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This is my semi annual plug for all of you to watch the fantastic and somehow forgotten FX network TV show, The Americans, A spy drama set in Washington DC in t
by aaronbrethorst 2y ago
This is my semi annual plug for all of you to watch the fantastic and somehow forgotten FX network TV show, The Americans, A spy drama set in Washington DC in the 1980s about KGB “illegals” posing as travel agents.
It’s way better than any basic cable TV show had any right to be. Plus, all seasons are streaming on Hulu, so you don’t have to worry about whether the story will be completed.
https://www.hulu.com/series/the-americans-6deba130-65fb-4816-acb1-aea5eb940f0f?dl=false https://www.hulu.com/series/the-americans-6deba130-65fb-4816...
- euroderf 2y agoLoosely based on an actual case.
- legitster 2y ago> It’s way better than any basic cable TV show had any right to be Don't do FX like that. They had a juggernaut lineup of great shows at the time (which is why The Americans kind of got pushed to a backburner).
- buzzy_hacker 2y agoOne of the best TV shows of all time, I second your recommendation. Rare show that gets better with each season.
- croisillon 2y agoi don't know about that, the last 1 or to some extent the last 2 seasons were a bit lazy
- yeahwhatever10 2y agoThe Americans is pretty banal and follows the basic script you would expect. It's good background noise if you want 80s nostalgia though.
- skipants 2y agoI'm with you. I don't really agree with all the praise it gets. I liked it at first but it really seemed to run into the "manufactured drama" trap that a lot of TV shows run into when they try and keep it going. It really ruined my suspense of disbelief.
- hyperliner 2y ago[dead]
- carabiner 2y agoIt really doesn't though. For example, I didn't expect to see so many totally innocent people get killed. I've also never seen a marriage portrayed with so much tension so realistically. I grew up in an abusive household and Americans is the first show to to give me ptsd flashbacks.
- sib 2y agoAgreed. As someone who's read and watched a lot of Soviet-era spy fiction, along with lots of actual history, I found it pretty underwhelming. I forced myself through 3 seasons and gave up.
- benterix 2y agoI'd recommend Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy instead.
- garyrob 2y agoI want to give some advice: Don't judge it by its first few episodes. When I first checked it out, the basic setup seemed rather inane and I stopped watching. Then, a couple years later, I needed something to watch during long exercise sessions and I checked it out again. It was getting much more interesting by the end of the first season. And every season got better and richer. By the very end, I experienced it as actually deep, especially in the way the Keri Russell character unexpectedly evolves. It was a real pleasure and I'm very glad I had the chance to enjoy it. Recommended!
- eej71 2y agoI had initially ignored the show because they had cast Keri Russell which I had assumed to be a total light weight. So I missed it the first few years and then I realized after its fourth renewal - gee maybe its good - and well - I was completely wrong. She was amazing. The show was terrific. But I'm a sucker for 80s cold war dramatics.
- vlovich123 2y agoKeri Russell a lightweight? I’m curious what gave you that impression as I’ve always thought of her as an excellent actress. Probably missing out on The Diplomat too if you like political intrigue at all.
- foobarian 2y agoWell on that topic, the French series "The Bureau" [1] was fantastic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bureau_(TV_series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bureau_(TV_series)
- foobarqux 2y agoI don't understand why people like these shows, there isn't a proper story just things that happen that are essentially discarded at the beginning of the next season. There is never any real 3rd-act/resolution.
- temporarely 2y agoThe most realistic Russian sleeper scenario imo was in Slow Horses. Brits don't insult your intelligence too greatly in their spook shows; the American variety always involves some sort of super-human characters. It's good as entertainment, the Americans, but just over the top.
- jjtheblunt 2y agoYeah but "the dogs" in Slow Horses is laughably out of control ridiculous at points...reaches out of your immersion in the interesting story to grab you, shake you, and declare what you're watching is absurd hyperbole. Very disappointed by that aspect and I hope they're done with that excess.
- scrumper 2y agoEh, maybe? There's got to be _something_ for sociopathic ex-squaddies to do who don't want to go back to civvie street. I found their existence believable, if not the high speed Range Rover driving stuff. It's very clearly not going for full-on realism, obviously a fantasy spy show. So the dogs work in that context - at least for me. EDIT: someone else mentioned Tinker Tailor (either the '80s BBC miniseries or the Gary Oldman movie - once again he's killing it) which is far more grounded. That might be more up your street? I enjoyed both a lot. Bleak as hell though.
- temporarely 2y ago> Bleak as hell though. It's called Realism.
- temporarely 2y agoThat's a fair statement. My standard for this type of show remains BBC's Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (1979) and the follow up Smiley's People (1982). Alec Guinness owns Smiley. Just perfect. Absolutely gripping yet low budget [+] it actually demands that you use your intellect to keep up. If you haven't seen those I say whip up ye old torrent client and get some. Anyways, I did say "too greatly". Someone up there says "no spoilers" so .. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080297/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080297/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083480/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083480/
- walthamstow 2y agoI dunno. I watched the first few episodes over COVID and I thought it just the same as any US cable show: sex, crash-bangs and manufactured plot twists. Maybe I'm wrong but IIRC there's a sex scene in the first five minutes of the pilot. Like, don't insult my intelligence.
