Holy Toledo y’all – The Americans was absolutely riveting up until the last shot! There is so much in this week’s episode that we split our show into two parts! Episode 42 presents the news and our episode breakdown and analysis, and Episode 43 will contain our history, tech of yesteryear, and feedback segments. With such a monumental show we asked our friend Kathleen aka Alternakat to join us! This is all about The Americans Season 4 Episode 4 “Chloramphenicol”, which aired April 6, 2016. It wa...
Apr 11, 2016•1 hr 30 min
Are we going to Epcot this week? Not exactly! Though we might just be needing a vaccine after this week’s The Americans! It’s Season 4 Episode 3 “Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow”, which aired March 30, 2016, which was written by Stephen Schiff and directed by Kevin Dowling. For your news pleasure, we have some choice items. First up a great overview of the show in Vulture on making The Americans great, again , followed by Den of Geek’s review of “Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow”...
Apr 04, 2016•1 hr 48 min
Holy cats is The Americans is off to an amazing start! The tension is unbearable in Season 4 Episode 2 entitled “Pastor Tim”, which aired March 23, 2016, was written by executive producers Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg, and directed by Chris Long! Two really cool news items start the show this week. First up is a thoughtful piece from Refinery29 with the opinion that The Americans is making an important point about rape . Next we have The New York Times with Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields discuss...
Mar 28, 2016•1 hr 42 min
At long last, Season 4 of the best show on television aka “The Americans” is here! It’s an incredible debut entitled “Glanders”, it aired March 16, 2016, was written by executive producers Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg, and was directed by Thomas Schlamme! We have a couple of great news items to begin this week! First up is The WaPo confirming that yes, ‘The Americans’ is still the best drama on television , followed by Variety talking to co-showrunner Joel Fields about Martha, Stan and Plannin...
Mar 21, 2016•1 hr 31 min
With only days to go until the debut of “The Americans” fourth season, we were able through illegals’ means to “invite” Kelly AuCoin, aka “Pastor Tim” to chat with us about the upcoming season! Kelly talks about working on the new episodes, attending the gala premiere party, and reveals what little he can without being sent to join Anton Baklanov in the Gulag! And it’s all spoiler-free! We love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please send them to us! You can email text or audio feedb...
Mar 16, 2016•1 hr 2 min
It’s almost time for the start of another amazing season of the best show on TV, “The Americans”! And as we love to do each year, we take time to break down every episode of Season 3 to get our minds in the game! Plus we have a treat to up the ante – our good friend Kathleen Lewis aka Alternakat joins the mayhem! There was so much material to go over we have split this into two parts! This is the second of two parts, with our discussion diving deep into Episodes 7-13 of Season 3. We break down k...
Mar 13, 2016•1 hr 32 min
It’s almost time for the start of another amazing season of the best show on TV, “The Americans”! And as we love to do each year, we take time to break down every episode of Season 3 to get our minds in the game! Plus we have a treat to up the ante – our good friend Kathleen Lewis aka Alternakat joins the mayhem! There was so much material to go over we have split this into two parts! To begin we have two quick news items. We start with an interesting piece in Slate calling Season 4 a thriller w...
Mar 10, 2016•1 hr 25 min
Hey everyone! It’s been a LONG hiatus since The Americans Season 4 debut isn’t until March 16th, and to help get us in the groove we have a new show for you! This time we are doing a comparison/contrast between The Americans, the German TV show Deutschland 83, and the Tom Hanks film Bridge of Spies. The 2 TV shows are set currently in 1983, and Deutschland 83 takes a look at East and West Germany and spying during the same time period as The Americans. Bridge of Spies provides a look at the KGB ...
Jan 29, 2016•1 hr 5 min
It’s end of season special time! And we have brought back the amazing Alison Wright aka Martha Hanson to recap Martha’s incredible character arc! We also have our good friend and frequent contributor Kathleen Lewis joining in for the fun. In our chat, we recap all the wild swings with Martha in Season 3, talk about acting in general, and answer some terrific listener questions. We love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please send them to us! You can email text or audio feedback to wa...
May 18, 2015•44 min
So many people have a bad day in the Season 3 finale of The Americans we can hardly keep track! It’s Season 3 Episode 13 “March 8, 1983” written by Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields and directed by Daniel Sackheim. The original air date was April 22, 2015. Paige and Elizabeth journey to West Berlin where they meet Elizabeth’s dying mother. Gabrielle confronts Philip who is becoming more and more unglued. Philip visits another EST seminar where he meets and talks with Sandra. Stan reveals to Gaad that...
