FWIW found this and thought it was cool to share:

10 Best Soundtrack Cues from The Americans

Great series, though I still have mixed feelings on the ending. However, i completely understand why the writers went the direction they did.

I really feel Costa Ronin as Oleg is greatly under-appreciated for his work in the series. I think one of the best part of this series is that except for "The Americans", the Russian characters are largely played by real Russians.

Here is my one spoiler, mostly a personal interpretation.

I think Laurie Holden's Renee character was a spy, but not for the KGB. I think she worked for the CIA. The CIA knew about the Jennings, and she was put in place to keep Stan from getting too close. There were instances where they sent back bad info, which I argue could have been left for them to find deliberately. The sub that sank comes to mind.

Interesting theory you have on Renee. I don't know?

Something I did just notice and realize in rewatching the finale though….

The abandonment of Henry not only in and of itself but the fact that BOTH major abandonments happened at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Holy cow. Sucks for that kid.

I always assumed Renee was KGB.

torrid said:

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Great series, though I still have mixed feelings on the ending. However, i completely understand why the writers went the direction they did.

I really feel Costa Ronin as Oleg is greatly under-appreciated for his work in the series. I think one of the best part of this series is that except for "The Americans", the Russian characters are largely played by real Russians.

Here is my one spoiler, mostly a personal interpretation.

I think Laurie Holden's Renee character was a spy, but not for the KGB. I think she worked for the CIA. The CIA knew about the Jennings, and she was put in place to keep Stan from getting too close. There were instances where they sent back bad info, which I argue could have been left for them to find deliberately. The sub that sank comes to mind.

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Not sure why we are spoiling a show that has been over for many years, but:
Your theory would violate rules. CIA is not supposed to have assets in America. We didn't want to be like the KGB where we are spying on our own citizens. Since one of the writers was a CIA guy, he would know this. So if she were a spy for the Americans she would be FBI. Which would mean she would be DAMN undercover for Stan to not know about her ahead of time. Which is not impossible or anything.

Agreed. With all the podcasts nowadays, have any of the writers or producers ever commented on this issue?

Props to the writers on this plot point. All around great show.

Americans and BCS have had the best writing and character development in recent memory,

I remember trying to watch this back when it first started, but never could keep interested enough in it to remember when the next episode would air.

Over December, the wife and I binged the entire series. It keep us on the edge of our seats and very much interested. A couple of things that really stayed with me:
I think the gal's name was Nina but please don't hold me to it. She was the KGB hottie who ended up banging the FBI agent. The whole sequence where they brought her before the judge, and he told her she had been sentenced to death, and the execution would be carried out "shortly" and then literally a dude came up behind her and shot her in the head. That was just a tough thing to watch.

When the Jennings were making their escape on the train, and the daughter stepped off the train to remain in America. Didn't really surprise me, but I certainly felt what any parent would have felt in seeing that.

Really enjoyed that show.

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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I remember trying to watch this back when it first started, but never could keep interested enough in it to remember when the next episode would air.

Over December, the wife and I binged the entire series. It keep us on the edge of our seats and very much interested. A couple of things that really stayed with me:
I think the gal's name was Nina but please don't hold me to it. She was the KGB hottie who ended up banging the FBI agent. The whole sequence where they brought her before the judge, and he told her she had been sentenced to death, and the execution would be carried out "shortly" and then literally a dude came up behind her and shot her in the head. That was just a tough thing to watch.

When the Jennings were making their escape on the train, and the daughter stepped off the train to remain in America. Didn't really surprise me, but I certainly felt what any parent would have felt in seeing that.

Really enjoyed that show.

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The train thing surprised the hell out of me. I wish we could get a El Camino style movie about what happened to her afterwards.

I've watched the show twice now and I caught a lot more things the 2nd time around that I didn't notice the first. Like who people were. The first time around, I didn't pay attention to all the faces and had the notion that all these Russians around the main characters doing stuff were sorta "faceless". That there was 1000 people in support of them. The 2nd time I knew everybody and I realized it was a much smaller group of people doing all of this stuff.

I love how smart everybody is. Chris Amador leaving his ring in the trunk of that car was genius. And how that eventually lead to Gregory and the KGB planting evidence to implicate Gregory in Amador's killing was also brilliant. Both sides were smart. And it was like a multi-season chess match.

