+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from season one, but no major season two giveaways+++
Season two of The Americans is set a few months down the line from the events that ended Season one, with Elizabeth being shot. She and Phillip concoct a story about having to visit an ailing aunt to explain her absence while she recovered from Paige and Henry (and to a large extent Stan). Paige begins to become more and more suspicious of her parents as the season goes along, with a very strong, will he figure it out vibe. As was the case in season one, the series has a blend of procedural and serial elements. There are self-contained missions and several story arcs that thread throughout the season. One of those involves the murder of another pair of illegals whose lives are fairly similar to the Jennings. Then there are several missions that involve the Jennings trying to steal stealth technology and the precursor to the internet called the ARPNET. There are several additions to the cast this year with Susan Misner (who plays Sandra Beeman), Annet Mahendru (who plays Nina), and Alison Wright (who plays Martha) being promoted to series regulars, and the addition of Costa Ronin as Oleg Igorevich Burov, a new KGB officer working out of the Soviet Embassy.
For those who get the DVD set, there are a handful of extras including a featurette on the real "Directorate S", a featurette on the morality (or lack thereof) of the series, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. The show was not released on Blu-Ray, which sucks for those of us who prefer that format and purchased season one on Blu-Ray. But, Fox has a strong preference for just streaming shows and is putting fewer and fewer shows out on Blu-Ray and only putting some out on DVD. So, the fact that this one got a physical release at all, given that it never had a huge fanbase, is kind of surprising.
Overall, the series continues to be great. The acting and writing are both top-notch, and the show is definitely a blast from the past for those of us who actually grew up in the 1980s. The early seasons of the show were set in 1983 when I was still pretty young, but I do remember some things about that time and I think they recreate it pretty well. There is still a lot of violence and sexual content (and as much nudity as they could get away with on basic cable) so it is not family-friendly, but if you watched and enjoyed season one, you already know that. To me, the show is, along with Breaking Bad, one of the best dramas of the 2010s, and is definitely worth watching, especially if you are into crime and spy dramas.
Season two of The Americans is set a few months down the line from the events that ended Season one, with Elizabeth being shot. She and Phillip concoct a story about having to visit an ailing aunt to explain her absence while she recovered from Paige and Henry (and to a large extent Stan). Paige begins to become more and more suspicious of her parents as the season goes along, with a very strong, will he figure it out vibe. As was the case in season one, the series has a blend of procedural and serial elements. There are self-contained missions and several story arcs that thread throughout the season. One of those involves the murder of another pair of illegals whose lives are fairly similar to the Jennings. Then there are several missions that involve the Jennings trying to steal stealth technology and the precursor to the internet called the ARPNET. There are several additions to the cast this year with Susan Misner (who plays Sandra Beeman), Annet Mahendru (who plays Nina), and Alison Wright (who plays Martha) being promoted to series regulars, and the addition of Costa Ronin as Oleg Igorevich Burov, a new KGB officer working out of the Soviet Embassy.
For those who get the DVD set, there are a handful of extras including a featurette on the real "Directorate S", a featurette on the morality (or lack thereof) of the series, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. The show was not released on Blu-Ray, which sucks for those of us who prefer that format and purchased season one on Blu-Ray. But, Fox has a strong preference for just streaming shows and is putting fewer and fewer shows out on Blu-Ray and only putting some out on DVD. So, the fact that this one got a physical release at all, given that it never had a huge fanbase, is kind of surprising.
Overall, the series continues to be great. The acting and writing are both top-notch, and the show is definitely a blast from the past for those of us who actually grew up in the 1980s. The early seasons of the show were set in 1983 when I was still pretty young, but I do remember some things about that time and I think they recreate it pretty well. There is still a lot of violence and sexual content (and as much nudity as they could get away with on basic cable) so it is not family-friendly, but if you watched and enjoyed season one, you already know that. To me, the show is, along with Breaking Bad, one of the best dramas of the 2010s, and is definitely worth watching, especially if you are into crime and spy dramas.
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