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'The Americans' on FX HD

139K views 3K replies 192 participants last post by  MeatChicken 
#1 ·
I've been seeing more and more media about this series. Looks promising. I figured I would go a head and create the thread for a heads up.




'The Americans': FX Orders Cold War Spy Series Starring Keri Russell

Thursday, August 9, 2012 by the Huffington Post staff


Keri Russell is heading back to TV in FX's Cold War spy series "The Americans."


"The Americans," starring Russell, Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich, hails from Joe Weisberg with Graham Yost, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank attached as executive producers. The pilot, which is scheduled to air in early 2013, will be directed by Gavin O'Connor. Production begins in October.


“For the last two years, I've worked with the incredible people at FX, FTVS, DreamWorks, and my personal television guru Graham Yost on this project," Weisberg said in a statement. "More recently, Gavin O'Connor joined our team, and turned the script we'd been working on for so long into a beautiful pilot. Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, and Max Hernandez were sensational in it, and a joy to be around. To have all of this come to fruition has been indescribably exciting. Really, I'm a writer, and I can't describe it. It's a great privilege and opportunity to get to make this television show. I can't wait to get to work on it."


The new series is a period drama about the marriage of KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington DC. Set during the Reagan presidency, the show follows Phillip (Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Russell), two spies who are in an arranged marriage. The couple have two children who know nothing about their parents true identity. Phillip and Elizabeth must balance their relationship, along with the network of spies and informants that are under their control. Emmerich will play an FBI agent -- and new neighbor -- who works in counter intelligence. The first season will be 13 episodes.


“We're proud to welcome 'The Americans,' a taut series that crackles with incredible performances rooted in character perspectives never explored on a U.S. television series, to FX's line up of quality dramas,” John Landgraf, president of FX, said in a statement. "We're equally excited to welcome Graham Yost’s talented young Padawan Joe Weisberg as creator/showrunner. He joins a long line of gifted writer/producers who have taken their first shot at greatness on FX.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/09/the-americans-fx-keri-russell-tv-series_n_1760732.html




You can watch "The American" on FX in early 2013. I will keep this thread updated.


I will edit-in the official web-site for the series once it's available. For the mean time I can provide the IMDB link.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2149175/


Edit: 12/04/2012.
http://stage.fxnetworks.com/theamericans
 
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#2,981 ·
Sorry, but I give the finale a B ....... for Boo! After murdering all the dozens and dozens of innocent Americans, some of which were Stan's colleagues/coworkers, does he let them drive away. That was so unbelievable that it ruined any ending for me. His only inner debate would have been to kill them on the spot or arrest them. Did all you viewers get amnesia and forget all the horrendous evil deadly acts they both did? How could you root for or have an ounce of pity for them? I don't understand how all of you could like the ending so much with them being successful in their endeavors to hurt America and then return home to their beloved country unpunished. Pathetic, shame on you all. And don't give me any line about them losing their children. To them, they were nothing but props to fulfill their evil deeds while in America. That was an ending I would have expected from writers of a 1980's Soviet TV series.
 
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#2,992 ·
The kids weren't nothing to them but they were not parents for whom their kids were everything.

When they had them, it was to help their cover.

Just as they grew to love each other, maybe they fell in love with the kids.

Probably on a lot of nights, they snuck out of the house and left them alone, when they were very young.

There was that one episode where they didn't pick up the kids so they were hitch hiking and this guy looked like he was going to rape Paige and Henry came and clobbered him with a beer bottle and they ran.

And they never told their parents about it.


They are kind of retconning how much the kids matter to them. The decision to leave Henry weight heavily on them. And then Paige administered the knockout punch.

But they really didn't know what to expect back in Russia so leaving them behind isn't the worst thing. Plus in a few years, the kids will be able to visit.
 
#2,994 · (Edited)
A lot of people are looking at this show as a spy show and they want them to get their just desserts. The show runners have stated it’s a character study. I mentioned in another forum that the family members were in various stages of acknowledging their identities.

  • Henry was always who he truly was.
  • Phillip last year quit his job and identity as a spy became his true self as a family man and travel agent. Maybe he could end up with Martha.
  • Paige wandered through identities as a religious person and then as a spy. She at the end of this episode decided she was American and Possibly Henry was who she would be.
  • Elizabeth was always portraying a soldier but her dream on the plane indicated she was a single childless artist and no longer run by something else.
 
#2,995 ·
Stan's face when Paige told him to look after Henry was priceless. Here he is trying to arrest some spies, and they're asking him to look after their family. The man was totally gobsmacked.

Honestly, the tone of the episode was so sad that I started to wonder if Stan was going to commit suicide when he came home to his darkened house. I admit I'm disappointed by how open ended it was, but I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less from a show that in a single word can only be described as "nuanced".
 
