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The two stars of the FX spy drama open up about the show’s gut-wrenching twist was the perfect end.
The Americans completed its final mission on Wednesday night as the FX drama came to a close after six seasons on the air.

In true form, the spy thriller delivered a gut-punch near the end of the episode when Elizabeth and Philip’s (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) daughter Paige, played by Holly Taylor, chose to not follow her parents to Russia, separating them for what could be forever.

“I loved the way the guys wrote the ending,” Russell tells The Hollywood Reporter, adding that she doesn’t think her character had any idea that Paige was capable of making that decision. “And I think that’s why it’s so devastating. You just go into complete numbness because it’s so unbelievable and just incredibly painful, heartbreakingly so.” Continue reading The Americans: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys Talk “Devastating” Ending

FX Networks’s THE AMERICANS comes to a conclusion after six seasons on Wednesday, May 30. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys star as Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, married KGB spies, with two children, posing as ordinary Americans in Reagan-era U.S.A. Russell, who won a Golden Globe and was twice nominated for Emmys for her work as Elizabeth, reminisces about her time with the series.

ASSIGNMENT X: Do you have a favorite episode or scene from your time on THE AMERICANS?

KERI RUSSELL: My favorite scenes are always the emotional marriage scenes, always, just because that’s the stuff I’m most interested in. But some highlights – I love, still, beating up Margo Martindale [who plays Claudia, Elizabeth and Philip’s KGB handler], just because it was so wild. People on the street, like tough construction guys, are still saying to me, “Yo, you really kicked that lady’s ass.” And I just think that’s so funny. But I love the emotional big fights we have. There are so many moments in this season, it’s so great.

AX: What’s the most interesting thing that you’ve learned in working on THE AMERICANS?

RUSSELL: Well, to be honest, just learning about some of the Russian history in the war [WWII]. As Americans, we don’t learn any of that. Even the amount of people, the amount of soldiers, that the Russians lost compared to Americans in World War II, is devastating. It was something over fifteen million. And our numbers were something like four hundred thousand. It’s unbelievable. There’s such a history. And we don’t ever learn that. So parts of that were interesting. Continue reading Keri Russell chats the sixth and final season

When “The Americans” was first being developed as an FX series, there was one potential hitch in telling a story about a suburban couple in the 1980s who actually were embedded KGB agents: Post-Cold War Russians didn’t scare us anymore.

“People were wondering whether Russians were a credible enemy in a work of fiction when we started,” says creator Joe Weisberg, a former CIA agent who has worked side-by-side with executive producer Joel Fields on the show, which wraps up next week after six seasons with a surprising finale.

Oh, how things have changed since 2013, when “Americans” first premiered, turning into a bona-fide critical hit for FX thanks in part to its strong cast (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys), 1980s retro looks (and disguises), sophisticated writing and flawed, complex characters — whose main goal was to undermine U.S. interests. Continue reading The Americans stars reflect on the series’ end and the new demonization of Russians

Who is Elizabeth Jennings? Who is she really?

That’s something the character has been trying to keep hidden from the world since the beginning of The Americans, but she may finally be figuring out the answer for herself.

The penultimate installment is called “Jennings, Elizabeth” because that’s what Stan types into the Automated Case Support database at the FBI as the episode begins.

Nothing. He finds nothing. No past or current investigations involving her.

He also finds nothing about Jennings, Philip. Or their business, Dupont Circle Travel.

With only one more episode left in the series, there are bound to be consequences now that bring a sense of finality to a show that is bound to finally expose the Jennings family for who they really are. But what’s surprising is how this episode allowed some of the major figures — especially Elizabeth — to fundamentally change who they are. Continue reading The Americans recap: With one episode left, the Jennings family is near exposure