The American
The premise of this series is partly based on the true story that broke in 2010 of a cell of Russian Sleeper agents who had been "hiding in plain sight" in the United States for decades (also known as the "Spy Swap of 2010"). Several of them had children, coworkers, friends, and neighbors who all had no idea that they were spies. These agents were ultimately returned to Russia in a trade for some Americans that Russia was holding.,In several episodes the Oldsmobile Delta 88's hood ornament disappears and reappears.,Featured in 2013 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards (2013),The fifth season's first episode featured the "Americans" digging a hole - a BIG hole. The scene goes on a long, long time. This is pretty much how the whole season feels. The show downshifts a gear or two, the payoff is elusive, and you wonder where it's all going; until, that is, the end finally does come, when it's a shocker. It is all done quite intentionally so as to set up the final season.

The Sixth Season of "The Americans" continues to fire on all cylinders: character development, acting, suspense, photography, writing and spy craft, all are splendid.

The focus is increasingly on Philip and Elizabeth, their relationship and inner development, while the other characters recede somewhat into the background, like subsidiary planets orbiting about a double star. Under extreme pressure to prevent disaster, they commit acts that may cause many viewers actually to come to hate them. in the end, no one gets off unscathed, and everyone is simply striving to stay afloat amidst the wreckage....

Which, in a way, is the point:

On the surface, "The Americans" is one of those "mismatched buddy" shows: a young couple teamed together purely for reasons of expediency. However, it runs much deeper than that. Beyond maintaining the charade of a false identity and masquerading as someone you are not, lies the complexity of their developing relationship: exploring the nature of love when you live with someone who lies for a living; understanding what drives them, the far reaching consequences of their choices, & the rationalization of their acts of violence.

At the heart of "The Americans" is a family infected by the conviction that loyalty to country overshadows family or one's own soul. As viewers, we're asked the tough questions: If the couple wore blue instead of red, would it change anything? Are spies heroes - or pawns? Is patriotism formed by rational choice - or the product of where we're born? At what point is the loss of one's humanity too high a price?,