Dasvidanya, The Americans

by Lynn Lee

[Warning: Spoilers for the series finale of The Americans] 

It ended not with a bang or with a whimper, but with the characteristic slow burn and emotional gravitas that’s been its hallmark all along.  The series finale of The Americans may not have been what everyone expected or wanted, but it was a fitting conclusion to one of the best shows of the decade.

There’s been plenty of speculation over the years about the end game for FX’s critically acclaimed but ratings-challenged drama about Reagan-era Soviet spies posing as the perfectly all-American family next door.  History foreordained that the Jenningses’ cause was doomed, and as their personal kill count and internal conflict mounted, a reckoning seemed inevitable...

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TV Riches. Here are just a few highlights...

Year in review lists/recaps each day. TV is too vast a topic for one list but here's a list of personal favorites from Spencer Coile 

2017 was a messy year. While we may be entrenched in cultural, political, and social turmoil, one area that keeps getting better is television. From the return of David Lynch's Twin Peaks and NBC's Will & Grace (proving that some revivals do work), to the rise of Hulu series, through  the continuation of prestige dramas from HBO, the golden age of TV continues. Because there's such a vast array of shows out there we all have our blindspots so please know that this is but a personal list and you should definitely share yours.  To make room for all of the excellent work put out this year, here are favorite individual and duo performances but let's kick things off with a tribute to the ladies via Ensembles... 

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Emmy FYC: The Americans, Season Five

By Spencer Coile 

It is difficult at times to sum up what makes The Americans such gripping and thought-provoking series. I have encountered many friends grow tired of it quickly, claiming that it is too slow, too methodical in its approach to domesticity, to marriage, to the U.S. government. Aided by a delicious 80's fused soundtrack (you'll never hear "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac the same way again) and tremendous performances, though, it is altogether unsurprising why many have remained drawn to the meticulous storytelling that is the FX original series, The Americans. In fact, after gathering a cult-like following for its first three seasons, it finally received the Emmy traction it so deserved, earning nominations in Drama Series, Actor, Actress, Writing, and winning Margo Martindale yet another in Drama Guest Actress. 

As the Emmy race heats up, The Americans is primed to sustain its momentum and score major nominations once more for its fifth season. But does it hold up to its previous four seasons?

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Tweetweek: Spinster Bette, Jazzy La La Land, and gallows humor for our new reality

My personal esthetic this week is "glamorous spinster Bette Davis when she's too exhausted to slap anybody." pic.twitter.com/BcWjk2Ph6g

— The Nitrate Diva (@NitrateDiva) January 13, 2017

More tweets after the jump including Jesse Bradford, La La Land, Black Panther, Meryl Streep and gallows humor to get us through this horrific new America ...

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Emmys 2016 - Why Keri Russell should win Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Here’s Lynn Lee, with a closer look at the newcomer and underdog of the six Emmy nominees for Best Lead Actress in a drama:

When I first started watching The Americans, I was blown away by one actor, and one actor alone: Matthew Rhys, as the male half of a pair of KGB operatives hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Reagan-era Washington, D.C.  Oh, the rest of the cast was strong, too, but Rhys—whom I’d never previously seen in anything—left everyone else in the dust, including Keri Russell as his partner in espionage.  She was good, I thought, but not quite at the level of her co-star.

Flash forward three seasons, and Russell’s more than made up that gap.  Not only does she now easily hold her own opposite Rhys, there are times when she surpasses him...

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