On Netflix, a TV series with the rather unobtrusive name The Americans caught my attention. I wondered why I hadn’t really heard much about it before, and I also wondered what kind of show this could be – seriously, who would name a show The Americans? It sounds so obscenely patriotic.

And you could argue that the show actually is obscenely patriotic – but definitely not the in the American sense. It is a show about two KGB agents in deep cover, living the normal 1980s American family life by day and spying for the Russians by night. These two agents are Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, though of course those are not their original names. They were both born in Russia and trained by the KGB since their teens. Eventually, they were recruited for the ‘Directorate S’ program and sent to live as a married couple near Washington, D.C.

THE AMERICANS

They have assimilated to their new life astonishingly well – they speak accent-free English and nobody suspects who they really are, neither their children nor their neighbor, an FBI agent who has been hunting them since episode one. They even function on an astonishing lack of sleep, since they are usually up all night chasing information or people for the KGB. Naturally, such a situation lends itself too much humor, but the show is not actually a comedy. It’s a brilliant family drama with occasional hilarious circumstances, such as when their FBI agent neighbor shoots Elizabeth and Phil asks him to watch their kids.

As I watched more of this show, I kept wondering why people would give up their entire life and leave all their loved ones behind. This is where the patriotism comes in; these KGB agents have been completely brainwashed to believe in the great Mother Russia, “for the cause”, as they say. It is baffling that even after 20 years of American life, they are still such firm believers, still doing the bidding and the killing for the KGB. This is also what often made me wonder about the authenticity of the plot – did such agents really exist in 1980s USA? According to former CIA and KGB agents, yes – even in the past 10 years. The show was created by a former CIA agent, so there must be some degree of authenticity. But as a linguist, I’m still a bit skeptical that these Illegals could have learned such accent free English within only a few years.

Aside from the spy stuff, The Americans is a fantastic family drama about maintain control of your life – which, as you might imagine, gets increasingly harder when your teenage kids begin to question why you’re out so late at night all the time. Considering the title of the show, it’s also surprisingly un-American. Our anti-heroes, Elizabeth and Philip Jennings are theoretically the enemies, but as viewers of the show of course we root for them. Therefore, theoretically, the Americans would actually be the enemies. But in reality, the show is just so incredibly well-balanced that there is no good and evil. Both sides – the FBI and the KGB, as well as their main representatives, Agent Stan Beeman, and Elizabeth and Philip are portrayed neutral, all honestly fighting for what they believe in. This neutrality is refreshingly enjoyable and amounts to making this the least patriotic show currently out there1. And you’ll probably even learn a little bit about Russian culture.

I can highly recommend giving The Americans a chance – and I’m pretty sure you’ll be hooked after that awesome car chase set to Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk in the pilot episode.