- miguelazo 2y agoThat was probably the only "cheap stunt" of the entire series. They still had to consider the average viewer, I suppose. But I know a few people I recommended it to were turned off by that exact early scene and never got past it. Really unfortunate.
- walthamstow 2y agoThanks for this. Maybe I'll give it another go.
- notnaut 2y agoSmart people don’t like sex scenes?
- The_Colonel 2y agoI guess smart people visit porn sites when they want to watch some. For me it's just boring filler and I skip them.
- voltaireodactyl 2y agoWhile we’re expressing opinions: in a show about navigating a partnership that accepts seduction as a necessary part of intelligence work (not solely of a romantic nature, but often), where the main characters are also being seduced by the capitalist lifestyle — I suspect some smart people might also view those less-clothed scenes as contributing (and even critical to) the underlying themes.
- deleted 2y ago
- etc-hosts 2y agoI loved the show, but in retrospect, the premise of 2 Soviet spies being the most prolific serial killers in the history of the DC area without being caught is a bit weak. Masha Gessen did some work on making the spoken Russian be more authentic https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/translating-the-americans-and-seeing-a-mirror-of-my-own-american-experience https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/translating-th... ( She must have given up on Keri Russell ) Peter Jacobson (FBI Agent Wolf) appears in comedy Russian TV show inspired by the Americans "Adaptation" https://www.poconorecord.com/story/entertainment/2018/05/26/russia-has-its-own-tv/12133719007/ https://www.poconorecord.com/story/entertainment/2018/05/26/... . I've seen episode 1 available on the internet, full series is hard to find.
- jijijijij 2y agoI mean there are several stories of these deeply implanted KGB sleeper-type agents in real life. Sure, not serial killers (who knows), but everything else is quite authentic. Here is a couple from Germany: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/15/married-pair-russian-spies-germany https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/15/married-pair-r... They had an oblivious daughter and everything.
- matwood 2y agoIt's estimated there are 25-50 serial killers active in the US at any given time. There are also around 6k new unsolved murders each year. The point is that a murder done by someone with no connection to the victim is very hard to solve.
- taco_emoji 2y agoHow is this show "forgotten"? It's one of the most critically acclaimed shows of all time
- ipython 2y agoand if you want to read about the real world Russian illegals that were caught in the US and traded in the 2010 spy swap, read the FBI pages on Operation Ghost Stories: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/operation-ghost-stories-inside-the-russian-spy-case https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/operation-ghost-stories-ins...
- eternal_braid 2y agoAnother recommendation is "Person of Interest". The series was ahead of its time with the implications of AI on society. It also has spies.
- silentsea90 2y agoHIGHLY highly recommend The Bureau, which is the most real spy show I have ever watched. The Americans is excellent (i've watched all of it) but has some unreal TV-like drama that The Bureau is able to avoid and is imo the pinnacle of spy genre. George Clooney is apparently making an American remake of The Bureau (which is in French).
- lazyeye 2y agoCouldn't agree more, The Bureau had me hooked from start to finish. After the first episode, I basically binge-watched the entire 5 seasons non-stop. Subtitles are not an issue for me as I always have them on anyway. It takes a couple of episodes to get into it as they don't do out of their way to explain things. It's like you've been dropped into a job with an intelligence service with no training. "Tehran" (Israeli spy thriller) is another really good spy series. You really get a feel for the oppressive environment in Iran under the thumb of the IRGC. Also "The Spy" with Sascha Baron Cohen is excellent too.
- SoylentOrange 2y agoThe Americans is a highly sensationalized and fictionalized retelling of the life stories of Elena Vavilova and Andrey Bezrukov. From a historical/accuracy perspective, there’s basically zero resemblance of the show and the source material beyond the premise. As drama, it excels in the drama around the marriage rather than the actual fact of them being spies, and has been praised as “fundamentally a show about a marriage”. If you’re looking for a spy thriller, you might look elsewhere. It’s very “American TV” and doesn’t really stray from the formula
- jackfoxy 2y agoI watched the entire series, The Americans. It's thrilling and well-crafted television, but totally bogus as a representation of how illegals worked in the USA. Illegals were/are special assets that would never be concurrently running so many different operations and engaging in risky wet (i.e. assassination) operations right and left. More likely they would spend many boring years cultivating their positions in society and a select few important contacts. That doesn't make for good television.
- Fnoord 2y agoA good 101 on an illegal story is by Jack Barsky, on his own account. He wrote a book on it, there's various interviews with him, a podcast series (The Agent) and he got interviewed by Lex Fridman (#301). I recomment The Agent podcast series [1] on his (life) story. Also available on Apple Podcast. [1] https://open.spotify.com/show/5DToOunQsM18OmGD5eVRXR https://open.spotify.com/show/5DToOunQsM18OmGD5eVRXR
- pixl97 2y agoTypically the best television stories are taking an entire organizations stories and distilling it down to just a few people. Easier to develop characters that way and keep the audience from being confused by actors that don't contribute much.
