The Americans (Season 5)

Season 5 of The Americans is often regarded as the worst season of the show for having a much slower pace than all of the other seasons. I went into the season pretty skeptical that this was at all a bad thing considering I usually like the "slow-paced seasons", but when the first episode had a ten-minute-long wordless montage of the Jennings digging out a dead body, I started to get a bit concerned...

As you could probably tell from my previous reviews, I think the spy stuff is probably the weakest element of The Americans. It's not inherently bad, but it tends to fall short compared to the more gripping personal struggles involving characters like Stan, Paige, Martha, and Nina. Season 4 did show signs of things getting better, with a genuinely strong and engaging storyline about bioweapons, but this season falls right back into old habits. The point of Season 5 is to show the Jennings overworking themselves on a lot of missions, and finding themselves in a rut as a result. So we get a lot of drawn-out scenes showing off the monotony of the missions that they go on. Compared to stuff like nukes or a deadly bioweapon, the big world-ending threat of pest-resistant wheat feels purposefully lame. However, this also comes at the cost of the missions feeling especially boring for the viewer. I already mentioned that grave-digging sequence that went on for what seemed like eternity, but there are moments like this in nearly every episode and it gets pretty damn insufferable. The only mission I found somewhat interesting is the Jennings using a fake adopted son to force a traitor back to Moscow, but even that has its issues. Due to the nature of the mission, the "adopted son" ends up getting to do most of the work, leaving the Jennings without much agency or screentime whenever that storyline is involved. As a whole, the spy stuff in Season 5 is just plain boring, and because of how drawn-out it is, it takes up a lot of the season.

And that's a shame, because when Season 5 isn't focused on its drawn-out mission sequences, the family drama is still as solid as it ever was. Paige still remains the highlight here, watching her continue to struggle with her new life is great, and leads to some strong moments like her meeting with Gabriel. I also think the central conceit of the Jennings (and also Stan) becoming exhausted with their jobs is interesting and leads to a strong final stretch, though that's not an excuse for the season being mostly boring considering Season 4 conveyed the same point while remaining engaging. However, there is still one subplot I found incredibly disappointing, which involves Philip's adopted son Mischa. I was so excited at the end of Season 4 when it was revealed that he's coming to America to try and reunite with his father, there was so much potential for fun drama there. The introduction of that aforementioned fake adopted son could've made things even juicier. But a few episodes in, Mischa's plans are thwarted, he's sent back to Russia, and we never see him again for the rest of the season. What was even the fucking point then? This is easily one of the lamest dropped storylines I've ever seen in a show, a move that felt so amateurish for what has otherwise been in an incredibly well thought-out series.

Highlights:

Dyatkovo: This was the only Season 5 episode I really liked. It's a fairly standalone story about the Jennings suspecting a woman of being a Nazi collaborator, but you can tell it was the breaking point for them in terms of work given how intense that final scene was. Also, Henry meets the Mail Robot is probably the funniest scene of the whole show.

Overall, Season 5 still has some great family drama as well as a solid final stretch, but otherwise, this is easily the weakest season in the series. It's not just that it's slow paced, it's the overlong sequences where nothing happens, it's the underwhelming spy stuff, it's the dropped storyline about Mischa. I admire the attempt to illustrate the rut the Jennings have gotten themselves in, but there had to be a better way that didn't involve also boring the viewer as well.

2/5 Stars