Another thought I had after finishing this series ... Gee, I believe this series ended in the year 1987 or 1988. Meaning there was only a handful of years before the Soviet Union collapsed. I'd wonder if, after that collapse, the Jennings might return to America to at least see their kids. Or would they still be on the FBI's radar after all that time?

Conversely, would there have been anything preventing either of the kids from going to Russia to see their parents?

Spy asking "Why is everyone so punctual in this business?" as the barge ship is saying away with Tusk playing. - Beginning of first episode.

We are 4-5 episodes into S4 at this point. Still awesome. Looking forward to going back and reading the spoilers on here.

No one tell me but we keep thinking the Pastor is a pedo and will prove this soon.

aTmAg said:

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torrid said:

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Great series, though I still have mixed feelings on the ending. However, i completely understand why the writers went the direction they did.

I really feel Costa Ronin as Oleg is greatly under-appreciated for his work in the series. I think one of the best part of this series is that except for "The Americans", the Russian characters are largely played by real Russians.

Here is my one spoiler, mostly a personal interpretation.

I think Laurie Holden's Renee character was a spy, but not for the KGB. I think she worked for the CIA. The CIA knew about the Jennings, and she was put in place to keep Stan from getting too close. There were instances where they sent back bad info, which I argue could have been left for them to find deliberately. The sub that sank comes to mind.

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Not sure why we are spoiling a show that has been over for many years, but:
Your theory would violate rules. CIA is not supposed to have assets in America. We didn't want to be like the KGB where we are spying on our own citizens. Since one of the writers was a CIA guy, he would know this. So if she were a spy for the Americans she would be FBI. Which would mean she would be DAMN undercover for Stan to not know about her ahead of time. Which is not impossible or anything.

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Against the rules, yes. But they wouldn't they risk violating those rules to feed bogus information back to the Russians? Via their own undercover spies? And any such operation would be above even Stan's clearance level.

Anyway, that is just my personal interpretation. The producers said they deliberately left stuff vague for the audience to fill in themselves, and that is how I choose to fill it.

Psychag said:

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Spy asking "Why is everyone so punctual in this business?" as the barge ship is saying away with Tusk playing. - Beginning of first episode.

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That opening scene was great, made me an instant fan of the show. Well-edited with "Tusk".

The use of background music in the series was superb. They didn't do it a lot, but it was always spot-on.

Not a spoiler, but the finale is amazing. The hours you have left before getting there are worth it even if you lose some interest.

Loved hearing April Wine while he's beating the crap out of that guy with his grilling tools. April freakin' Wine!

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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Another thought I had after finishing this series ... Gee, I believe this series ended in the year 1987 or 1988. Meaning there was only a handful of years before the Soviet Union collapsed. I'd wonder if, after that collapse, the Jennings might return to America to at least see their kids. Or would they still be on the FBI's radar after all that time?

Conversely, would there have been anything preventing either of the kids from going to Russia to see their parents?

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I always assumed that they ended up reaching out to the kids via Facebook, assuming they survived that long

Was this show originally cancelled during Season 4? We did a binge last night and got through E6 or 7 and there was basically a mid-season finale like episode where they wrapped up a bunch of stuff.

No, never cancelled and brought back.

Edit: might be helpful to look up Alan Sepinwall's recaps to read after certain episodes when you want more insight.

Keri Russel was lookin very fit.

Thats the main thing I remember about the show

That and it being a 100% accurate depiction of everyday life in the 1980s.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Keri Russel was lookin very fit.

Thats the main thing I remember about the show

That and it being a 100% accurate depiction of everyday life in the 1980s.

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She's too skinny but she has a great butt. She shows it 3-4 episodes per season so far.

torrid said:

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aTmAg said:

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torrid said:

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Great series, though I still have mixed feelings on the ending. However, i completely understand why the writers went the direction they did.

I really feel Costa Ronin as Oleg is greatly under-appreciated for his work in the series. I think one of the best part of this series is that except for "The Americans", the Russian characters are largely played by real Russians.

Here is my one spoiler, mostly a personal interpretation.

I think Laurie Holden's Renee character was a spy, but not for the KGB. I think she worked for the CIA. The CIA knew about the Jennings, and she was put in place to keep Stan from getting too close. There were instances where they sent back bad info, which I argue could have been left for them to find deliberately. The sub that sank comes to mind.