#2,996 ·
It's a story of tragedy.

99.9 percent of us just want to put food on are tables. Family is everything and when world leaders convince others to do there dirty work.

Stan and Phillips relationship brought out what life should be. Humanity.

That's becoming a lost art more than ever.:(

This show has depth.;)
 
#2,998 ·
When I saw Philip & Elizabeth on the train heading to Montreal I remembered reading this article

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/son-o...ernment-loses-fight-to-keep-him-out-1.4611958



"The family's story was so extraordinary, it inspired the FX Network's hit show The Americans. Vavilov has seen some of the series, so have his parents, who he said are now wealthy from business in Russia. He told CBC it reminds them of the initial excitement of their assignment."
 
#2,999 ·
I had decided at the inception of this Season to let it stack on the DVR and take it in over the last few days ..

The Season was a fitting end to a show that I became invested in from the get go .. and it ended on a bittersweet note ..


I bid a fond Farewell to "The Americans" .. a Period Drama that held true to it's premise throughout .. in that final scene, Elizabeth looked like she had aged 20 years, and the tole of her life had finally caught up ..


I'll miss it .. and, thanks to all here that contributed over the years ..
 
#3,002 ·
People keep saying it’s a bittersweet ending. It was all bitter. No one was happy. Maybe just Renee. She was either just the “ignorance is bliss” wife or the Russian spy who has not realized that her cover has not been blown yet.

But this is not a complaint. It was a fitting end to the series. P & E are back home, saving Gorbachev, but losing their kids.

Even, with the Cold War ending, would Henry and Paige want to see their parents again of they could? The kids will be pariahs in America once the word gets out that their parents were Soviet spies. That’s what happened to the children of the real life spies that were discovered. Their was always a suspicion that the kids knew about their parents’ true identities. I wouldn’t even think that Stan would be able to take care of Henry. An FBI agent who had Russian spies as neighbors and once they fled, he takes in the son? That wouldn’t raise suspicions at all.

My only complaint about the finale was that it was too short.
 
#3,003 ·
I was reminded of what Paige had said to Elizabeth a few episodes ago. When they were walking at night and Elizabeth wanted to be sure Paige was willing to continue on with the spy life. And Paige responded that she wasn't afraid to die. The only thing she was afraid of was being alone.

So Paige's final scene was fitting, left all alone, sitting in the empty cover apartment.
 
#3,012 ·
If memory serves, the final scene with Paige was her sitting, alone, on a bench .. she left the Train of her own volition, IMO ..
 
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#3,022 ·
Because the KGB colonel was nabbed by a man and woman and the Jennings car was identified my make and model. They changed plates before coming home.

I realize it was the pilot, but they were later shown to have a "fleet" of cars to use in garages and such. So why risk using their personal vehicle?
 
#3,016 ·
There is no controversy at all and never was. The discussion is the momentary red herring when you saw Elizabeth looking out the window with horror on her face. Then we get to see Paige on the platform watching the train leave. That moment left room for guessing but only for that moment...
 
#3,020 ·
Of course Elizabeth was looking out the window in shock .. her daughter was on the platform and the train was leaving .. I thought it was one of the most poignant moments in the Finale .. and then, Phillip went to join Elizabeth ..
 
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#3,036 ·
This interview with Holly Taylor who plays Paige popped up in my YouTube list. She talks a little about what it was like on the last day of filming. And it’s interesting to hear her speak in a relaxed manner. Throughout the entire series Paige was stressed. Plus she sings a song. ;)

 
#3,038 ·
Agreed. Hands down, the very best episode of one of the best "peak TV era" series since The Sopranos. And it featured so much more of a satisfying (and believable) conclusion than so many other series usually do.

That garage scene was PHENOMENAL! The confrontation was so amazing that it reminded me of the kinds of ultra-tense scenes that the great master of film Alfred Hitchcock often did, convincing the viewer that "something awful" was about to happen--and then suddenly, against our expectations, it doesn't! Time seemed to stand still in that underground garage when Stan suddenly appeared and demanded answers from Phil, Liz, and Paige, but the confrontation never got beyond the verbal. Not a shot fired; Elizabeth doesn't try to run Stan over with the car, he gets out of their way, and the story moves on.

In all, The Americans paralleled real life world events so much more closely than most espionage dramas can ever hope to do. For that alone, they deserve even more Emmy gold.
 
#3,041 ·
The biggest question I have now is what will happen to Paige? Stan knows that she was part of the family business, so unless he lies for her and says she didn't know what was going on, how can she stay in the US? She doesn't have KGB backing to get a fake ID or disguises, so what's she going to do? I guess the implication is that Stan will let her off the hook and she'll just live her life as Paige Jennings, but that is harder to believe than Henry being left alone.
 
