Thursday 10 October 2013

TV: The Americans (S1) (7/10)

Why did I watch it?
I caught on to the success of this over the pond and decided to give it a go. Also, Justified creator Graham Yost is attached as showrunner, and the bloke knows his stuff.

What's it all about?
Living in Washington at the height of the Cold War, Elizabeth and Phillip are KGB agents posing as the perfect American married couple tasked with gathering intelligence. Things become complicated for the spies when Stan Beerman, an FBI Counter-Intelligence agent, moves in next door.

Should you watch it?
Another brief review here........
Matthew Rhys was tipped by some to earn an Emmy nomination for his role as Soviet spy Phillip Jennings and although he ultimately missed out on making the list, for my money he can't have been too far away. As half of the undercover couple, his performances throughout the debut season, in all manner of dodgy 80's wigs, certainly deserve some credit. I found Keri Russell to be trying to hard in her portrayal of the more resolute and dogged Elizabeth.

As far as the story goes the show starts strongly, 
driven by the stronger episodes, 'Pilot' and 'Gregory' but loses its momentum towards the end when the agent double-crossing becomes a little benign before an excellent finale 'The Colonel' closes the season on a high note.

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