Category Articles & Interviews

Showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg speak to The Hollywood Reporter about the big moments in the 90-minute episode as FX’s Cold War spy drama comes to an end.
[This story contains spoilers from the series finale of The Americans]

Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) left the United States and returned to their native Russia in the series finale of The Americans on Wednesday night.

But in a tragic twist, the Russian spies, who’d spent years posing as an American couple living outside of Washington, D.C., had to leave their children behind. The pair early on made the decision to let their son, Henry (Keidrich Sellati), who didn’t know his parents’ true identities, stay in the U.S. But eldest child Paige (Holly Taylor), who had entered the family business this season, spying alongside her mom, was set to make the trip with her parents before she suddenly left the train they were on. The moment was a shocking one for Elizabeth, who throws herself at the window of the train when she sees Paige still on the platform as the train pulls out of the station, and Philip. Continue reading ‘The Americans’ Bosses Break Down “Tragic” Series Finale

After six years and 75 episodes, The Americans has wrapped its final chapter. Ever. This past season has been a tour de force of acting and pitch-perfect narrative arcs—cementing The Americans as one of the most important prestige television shows of our generation. And it all comes down to two people: real-life couple Keri Russell (Elizabeth Jennings) and Matthew Rhys (Philip Jennings).

Continue reading The End of The Americans: Keri Russell’s Last Stand

Spoiler Alert: The following postmortem contains details about tonight’s series finale of The Americans on FX Continue reading What Happens Now To The Spies Next Door?: ‘The Americans’ EPs On Mindblowing Series Finale

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the series finale of “The Americans” that aired May 30. Continue reading ‘The Americans’ Bosses on Pivotal Series Finale Scene As Exploration of ‘Six Seasons’ Worth of a Real Relationship’

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of The Americans. Read at your own risk! Continue reading The Americans: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys recall their last day on set

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