The use of sex by Soviet spies to recruit intelligence sources is accurate, even by a husband and wife team. So also is the brutality and ruthlessness of spying accurate, with blackmail and threats and force used to recruit and control people. Even the approved, routine sexual abuse of Soviet female spies in training is accurate.
The contradictions between being Soviet spies and also loving American parents in suburbia is also true as a major source of tension. In one nearly forgotten case, which was broadly depicted in the movie Little Nikita (1988), a team of illegal Soviet husband and wife spies was detected when their bright and patriotic American born son applied for admission to West Point.
Eventually, in the actual spy case, the two illegals were persuaded to defect to the US, with their son getting a fully merited admission to West Point no less as part of their deal. If The Americans lasts long enough, it may head in that direction. Notably, as in the real case, in The Americans, the wife is the most loyal to the Soviet Union.
As for the broad political implications, The Americans is creditable to our side of the political equation because it takes Soviet spying against the US for what it was: a major threat to our national security, pressed with an amorality and ruthlessness that were integral to the Soviet system.
Agreed. Good analysis. I’ll keep watching it for a few weeks to see where it goes.