Last night, FX premiered their new show “The Americans,” and I think it’s great to see them get back into the drama game. FX’s programs of late have been either stale sitcoms (Anger Management), dirt-cheap talk shows (Totally Biased/Brand X), “raunchy” stale sitcoms that pretend to be edgy (Legit/Wilfried), or crazy horror shows that feel more like an endurance test for the viewer than truly great television (American Horror Story). They’ve focused so much on the comedy game that I thought they had almost forgotten the terrific dramas that launched the network in the first place (the first couple seasons of Rescue Me, and the entirety of The Shield).
As far as I can remember, The Americans is the first true-blue drama FX has produced since Justified premiered, but that show (while still terrific) is currently in its 4th season. So, I’m thrilled that they’re striving for something a little higher these days. But is the show itself any good?
Yes and no. I think the pilot episode showed a lot of promise, but we won’t know for sure until at least 5 or 6 episodes in. I’m a little afraid the show will have trouble sustaining its momentum as a weekly series, and it might work better as a one-season, pull-out-all-the-stops kind of experience than as something truly built to go the long haul. [I don’t see it lasting more than 2 seasons at the absolute best, but maybe I’m wrong…]
So it’s premature to grade the series, and yet, that’s exactly what I must do. It was refreshing to see Keri Russell grow into a fully accomplished dramatic actress, and even though she wasn’t (to me) entirely convincing in this role of Russian spy/frosty-mother-and-wife she might get there soon. Matthew Rhys left me even more confused, as I can’t say he’s the strongest dramatic presence, but maybe that’s intentional since he’s a soviet spy pretending to be a suburban schlub. He probably had the most screen time in the first episode, and I can’t say that was right decision. He wasn’t bad, but his character (this soviet spy seriously considering defecting, except that he’s a big ole softy that will beat up a guy just for looking at his daughter) wasn’t really convincing at all.
The show still got more right than wrong though. I particularly liked Noah Emmerich’s suspicious FBI agent neighbor, but didn’t like being asked to swallow the “coincidence” of an FBI agent in counter surveillance moving next door to our central spies. If the show can make us believe in these characters a little more, I think it could eventually find its footing somewhere in the middle of this season. Don’t be surprised if the show does. Grade for the premiere: B