Season 4 of the American espionage period drama TV series “The Americans” went off to a rousing start on the FX network on March 16. And as expected by its loyal fans and viewers, it went on to continue with its top-tier spy drama.
True to reports before its Season 4 premiere that the show will focus on the danger of bio-weapons, the premiere episode focused on a deadly disease carried by horses and their ilk.
Entitled “Glanders,” it set up what apparently is going to be Season 4’s big storyline where Philip Jennings, played by Matthew Rhys, and Elizabeth Jennings, played by Keri Russell, will attempt to steal bio-weapons from the Americans with the help of scientist-agent William, played by the delightfully sardonic Dylan Baker, details the New York Times.
Nearly every fan and viewer of “The Americans” believes that much of the focus will be on the repercussions of Paige’s discovery. Paige is the teenage daughter of the Jennings and she finally uncovered her parent’s true identities as Russian spies.
The discovery complicates the family dynamics on multiple levels and makes her recruitment into the Second Generation Illegals program much less important, notes the Cheat Sheet.
But as it turned out, the premiere episode of Season 4 has set the stage for the show to put emphasis on bio-weapons and the danger of them getting out and killing everyone on the planet. And it seems that that danger of those bio-weapons is going to loom very large for both Philip and Elizabeth Jennings the rest of the season.
This was actually consistent with the hint made by executive producer Joel Fields before the Season 4 premiere.
Began in darkness
If there is one sign of the portent of things to come for Season 4 of “The Americans,” it is going to be dark especially when the episode premiere literally began in darkness.
Philip dreamt of a horrific incident from his childhood when he lost control and beat to death another boy who had been bullying him, but he leaves out the gruesome details.
He, later on, confessed to his pretend-wife Martha that he has killed the FBI agent Gene to protect her from her job at the bureau, much to her horror.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth is dealing with the revulsions of Paige after her discovery about her parents so it has become a tale of contrasting situations for the TV series, to say the least.
The premiere episode of “The Americans” showed the opposite directions the show’s two main plot threads will be taking the rest of the way.
Picking up from where it left off
Incidentally, Season 4 of “The Americans” pick up from where it left off during its Season 3 last year. The TV series has actually taken three seasons to move towards the beginning of the 80s. Season 4 is now set in 1983.
Before the Season 4 debut of “The Americans” on FX, the show’s producers said that the season will highlight several of the year’s big historical moments including President Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars speech, David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty in New York disappear, and the debut of the landmark TV movie, “The Day After.”
Season 4 of “The Americans” shall have 13 episodes in all and its fourth episode will be airing on April 6 on FX.
One thing is certain as far as the show is concerned and its millions of fans would really be happy knowing it is that Season 4 is not going to be the last for the show.
While showrunner Joel Fields does not have a definitive answer as to how many seasons more until the TV series draws to a close, he did say that he envisions “The Americans” to be a three-act story. He said that Season 4 is to be the end of the second act.
Based on Fields’ hint, it is possible therefore that the TV show could end after Season 6 because one act is equivalent to two seasons.
The creator said that the show will do whatever is right for the storytelling so whether it takes a fifth or sixth season to tell the rest of the story, the people of the show will discover and realize it as they move through the season.