As good, solid starts go, you would have to say ITV's new US import The Americans certainly got off to one. The first ten minutes were puzzling and exciting, in equal measures, as we were plunged into a chase scene to the pulsatingFleetwood Mac song Tusk. After that things quietened down and the story could begin.
Set in 1981, the Cold War raging, Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) are undercover KGB agents in Washington. They are so deeply embedded that they have two children and seem the perfect, all American couple. They also have a dazzling array of wigs and disguises, in 1981 The A Team hadn't even started, so they can't be accused of copying. But the cracks are starting to show with Phil and Elizabeth, after the pair bungled a mission, they are forced to keep the defector they kidnapped in their garage, which makes Phillip realize he wouldn't mind defecting himself, a view not shared by Elizabeth. To add to the Jennings woes their new neighbour is an FBI agent, who himself has just returned from undercover work ( What are the chances of that happening?) so all his Spidey senses are tingling.
The Americans has the slight feel of a period piece Homeland, which is no bad thing. It is very well acted, the script is taut and sharp and I am sure we will be jumping around and yelling at the telly as the tension builds over the coming weeks. I'm hooked already comrades.
Over
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