The American's on Fx

Discussion in 'Movies, TV and Music' started by Alberto, Jan 30, 2013.

  1. Alberto

    Alberto Member+

    Feb 28, 2000
    Northern, New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Premier's tonight at 10:00 on FX. Set near the close of the Cold War a family living in suburban DC may not be as they appear.
     
  2. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm hooked. Keri Russell is such a badass.
     
  3. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Curious about this...
     
  4. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    I'm in.

    There were small things all over that bugged me a bit, but did anyone else have a problem with the Czech Republic being a location?
     
  5. Alberto

    Alberto Member+

    Feb 28, 2000
    Northern, New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Why? It was part of the eastern block. Why would you have an issue with it?
     
  6. Alberto

    Alberto Member+

    Feb 28, 2000
    Northern, New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Overall it was quite good. I like the back story with the senior KGB agent that defected and how it tied into Keri Russell's character.

    Also, how her husband views his relationship with her as more than a job. He's in love with her. You could see it during the flashback to their first night undercover in Virgina in 65 and how he caresses her ponytail and she misinterprets it as a sign he wants sex.
     
  7. Alberto

    Alberto Member+

    Feb 28, 2000
    Northern, New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    She seriously needs to eat. She's way too skinny.
     
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  8. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Did they call it the CR? Cuz that's a serious anachronism.
     
  9. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think you could see, by the end of the episode, that Elizabeth was viewing her relationship with Phillip as more than just a job.
     
  10. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    It wasn't said or printed on anything in the action. The flashback began with the location on the screen, but it wasn't the Czech Republic yet. It just made me do a bit of a double take and rethink the time line unnecessarily.
     
  11. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    So they identified then Czechoslovakia as the Czech Republic with an on-screen caption?
     
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  12. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    The first episode was actually quite good.
    It might be odd to say such a thing about a show that had rape and murder in its first hour, but it doesn't take itself too seriously and has a light enough tone and sufficient humor to off-set the somewhat ludicrous set-up and plot contrivances.
    In other words, it's just well-made fun. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
    The "In the Air tonight" sequence was a nice wink to 1980s style editing.
     
  13. kcscsupporter

    kcscsupporter Member+

    Apr 17, 2002
    D17
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    i opted not to watch the show based purely because of how over the top fx was promoting it. it sounds like something i'd be interested in, but i hate it when networks promote it to death. my own little private boycott, i suppose.

    unrelated to that, i could stare at keri russell for hours. if the reviews continue to be good, maybe i'll jump on board and catch up.
     
  14. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Just to illustrate their sense of humor:
    [​IMG]

    :D
     
  15. Alberto

    Alberto Member+

    Feb 28, 2000
    Northern, New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thank God it wasn't plaster over lath or mesh. That would really hurt!
     
  16. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    DVR cut off the last couple of minutes......
     
  17. Alberto

    Alberto Member+

    Feb 28, 2000
    Northern, New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I know it sometimes signals it's a bad show when it's over hyped in the months prior to it's premier, but this show is quite good. I wouldn't keep myself from watching. You usually can see true tripe on tv commercials. As an example Jersey Shore.
     
  18. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    I was wondering about the characters' supposed ages.
    Elisabeth being 2 when her father died at Stalingrad would make her either 40 or 41 in 1981.
    So she would have been 20 at the time of the rape, 21 when she was introduced to Philip and 25 when they finally arrived in the US?
     
  19. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Now that I have had some time to let it digest, I believe that the fringe-less core of this show is the dynamic between Elisabeth and Phillip, and their very different regard for each other.
    As some of you have said, Phillip obviously has real romantic feelings for his partner. I wouldn't go as far as saying that Elisabeth is indifferent towards Phillip (she did after all lie to her handler to keep him safe), but I see her feelings more as a sense of loyalty born out of working so closely together for nearly two decades (much of it in a very hostile environment where they had only each other to depend upon).

    I believe this show will remain relevant for as long as they can keep that dynamic interesting. It's certainly already a far more interesting and believable relationship than Brody and Carrie on Homeland ever managed to become.
     
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  20. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    Yep. Pointless arguments on another message board zapped my brain and I'm still struggling to come up with the right combinations of letters to express what I'm thinking.
    When they did all of those time hints, I eventually gave up trying to make it work out.
     
  21. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    The rather simple (one might even say cliché at this point) role-reversal of making the husband the sentimental one and the wife the cold/detached/calculated one works wonderfully well. Based on the very small sample size that was the pilot, of course.
     
  22. bungadiri

    bungadiri Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Jan 25, 2002
    Acnestia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Doesn't it seem like this will be hard to sustain over a series?
     
  23. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Or CMU. :eek:
     
  24. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Oh definitely. I don't see this being a five season series, at least not if they want to maintain the current premise. They can probably squeeze two good seasons out of this material, maybe three. But the set-up implies the main characters will have to make a choice at one point or another, and there will come a time where the delay of that choice becomes unrealistic (even merely within the internal logic of the show).
     

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