First Impressions: The Americans ‘Pilot’ – Getting To The Moon Isn’t Everything

Yes, The Americans is an espionage thriller about the Cold War – which the pilot is quite good at, save for a few stock moments and scenes that every modern, high concept drama has. But what’s really surprising about The Americans is how its balances spy antics with a grounded drama about an atypical marriage and two people coming to a crossroads in their relationship. An ambitious, confident pilot, The Americans is the most promising new drama I’ve watched in awhile.

The Cold War is such an interesting hub for drama and character exploration – it’s a period of time most Americans will never understand, a war mostly fought in whispers and cat and mouse games. But for a silent war, it spurred quite a bit of nationalistic pride and stereotypical antagonism towards Russia, the perceived enemy. And while Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) are definitely on the Russian side, the line isn’t so cut and dry at times. It’s mentioned that Phillip’s been struggling with his identity as an undercover agent – Elizabeth’s boss mentions her previous complaints about him, and numerous times he tries to convince Elizabeth that a simple, American life might be the way they should go.

Of course, they’re debating this while they hold a defected KGB agent in their trunk, awaiting instructions on what to do with him. Here are the pilots weakest parts – the confident, assured Elizabeth questions herself and stares at reflective surfaces, thinking about how the man tied up in her garage raped her some 20 years ago, while she was still training in Russia. It’s thrown in for shock factor, and seems contradictory to her unbending allegiance to her country (when their son brags about astronauts touching the ground, she reminds him that “just getting in space is a remarkable achievement). It’s the only time when Elizabeth isn’t a complete rock, putting a guy’s head through plaster in one scene, and sexing up someone from the Department of Justice for information in the opening.

Between Elizabeth and Phillip, he’s easily the better written character on the pilot. After giving up the love of his life for a mission to American and an arranged marriage, he’s clearly struggled with both developing his marriage, and maintaining his loyalty to his country. What makes his character so good is how it doesn’t inhibit him from doing his job: he’s nearly ready to take out his new high brow FBI agent neighbor Sam when he sneaks in their garage late at night to appease his curiosity and suspicions.

In the episode’s most important scene, unfortunately, things are neatly rearranged to reinforce some masculine ideals and traditional American cable values. Elizabeth beats up the KGB agent who raped her, but stops short of beating his head in with a tire iron, instead shaking her head and letting her unstable husband decide their fate. He then breaks the guy’s neck without hesitation – an interesting way to signify love and dedication to your wife, but hey, it works, because a half hour later, they’re having sex in their car.

Outside of those few moments where The Americans embraces predictability, the pilot is a sharply written and filmed. There are a lot of good cultural touches in the dialogue and set design, as well, that really drive home the different ideologies of Americans and Russians, and both Elizabeth and Phillip’s reactions to such American things. And with Russell and Rhys’s performances driving the dual dramas at the heart of the show, the future is bright for The Americans.

Grade: B+

Other thoughts/observations:

– in the 1980s, a harelip is a disability.

– the two agents talking about pirogis was one of many great subtle dialogue moments.

– the end scenes where both the KGB and FBI are “upping the stakes” are totally unnecessary, but completely expected.

– When asked about going undercover as a white supremacist, Sam alludes to some messed up shit happening. I’m sure we’ll get into this later.

– The Jennings children may not be prove to be the most interesting characters themselves, but the facade Elizabeth and Phillip have put up for them their entire lives makes their presence absolutely vital to the show.

– I’m going to love a show where cops can’t get every single piece of forensic information in a two-second cell phone call, or with people sending texts to mess up missions. Old school shit right here.

– Phillip’s costume as an Internal Affairs investigator is hilarious.

– Did Phillip need to beat the shit out of that child molester and stab him in the nuts? I hope we see the long hair and mustache disguise more often, though.

– Guess mom jeans!