The Americans

Fortunately, The Americans’ fifth season succeeds in addressing our current world by being its assiduously careful self. This is still a show about how, beyond politics, beyond economics, beyond nationalism, people are people. How beautiful, and how terrifying.

The drama remains as tense as ever, with strong, careful writing and an abundance of fine performances.

By now, it feels like we know Philip and Elizabeth, but there are shades to these characters that the writers and actors are still exploring, still developing, and still revealing to viewers. They are two of the richest characters not just on TV now, but in the history of the medium. And they still have more stories to tell.

It is still one of the very best shows on television. ... The first [episode] is more of a table-setter than some past Americans premieres have been, but the next two are outstanding, filled with the usual agonizing mix of spy thrills and family drama, and superb performances by Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, and the rest of the gang.

The series’ nuanced depiction of espionage as grinding emotional labor is still enthralling.

The Americans, through the three episodes of season 5 that FX made available to critics, continues along the same ground it always has: It's extremely well-constructed, with slow-burning storylines that are paying off in superb dramatic depth; it boasts consistently top-tier acting from stars Keri Russell, Mathew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Holly Taylor and more; it has artfully crafted visuals that emphasize the mundane work of everyday spies while simultaneously revealing things about the characters.

The fourth season was great. The fifth at least needs to match it, and the evidence so far establishes that it will.

In terms of thematic nuance and resonance, plot and sheer formal audacity, The Americans is still the show to beat.

Unparalleled depth can be felt throughout thanks to this careful layering, and Season 5 so far effortlessly captures a complex range of emotions that proves more enriching with every extra minute of consideration.

What makes it one of the best shows on television--besides scenes like the last 10 minutes of Tuesday's episode, which are not to be missed--is its ability to show us ourselves as others see us. Dizzying as that view might be, it's as timely as ever.

The Americans continues to be a deeply complicated but beautifully nuanced portrait of a family.

Well, after watching the first three episodes of the new season, I’m here to tell you that it’s still true [it's one of the finest experiences on television].

Knowledge that the Cold War, obviously drawing to its close in 1984, will reopen in grand fashion in the 2010s would have been some consolation for true believers, those who were convinced of the rightness of the national cause. And yet it'd likely mean little to Philip and Elizabeth, whose loyalties, rewardingly, are as convoluted as ever.

In this superbly conceived series, the stakes grow higher, the desperation for victory ever deeper.

Season 5 of The Americans almost assuredly will round into form after a rather sluggish start compared to previous returns. In the initial three hours, the plot both thickens and sometimes congeals.

Every time the show switches to an Oleg moment--watching him trudge through dirty slush to the gloomy home of his parents--I find my mind wandering. More invigorating is the season’s further development of Paige as a possible future spy.

[A] taut fifth season. [6-19 Mar 2017, p.21]