Season two of the FX-aired series about deep-cover Soviet agents living as typical parents in early 1980s Washington, D.C., was heralded by many critics as one of the best shows of 2014. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys play Soviet spies Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, raising two youngsters in suburbia by day while dutifully carrying out acts of espionage at night. This season focuses on their efforts to protect the kids from their work after fellow operatives are murdered—along with two of their three children—during an assignment. Elizabeth is also conflicted when her daughter starts attending church, although as a zealot for the Communist cause, the irony of Elizabeth's fear of religious indoctrination is not lost on viewers as she herself blindly serves a government that represses its citizens and jails dissidents in the name of the Soviet ideal. Meanwhile, neighbor Stan (Noah Emmerich), an FBI agent on the trail of their network, becomes the victim of a beautiful Soviet double agent and is blackmailed into treason. The spy-TV tropes and low-tech tools brought to their assignments add suspense and tension, but the human element—love, resentment, suspicion, jealousy, and trust—is what makes The Americans compelling TV. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2014 second season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)
The Americans: The Complete Second Season
Fox, 4 discs, 585 min., not rated, DVD: $39.98 Volume 30, Issue 2
The Americans: The Complete Second Season
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