From SRP author Mark Posey:
Tracy and I have been working our way through The Americans.
And I’ll say this right up front: if you haven’t seen it, it’s absolutely worth your time. It’s one of those shows that doesn’t shout for your attention. It just quietly pulls you in… and before you know it, you’re three episodes deep and wondering if you can squeeze in one more before calling it a night. (Spoiler: you can’t. You will anyway.)
The setup is simple enough. Two Soviet spies living in the United States during the Cold War, posing as an ordinary American couple with two kids, a house, and a travel agency.
That’s the hook. But it’s not really what the show is about.
What keeps pulling me back isn’t the spy stuff—although that’s done incredibly well. It’s the way everything feels… real. The world they’ve built doesn’t feel like a TV version of the 1980s. It feels like the 1980s. The clothes, the cars, the music, the pacing of life. Even the way people talk to each other. Nothing feels exaggerated or polished for effect.
It just feels lived in. And that authenticity carries through everything.
The relationships are messy in the way real relationships are messy. The decisions aren’t clean. The consequences don’t wrap themselves up neatly at the end of an episode. People do things for reasons that make sense to them at the time… and then have to live with what comes after. Which, as it turns out, is a lot more interesting than anything exploding.
There’s also something oddly compelling about the central idea of it all. These two people are living a life that isn’t entirely theirs. They’re playing roles, making choices based on obligations and beliefs that most of the people around them don’t even know exist. And yet, at the same time, they’re also just… living a life.
Raising kids. Managing a business. Trying to hold things together. That tension—between what’s real and what’s constructed—is where the show really shines.
We’ve found ourselves talking about it after episodes. Not in a “did you see that twist?” kind of way, but more in a “what would you have done in that situation?” kind of way. Which is always a good sign.
Those are the stories that stick. The ones that don’t just entertain you for an hour, but hang around a little afterward and make you think.
Anyway, that’s what’s been on our screen lately. If you’re looking for something to get into, I’d definitely recommend it. Just… maybe don’t start an episode at 9:30 at night unless you’re prepared for the consequences.
–Mark