The Americans (FX)

I dunno why they didn’t choose “The Amerikans” for the title of this show, because it fits very well. Getting lots of decent reviews, should be interesting to see how it evolves as it could go in any number of directions. Premiere is tonight.

— Alan

Looking forward to checking it out. :)

I will also be watching. FX shows for me are either awesome or a total bore.

Will watch. Here is hoping it gets off to a better start than The Following.

Me too. Though I knew I had to tune in when I saw that Margo Martindale and Noah Emmerich were on the cast. Just adore those folks, especially Martindale.

Yeah, I’ll be watching even though I don’t have much hope for it having legs. I just can’t see it being a story that will last more than a season, but hopefully I’ll be proven wrong. If nothing else, I’ll get the humorous thrill of watching “Felicity” kick people’s rears - that’s good for a giggle, at least.

As someone who was alive during the 1980’s, I gotta say I don’t recall it being quite as exciting as the promos are making it look. However, it’s being DVR’d right now and I’ll check it out.

(very mild spoilers)

This was good. Love most of the actors, even the bit parts had a ton of character.

I didn’t know the premise so it felt like the pilot could go anywhere which is always fun. We’ll see how that holds up week-to-week.

I did feel like the KGB dude being the same guy in the training was one coincidence too far since they already had the ridiculous situation with the neighbor. I can accept one of those as a premise, not a coincidence – but both feels silly.

Agreed on the coincidence part, Quaro. That was a step too far. Decent enough first episode, although I didn’t get the last part where the one guy busts up the other guy and stabs him a couple times with the fork, largely because I couldn’t quite make out what he said to him as he left: “<mumble> <mumble> girls <mumble> <mumble> or next time I’ll stick it in your heart.”

That was the creepy guy at the Mall that tried to hit on his 13 year old daughter. He’s just taking care of business.

Ahh - the assailant didn’t look like the father (I’ll admit I was a little distracted at this time), so I figured it was laying groundwork for future episodes but just in a terribly disjointed way. That explanation makes me feel a bit better.

I enjoyed it in spite of my dislike of Keri Russell. For some reason I just find her grating and annoying.

However, the husband was outstanding in his role. I liked that they fleshed out his character so that we learn early on that he’s stopped caring about “the motherland” and his priority is solely his family. They could have done so without the laughably bad villain encounter with “Errol” (seriously, why would a pedophile announce in the middle of a store that he wants to have sex with a 13 year old girl, while also grabbing the ass of another young girl? The cops in that town must make Barney Fife look like friggin’ Vic Mackey*) though.

I also liked the fed next door. I think there’s going to be a lot of character development with him as we learn about his past with the white supremacists alone.

*obligatory shout out to another FX show.

I actually thought this was an important plot point. Are we to believe that they never actually talked to each other about their lives before they met? Yes, yes we are.

Saw it tonight, enjoyed it quite a bit. Do I sense a Homeland style arc in this?

I loved the first episode and can’t wait for the next one. That show with Kevin Bacon pales in comparison.
The choice of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” for the first big action scene was inspired.* I really like the guy playing the husband–he really looks the part for me, somehow. I was surprised to learn that he’s Welsh.

*although maybe not the Phil Collins song later on, as one critic pointed out (too reminiscent of Miami Vice). It was cool to hear some of those old tunes though, including “Harden my Heart” by Portland’s own Quarterflash, and “Queen of Hearts” by Juice Newton. Context: I turned 20 in '81.

Btw was anyone else’s FX HD feed corrupted in places? The first recording for me crapped out at about the 1:18 mark and was just shifting pixelation with no sound for about 12 minutes. I was watching on my TiVo semi-live so I managed to record the repeat, thank goodness.

John-Boy is an FBI agent?

He, I noticed that too. He’s almost 62 if you can believe it.

Was fine for me on Comcast

HA! Great catch; thought I knew him from somewhere but couldn’t quite place it. Wow, now I feel old.

Overall, liked it a great deal. Suffered a bit from the time-tried-and-tested “pack-a-whole-bunch-of-shit-in-the-pilot-espisode-itis” and I hope that hour longs in the future have a chance to breathe a bit. (So I can back away from the hyphens if nothing else.)