The Americans

I can't find anyone to talk about The Americans with, and this makes me very sad. The day after an episode of Mad Men or Breaking Bad airs, you can hardly swing a dead cat without hitting someone who's dissecting every single aspect of the show. But when I ask around the office if anyone has seen The Americans, they respond as if I just asked them to discuss last night's Sean Saves the World. I just don't get it though, because The Americans combines the period-specific fetish for fashion, automobiles, and design of Mad Men with the nail-biting tension and violent action of Breaking Bad. Plus it's about Russian spies! Needless to say, it's incredibly awesome.

Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) are just your average, sexy, American couple living in the suburbs outside of Washington D.C. in 1981. By day, they run a travel agency together and raise their two children. By night, they are ass-kicking spies for the Soviet Union whose hand-to-hand combat skills are second only to their impressive array of wigs and disguises. On top of undertaking dangerous missions and maintaining the elaborate charade of their day-to-day lives, Philip and Elizabeth must come to terms with their arranged marriage. Do they really love each other, or is love a complication that spies just can't afford? Oh, and the FBI agent in charge of investigating the KGB in the Washington area just happens to be their new next-door neighbor.

It's safe to say that I have a soft spot for the early 80s. Much like baby boomers watch Mad Men and see themselves in Sally Draper, I much more identify with young Henry Jennings. The period details of The Americans might not be as distinctive as those in Mad Men - it takes place during the brief time between the trademark aesthetic weirdness of both the 70's and 80's - but you can't miss the Star Wars sheets, the giant boxy sedans, and turtlenecks, turtlenecks, turtlenecks. Which is to say nothing of the tunes - as has been noted elsewhere, The Americans' use of music rivals that of Eastbound and Down or Breaking Bad.

Speaking of Breaking Bad (again), The Americans takes pretty much everything that has come to define awesome cable dramas and improves on it. Yes, the main characters are involved in a web of lies and schemes that threatens to fall apart at any moment, but the Jennings' delicate balancing act makes the lives of Walter White and Don Draper look positively uncomplicated by comparison. The show's got plenty of sexy, sexy sex, but as graphic as it gets (and good lord, does it ever), it somehow never feels gratuitous (I'm looking at you, Game of Thrones). You want moral ambiguity? In their quest to win the Cold War for the Motherland, Philip and Elizabeth leave a trail of broken hearts and necks in their path while still making you root for these crazy kids.

There's so much more I could say about The Americans - I haven't even begun to touch on the many badass spy missions or the tragic travails of all-American FBI guy Stan Beeman - but you really just need to see it for yourself. Not only will you give it a tiny but much-needed ratings boost, but maybe I'll finally have someone to talk about season two of this awesome show with.