The Americans: The Complete Final Season

Set in the era of Ronald Reagan's America, The Americans used the espionage thriller genre as a crucible to explore marriage, parenthood, patriotism, personal responsibility, and the toll of hiding one's true identity behind a façade of middle-class normality. By the sixth and final season, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) has gone solo as a deep-cover KGB agent in 1987 Washington D.C. while her husband Philip (Matthew Rhys) takes a break, no longer able to handle the violence and lies of the job. Both are forced to make hard choices when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev makes overtures to end the Cold War and the KGB plots a coup. Their daughter (Holly Taylor) has already been recruited as a Russian agent (their son remains in the dark), and the FBI, led by their neighbor and friend Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), is closing in on their identities. The final season is more complex than similar shows as the anti-heroes face the consequences of their allegiances, discovering the lies behind the Soviet myth and being forced to abandon their American lives. What may appear anti-climactic on the surface is wrought with sacrifice and betrayal in the name of patriotism, and the audience winds up rooting for these enemies of America to escape justice as Soviet spies. It's a superb conclusion to this Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning series. Presenting all 10 episodes from 2018, extras include promo featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)