#3,042 ·
I've thought about this too.

She's got to be interrogated/interviewed regardless of whether or not Stan is going to cover for her. The FBI knows now that her parents were the illegals so she's got to be questioned. Same with Henry.

Henry knew nothing so it will be easy for him to be truthful when he get's questioned. Paige on the other hand, that's a big question mark for me. Will she come clean? Admit to what she's done? Her limited extent of illegal involvement that is. How horrible can her punishment be if she were to be honest? Paige was never directly involved with any killings. She followed some people around on behalf of the Soviets. Is that considered high treason?

She can be rightly honest in that she knew nothing about her parents involvement with any killings. The closest she came was after the fact with the supposed suicide her mother claimed to have occurred with the colonel. Plus, she was underage when she was essentially recruited by her mother. Gotta cut her some slack there as well, I would imagine. Or maybe not?
 
#3,043 ·
If interrogated Paige could say that Stan let her parents go in the garage. But that ends Stan's FBI career and his care of Henry. Paige ends up in jail for some time and Henry in a foster home for a year until he's 18.

The show was very complicated and nuanced. I did think about the possibility of them getting popped while on that bridge in Moscow. It wouldn't have shocked me if it did happen.
 
#3,046 ·
They would have likely been popped in a traditional series, or a Scorsese film. As mentioned, this show went against expectations and that is what I respect most about it.

The moment when Elizabeth noticed that Paige wasn't coming with them was the first piece of television to make me tear up. She's an extremely flawed person and a killer, yet I still felt deeply for her. That is powerful art.
 
#3,052 ·
A decent agent would have caught them years ago, though. It's clear Stan has let his friendship with Philip cloud his judgement for a long time, as he basically put his suspicions aside in season 1 and hasn't given them much thought since. One of the reasons he quit counterintelligence a few years ago was that he finally realised he wasn't cut out for it, and the fact that he'd put his friendship with Philip over his duty to the FBI confirms it.

I honestly didn't believe the rapid onset of Stan's renewed suspicions towards the end of this season. He's been aware of their strange behaviour for years, and yet he decides to search their house again because they missed Thanksgiving? I was really hoping there would be some specific moment where one of them would make a mistake that would finally allow Stan to catch on, but the rationale behind how he finally caught them was weak in my view.
 
#3,054 · (Edited)
Going back to this question of Stan and his decision in the parking garage. A couple things which haven't been touched upon yet.

For one, from the moment Philip stated that they were going to drive away and hopefully they will be allowed to (by Stan) to the point where they had actually pulled out of the parking garage, the torment on Stan's face was plainly evident. You could tell he was wrestling mightily with this decision the entire time, even as he let them go and drive on past him. Fantastic acting job by Noah Emmerich here.

Secondly, given his friendship with Philip and the degree of vulnerable honesty (to a point) that Philip was finally expressing to him coupled with the fact that along with this new honesty, both Philip and Elizabeth were still manipulating him at the same time (denying any killings or at least the most recent killings of the Russian couple). Also emphasizing how Philip had been out of the spy business for years now. Which not only helped Philips argument, it also served to help deflect some of the attention off of Elizabeth and her ongoing involvement for the moment.

Then when you toss in the subject of Henry and the issue with P&E's claim of being the only ones who could now stop the Gorbachev overthrow, to my way of thinking, I do think it is entirely plausible that a real human being confronted with such a scenario would sometimes make the very same decision as Stan did. No matter how well-trained or otherwise competent the law enforcement agent.

But then again, I could just be a sucker here, seduced by a well-executed television drama. ;)
 
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#3,058 ·
Secondly, given his friendship with Philip and the degree of vulnerable honesty (to a point) that Philip was finally expressing to him coupled with the fact that along with this new honesty, both Philip and Elizabeth were still manipulating him at the same time (denying any killings or at least the most recent killings of the Russian couple). Also emphasizing how Philip had been out of the spy business for years now. Which not only helped Philips argument, it also served to help deflect some of the attention off of Elizabeth and her ongoing involvement for the moment.
Of course Stan was being manipulated .. Phillip is as good at it as anyone .. I have no doubt, given the right opening, Elizabeth or Phillip would have taken out Stan in a heartbeat .. negotiation was the only option ..

So why did he not get run over as the car left the garage .. ?? Not enough distance to build up speed and Stan still had the gun in his hand .. had he not stepped aside, attempting to run over him would have been the final play ..

Lastly .. Stan is left ruined on all fronts .. no way around it ..
 
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