The Americans Season 3 Review

The Americans (2013-)
Season 3 (2015)

Created by: Joseph Weisberg
Starring: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich
Rating: TV-14
Buy The Americans Season 3

The Americans Season 3

Plot:
Two Soviet spies, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Phillip (Matthew Rhys), pose as a married couple with kids in Washington D.C. during the Cold War.

In season three the struggle with the decision of whether to tell their daughter the truth with the gray morality in which they operate, gray even for Russian spies.

Verdict:
I really liked the first two seasons, but season three feels watered down. It's treading the same ground as season two. In season two, suspicious Paige was the family drama and there was an ongoing murder investigation of their fellow spies that bolstered the story line.
This season, Paige is still suspicious and Phillip and Elizabeth struggle with whether to tell her the truth. Paige was annoying in season two, and she still is. I don't know if it's the story of the character.
The espionage wasn't as strong. We've had some great sequences in previous seasons of dispatching threats or buzzer beater swipes, but this season was lacking. There just wasn't the big mission that this season needed. I still enjoyed this season, but while it's the worst of the first three seasons, it's not far behind. It's still good television.
Watch it.

Season 3 Recap
Season three does open with Elizabeth fighting Agent Gaad. She beats him of course, but they've had some close calls and the FBI might be putting it all together. This story line fizzles out pretty quickly.

Elizabeth and Phillip with their new handler Frank Langella.

Paige criticizes her parents while getting deeper into religion.  Will Phillip and Elizabeth tell her the truth? Phillip doesn't want to, but Elizabeth sees it as a way to connect with her daughter. Phillip lashes out at Elizabeth for seducing men, while trying to win Paige over by supporting her baptism.

Elizabeth begins to prepare Paige for the truth, telling her how she's pushed civil rights issues and reveals Gregory, though not all of those facts.

Phillip is chasing younger women.

Phillip is also balancing Martha and Kimberly. Kimberly is a fifteen year old that he'd prefer to ditch, but can't due to the cause. Elizabeth is training an agent a few years her junior. I would have liked the show to delve into this a bit more, though it has gotten into this side of their work in previous seasons.

Martha's not long for this show I suspect.

Agent Gaad finds the surveillance bug in his pen, which freaks Martha out. Phillip reassures her, but Martha is a weak link
Phillip has gotten good information out of her, and with the internal investigation it's not like she can be of much more use. He's formed an attachment, and that's going to have to end.

Episode eight has a ghastly image of a a man being burned to death. Elizabeth and Phillip do nothing to stop it as their associate gets revenge.

Paige will ruin them all!

Paige confronts her parents and they reveal the truth. It's a crazy moment in episode ten. This leads to Paige questioning everything. Paige could bring them down, and I don't buy that their handlers don't have a problem with this. Ultimately Paige confides to her pastor's wife about her parents. That's the big cliff hanger, but I couldn't help but think Russia might want to eradicate the potential threat that is Paige. She's not going to join the family business, and thus she may have an unfortunate accident when a Peugot hits her.
That's going to be the story that opens season four, but we need something espionage related to unify the next season. I don't want another Paige-centric season.