‘Americans’ Russian spy story now timely: Current events make FX thriller oddly relevant in its fifth season
Remember last year when FX’s “The Americans” was just one of the best shows on television?
With recent intelligence revelations about Russia’s attempts to influence the American election and the ongoing investigation into what may or may not have gone on between President Donald Trump’s aides and Russian officials during the presidential campaign, the show has taken on odd, unintentional relevance.
“In a twisted way, it’s kind of fun seeing all this stuff in the headlines that we’re trafficking in all the time,” says Joe Weisberg, the series creator with executive producer Joel Fields.
In case you have forgotten, though, “The Americans” — the story of married Soviet agents in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s — had relevance when it began.
It was partially inspired by the 10 Russian sleeper spies arrested in 2010 after a decade-long investigation. According to the FBI, the spies had been here a long time and had deep roots in this country. Some of them were getting close to top officials, the agency said without specifying what that
meant.
The premise of “The Americans” is that KGB agents Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) Jennings have slipped into the country at a young age and have established themselves as solid citizens with two children.
Weisberg, a former CIA analyst, says they were interested in “the untold aspects of espionage” — the human factor. “Most stories you see are about the spy and the intrigue, but the espionage story you haven’t seen is about the family of spies.”
As the series enters its fifth and penultimate season, the Jenningses — who run a legitimate travel agency by day — are facing increased pressures at home and in their spy work. Their daughter, Paige (Holly Taylor), has learned that they are from the Soviet Union, but her parents have convinced her that they are doing covert diplomatic work.
Certainly at the beginning of the series, Philip and Elizabeth believed in what they are doing, even as they did some deadly things. They saw themselves as patriots and believed that under Ronald Reagan the U.S. was out to destroy the Soviet Union.
But what they are doing is taking a toll, and doubts are creeping in. The illusion that her parents are innocents is fading for Paige, especially after she sees Elizabeth dispatch two attackers in a mugging attempt.
Over the years, the thriller has slowly focused more on the family dynamics.
“In season one, we would write our spy stories and then ask, ‘What is the marriage story?’ “says Fields, who like Weisberg is married with children. “We don’t have to do that anymore. I think for now it’s all become fused for us.”
The two, who are already writing season six, say that they have a concept of how the series will end.
Although “The Americans” has become a solid success, it was slow in coming. Critics loved the show, but ratings were low. Weisberg says during the first season, FX president John Landgraf said not to worry about the numbers.
“Then in the second season, he told us he had come up with a few things that might help the ratings, but none of them that didn’t run the risk of ruining the show.”
Fields adds it’s hard to imagine getting through the first few years of the show without Landgraf’s support or the critical response. “It gave us the confidence to do the show we wanted.”
The showrunners also give credit to the cast of the series, which has won a Peabody, and last year was named as one of the top 10 TV shows by American Film Institute.
The Television Critics of America also voted it the best TV drama for the second straight year.
“The beauty of working with actors like Keri, Matthew and Noah (Emmerich, who plays an FBI agent) is that you don’t have to tailor anything for them,” says Fields.
As spies, Philip and Elizabeth often adopt false identities, requiring multiple disguises. This season, the pair takes on another identity complete with an “adopted” son.
When the series opens, it will still be 1984 — a fairly eventful year in the U.S., from the Los Angeles Summer Olympics to the U.S. presidential election.
“We are always so incredibly obsessed with everything being date-specific in our fictional world,” says Fields. This year, however, because of the shooting schedule they needed to be a bit more vague.
Weisberg says that this season gave him the chance to show what life like was in the Soviet Union. “We hope it’s a multilayered side of that story, not what people would expect,” he says, adding that the show is “still trying to demolish a lot of the stereotypes.”
Despite the timeliness of what’s going on, Weisberg and Fields have ruled out any appearance by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a KGB foreign intelligence officer who was active during the time the series is set. They had, however, considered a Putin-like character before the election.
On one level, “The Americans” dramatically succeeds as a tense thriller. The strength of the series, however, has always involved questions of morality in a dark world, of people living double lives and facing the consequences. While the Jenningses are spies, it’s not uncommon for the average person to feel that they, too, are leading a secret life.
“That’s why this show is so much fun to work on,” says Fields.