Apr 27, 2015•1 hr 47 min
Poor Martha and Paige! It’s their time to shine in The Americans’ Season 3 Episode 12 “I Am Abassin Zadran” written by Peter Ackerman & Stuart Zicherman and directed by Christopher Misiano. The original air date was April 15, 2015. Paige continues to angrily question her parents about her history and place in the world. She escapes by going to Pastor Tim and Alice’s house, and Philip and Elizabeth take her back home. Stan makes an unexpected visit to Martha. He later confronts Aderholt about...
Apr 20, 2015•1 hr 38 min
What a surprise treat we have in store for you this week! Alison Wright aka Martha Hanson joins us for a terrific interview! She discusses acting, how she got the role of Martha and her approach to it, and she answers our questions about the character and last week’s monumental episode. Plus, she responds to some really thoughtful listener questions! You REALLY don’t want to miss this! We love to hear your thoughts about The Americans so please send them to us! You can email text or audio feedba...
Apr 19, 2015•26 min
This week’s episode of The Americans allows us to breathe a bit after last week’s shocking revelation. A bit! It is Season 3 Episode 11 entitled ”One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov” written by Stephen Schiff & Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Andrew Bernstein. The original air date was April 8, 2015. In this episode, more and more pressure mounts as Martha expresses worry over her interview with agent Taffet. Paige continues the adjustment into her new reality. Gabriel informs Elizabet...
Apr 13, 2015•1 hr 32 min
We couldn’t resist, and he couldn’t say no to our request…Kelly AuCoin, aka “Pastor Tim” on “The Americans” is back with us in a special episode for you! After Philip and Elizabeth’s mind-blowing revelation to Paige last week, we checked back in with Kelly to find out the scoop on his performance in the episode, his terrific opening scene with Matthew Rhys, and his thoughts on how he approaches Pastor Tim. Plus, we get to talk just a bit about his new role in Season 3 of “House of Cards”! We lov...
Apr 08, 2015•36 min
This week’s episode of The Americans has to rank as the best of the season, and one of the best of the whole series so far! It is Season 3 Episode 10 entitled ”Stingers” written by showrunners Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg and directed by Larysa Kondracki. The original air date was April 1, 2015. To recap this week: Pastor Tim drops into the travel agency and has an interesting interaction with Philip. In a movie theater’s bathroom, Zinaida is shown to be leaving a message, confirming she is a ...
Apr 06, 2015•1 hr 48 min
We have a surprise for you this week! Our good friend Kathleen Lewis joins us as guest host for this week’s breakdown of The Americans latest episode entitled ”Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?”. It was written by Joshua Brand and directed by Stephen Williams. The original air date was March 25, 2015. In this episode, Elizabeth tries to dismiss Hans, who has other ideas. He kills Todd and asks Elizabeth to take him back. Martha gets it together and tries acting as if things are back to nor...
Mar 30, 2015•1 hr 34 min
We didn’t think it possible to be more uncomfortable with the doings on The Americans, but we are again! It happens in this week’s episode entitled ”Divestment”. It was written by Lara Shapiro and directed by Dan Attias. The original air date for the episode was March 18, 2015. This week the show begins just where we left off last time, with Philip and Elizabeth and Ncgobo interrogating their hostages. Ncgobo decides to execute Venter in a grisly manner, and Todd confesses he has a bomb. Later, ...
Mar 23, 2015•1 hr 25 min
Action returns and joins incredible character moments in a brilliantly directed episode of the latest episode of The Americans entitled ”Walter Taffet”. It was written by Lara Shapiro and directed by Noah Emmerich. The original air date for the episode was March 11, 2015. The action really ramps up this week! We begin with Philip listening to a shortwave radio broadcast about the situation in Afghanistan. He sees Elizabeth making notes about Paige for a report to the KGB and confronts her about ...
Mar 16, 2015•1 hr 32 min
It’s all about the characters this week on the latest episode of The Americans entitled ”Born Again”. It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Kevin Dowling. The original air date for the episode was March 4, 2015. Paige finally gets her baptism at the hands of Pastor Tim while Elizabeth and Philip look on. Philip is able to get a listening device planted in Isaac Breeland’s briefcase while deflecting Kimmy’s advances. Both Elizabeth and Philip try to tell Paige something to help he...
Mar 09, 2015•1 hr 29 min
If you thought last week’s show was making you uncomfortable, this week’s episode of The Americans entitled ”Salang Pass” will double down on the discomfort level. It was written by Stephen Schiff and directed by Kevin Dowling. The original air date for the episode was February 25, 2015. In this episode, Philip struggles with his mission and using Kimberly as an asset. He and Elizabeth continue their argument over Paige and telling her the truth about themselves. Stan asks Oleg’s help in finding...
