Board 8 > The Americans is the best show on television.

(+) Yeah! (+)

More people need to watch this show.
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Either that or the leftovers for sure

hmm, i'm a season behind on this one - only seen through the S3 finale

it's not really a part of the collective consciousness so i don't really feel the need to be attuned with it constantly

is S5 the final season?
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I saw S1. It was definitely good but for some reason that I can't explain it never got me hooked enough to keep up with it.
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Season 1 is slow and kind of mission of the week which is why I assume it never really caught on like it should have. Justified was real similar. Season 2 it becomes much more serialized and season 3 is pretty much where it goes full stride on emphasizing the stories that play to the show's strengths.

Another reason the show may not connect as well with people is because it constantly subverts expectations for what a show should do. There's one plot thread that no other show could have ever pulled off.

Spoiler through season 4. I'm talking sending Nina to the Siberia prison for a season and a half, spending a stupidly long amount of time with her and the guy working on stealth technology then unceremoniously killing her and never bothering with that thread again. All those scenes and time spent with her just to show how s***ty the USSR was in case you were rooting for the Jennings a little too much. Of course it propels Stan and Oleg's storyline but that could have been done without spending pretty much any time following her. Other shows kill off characters in a shocking manner but this show went all in decimating an entire storyline you thought was being built.

Season 6 is the final season. It's nice that there is a definitive end game in sight. As of now there are a ridiculous amount of possibilities regarding what could happen.
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OliviaTremor posted...

Season 1 is slow and kind of mission of the week which is why I assume it never really caught on like it should have.

I entirely disagree that that's why S1 didn't take off. Running a serialized show wasn't going to be the key to The Americans's success. It was never going to succeed.

It had one of the greatest pilot episodes of all time and no one watched it or cared. People don't really want a show about suburban Russian spies set in the '80s at the moment.

Their loss, though.
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I agree with SD. Season 1 didn't not catch on because it's format: not enough people watched. It's a great show, but doesn't interest enough people. It doesn't enjoy a spot in the cultural zeitgeist strong enough to pick up viewers like, say, breaking bad. I'm just happy it's still going tbqh.

Yeah, you're actually right. That pretty much is the same thing with Justified. That pilot was fantastic as well but who wants to watch a show about rural Kentucky?

I will say though, with both the shows, I probably wouldn't have continued on had I not heard how amazing the shows are after a couple of the villain or mission of the week stuff. Same thing with Hannibal. It seems a lot of my favorite shows are kind of like that.
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Had no idea this show existed. Interesting premise, and seems to be well received...that usually doesn't happen for bad shows. Yeah, I might have to check this out.
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I should watch this
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It's in my queue.
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