On its face, The Americans is a spy show, but really it's the story of a marriage between two Russian spies, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys), who are hiding in plain sight in Ronald Reagan's early 1980s suburban Washington.
Entering its fourth season, The Americans does what the best TV shows of the #PeakTV era do: It willingly paints itself into and out of corners and isn't afraid to blow up aspects of its premise in the name of realism.
Like Breaking Bad, which allowed Walt to maintain his drug dealer secret identity for several seasons, but eventually had him spill the beans to his wife, The Americans kept its lead characters' nationality and true occupation a secret from their oldest child for almost three full seasons, but then let the truth out last year.
The new season picks up with daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) still working through what it means that her parents are Russian spies.
And her parents have to work through what to do once they learn Paige confessed her new knowledge to her church pastor.
At the same time, Martha (Alison Wright), who Philip recruited as an unwitting mole within the FBI, learns about the psyche-shattering price she must pay for getting wrapped up in Philip's work.
Through the first four episodes of the new season, the ever-excellent spy thriller explores the parent-child dynamic, introduces the concept of biological weapons and plays on the suspicions of FBI neighbour Stan (Noah Emmerich).
The Americans is mostly adept at surprising viewers by not tacking in expected directions, although one plot results in a dead end that left me to wonder, why did the writers spend so much time on that?
At a January press conference, executive producer Joel Fields said the show's writers were most interested in putting the characters in circumstances that would provoke conflict and growth in relationships.
‘‘What we're playing with are actually universal relationship dynamics, just under very, very heightened circumstances,'' he said.
‘‘What's powerful is you always have to ask yourself how much of yourself are you going to share, and there's always a sense of disillusionment from a teenager who's growing to see his or her parents in a new, more realistic light as they grow up. It just so happens that the stakes for these guys are life and death.''
For Taylor, there was a hope she'd get to put on a wig and begin spying alongside Philip and Elizabeth once her parents' secret was out.
But it doesn't play out that way.
‘‘If any teenager was in that position and found out such a huge secret, like, what would you do with it?'' she said.
‘‘No-one can really hold all that into themselves. So I was, of course, surprised and a little disheartened with how Paige reacted and the fact that she told her pastor. But when you really break it down and try and understand her perspective and where she's coming from, her whole life is a lie. So I find it really understandable what Paige did.''
Historic landmarks featured in season four include Ronald Reagan's ‘‘Star Wars'' speech and the 1983 broadcast of nuclear holocaust drama The Day After.
As for how long The Americans can sustain its story - the Russian spies have had plenty of close calls; eventually they'll either be caught, killed or return to Russia, right? - Fields said he did not have a definitive timeline for the show's end but it felt like it was past the midway point.
‘‘If you were to think of a three-act story structure, it feels like we are coming towards the end of the second act,'' he said.
‘‘And whether it takes a fifth season or fifth and sixth season to tell the rest of that story, I think we'll discover as we start to dig into next season's work, which will happen as we dig out of this season.''
■ The fourth season of The Americans premieres tomorrow at 9.30pm on SoHo
- by Bob Owens