Mar 02, 2015•1 hr 19 min
The writers will make sure you are very uncomfortable in this week’s episode 304 of The Americans entitled ”Dimebag”. It was written by Peter Ackerman and directed by Thomas Schlamme. The original air date for the episode was February 18, 2015. “Dimebag” is chock-full of tense moments. Philip and Elizabeth continue their debate about Paige’s future, and their relationship is becoming increasingly frayed. Nina gets a proposition that could save her, and she attempts to get close to her new cellma...
Feb 23, 2015•1 hr 28 min
Adventures in dentistry await you in this week’s all-new The Americans entitled ”Open House”. It was written by Stuart Zicherman and directed by Thomas Schlamme. The original air date for the episode was February 11, 2015. After the ratings news bummer last time, there is reason to feel better via Deadline with the DVR numbers added in for last week’s show . We also get the ratings from this week from Headlineplanet . There are a couple of neat stories, one from Hitfix with a Keri Russell interv...
Feb 16, 2015•1 hr 23 min
A crushing episode awaits you with this week’s all-new The Americans! ”Baggage” was written by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, and directed by Daniel Sackheim. The original air date for the episode was February 4, 2015. After a great start for the season, the ratings news was surprising and disappointing. We check them via Headline Planet . In this episode, we see the return of Nina, alive and imprisoned at the notorious Leforto prison. From there the scene switches to right where “EST Men” ended ...
Feb 09, 2015•1 hr 16 min
The Americans is back for Season 3! We begin with an astounding debut, “EST Men,” written by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, and directed by Daniel Sackheim. The original air date for the episode was January 28, 2015. The news connects with the show yet again! We have a story from the New York Times detailing three Russian secret agents recently uncovered by the government . We also have great news about ratings for the season opener! In our episode discussion, we see Elizabeth with a disgruntled ...
Feb 02, 2015•1 hr 24 min
We hope you are ready for a special treat! Live from Brooklyn, NY we have the amazing Kelly AuCoin, known to us all as “Pastor Tim” on The Americans! Kelly graciously took time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about the role of Pastor Tim. He discusses his approach to the character, fills us in on the incredible confrontation scene with Philip, and shares some fun tidbits from behind the scenes. Plus we talk about his career and question how it is he has appeared on most of our favorite TV...
Jan 28, 2015•37 min
Season 3 is almost here and we are talking about it! We start off with some news about our favorite show. Forbes has a review stating that The Americans Remains FX’s Best Drama in Season Three , while Digital Spy reveals that The Americans should last for at least 5 seasons, according to FX’s boss , and Canada.com notes that The Americans creator Joe Weisberg is talking about real-life events in Russia . Then we follow with two articles in TV Guide anticipating the return of The Americans, and f...
Jan 27, 2015•52 min
Watching the Americans Episode 16 provides a recap and discussion of Season 2 of FX’s show The Americans. In our discussion, we outline the big events in each episode from Season 2 and talk about our favorite moments and characters. We also look at the recently released DVD set and examine the deleted scenes and other extras – a gag reel and two featurettes: “Operation Ghost Stories: The Real Directorate ‘S'” and “Shades of Red: The Morality of the Americans.” We love to hear your thoughts about...
Jan 19, 2015•1 hr 23 min
In this week’s Watching the Americans Episode 15, we present a special frame by frame analysis of the opening title sequence for Seasons 1 and 2 of The Americans. In our discussion, we take each frame of the opening and discuss the images presented, giving historical context for them and relating them to what we know about the show so far. We also talk about some other sites that have done analyses of the opening sequence. We have a link to a blog post by one of its creators, and another look at...
Jun 03, 2014•1 hr
In this week’s Watching the Americans, we are amazed by the Season 2 finale of The Americans with Episode 13 “Echo.” This mind-blowing and very satisfying episode was written by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg and it was directed by Daniel Sackheim. The original air date was May 21, 2014. In the news, we recap the uptick in the finale ratings and agree with The Wire’s “Wig of the Week” selection. We link to a gallery of Season 1 wigs and a story on screeninvasion.com on why The Americans is the bes...
May 26, 2014•1 hr 36 min
In this week’s exciting Watching the Americans, we decode The Americans Season 2 Episode 12 “Operation Chronicle.” This sad and thrilling episode was written by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg and it was directed by Andrew Bernstein. The original air date was May 14, 2014. In the news, we recap the latest ratings and once again dispute The Wire’s “Wig of the Week” selection. We mention two fun interviews, one with “Martha” aka Alison Wright in the Huffington Post and another on NPR with Matthew Rhy...
May 19, 2014•1 hr 21 min
