[x]

They were trying to be edgy and different and not tell the same story we're used to with familiar heroes and villains, more like Homeland than 24. Once the show gets started you can see what they do with that. Maybe they'll be on the side of the good guys in the end.

That said, I won't be watching. Oral sex, rape, and a lot of running around to no point -- just in the first ten or fifteen minutes. Then we find out that what happened at the beginning will come back to haunt them in a painful and predictable way.

And it has that typical TV series look and feel that the best shows manage to avoid or transcend. Maybe I'll cave in when the video comes out, but based on those first fifteen minutes or so,The Americans doesn't look like it's worth watching.

[RC one]

I thought the use of the oral sex scene to illustrate how our politicians can become compromised/seduced was perfectly appropriate. The rape scene too illustrated the difference between “us and them”. The concept of hidden subversives working to undermine our way of life is a subject near and dear to my heart so I’ll be watching the whole season. to each his own though.