moscow Centre then ordered Phillip and Elizabeth to stop him. She and Phillip manage to kill the assassin with his own bomb after a shootout in a hotel room. The assassin, however, had managed to kill one of the scientists. In the aftermath, Elizabeth chides herself for failing at the mission. Phillip, meanwhile, chides her for failing to realize the impossibility of their mission. He also tells her that the fault lies with Moscow Centre.

            Protecting his family serves as Phillip’s primary motivation. Over his time in America, Phillip has grown to care more about Elizabeth and the children than the Soviet Union. In the series premiere, he suggests defecting to the United States in order to secure a future for their children. The tension between Elizabeth’s devotion to the USSR and Phillip’s attachment to his family frames their relationship throughout the first season. Throughout the season, Phillip and Elizabeth continually trade places over their desire to continue their marriage. Maintaining their marriage proves difficult as they each must use sex to complete their missions.

            Showrunners Joe Weisburg and Joel Fields have successfully captured the feel of the 1980s and the escalating tension of the Cold War following the election of Ronald Reagan. Modern audiences, aware of the collapse of the Soviet Union, know that Phillip and Elizabeth wind up on the losing side of history. Yet the show effectively demonstrates why Soviet Union’s reliance on its nuclear arsenal would make the Strategic Defense Initiative’s missile defense shield so frightening. The show also plays the Soviets’ misunderstanding of American politics. Following the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, the Soviets fear a coup led by Secretary of State (and former General) Alexander Haig. Only Phillip’s understanding of American politics, something Elizabeth lacks, defuses the situation. The show also captures the cultural zeitgeist of the 1980s. Phillip keeps his hair in a perm and Elizabeth sports high-waisted jeans. Paige complains about not having enough legwarmers. These cultural traits, mostly scorned by 21^st century Americans, are not played for laughs, but rather treated as part of their day-to-day lives.

            Finally The Americans willingly embraces the moral ambiguity of spycraft for both the Soviet Union and the United States. The show questions claims of moral superiority by either side and demonstrates that the Americans and Soviets will do whatever is necessary to win the Cold War. Phillip maintains a secret relationship with Martha, a secretary in the FBI counter-intelligence office. Phillip eventually marries Martha in order to continue his espionage activities. She proclaims her love for Phillip’s guise as “Clark,” a hardworking government counter-intelligence official. Elizabeth and Phillip manipulate, exploit, and murder American citizens in order to accomplish their missions and preserve their identities. Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), Elizabeth and Phillip’s new FBI agent neighbor, uses similar tactics. He blackmails Nina, an employee at the Soviet embassy, into becoming an FBI mole. Stan has Nina plant evidence on the KGB resident-in-charge in order to protect her. The FBI organizes an extralegal kidnapping of Vlad, a low level KGB official, in order to avenge the death of the American scientists. Stan then executes Vlad following the death of his partner. By embracing this moral ambiguity, the show challenges its viewers about who, if anyone, they are actually rooting for in the Cold War.  

            The Americans successfully mediates on the meaning of marriage and the ultimate purpose of the Cold War, making it one of the most dynamic and engaging shows on television.