---

Not sure why we are spoiling a show that has been over for many years, but:
Your theory would violate rules. CIA is not supposed to have assets in America. We didn't want to be like the KGB where we are spying on our own citizens. Since one of the writers was a CIA guy, he would know this. So if she were a spy for the Americans she would be FBI. Which would mean she would be DAMN undercover for Stan to not know about her ahead of time. Which is not impossible or anything.

---

Against the rules, yes. But they wouldn't they risk violating those rules to feed bogus information back to the Russians? Via their own undercover spies? And any such operation would be above even Stan's clearance level.

Anyway, that is just my personal interpretation. The producers said they deliberately left stuff vague for the audience to fill in themselves, and that is how I choose to fill it.

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It would still be FBI. Just above his clearance level. They would know everything Stan's office knew.

But that would also mean the Jennings would have never gotten out. If the FBI had enough suspicion to place a full time undercover agent in with Stan (which would be really expensive and hard because they'd have to have an air-tight legend/cover-story that not even an experienced undercover FBI agent could see through), then they would have been all over the Jennings too.

But also, I can't remember her doing anything that I would interpret as trying to make sure the Jennings do not get too close to Stan. Not saying you are wrong.. I just think it's unlikely. Interesting discussion though.

aTmAg said:

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torrid said:

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aTmAg said:

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torrid said:

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Great series, though I still have mixed feelings on the ending. However, i completely understand why the writers went the direction they did.

I really feel Costa Ronin as Oleg is greatly under-appreciated for his work in the series. I think one of the best part of this series is that except for "The Americans", the Russian characters are largely played by real Russians.

Here is my one spoiler, mostly a personal interpretation.

I think Laurie Holden's Renee character was a spy, but not for the KGB. I think she worked for the CIA. The CIA knew about the Jennings, and she was put in place to keep Stan from getting too close. There were instances where they sent back bad info, which I argue could have been left for them to find deliberately. The sub that sank comes to mind.

---

Not sure why we are spoiling a show that has been over for many years, but:
Your theory would violate rules. CIA is not supposed to have assets in America. We didn't want to be like the KGB where we are spying on our own citizens. Since one of the writers was a CIA guy, he would know this. So if she were a spy for the Americans she would be FBI. Which would mean she would be DAMN undercover for Stan to not know about her ahead of time. Which is not impossible or anything.

---

Against the rules, yes. But they wouldn't they risk violating those rules to feed bogus information back to the Russians? Via their own undercover spies? And any such operation would be above even Stan's clearance level.

Anyway, that is just my personal interpretation. The producers said they deliberately left stuff vague for the audience to fill in themselves, and that is how I choose to fill it.

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It would still be FBI. Just above his clearance level. They would know everything Stan's office knew.

But that would also mean the Jennings would have never gotten out. If the FBI had enough suspicion to place a full time undercover agent in with Stan (which would be really expensive and hard because they'd have to have an air-tight legend/cover-story that not even an experienced undercover FBI agent could not see through), then they would have been all over the Jennings too.

But also, I can't remember her doing anything that I would interpret as trying to make sure the Jennings do not get too close to Stan. Not saying you are wrong.. I just think it's unlikely. Interesting discussion though.

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I agree with ATM on this. But, show creators did a masterful job leaving this stuff up for interpretation!

Would be awesome to see an "El Camino" style follow up show or movie.

Was in a show hole and finally started this last night (after hearing for years it was good). The pilot is a banger. Excited for this journey

Tonyperkis said:

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Was in a show hole and finally started this last night (after hearing for years it was good). The pilot is a banger. Excited for this journey

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I've watched this show twice. The 2nd time I caught a lot more stuff that I didn't catch the first time. I realized that plenty of stuff I originally thought was coincidental was really not.

I would suggest paying attention to the "previously on The Americans" part before each episode. Those focus on past events that are important for the upcoming episode. However, one prior to a season 4 episode may refer to a long lost character from season 1 or something. When that happened to me, and I didn't remember that person, then I would look them up for reminder. Though that may be harder for you, since you may run into spoilers.

What would still be a Top 10 show all-time makes a real strong push for Top 5 with the soundtrack. Just so many great, well-timed songs.