About two million people tuned into the season three premiere of The Americans on FX last Wednesday, and the show’s second season was on about as many “best of 2014” lists compiled by television critics. Do you want to catch up with this great show but not have 26 hours to devote to watching the first two seasons? Don’t worry, we got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about TV’s greatest spy drama. There are sure to be spoilers, but I’ll try to be as gentle as possible so you will still enjoy catching up if you feel the need to go back.
The premise
Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) are two very normal travel agents who live in the DC suburbs in the early 80s. They have two kids and a cute little house. What no one knows is that the two are KGB agents who are part of Program S, a Russian spy ring that implants communist agents seamlessly into American cities. The pair were set up in America when they were 22 and forced into an arranged marriage by “The Center”. After more than 15 years in the US, they’ve had two children and formed a bond that is inexplicable to anyone outside their profession.
The Russians
Philip Jennings: We don’t know much about Philip’s life in Russia, but he’s gotten very cozy in America and contemplates turning against his country and providing a prosperous life for his wife and children. However, he stays with Elizabeth because he truly loves her, despite their ideological differences.
Elizabeth Jennings: Elizabeth was raped by a senior officer when she was training to be in the KGB, whom she later gets revenge against. Her mother is still alive in Russia, and she is adamant that the communist cause is a just and righteous one. She has doubts about her relationship with Philip but remains dedicated to him.
Paige Jennings (Holly Taylor): Philip and Elizabeth’s 14-year-old daughter is starting to suspect something. Though she is active in a church youth group, Paige has shown typical spy behavior like lying, sneaking around and forging her mother’s signature. At the end of season two, The Center expressed interest in her becoming a second-generation agent, but Philip and Elizabeth are resisting the request.
Henry Jennings (Keidrich Sellati): Philip and Elizabeth’s 10-year-old son is very trusting and naive. However, he broke into a neighbour’s house when they were on vacation so he could play their arcade games.
Nina Sergeevna (Annet Mahendru): A secretary at the Russian embassy, she is recruited by the FBI to spy for them. She later tells the KGB what she has been doing, and they get her to start a sexual relationship with FBI agent Stan Beeman so she can get information out of him. When he refuses to give up American secrets, she is sent back to the USSR to stand trial for treason.
Arkady Ivonovich (Lev Gorn): The “Rezident” at the Russian Embassy is in charge of all KGB activity in the United States. Though he is Philip and Elizabeth’s boss, they have no direct contact with him.
Oleg Igorevich Buro (Costa Ronin): A well-connected KGB agent with a prominent father, he is in charge of science and technology espionage. He had a relationship with Nina, a KGB double agent, who was sent back to Moscow to stand trial at the end of season two.
Claudia (Margot Martindale): Philip and Elizabeth’s bulldog of a handler, she is their liaison with The Center. Claudia and Elizabeth sort of hate and certainly don’t trust each other. After season one they had her reassigned, but she always seems to pop back into their lives, usually with bad news.
The Americans
Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich): The Jennings’ neighbor is a prominent agent in the FBI’s counter-intelligence unit and is hot on the trail of a pair of “illegals” that he doesn’t know are his nextdoor neighbours. His affair with Nina compromised his marriage, and his wife left him for someone she met at EST, a new-age seminar popular in the late 70s. Philip is one of his only friends outside of work, though they are suspicious of each other.
Frank Gaad (Richard Thomas): Beeman’s boss and the head of the FBI counter-intelligence office.
Martha Hanson (Alison Wright): A handsome secretary in the FBI counter-intelligence office, she is married to Clark, whom she believes to work in internal affairs for the FBI and be in charge of maintaining the bureau’s security. Clark is really Philip in disguise and she helps him spy on the FBI without knowing it.
Annelise (Gillian Alexi): A bored housewife who is married to the undersecretary of defense. Philip poses as a Swedish intelligence agent and recruits her to do spy work that will supposedly help America. In season one she bugs the secretary of defence’s home, and in season two she starts a relationship with a member of Pakistan’s ISI so that Russia can get intelligence for the war in Afghanistan. She is erratic and tentative, but Philip needs her.
The breakdown
Season one: After a number of capers related to disposing of a KGB turncoat who was speaking to the Americans (who is also the man who raped Elizabeth), the FBI gets wind that there are illegals in this country and sets a trap to catch them. Philip and Elizabeth barely escape, but not without great personal cost. The major theme for the season was the couple’s marriage, which was strained by all the romantic and sexual relationships they need to maintain in order to do their work, especially Philip’s marriage to Martha. Though the two separate for a portion of the season, they end up stronger than ever.
Season two: This was a much stronger and better-plotted season, dedicated almost entirely to Philip, Elizabeth and the rest of the Russians tracking down information about the Americans’ program to build a stealth bomber. They do a lot of this through exploring ARPANET, the precursor to the internet. They also investigate the death of Emmett and Leann, another pair of illegals who were friends of Philip and Elizabeth but were gunned down under mysterious circumstances. Beeman’s relationship with Nina intensifies as the Russians try to use him to gain a key piece of information about the Stealth program, but he refuses to betray his country.
Season three: So far it seems like this season is going to be dedicated to the developing relationship between Paige and The Center. The KGB will also have its agents focused on gaining information in America that will help them win the war in Afghanistan. Philip and Elizabeth are in more danger than they ever have been, continuously exposed to the FBI and under pressure from The Center to give up their daughter. They have no one to trust but each other – and their ideological differences are more stark than ever.
