The Americans

Discuss TV shows old and new.
Message
Author
User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: TV of 2013

#26 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:46 pm

Will be sure to quote your post about her lack of acting ability next Spring when she wins the Oscar and every other acting award for August Osage County. She was also Emmy nominated for the Americans, btw. I say these things not to equate awards with artistry but to point out that your opinion is not just a minority one, it exists on a plane of existence heretofore undiscovered

User avatar
warren oates
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm

Re: TV of 2013

#27 Post by warren oates » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:03 pm

I only know Martindale from The Americans. So maybe she can rock a part that doesn't require us to believe she's got any real power or menace? Perhaps other directors can do better work within the limits of what she's got. Though there wasn't a single helmer on The Americans who seemed able to get her through a scene without it playing at times like she was severely out of her depth, wishing she were in a commercial or a sitcom instead, sometimes just reciting lines instead of bothering to act them. I'll stop by offering up one more actress with a similar age/look and, imho, way more chops: Ann Dowd.

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: The Americans

#28 Post by Mr Sausage » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:20 pm

warren oates wrote:So maybe she can rock a part that doesn't require us to believe she's got any real power or menace?
Season 2 of Justified amply proved she can do the latter as well.

User avatar
Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: TV of 2013

#29 Post by Murdoch » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:23 pm

warren oates wrote:I only know Martindale from The Americans. So maybe she can rock a part that doesn't require us to believe she's got any real power or menace?
See her in Justified and you'll see one of the most menacing performances this side of Walter White.

edit: Sausage beat me to it (but Martindale's performance deserves all the praise it gets).

User avatar
Polybius
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:57 pm
Location: Rollin' down Highway 41

Re: The Americans

#30 Post by Polybius » Thu Aug 08, 2013 11:41 pm

She was also quite good on The Riches on FX a few years ago.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#31 Post by domino harvey » Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:57 am

In a world where 90% of studio covers are total shit, kudos to Fox for using the stellar promo art for the first season packaging:

Image

User avatar
med
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:58 pm

Re: The Americans

#32 Post by med » Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:20 am

Neat idea, but I don't like the too-clean Photoshopness of it.

User avatar
Andre Jurieu
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:38 pm
Location: Back in Milan (Ind.)

Re: The Americans

#33 Post by Andre Jurieu » Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:22 am

I believe this was very similar to the promotional art for the 1st season, so it was probably an easy decision for them to simply just adapt it a little bit for the DVD/BR release.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#34 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 21, 2013 5:36 pm

Old news, but three prominent first season guest stars are being promoted to series regulars for season two, which gives some indication of the show's (continued) direction. They are:
SpoilerShow
Nina, Martha, and Stan's wife

User avatar
Andre Jurieu
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:38 pm
Location: Back in Milan (Ind.)

Re: The Americans

#35 Post by Andre Jurieu » Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:02 pm

domino harvey wrote:
SpoilerShow
...and Stan's wife
I'm a little bit surprised by that considering they started leaving her out of entire episodes during the first season (from what I can remember). I figured she would be done with the show after a few more episodes, but I guess they need a female friend at a similar stage of life for Elizabeth to interact with.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#36 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:01 pm

SpoilerShow
I was surprised with all three, though I guess less-so Nina. I think it's a sign that after a kind of shaky first half of the season, the show is still standing on the steady legs displayed in the second half and is intent using the assorted strings it's been pulling. Obviously the sham marriage to Martha is sticking, and Nina's going to stay involved with Stan, and Stan's not going to leave his wife-- these strands provided some great drama as the series progressed and I expect more great things when we finally get season two. I think the show's heading in intriguingly fatalistic directions-- already there seems to be no possible "happy ending" for any of our principal characters and we're still awfully early in its run! I'm not even sure I know what happy would look like for anyone, either.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#37 Post by domino harvey » Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:59 pm

Second season premieres Feb 26th

User avatar
kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: The Americans

#38 Post by kingofthejungle » Thu Feb 27, 2014 1:02 pm

The Americans was certainly back with a bang last night - it barely even allowed time for the audience to catch it's breath before throwing us right back in the thick of things. It's clear that the delicate family situation is going to rise to the forefront this season, and I personally can't wait to see how it unfolds.

