Fake marriage, real kids
More than a spy show, FX’s The Americans is a thought-provoking meditation on marriage, identity and the power of culture. Season one premiered last January and a second season is planned for next winter.
Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell star as Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, an ordinary suburban couple who are not what they pretend to be. Their two kids and white picket fence, their jobs as travel agents, their laundry room and the plates of food they offer to welcome new neighbors do not convey their real life at all. Their marriage is a cover for their mission. Philip and Elizabeth are Soviet spies.
The show is set in Reagan-era Washington, D.C., in the shadow of the cold war. The period details—a trendy six-foot sub sandwich at a neighborhood party, a Rubik’s Cube, giant eyeglasses that are suddenly back in style—are carefully done. The spy intrigue is fun to watch and reasonably well plotted. What really makes the show intriguing, however, are the challenges created for viewers, because it’s hard not to identify with the couple as they pretend to be what we are, everyday Americans.