- darksim905 2y agoWe clearly didn't watch the same show. The nature in which they use disguises alone was some of the best use in a show I've ever seen. There's also some very clever code words and traps that scary in their realism.
- mrbonner 2y agoIn a side note: how do you check for the level of nudity/sex in a show or movie? I use the rating but I don’t find it provides enough finer grain: some R rated ones are OK to watch with my 13 year old but some have graphic sex scenes which I feel uncomfortable to watch together.
- gnicholas 2y agoCommon Sense Media reviews, like this one. [1] IIRC, there's a bit of sex in The Americans, and a fair bit of discussion of how the spies had to sleep with targets as part of their training, and in the field. The father character also has a pretty dicey relationship with a much younger woman/girl, in order to access her father's home office. 1: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-americans https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-americans
- axx8 2y agoI don't know how accurate it is, but IMDb [1] will usually tell you exact episodes of inappropriate content. Individual episodes also have a parental guide, but it looks less used. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2149175/parentalguide https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2149175/parentalguide
- aaronbrethorst 2y agoI'd worry more about a particular scene of sexual violence in Season 3, Episode 2 ("Baggage") than any graphic sex scenes. It's basic cable, so you'll see some butt cheeks here and there but never any nipples. Watch S3E2 yourself in advance and then fast forward through the relevant part for your 13 year old. You'll know it when you see it.
- sspiff 2y agoI second this. Of all the TV shows I've watched over the years, this is one is easily the one I've spent the most time thinking about, even long after I finished watching it. While it has it's ebs and flows, it never got bad or dull for me. And it contains a ton of details you might think is for dramatic effect or cinematography, but often it turned out to be based on actual practices, historic fact or just have a practical purpose for the characters.
- carabiner 2y agoThe whole Est conference thing was real and pretty popular in the '80s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training
- BorisMelnik 2y agolove this show - big fan of Stan
- causality0 2y agoIt spreads the interesting stuff out too much for me. Halfway through the third season I realized the episodes were starting to run together in my head and if I waited more than a day to start watching again I ended up rewatching half the episode before realizing I'd already seen it.
- Fnoord 2y agoNot to discredit South East Asia but Germany is where the Cold War took place. Especially the second part of it. RAF, for example, was pretty much sponsored by East Germany. So many good series made involving the subject though. Both drama and documentary. I mean, you do want drama and not documentary? Cause the story The Americans is inspired by is documented. For drama, check Deutschland '83 and the two successors. Has a great cast. And of course there is Clifford Stoll's book about how he caught Hagbard Celine (see the movie '23' with a young August Diehl who later broke through in Hollywood). German cinema, both West-German and modern, has gems regardless (I am not German btw, subs are easy to come by).
- mayd 2y agoI do agree that the "Deutschland 83/86/89" TV series was great espionage drama, but I also think your Eurocentric bias is showing. I have often wondered why Asia has been continuously overlooked in the espionage TV drama stakes. Even John LeCarré's "The Honourable Schoolboy" never got adapted to the screen. My conclusion is that it is not due to a lack of good material but due to political and cultural reasons. Westerners are uncomfortable with portraying Asian geopolitical adversaries such as Communist China and North Korea because they don't want to be accused of racism. When was the last time you saw or read a tale about Chinese spies? Sadly, this has resulted in a vast, unexplored region of espionage drama being totally ignored. I wonder if they make Asia-focussed spy drama in Japan?
- Fnoord 2y agoRight now I am watching The Sympathizer, a Vietnamese drama about the Cold War, focussed on the Vietnamese take on the matter. Its on HBO Max. Weekly release so not yet finished. They just added the third episode, and I've almost finished that. Seems very much promising. South Korea also has a cinema scene. I once saw a Korean horror and it was unlike anything I saw before. Like, really weird. But it had nothing to do with spy drama. A lot of spy drama or action from the Cold War era is very over the top and/or propagandist/fear mongering. Drama is dramatized, but can easily be regarded as overdramatized, bending the truth too much in the process. At such point, a good documentary on the subject is probably preferred. The faith I have in a country like China or North Korea being authentic on such matters in documentary is near zero, and thus I assume their drama on the matter will equal the low effort American cinema we saw previous century. That a band like Laibach was allowed to play in North Korea is very much telling to me.
- dzhiurgis 2y agoHeh it's all too real for us in Eastern Europe. Back in Soviet Union if you ever get a blessing to visit another country, you have interviews with KGB, one before leaving and one on return. Upon return they asked if you bringing any contraband, currency and one of the question is "Why did you return?". So, my parents lived with me in NZ for last few months. When they got back dad's boating mates decided to grill him - Why did you return?
- ajuc 2y agoIt was fun all around. To be allowed to leave you had to sign a paper promising to "tell" the secret service on your travel companions after the trip. So everybody on the trip was living in paranoia of one another. It was mostly to later have some blackmail material on you if you became opposition - you signed the paper so you're an agent of the system. And when (if) you returned - regular people assumed you have some connections to the regime and treated you like an enemy.
- tomcam 2y agoEasily one of the top 10 shows ever created IMHO