After catching up with Season 1 online, this has become second only to Justified among my favorite shows - and like Justified, it has so much that other TV dramas lack: well developed worlds populated by interesting characters (even interesting female characters), action sequences that are actually memorable, and scenarios rich with subtext and irony. Somebody at FX is doing something right.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#39 Post by domino harvey » Thu Feb 27, 2014 5:56 pm

I really like that they're starting to bring the kids into the equation more too. Good, sobering start to the season, with the smart parallel of another "happy" spy family wiped out giving credible threat to the increasingly risky endeavor everyone is involved in. One of the best things about this show is that as it progresses, it becomes clear that not only is there probably not a happy ending in store for any character, but I can't even figure out what a happy ending would look like.

Also, I appreciated how the show addressed right out of the gate what many of us were vocally wondering: What happens if someone tries to rip their wig off?

...and I see thanks to the rumor mills that Rhys and Russell's on-screen chemistry must be working out offscreen, as they're apparently dating!

User avatar
Polybius
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:57 pm
Location: Rollin' down Highway 41

Re: The Americans

#40 Post by Polybius » Fri Feb 28, 2014 4:37 am

Margo popped up in the "This season on The Americans..." promo at the end of the episode, so apparently we'll see her at least once.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#41 Post by domino harvey » Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:04 pm


User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#42 Post by domino harvey » Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:26 pm

First It's Always Sunny, now the Americans is getting a DVD-only release

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#43 Post by domino harvey » Thu Oct 16, 2014 6:28 pm


AnamorphicWidescreen
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:21 am

Re: The Americans

#44 Post by AnamorphicWidescreen » Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:25 am

Just finished watching S2 of The Americans - brilliant series. IMHO, S1 was excellent but S2 was even better.

I grew up in the metropolitan Washington D.C area back in the '80's, so I remember that time period & the locale extremely well - i.e. the cold war, the primitive (by today's standards) tech, the Rubik's Cube, early video games, etc.

Excellent cast & performances, from the smallest role to the largest. This series is the first time I've seen Kerri Russell in action; excellent actress (she was also great in Dawn of the POTA this past summer). Lee Tergeson was also great as the "villain" in S2; very unrelenting (He was also solid in HBO's Oz years ago).

Just like S1, the last episode of S2 was the best of the season - I like how they played the 1982 Golden Earring hit single Twilight Zone over the beginning suspenseful key scene - it really set the tone/mood of the era, and was especially effective because they rarely use pop/rock music in the series...

The last scenes of the finale were shocking:

Was truly amazed
SpoilerShow
when Jared, as he was dying, revealed that he had been the one who took out his parents & sister in the beginning because he got into a fight with them re: his being recruited by Kate...Truly mind-blowing, since that was the last thing I would have expected; I never suspected him at all throughout the season - I truly thought he was legitimately shocked/surprised/horrified when he found their bodies after coming back from the hotel pool....In any case, glad they cleared up this mystery, since who k. that family was one of the focal points of the entire season...


Looking forward to S3 -
SpoilerShow
I wonder if Paige will get recruited into "the cause" by her parents?!....

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Americans

#45 Post by domino harvey » Fri Nov 21, 2014 8:17 pm

Season Three premieres January 28th

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: The Americans

#46 Post by colinr0380 » Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:07 am

Is this the season that Oliver North is consulting on?

vidussoni
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 1:51 pm

Re: The Americans

#47 Post by vidussoni » Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:06 am

colinr0380 wrote:Is this the season that Oliver North is consulting on?
He consulted on an episode this past season about the Contras and Sandinistas.

User avatar
Polybius
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:57 pm
Location: Rollin' down Highway 41

Re: The Americans

#48 Post by Polybius » Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:07 am

Did they model Tergesen's character after him?

User avatar
Jean-Luc Garbo
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:55 am
Contact:

Re: The Americans

#49 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Tue Dec 16, 2014 9:16 pm

domino harvey wrote:First It's Always Sunny, now the Americans is getting a DVD-only release
As if that wasn't bad enough, all four discs in the set are nested one upon the other. Are the single size flipper cases that hold four discs really that much of an expense?

User avatar
Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: The Americans

#50 Post by Ashirg » Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:28 pm

On the brighter side, it could've been a DVD-R....

Post Reply