How Times Have Changed – The Americans Makes Crime of Espionage Sexy

Would Ronald Reagan view the new TV series, The Americans, in the same light as those who weren’t even born or were toddling about in diapers during that era?

Chances are, Reagan would appreciate the plot line of family first that attempts to overshadow the main premise of espionage. But, the real threat that faced the world during the cold war wasn’t something Reagan or those who lived through that era could easily replace with home-grown hearts and flowers.

If you weren’t alive or at the least cognizant of the Russian threat during the era depicted in the TV series, The Americans, (1) then you might not relate to how precarious the Jennings’ position is nestled in a typical American suburb with a counter espionage FBI agent moving in across the street.

Cold war by no means implied that there weren’t highly charged emotions on both war fronts. Patriotism was once more on the rise after the Vietnam era when it took a beating.

The 1980 Summer Olympics held in Russia (first time held in communist country) pitted the US and Russia (Soviet Union) against each other in an open protest when the US boycotted the Olympics. In 1984, when the US hosted the Summer Olympics, the Russians returned the favor with a boycott.

Sympathy for Traitors

The show’s appeal is one of sympathy and even empathy for the Russian spy couple due to the complexity of relationships and situations. This is complicated by their relationships with their children, but there’s more going for the show than just a sympathy tug on the old heart strings.

In the pilot episode, it’s soon revealed that the husband, Phillip Jennings (played by Matthew Rhys), has become more than a little Americanized. In fact, in his plea to his wife Elizabeth (played by Keri Russell) to take advantage of current circumstances by defecting, he comments, “America’s not so bad. We’ve been here a long time. What’s so bad about it?”

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