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“The Americans” finally broke through at the Emmys with a Best Drama Series nomination for its fourth season, but the Cold War thriller is back to being the underdog two years later, as it gears up to contend for its final season, which premieres March 28 on FX.

By the time that “The Americans” received its Best Drama Series nomination, it had amassed 12 nominations from the Television Critics Assn. — more for its first four seasons of any show ever, except “The Sopranos.” “The Americans” then fell out of the Emmys’ Best Drama Series lineup last year for its fifth season. For the first time, “The Americans” received only one nomination from the TCA, no Critics’ Choice Award nominations and it was not listed among the annual American Film Institute’s Top 10 Programs.

Based on the first three episodes of the 10-episode sixth season, “The Americans” is continuing with its more intimate pace. These episodes are light on watercooler developments, so no plot points are embargoed from mention in advance reviews. For the most part, both KGB operative Philip Jennings (2016/2017 Best Drama Actor nominee Matthew Rhys) and FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) are out of the spy game, leaving Keri Russell (2016/2017 Best Drama Actress nominee) with the meatiest acting material, as her character — KGB operative Elizabeth Jennings — trains her and Philip’s daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) under KGB handler Claudia (2015/2016 Best Drama Guest Actress winner Margo Martindale).

“The Americans” is positioned well for Emmys nominations by virtue of this being its last chance. The Emmys are infamously stingy when it comes to awarding final seasons, but continually give “goodbye hugs” at the nominations stage. The finale of “The Good Wife” was divisive at best, but earned the show its first Best Drama Writing nomination in six years, since its pilot. The final season of “Downton Abbey” that same year got the show back into the same category for the first time in three years. Maggie Smith also won Best Drama Supporting Actress, having been snubbed altogether the year before for the first time in the role, which had previously won her two Emmys.

Like Smith, Margo Martindale of “The Americans” was nominated for each of the first four seasons, including two wins, then was snubbed for the penultimate season. That Martindale has finally joined the main credits sequence this season suggests that she will have more material than ever before.

If “The Americans” adds a first-time nomination this year, it might be Noah Emmerich, who scored a Critics’ Choice nomination as Best Drama Supporting Actor for the first season. The Emmys continually nominate performances for final seasons that they had wholly ignored prior, including Becky Ann Baker (“Girls”), Ann Dowd (“The Leftovers”) and Laurie Metcalf (“Getting On”) in the past two years.

Source: http://www.goldderby.com/

As spies for Soviet Russia, Philip and Elizabeth Jennings have spent years trying to undermine Reagan-era America from the inside, and now their great game is coming to a close. The latest teaser for the final season of The Americans, which jumps ahead three years to 1987, indicates how much things have changed on the show.

The brief collage of clips is set to Elizabeth (Keri Russell) talking about a successful mission — but at the end of the teaser, it’s revealed she’s not talking to Philip (Matthew Rhys) at all, but rather to their daughter, Paige (Holly Taylor), now wearing her own spy disguise. Like mother, like daughter.

Bringing Paige along on her spying missions represents a dream come true for Elizabeth, as The Americans executive producer Joe Weisberg recently told EW.

“This is what Elizabeth has wanted for a long time, and it’s finally happening,” Weisberg said. “She’s getting to bring her kid along and go out and work with her sometimes and do things with her. She sometimes makes mistakes and that’s a little worrisome, but other times Paige really does well and is successful and that feels great.”

Watch the teaser above. The Americans season 6 premieres March 28 on FX.

Source: http://ew.com

Keri Russell isn’t ready to say goodbye to The Americans.

Currently halfway through production on the sixth and final season of the FX spy drama, the 41-year-old actress took a moment to reflect on her six-year journey playing Elizabeth Jennings, a KGB officer posing as one-half of a married couple opposite real-life partner Matthew Rhys.

“I had no idea from the beginning the experience that it would turn into. I relish this experience,” Russell said at FX’s Television Critics Association press tour during The Americans’ farewell panel on Friday. “It’s been such an enjoyable, creative [time]. I know we’re set in this 1980s spy show, but it’s truly one of my favorite marriage stories, couched in this Cold War spy world. It’s just really sparse, interesting storytelling.”

“For me, playing Elizabeth, I just think as a woman, it’s been an incredible feminist role to get to play,” she continued. “It’s so rare to be so single-minded and she’s so successful at doing it. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m happy it’s ending on such a high note while I’m still so excited and interested in the storylines. It’s been a great ride.”

Russell admitted that because they still have “two months” left in the filming schedule, she hasn’t had the opportunity to look back on this era in her life and career with any particular significance.

“It’s such an uphill sprint in a great way — that type of work lends itself to the show, the cold and the struggle of it all. I feel like heads are still down, charging up that hill. There’s not a lot of time for reflection. It’s about getting through these last few months,” she said. “It feels really good and satisfying, what [executive producers] Joe [Weisberg] and Joel [Fields] have created.”

The Americans returns for its sixth and final season on Wednesday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.

Source: http://www.etonline.com/