Ones To Watch: The Americans

Now if you are partial to a bit of Saturday night TV, you would know that recently ITV topped everybody else when it added FX’s THE AMERICANS to its billing. But with such hype behind a programme, you have to be a skeptical on whether it is just hype or not. So how is the series panning out so far?

The show stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Elizabeth and Philip Jennings. Set in the 1980s, The Jennings seem to have the American dream – kids, a car, the lovely house in a suburban neighbourhood – but they are in fact deep under cover Soviet intelligence agents working for the KGB. We are only six episodes down, and we’ve already had numerous killings, infiltrations, integrations and Presidents getting shot. Waiting with bated breath does not even define the excitement with feel watching this show…

But one thing we have to say about THE AMERICANS is that you have to stick with it. Watching episode one, the show does seem a little far fetched, but it is incredibly original to other programmes that are on TV at the moment. It is beautifully shot, wonderful written plus deserves an award for the greatest use of music (in episode one alone you have Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk over a kick ass chase sequence and Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight used in a sex scene) but the ultimate reason you should be watching is the cast. Rhys and Russell are the ultimate on screen couple, watching their scenes play out with troubles as parents and agents really do become a personal highlight of the show. Do we smelly Emmy nominations in the air? Most definitely…

Catch THE AMERICANS Saturdays at 10pm on ITV1. If you have not been watching THE AMERICANS, you’ll be happy to know you can get catch up iTunes.