WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Following an antihero-based TV series is always a challenge: while you do get involved with the character, you know he/she does things that would be unforgivable in real life. This dilemma gets even bigger when they are two anti-heroes who lead the story.
This is what happens in The Americans, with its last episode having aired in the U.S. After six seasons with Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Phillip Jennings (Matthew Rhys), two KGB spies who pretended to be Americans during the Cold War in the 1980s, it was very difficult to root for them to get caught even though they were sociopaths, manipulators and assassins.
To everyone’s surprise, that was not what happened. They were not arrested, nor did they die. They were able to return to the Soviet Union and carry out their last mission. It does not mean, however, that success came easily: they had to abandon their son Henry (Keidrich Sellati) and were abandoned by their daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) in one of the best scenes of the series, as With or Without You by U2 played in the background.
There are several reasons that make The Americans a different series than the others. One of them is the fact that many of the lines are in Russian, with subtitles in English, which is very unusual on American television. Keeping the lines in Russian shows not only commitment with the story’s sense of truth, but also demonstrates confidence in the viewer’s ability to engage with characters and plots completely outside of their the comfort zone (which, again, does not occur so often in TV shows).
Another difference is the dynamics of the main couple, in which the wife is the strongest character. This is because, at the start of the season, Philip is no longer involved with KBG. The burden of guilt, after destroying so many lives, became unbearable and he just went to work for the travel agency they own. Elizabeth, on the other hand, is on more missions than ever, smoking non-stop, exhausted, but not giving up on her ideals that everything she does is for the greater good of her country.
The relationship of the couple with the children also draws attention. Elizabeth was always cooler with them, after all, her marriage to Philip took place only so they could be an ordinary American family. In the sixth season, for example, Elizabeth teaches Paige to be a spy, but she never stops lying to her daughter when necessary: ??she insists that she never had to kill anyone, when we know she murdered countless people in a variety of ways.
Phillip and Henry are closer and have more things in common, but Philip abandons it whenever there is a mission to be fulfilled.
The last episode of the series is a great example of why this show is one of the best of recent times, although, regrettably, it is not an rating success. The scene in which FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) confronts Phillip, Elizabeth and Paige in a garage is a masterclass, with a great script and excellent performances. It’s 12 minutes of conversation in which Phillip uses all his arsenal of manipulation to convince Stan to let them leave unharmed.
Another memorable scene takes place on the train to Canada, already mentioned at the beginning of the post. Phillip, Elizabeth, and Paige are seated separately as the police check everyone’s passport. For a moment, viewers think they will be discovered. When the train starts moving again, we have the feeling that we can breathe, until we hear Bono again singing With or Without You and we see Paige getting off the train, abandoning her parents.
The end of the show, therefore, had no physical deaths or clashes, as many anticipated. Some might even say that it was a happy ending for the Jennings, as they returned unharmed to Russia. In fact, however, they came back with a much bigger scar: not only were they without their children, but they also know that they will probably never see them again.
The Americans enters the history of American television as one of the best series ever made, with all the seasons being impeccable, together with great performances from everyone in the cast, attention to detail, well-developed characters, and good balance between personal drama and political drama.
I hope the audience finds out about this series, albeit late, since shows that are set in the 1980s have been successful recently, especially due to the soundtrack. With In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins) in the pilot episode and With or Without You (U2) in the final episode, The Americans proves that having good songs is just an addition to the already extraordinary story to be told with two of the best anti-heroes ever portrayed on television.
