--- title: The Americans Review: Show Races History in Best Season Yet description: A focus on relationships over spectacle has paid off for the FX drama canonical: https://time.com/4327428/review-the-americans/ author: Daniel D'Addario article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-12T10:31:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:29:09.587Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'The Americans' Is Racing History In Its Best Season Yet og:description: An investment in relationships over spectacle has paid off for the FX drama og:url: https://time.com/4327428/review-the-americans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97d25c5c30d7f8e2/698892c1bc6cfc668c3dcf04/the-americans-fx-kerri-russell-matthew-rhys.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: the-americans-fx-kerri-russell-matthew-rhys og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Americans' Is Racing History In Its Best Season Yet twitter:description: An investment in relationships over spectacle has paid off for the FX drama twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97d25c5c30d7f8e2/698892c1bc6cfc668c3dcf04/the-americans-fx-kerri-russell-matthew-rhys.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _The Americans_ Is Racing History In Its Best Season Yet > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario May 12, 2016 10:31 AM UTC  In its best season yet, The Americans races history In its best season yet, The Americans races historyFX  by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario May 12, 2016 10:31 AM UTC Elizabeth Jennings is forcing her headstrong daughter to spend more time with her pastor. “You can control what you do!” she spits when her daughter tries to get out of it. It seems a conventional punishment from a disciplinarian parent—except that the cause of the tension is how thoroughly the teen reports to her parents on the pastor’s behavior. After all, the reverend knows that Elizabeth and her husband are Soviet spies, and he could upend their lives. FX’s [_The Americans_](http://time.com/4284230/the-americans-season-four-episode-four/) is packed with ironies like this one: Elizabeth ([Keri Russell](http://time.com/4239988/nathan-lane-keri-russell-pyramid-jimmy-fallon-tonight-show/)), who despises religion, pushes daughter Paige further into the church in order to protect her. In the show’s fourth season, each episode seems to bring a new compromise, as the problems that Elizabeth and her husband Philip (Matthew Rhys) had tried to avoid come to a head. Philip, growing distant, seeks redemption through new-age beliefs; Elizabeth just gets angry. But neither faith nor ferocious scrambling can save them from the inevitable. We know their mission will fail. It’s 1983, and the Cold War is in its last stage. The family’s attempts to get ahead of history’s crushing weight aren’t applicable just to spies; global events can force hardship on anyone. _The Americans_ has, this season, built on its past by turning mercenary: one character, a vexed triple agent who had dreamed of unlikely rescue, was sentenced to death and, moments later, received it. The punishment was breathtaking, not least because it so conclusively ended a slow-moving plotline. It’s easy for a fan of this show to get carried away in describing that twist, or the fate of poor Martha, a former FBI underling who’s been banished to the USSR after having fallen in love with one of Philip’s aliases. Because the show’s narrative is rooted in many seasons’ worth of cumulative texture, it’s becoming a walled garden. What casual viewer could find their bearings in this universe? _The Americans_ is the heir to _Mad Men—_a drama that uses its period to tell us about today—but without all the Best Drama Emmys. (Indeed, it’s somehow never been nominated in that category.) Like its characters, it’s a victim of history, airing at a time when the sheer volume of TV tends to crowd out precisely-made shows. This season’s most successful shows were either limited series—with short runs and huge narrative swings—or _Game of Thrones_ and _The Walking Dead_, both of which thrive on spectacle. Although _The Americans_ isn’t spectacle-free (it is, after all, about two masters of disguise seeking to bring down the government), it is more notable as part of an increasingly threatened tier of dramas. Its thrills arise from our relationships with its characters—relationships that require real investment. The intimidating weight of all that history could push it to the bottom of the DVR queue, or off an Emmy ballot. But as Elizabeth says, you can control what you do! This slow-blooming story will be even more compelling on a tight timeline. The first three seasons are available to stream on Amazon before this one ends on June 8\. Watch them—it’s a race against the clock that’s worth running. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4327428/review-the-americans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4327428/review-the-americans/"},"headline":"The Americans Is Racing History In Its Best Season Yet","datePublished":"2016-05-12T10:31:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:29:09.587Z","description":"A focus on relationships over spectacle has paid off for the FX drama","url":"https://time.com/4327428/review-the-americans/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97d25c5c30d7f8e2/698892c1bc6cfc668c3dcf04/the-americans-fx-kerri-russell-matthew-rhys.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97d25c5c30d7f8e2/698892c1bc6cfc668c3dcf04/the-americans-fx-kerri-russell-matthew-rhys.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"the-americans-fx-kerri-russell-matthew-rhys","caption":"the-americans-fx-kerri-russell-matthew-rhys","creditText":"FX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4327428/review-the-americans/","name":"The Americans Is Racing History In Its Best Season Yet"}}]}] ```