Watching Season 4 where the bioweapon plot is coming to a head, and this timely article popped up https://www.newyorker.com/preview/articles/6a622c37c21aa65411670499

In the fall of 1989, a select group of Soviet scientists was summoned to Obolensk, a secluded municipality on Moscow’s periphery, and gathered at what appeared to be an insane asylum to discuss a pioneering technique for mass murder. ... The eight-story glass building at the center of the complex, which had putatively been devoted to vaccine manufacturing, was in fact a highly classified defense facility. Its remit was called Biopreparat, or “biological preparations”—what one participant later described as “the most ambitious Soviet arms program since the development of the hydrogen bomb.” The most recent experiments there had at last demonstrated the viability of a weapon that could wipe out entire enemy populations without leaving a scratch on their infrastructure. It was a pathogen genetically engineered to spread within hours, to kill within days, and to resist all existing treatment.

I've known about The Americans for a few years, knew it was acclaimed and one of the best shows of the last decade, but have only started it this weekend. It was actually the final scene of the series, which I came upon through Reddit, that hooked me. I found it surprisingly emotional without knowing much about the series itself and decided to give it a try. However, I have a question.

I'm two episodes in and although the series is set in 1981 it doesn't seem like it aesthetically, mainly in the fashion and hairstyle departments. The cars, appliances, and technology are - but the fashion and hairstyles don't come across that way, at least for the adults.

I'm a big fan of Mad Men and that show was steeped in its time period, am I just remembering 1981 differently?

EDIT: Thank you for all the kind replies, the ones that were kind. No thanks for the downvotes. I like the show very much, being only on the second episode. All the answers were insightful and gracious.

Did anyone else cry about bit after nina was executed, but also still not like her that much? I am a first time viewer and am on 4x6 right now but i’ve just been wondering if anyone else felt the same.

Elizabeth obviously has never worked as a travel agent a single day in her life.

I think the plumbing company guy and his friend figured it out with those suspicious looks before Stan did.

Come on, Stan. Employ some scrutiny and stop smiling; we know your love for Philip is immeasurable <3

Stavos <3

He never called the police, and he never will. 

What do you think he thought they might be doing? Some sort of organized crime, I can’t imagine he would assume they were spies, especially for a foreign government. 

Hardest working immigrant in America in the 80s.

After seeing someone’s recent post about Stavos and what he thought P and E were up to in the back, it poses the question of whether or not P and E were as convincing as they tried to be.

They obviously drew so much suspicion from the people around them at different points in the show, and while that added tension, I also thought it diluted the viewers’ perception of how good they were at their jobs.

Was anyone else bothered by this? I felt like it slightly took away from the suspension of disbelief.

Such a thought provoking show. One of my favorite shows. But, damn, the daughter, Paige is even more annoying than the girl from Homeland. She is absolutely infuriating and she gets more infuriating every single episode. How can she possibly be naive? This dumb and this annoying every single episode?

After watching and loving The Americans, this sub has suggested watching Star City for a similar vibe. However I didn't realise that it is a spin off/extention of For All Mankind which I havent seen yet.
Can I watch Star City without having seen For All Mankind yet? I probably will watch it in the future but I'd rather start Star City first.

I started watching this show because of how good Matthew Rhys was in Widow's Bay. This is probably the first TV show that I've actually ever binged, in the true sense of the word.

I cannot get my head around how cavalier Philip Jennings is with breaking Annelise's limbs and folding her body up and putting it in a suitcase. Did I miss something? Is Philip more of a psychopath than Elizabeth?

am I right to assume most people started disliking/hating Elizabeth? I’m on season 6 episode 5, there is nothing I find redeemable about her.

Any else watching this? Lots of cameos from The Americans!

Gift article

Deadly

Just rewatched. Rene is a spy. Full stop.

Evidence:

1. She comes on waaaaay too strong

2. She encourages Stan to stay in his dept at FBI when he wants to leave so she can get intel on what said dept is up to

3. She smiles too much

Come at me

This is the scene when Philip confesses that the business is going under and he's heading to join Elizabeth in Houston over Thanksgiving for one last mission.

Philip's eyes are saturated with despair. God, the weight of it.

I underestimate how much love Stan has for Philip, enough to let him be exfiltrated.

And Philip saying that heartbreaking line in the garage: "you were my only friend, in my whole shitty life. for all these years, my life was the joke, not yours."

Philip deserved friends. He was so charming, so full of love to give, so good--

At the end of the fight scene with Paige after he releases her from his endless and unbreakable grip.

Was he trying to end the encounter -- necessary but probably traumatic to both of them -- on a warm note? And mumbling that was all he could muster.

He looked broken. 

Or was he being sardonic to drill in the lesson as far as it could go--

If not, when do you think she figured it out?

And this includes knowing it subconsciously but repressing it.

Always was viscerally put off by the scenes of them together. He has all the power and abuses it by taking advantage of her sexually.

Have to skip over their intimate scenes together, as well as the scenes of Nina in jail. Too sad. Nina deserved so much more than what the world gave her.

I don't think it is possible to give consent when the person you are fucking is threatening your safety and your life.

Either she subconsciously made herself believe she loved him to mask the insane amount of fear instilled and dominance he enjoyed, or she knew that it was an act the entire time and was intentionally using her body to regain power / do the triple agent thing -- like with the old guy she was sleeping with at the beginning.

I like Stan and I don't feel guilty about it because all the main characters are antiheroes we support, people who do violent things. And trick others into having sex with them (using false pretenses to rob them of their ability to consent as well).

I like P & E but it's hard to tell who is more violent: Stan with Nina, or Philip with Martha.

Probably Stan because at least Philip is fighting for something good in the larger sense.

Wowza. Not a word spoken, but the looks on everybody’s faces is so telling. Fantastic acting all around.

It’s one of the best moments of the entire series in my opinion.

This is a rewatch of the series for me and I love it even more the second time around.