How quickly you get sucked into the world of The Americans. This is so effortlessly, confidently one of the best shows on the air, and creator Joe Weisberg (and his co-showrunner Joel Fields) has established himself as such a singular talent that it’s hard to imagine FX – or even television – without The Americans. If only it had a bigger audience.
Take, for example, Keri Russell’s performance. Elizabeth Jennings is so much more than a way for Russell to shed her image as Felicity; it’s a way to showcase depth and nuance admirable in any actor. Look at that first scene, where Elizabeth is procuring intel from a disgruntled CIA employee. Russell isn’t playing Elizabeth in a wig, she’s playing Elizabeth playing an entirely different person. The wigs – which cheekily dominated the first coverage of this show – are so much more than a prop. Matthew Rhys’ Phillip Jennings also changes when he’s sporting longer hair or a beard. Not only are Rhys and Russell great actors, but their characters are great actors. That’s quite a feat.
For most of “EST Men,” the episode isn’t about plot. Like a lot of season premieres, it’s focused on tying up loose ends, introducing new characters, and bringing new conflict to the table. One of the only loose ends from last season was the fate of Nina Sergeevna, who, it turns out, has been convicted of espionage and treason. Oleg Igorevich is desperate to stay her execution, but her fate seems pretty well sealed. As much as I’ll miss Ahnet Mahendru’s performance, it would be disingenuous of The Americans to bring her back.
There are a few new faces to get to know, both Russian: there’s Tatiana, a new analyst at the Rezidentura, whom Arkady Ivanovich is not sure can be trusted (it would make sense to put someone in the Rezidentura to keep track of comings and goings, considering, you know, the whole Nina thing); and there’s Gabriel, played with weary gravitas by Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon, the criminally underseen Robot & Frank). Langella doesn’t get a lot to do tonight, other than let Elizabeth know that her mother is dying.
The title, “EST Men” refers to the seminar that Stan and Phillip attend together. If you’ll recall, last season Stan’s wife Sandra attended EST, then met a man and left her husband in short order. Stan gives it a shot, but ultimately dismisses it as “bullshit” (which historically it was). My favorite part about scenes with Stan and Phillip is that Phillip seems to actually like Stan – or does he? Rhys is so damn good at being two-faced that at the start of this show’s third season, I still can’t answer that question. That’s a performance.
A Few Thoughts
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This review was light on plot details, but so was the episode. Get off my ass!
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Richard Thomas finally made the opening credits! Good for him
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Oleg is following Stan around. Their scenes opposite each other last season were never less than electric, so I’m excited to see where this goes
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RIP, Annalise, I guess now you know that in the spy game it’s a bad idea to admit you’re a spy
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Welcome to GAMbIT’s coverage of The Americans. I can tell already, this is going to be a blast
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