The Americans

A spy series set in the cold war – right up my alley. Plus, it's very well-made and well-cast. I never claimed to be a pure soul or a defender of the light side, so I immediately took a liking to both protagonists. I found even Arkady more likable than Agent Frank Gaad most of the time. I guess it’s because the Soviets were explicitly evil, while the American fighters for democracy always played clean, with exceptions that occurred once, twice at most... But seriously, I think it was a win for the series that Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys hit it off in real life, the chemistry between them was amazing and contributed to a great overall atmosphere. At first, I found the character of Stan Beeman irritating, but Noah Emmerich gradually won me over and Season 6 wouldn’t have been half as good without him. Since I'm praising individual characters, I can't forget Alison Wright as Martha Hanson who was really excellent. Finally, a shout-out to the writers who maintained a high level of storytelling throughout the seventy-five episodes. I had a great time. (20/07/2016)

The American spy series The Americans looks at the Cold War from an unusual perspective. The main characters are KGB agents operating under hidden identities in America, and their adversaries are FBI agents trying to expose the Russian spies. The series doesn't portray the main characters in black and white as heroes or villains, but purely as agents with conflicting interests who are loyal to their country and follow the orders of their superiors, even if they don't always agree with them. The tense relations between the two sides can easily escalate, and the main tension comes from the fact that all agents must act with great caution at all times. There are no Bond-like psychopaths out to destroy the world. None of the agents want a third world war, and both sides are concerned with maintaining the balance of power. The series is more grounded than, for example, another current series about spies, Homeland. In fact, one of its creators is a former CIA agent (Joseph Weisberg), and instead of tense action scenes, it focuses mainly on the normal routine of spies (recruiting agents, leading them, and the relationships between them). The series can also be seen as an unconventional marital drama. In fact, the main characters, two Russian agents, marry into a typical American family with two children living in a typical American suburb. So, in addition to carrying out their espionage missions, they also try to raise their children, maintain their secret identities, and not lose their Soviet discipline. In doing so, the series avoids any pathos, and rawly evokes the stuffy and cold atmosphere of the Cold War. The make-up artists, who constantly invent new disguises for the main characters (complete with fake hair and moustaches), certainly deserve an award. (02/07/2014)

A TV series like The Americans may not occur often, but within the genre, a top-notch series like this appears once in a blue moon, and only a few will appreciate the masterful, meticulously precise strokes of espionage masters in such a refined form. This series belongs to the likes of Breaking Bad. However, the above also places the series in the significantly higher quality part of production. The strengths are the ambiguous characters and personalities who constantly wrestle with dilemmas between their emotions and obligations, between morality and fear of exposure or mistakes. The Americans takes us back to the 80s, a period of escalating Cold War and superpower rivalry. A pair of Soviet spies create an apparently ideal family unit within the United States as part of their cover, but some of their work tasks simply do not align with a harmonious family life... Overall impression: 75%. (15/08/2014)

An excellent series that unfortunately hasn’t reached a wider audience in our country. It's exactly as one foreign review says: "easy to admire, but hard to love." To admire because of the flawless craftsmanship, the detailed period setting (the 1980s) and the precise actors, from the smallest supporting roles to the leading ones. And it's hard to love because the leading duo are like fellow TV serial killer Dexter, who, as with the two protagonists playing Soviet KGB spies, we know that what they are doing is not exactly kosher (and sometimes beyond what we would expect from our favourite lead characters), but we still root for them in a way. We form an ambivalent relationship with them – on the one hand, as dedicated KGB spies, they irritate us because they undermine the foundations of a society that has opened its arms to them; on the other hand, we like them because they are not brainwashed, they have a point of view and they are likeable (Kerri Russell and Matthew Rhys are my new acting revelations). The casting overall is the trump card of the series. I especially enjoy the well-known secondary role actor Noah Emmerich as a CIA agent who exudes respect, some of his monologues give me chills, and the unknown Alison Wright as the manipulative, naive Martha is also excellent. The script is entirely unpredictable, winding its way forward in unexpected paths, so nothing for lobotomized viewers who are addicted to the standard mindless TV entertainment that you can watch while doing the ironing. Perhaps I would have liked a sharper climax in the last part of the 1st season, given what it had promised all along, and also the pilot doesn't lure enough and someone might be forced into the second episode. But give it a chance, really. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the second season, which is supposed to be even better. (23/09/2014)