The Americans
Season 3, Episode 1 – “EST Men”
Directed by Daniel Sackheim
Written by Joe Fields and Joe Weisberg
Starring: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Lev Gorn, Annet Mahendru, Susan Misner, Costa Ronin, Keidrich Sellati, Holly Taylor, Richard Thomas, Alison Wright, Noah Emmerich, Gillian Alexy, and Frank Langella
FX
Air date: January 28, 2015, 10pm

Spoilers for The Americans season premiere. You’ve been warned.

The Americans doesn’t waste any time in telling you what its third season is going to be about. In the opening seconds of the season premiere, “EST Men,” we see quick shots of Henry (Keidrich Sellati), Paige (Holly Taylor), and Phillip (Matthew Rhys). The shot is framed and lingers in such a way that it’s hard to notice Elizabeth (Keri Russell) in the tub off to the right of the screen until she slides into focus.

She takes a breath and then plunges underwater. It’s a quick calm before the storm. Our opening proves that more than ever, a dark tone of desperation and dread hangs over the show.

Welcome back to the fascinating world of The Americans.

FX didn’t used to be known for their high quality programing. Then shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, An American Horror Story, and The League took the network to a new level. Now they are poised to climb a little higher in priority on your DVR at the end of January with the introduction of the ’80s spy drama, The Americans.

For most of 2012 FX has been running teaser commercials for The Americans that left viewers little to infer, besides the commies are coming. Featuring the hammer, star, and sickle that any fan of James Bond movies gone by would recognize as the former sigil of the red empire of mother Russia, these teasers did their job sparking my interest.