I also find it fascinating, primarily because the left and Hollywood are now so open about the reality of Soviet spies on US territory. No longer are they countering with “...have you no shame...” anti-McCarthy rhetoric.
SO it is fact, acknowledged on all sides now. There were and may still be, Soviet, and other foreign spies on US territory conspiring against our interests. But the FBI, who is fighting for our system, our culture, and our liberties, is portrayed in the series as the antagonist against the Soviets, who are the good guys?
I sometimes think we as a culture have a death wish, a cultural subliminal suicide desire. If only we were to take the “spies” seriously because they really do wish our demise and end of our system of laws, rights and greatness.
The possibility we have one in the White House just may seal the deal.
I don't agree that the FBI are portrayed as antagonists on this show. Of course, they add tension against the main characters, but so far the show writers are depicting them as patriots doing their best to keep the Soviets at bay. We'll see if that theme continues in future episodes, or if the show descends into a psycho babble fest about the good communist fight gone astray by the Reagan doctrine.
So far, I enjoy watching it.
In the show the good guys are the “family”. It works kind of like the Godfather series, we root for that family against both other mobsters and cops because our introduction to them was controlled to make us like them. We learn early on in The Americans that their Soviet leaders are cutthroat and brutal and don’t have the “family’s” best interest in mind, and of course the FBI wants to capture them, but they’re nice people even if they do bad things so we root for them. It’s a hard balance to setup, but once the story teller succeeds it gives them a lot of dramatic potential, because basically everyone around our good guys is a potential threat and thus a bad guy.