Category TV Show

Emmy season is here! Voters have until June 26 to fill out their nomination ballots before the big announcement on July 16. We have a few selections in mind ourselves. Our last wish list: Outstanding Drama Series.

The Americans
If you like great storytelling, there is no show more carefully plotted than The Americans. Patient but fast-paced, the intricate series uses adrenalized, disturbing (see: tooth extraction, suitcase corpse) spy games and the bleak Cold War era to explore issues of marriage, family, faith and morality. That reached a fever pitch in Season 3 when Philip un-Clark-ed for Martha and Paige finally learned the truth, only to betray her parents’ trust that was built on lies. The Americans has a big hill to climb at the Emmys: It’s only ever been nominated for three awards.

Source: http://www.tvguide.com

THR asked: When were you the most panicked as an actress this season and how did you overcome those fears?

Keri Russell
The Americans (FX)

“The first thing I think of is that scene when we have to tell our daughter, Paige [Holly Taylor], this incredible truth that’s going to change her life forever: We’re spies. It felt like such a big moment in the story. My favorite thing about our show is when the spy stuff falls back and it becomes a family or marriage drama. I had to watch this teenager who’s in so much pain and realize that, as parents, we’re a cause of that because of all these lies. It was complicated on many levels. Holly’s a sensitive, graceful creature, so watching her cry, instantly I’m crying and trying to stuff it in. You just want to make sure she’s OK. And also, I was a kid actor, which I think is Creep City anyway. It’s a complicated way to grow up, and it’s not something I think I’d ever let my kids do. So there was that part of me watching her on this tightrope, and my heart was going out to her. As painful as it was, it became easy to shoot because you’re just reacting in a human way. The character of Elizabeth can be perceived as a not-great mom, but I feel like in that moment, she was trying to be there for her daughter.”

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

Morality is only moral when it is voluntary.

The Soviet sympathizer Lincoln Steffens wrote that a few centuries ago. Now, Elizabeth and Philip Jennings are learning that lesson the hard way, and it’s made for a captivating season of The Americans. You could argue that every episode was building toward that thrilling moment this season when the Jennings finally told Paige that they’re spies, attempting to rope their daughter into the family business as a “second generation illegal” whose U.S. citizenship could help them infiltrate American intelligence agencies. Though, judging by the season finale, they will soon discover that forcing your own moral agenda on your kids doesn’t work.

The fact that Paige divulged her parents’ secret to Pastor Tim doesn’t necessarily mean the Jennings are doomed. I still think he might be a KGB operative in disguise. This is what makes The Americans so gripping: It allows you to experience the crazy paranoia that Elizabeth and Philip feel, always second-guessing the motives of every new person you meet. For me, it doesn’t make sense that Claudia and Gabriel would allow Philip and Elizabeth to take the massive risk of revealing who they really are to Paige if the higher-ups hadn’t already safeguarded that secret from leaking. And Pastor Tim’s cover is perfect. Who would suspect a Jesus-loving pastor of being a godless Communist? What better way to recruit teenagers for “the cause” than by staging anti-American protests in the name of peace?

Whether or not he’s in on the plan, the idea of Paige turning against her parents is the perfect twist for the show. The Americans has always wrestled with the ways that parents enforce their values on their kids. Now it’s zeroing in on the ways that kids shape their parents’ values, too. Continue reading The Americans season 3 finale: EW review

Warning: The following interview contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “The Americans” titled “March 8, 1983.”

How much longer can Philip and Elizabeth Jennings hide the truth? The carefully crafted lies of the undercover Soviet spies played by Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell are slowly leaking out. In the final four episodes of the season, their daughter Paige (Holly Taylor), Philip’s “second wife” Martha (Alison Wright), and now, it appears, Paige’s confidante Pastor Tim (Kelly AuCoin) all learned the couple’s true identities. During the FX drama’s eventful finale, Philip almost even came clean to Sandra Beeman (Susan Misner), the soon-to-be ex-wife of his FBI agent neighbor, Stan (Noah Emmerich).

Meanwhile, Stan saw his own covert plan to reunite with exiled lover Nina (Annet Mahendru) go up in flames when he finally revealed the details to horrified boss Agent Gaad (Richard Thomas). But even as Stan lost a friend in Gaad, he gained a powerful supporter in the form of Deputy Attorney General Warren (Cotter Smith), who was impressed by the way Stan played romantic rival Oleg Burov (Costa Ronin). Continue reading ‘The Americans’ Season 3 Finale Postmortem: Joel Fields On the Martha Mystery, Reagan Speech

[WARNING: The following story contains spoilers from Wednesday’s Season 3 finale of The Americans. Read at your own risk.]

Paige couldn’t handle the truth.

On The Americans’ Season 3 finale Wednesday, Paige (Holly Taylor) made the trip abroad with Elizabeth (Keri Russell) to see Elizabeth’s ailing mother. While the visit went off without a hitch, the troubled teen still couldn’t deal with the weight of her parents’ KGB identities and endless lies, placing a desperate call to Pastor Tim in her room upon their return. “They’re liars and they’re trying to turn me into one. … They’re not who they say they are. They’re not Americans,” she whispers. “You can’t tell anyone. They’re… they’re Russians.”

The scene was wonderfully intercut with footage of President Reagan’s infamous speech on March 8, 1983 (the episode title), in which he dubbed the Soviet Union an “evil empire” — which Elizabeth made Philip (Matthew Rhys) watch just as he was about to divulge his own inner turmoil about the mounting burden of their job. Earlier in the episode, while Elizabeth and Paige were away, Philip had taken care of the “Martha thing” by killing Gene (Luke Robertson) and framing him for Gaad’s bugged pen. He also began attending EST sessions solo, where he bumped into Stan’s ex-wife Sandra (Susan Misner), who suggested that they tell each other everything. Continue reading The Americans Boss Breaks Down Paige’s “Big Move,” Martha’s Fate and What’s Next

After a certifiably nail-biting string of episodes on FX’s The Americans, season 3 has finally come to an end—and lo, the finale managed to raise more questions than it answered.

Has Paige (Holly Taylor) truly picked a side in her battle between faith and family? Is Philip (Matthew Rhys) struggling under the weight of his mission at the same time that Elizabeth (Keri Russell) is reaffirming devotion to hers? Stan (Noah Emmerich) is finally on the rise, but will he ever get the chips to trade Nina (Annet Mahendru) back? And what does Martha (Alison Wright) think about it all!?! (No, seriously, what does Martha think? We have no idea.) Continue reading The Americans season finale: The showrunners break down Paige’s decision and what it means for season 4