Need help accepting that The Americans’ final season is half over? We’ve selected five series that will get you through this difficult time.
It’s the end of an era, my friends. The Americans, FX’s game-changing series about the Cold War, identity, morality and marriage is about halfway through its sixth and final season. Soon I and the rest of The Americans‘ viewership will have to find our ’80s culture fixes and Fleetwood Mac-set montages elsewhere.
I’m excited to see how the series will end after six years of anti-capitalist espionage, cryptic conversations, and wigs, but I’m sad, too. Not quite Nina-is-dead sad, but melancholic for sure.
Luckily, The Americans will live on via streaming and through its many cultural cousins (and through current events). Here are five series that share storytelling DNA with The Americans and will help us through our transition to the post-Philip and Elizabeth Jennings world:
GLOW
In terms of tone and style, GLOW couldn’t be more different from The Americans. It’s a candy-colored comedy about actresses making a Saturday morning wrestling show. What the two series have in common are their 1980s settings and their subtle digs at the rising conservatism of the Reagan era. Sure, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling aren’t actively trying to destabilize the United States, but they’re frustrated with the world they live in — just take Ruth and Debbie’s desire for better opportunities and their teammates taking on social and cultural stereotypes. I’m looking at you Welfare Queen, Fortune Cookie and Beirut.
Now, with that in mind, let’s all imagine Elizabeth Jennings’ reaction to Ruth’s “Zoya the Destroya” routine. Poor Ruth would be toast.
Season 1 of GLOW is available on Netflix. Season 2 drops June 29.
Friday Night Lights
I could argue that the United States and Russia were locked in a prolonged football game during the Cold War, but then I’d actually have to know something about the sport.
No, Friday Night Lights makes for a good companion piece to The Americans because both series revolve around a strong marriage. Eric and Tami Taylor are basically the homecoming king and queen: he’s the high school football coach, and she’s the guidance counselor. They love and respect one another. Philip and Elizabeth are Soviet spies in an arranged marriage but eventually fall in love for real. They are partners in every sense of the word.
Neither union is perfect by any means but Eric and Tami are each other’s most trusted confidantes — same goes for Philip and Elizabeth. Both couples are much stronger together than they are on their own.
On a semi-related note, both leading ladies have truly amazing hair.
Friday Night Lights’ entire series is now on Hulu.
Better Call Saul
The audience does not know exactly how Better Call Saul or The Americans will conclude — but thanks to Breaking Bad and history, they get the gist. Jimmy McGill will eventually become the shady strip mall lawyer Saul Goodman and the Berlin Wall will eventually come down. In short, both series’ “heroes” are damned.
Not that that makes either show any less compelling. I don’t watch Better Call Saul or The Americans for their endings; I watch them for their characters. Jimmy is headed for that Cinnabon in Omaha and it’ll be a miracle if both Jennings get out of this season alive. The destinations are already more or less set, but I’m no less satisfied to be tagging along on the journey.
Seasons 1-3 of Better Call Saul are streaming on Netflix. Season 4 is expected to air sometime this year on AMC.
Fresh Off the Boat
One of my favorite Americans arcs is Elizabeth’s season 4 friendship with Korean immigrant Young-Hee. Elizabeth is posing as “Patty” and using Young-Hee to get to her husband, but there is genuine affection between the women. The usually closed-off Elizabeth bonds with Young-Hee in a way the audience had never seen (or has seen since). Also, Elizabeth shows a rare moment of regret when she is forced to carry out her plan and betray Young-Hee.
Anyway, all of this is to say that, while Elizabeth and Philip are deep-cover Soviet spies, they are also immigrants. Like Young-Hee, they moved to America from another nation, encounter culture clashes, and occasionally miss their home and former way of life.
In some ways, Fresh Off the Boat‘s Jessica and Louis Huang parallel Elizabeth and Philip. Both couples have relocated to the U.S. from another country, Taiwan in the Huangs’ case. The husbands are more enthusiastic about America, while the wives feel a stronger connection to their homeland. Not that the comparison is foolproof: there’s no universe where Jessica Huang pretends to be someone she’s not.
All episodes of Fresh Off the Boat are available on Hulu.
The Honourable Woman
The Americans is set against the constant back-and-forth between Russia and the U.S. during the ’80s. The Honourable Woman, a 2014 miniseries, explores the never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine. Both shows are anchored by idealistic women: Elizabeth Jennings is dedicated to communism and the Soviet Union in equal measure, and The Honourable Woman‘s Nessa Stein is a powerful Jewish businesswoman determined to improve relations in the Middle East.
Nessa’s beliefs are honorable, as are Elizabeth’s. Both women have devoted their lives to something bigger than themselves. This is uncommon and admirable — I remember being impressed by Elizabeth’s dogma in season 1, even if I disagreed with her actions.
But personal convictions do have limits. Over the course of The Honourable Woman Nessa witnesses and is subjected to terrible violence and realizes she has been used as a pawn in international diplomacy. In season 6 of The Americans, Elizabeth finally seems to be questioning her role in Directorate S.
I don’t believe either series is nihilistic. Still, The Honourable Woman and The Americans both demonstrate how personal integrity can slowly be worn down. After watching Nessa and Elizabeth muddle through their work, you can’t help but wonder if anything they did actually made the slightest difference.
The Honourable Woman is streaming on Netflix.
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The Americans airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX.