The Americans: March 8, 1983

... in which Elizabeth and Paige take a trip, Stan tries to play his trump card, and Philip struggles to reconcile his conscience with his work.

This season goes out in surprisingly quiet fashion, but still strong thematically, as it continues to reflect on the cumulative weight of the difficult things the spy game asks of its players.

The Americans: I Am Abassin Zadran

“We don’t know what we’re walking into.”

With only one episode left this season, The Americans is all about surprises.

The Americans: One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov

... in which we explore some fallout from last episode’s reveals and check in with the season’s numerous plot threads.

You know what I’m loving about this show right now? That even with all the balls they’ve got in the air this season, all the assorted threads, I never mind dropping into or out of any of them.

The Americans: Stingers

... in which changing conditions in the field force Elizabeth and Philip to act, and secrets begin to reveal themselves.

The Americans: Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?

... in which Elizabeth and Philip attempt to place a new bug inside the FBI, while Stan and Oleg collaborate again in their effort to help Nina.

Just as Philip K. Dick used his Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to explore those qualities that make us human, The Americans uses its own ‘Electric Sheep’ to explore the quality of empathy in the world of spies: specifically, the potential dangers of too much empathy versus the danger of not enough.

The Americans: Divestment

“What were they asking about?”
“They said I couldn’t say.”

This episode was centered on a series of interrogations, some of which were masquerading as conversations. Although some ended more violently than others, each tête-a-tête left both participants fundamentally changed.

The Americans: Walter Taffet

... in which the new South African operation moves forward, as another long-simmering Jennings’ op begins to fall apart.

It feels fitting that an episode focused on trust issues and hidden truths coming to the surface should be named after the man who’s role at the FBI is to ferret out such secrets.

The Americans: Born Again

... in which Paige’s baptism spurs Elizabeth to action and provides inspiration for Philip in his work with Kimberly.

Another absorbing look at the ways in which “real life” provides useful fuel for the spycraft and “fake life” can provide an outlet for the spies to deal with their personal issues.

The Americans: Salang Pass

... in which Elizabeth and Philip continue developing their assets, and Stan approaches Oleg with a plan to help Nina.

I spent the bulk of this hour really hating Philip and Elizabeth for the things they do.

The Americans: Dimebag

“What are you trying to say?”

…in which assets are developed, and developments are re-assessed.

The Americans: Open House

“They are hard to get!”

My God, but this episode was tense. From the distance in the Jennings’s marriage, to that slow, terrifying car chase, through the couple’s unique brand of dentistry, this episode grabbed us by the throat and didn’t let go.

The Americans: Baggage

... in which Philip and Elizabeth help Yousaf out of a jam, then insist he return the favor.

You know, I do love when an episode title has multiple meanings, but the literal representation of this week’s title was pretty damn horrifying.

The Americans: EST Men

... in which missions go horribly awry, and the Center’s desire to recruit Paige continues to cause tension between Elizabeth and Philip.

Jess's 2014 Year in Review

When I initially started my standard “Year in Review” piece, I ended up with this huge list of categories and shows, covering everything from those I loved unabashedly, to those that let me down, to those I finally let go. It was just too much to wade through, no matter how much fun it is coming up with category titles. (New contenders for this year: Things that Make you Go Hmmm …, Adventures in Non-Fiction, and Darkness Falls.)

So, in the spirit of the season, I decided to instead focus this year’s look back on the shows that I most want to share with others. The ones I watched in 2014 that I really want to encourage you to seek out, whether they’ve come and gone or are still going strong. There are many other shows among my favorites from the year --- The Walking Dead remains my unhealthiest obsession --- but these are the shows that, at the end of the day, most inspired me to proselytize.

The Americans: Echo

“He was willing to sacrifice Himself for the greater good.”

Oh, the things we do for love! Love of family, romantic love, love of country—even love of intangibles, like honor and duty. The Americans has always been about hybrid existences: Russian/American, family/spy, spouse/lover. Everyone’s hybridity got a little twisted this week, as each person encountered their own personal crucible.

The Americans: Operation Chronicle

“Being a parent’s hard, but so is having parents.”

To misquote Bette Davis, adolescence ain’t no place for sissies. The world, which until now has been fairly limited to the confines of the family, begins to open up. As a result, those whom we believed were magic and infallible, our parents, we discover are simply people — flawed and keeping secrets. Adolescents want to be adults while they cling to the safety of still being a child.

The Americans: Stealth

Arkady: "No more small stuff. Stealth is what we want."

This season has proven to be quite intense. As soon as I think we are at a breaking point, another layer of danger is quickly laid on.

The Americans: Yousaf

… in which the Center assigns Philip and Elizabeth a new target, while fallout from previous missions begins to catch up with the Rezidentura and its agents.

The Americans: Martial Eagle

“I feel responsible.”

This episode was co-written by Oliver North. Yes, that Oliver North: the man whose name instantly makes me picture my eighth-grade history teacher’s long-winded rant about this “Iran-Contra” thing that had happened a few years before, when most of us were young enough to watch Disney movies with wholehearted enthusiasm. I won’t go into the details here: this is a good explanation of the whole debacle.

The Americans: New Car

Henry: “I’m a good person, I swear. You know that! You know that! I’m good. I am. I’m a good person! I swear I’m good!”

Last season, we watched as Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, together for years, fell in love and began to create a marriage in more than name only. This season, we are watching as they navigate that marriage and begin to wed their differing idealogical stances along with the effect these views have on their children.