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The Americans - Season 5 of the award winning KGB spy drama - Tuesdays on FX

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Since they're with the FBI, they could be investigating the CIA doing inhumane things?

Do you REALLY think in the mid 80s, in the middle of the cold war, anyone in govt would be ok with one branch investigating another? Absolutely not.

To me what Stan/partner were doing seemed to be grunt shit work, like someone at the FBI was pissed at them and gave them a list of Russian bureaucrats working in America and to try and flip one of them in public - which would never work, since all of them would have their families back in Russia. But yeah, I think we'll find out more in the next few episodes. They first walked up to an Aeroflot (USSR airline) guy then an Amtorg guy so if they are going in alphabetical order they are pretty early in.

I'd agree that the show focusing too much on Paige is a bit of a drag. It makes sense from a story and thematic sense, and I like the actress, but I mean there is no way way her stories are ever going to be as interesting as 2 soviet assassin spies or Stan, the dumb FBI agent with a heart of gold.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Do you REALLY think in the mid 80s, in the middle of the cold war, anyone in govt would be ok with one branch investigating another? Absolutely not.

They kind of did.

The FBI-CIA feud is real. Mostly because the CIA was way out there and getting into the FBI's turf in dangerous ways.

Here's my monthly reminder for Cold War nuts: Go check this book right now

qNhRA2l.jpg


And then find a good pillow so you don't hurt your head too much from slamming it against the wall, because you'll want to fire every single idiot in the CIA and shitcan the agency for good.
 
- Paste: How The Americans Became the Best Show on Television
As it happens, the story of how The Americans became the best show on television is also the story of an art form in flux.

“Evolution is the perfect word for it,” Weisberg says of the series’ metamorphosis, subtle but still perceptible, from Cold War thriller to fraught family portrait. “If you go back to the pilot, one of the things you notice is how different it is. First of all, it’s kind of funny. Second of all, it’s got a lot of action to it-—a lot of martial arts, kung fu. Thematically, in the relationships and the stories and the characters, it has maybe the promise of what the show became, but I don’t think you see the show The Americans is today.”

Sitting in their Brooklyn office, decorated with framed floor plans for The Americans’ secondary locations—FBI agent Stan Beeman’s suburban home, secretary Martha Hanson’s compact apartment—Weisberg and Fields (“the two Js,” “the Js,” or simply “the guys,” as they’re affectionately known on set) describe the first season as a process of “discovering” the series, and with it the realism that Fields calls their “creative North star.”

“Where we felt things were wrong was when we tried to create drama, when we tried to create excitement,” Fields says. “Whenever we tried, as storytellers, to impose something on the characters, it never felt right to us. When we stopped worrying about the result for the audience, curiously, everything started to get more true.”
“In that first season, as we were trying to figure out what the show was, in the analyses that we would get in these recaps, the things that they were responding to so thoughtfully were the things that excited us, and that was the character story,” Fields says. “Who knows? If we’d had 10 times the audience and no critics who were interested in that part of the show, we could’ve been pulled toward doing just a really exciting show and pulling our hairs out that we weren’t getting to tell character stories.”

“You cannot separate this show from the critics,” Weisberg adds. “I think probably more than any other show.”
Much more via the link.



- ‘The Americans’ premiere triples in cable Live +7 ratings for March 6-12

Premiere numbers were very low this season, but it looks like a lot of people were time shifting. Not that this matters much at this point considering they have the ending planned out.
 
- Foreign Policy: The Next Must-Watch TV Show Is Russia’s Version of ‘The Americans’
It’s 2017, and the new Cold War is in full swing. The West is winning, for now. U.S. sanctions have impoverished Russia. But the two sides are poised at a critical juncture. The Russians have come up with new technology to drill for gas that could send their economy skyrocketing again, putting the West on the back foot. And so, the CIA sends President Donald Trump a letter detailing a cunning plan. A spy — one of their most wily — must be dispatched from Washington immediately to sniff out the details.

What follows is Adaptation, the story of the blundering Oleg Menshov, an American spy with impeccable Russian (played by the well-known Russian actor Leonid Bichevin), who is sent to embed in state gas giant Gazprom. But he understands little about how Russia works, so he must be taught the ways of the country and its rampant corruption, much to the amusement of his supposed compatriots.

The TV show, coinciding with a spike in tension between Russia and the West, and talk of a new Cold War, has become a runaway hit in Russia. The first season finished this month, to rave reviews and nationwide enthusiasm. According to the show’s network, TNT, one out of seven Russians watched it. Russians call Adaptation their answer to The Americans — if The Americans was a combination of slapstick, satire, and stereotypes, Russian and American alike. (Each episode opens with the James Bond theme music, a gun-wielding Oleg climbing Mount Rushmore, and a shot of the White House morphing into a triple-domed Russian Orthodox Church, which then cuts to the bald eagle on the CIA’s logo mutating into the double-headed eagle that is the official emblem of Russia.)

The plotline, in which Russians triumph over well-meaning but shortsighted Americans, has struck a chord with a Russian public gloating over the military gains in Syria and the struggles of the Trump administration, which has been plagued by Russia-related scandals. The first two episodes of Adaptation outperformed its competitors on other networks for the coveted 8 to 9 p.m. weekday slot, according to TNT’s head of public relations, Yulia Talapanova.
More via the link.



- Washington Post va Austin American-Statesman: The insect warfare on ‘The Americans’ isn’t all that outlandish
 
New episode tonight:
What's the Matter with Kansas?

Philip and Elizabeth have qualms about a new assignment, while a specter from Philip's past creates unforeseen dangers. At the FBI, Stan makes a shocking play that could throw his career into turmoil.
 

Sloane

Banned
I really like the insects as a plot device, somehow much more than the lame virus thing last season. Can't really put my finger on why sadly -- I guess it's a combination of insects being kinda creepy in general, the slight X-Files vibe that comes with it, as well as having an enemy or a danger that is more tactile and easier to lose control of.

Anyway, last two episode have been great. Mostly curious about what's up with the almost unrecognizable ICE lady from The Shield (Stan's "girlfriend"). Russian agent?
 

Ristifer

Member
I really like the insects as a plot device, somehow much more than the lame virus thing last season. Can't really put my finger on why sadly -- I guess it's a combination of insects being kinda creepy in general, the slight X-Files vibe that comes with it, as well as having an enemy or a danger that is more tactile and easier to lose control of.

Anyway, last two episode have been great. Mostly curious about what's up with the almost unrecognizable ICE lady from The Shield (Stan's "girlfriend"). Russian agent?
Kinda funny that you bring up Laurie Holden and The X-Files, since she was also in that show. I'm sure you knew that already, but it's just neat how these things come together sometimes.
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
Damn, dude just throws away a piece of toast like it isn't shit. Who is this Henry imposter?
 

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
I know it's likely not a reference, but the "no Russian!" in the preview for next week's episode made me smile.
 
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