The Americans TV show: Who died?
In The Americans, there were certain deaths that struck us unexpectedly. Some characters had great potential and we were expecting more out of these talented people. This article comprises of the characters I thought could have stayed with us longer or just had a plain sad termination. Now since the first season of The Americans is up, let’s just show our respects to the (on-screen) deceased.
Gregory: Needless to say that Gregory’s death was sad and heartbreaking for both us and Elizabeth. The role of Gregory was beautifully played by Derek Luke. Gregory was the was a passionate character and for a change it was interesting to watch a non-Russian work against USA. Gregory’s betrayal to his nation brought a whole new dimension to the show’s story-line, which sadly, was not continued for long. Our questions about how he felt about the spying and why he even got in this mess, were left unanswered. Although provided his love interests towards Elizabeth, it’s safe to say that most of his actions were passion driven, in fact, so was his decision to end his life. With Gregory’s death, died a little part of Elizabeth which loved the guy. But the silver lining, a possible future between Elizabeth and Philip rose over the ashes. Gregory appeared in- Gregory(Episode 3) and Trust Me(Episode 6) before eventually dying in: Only You(Episode 10).
As for Derek Luke, if you miss the man too much then go ahead and watch Baggage Claim (2013) where he has played William Wright. Another movie he has been up to lately is Second Sight (2013) where Derek appeared as Det. Paul Giroux and we recommend you to watch it as soon as it’s up for grabs!
The Assassin: There is not much to say about this man but the reason he made this list was because of the extraordinary character played by him. I’ve actually become a fan of Chris Sullivan,who played the assassin in Mutually Assured Destruction (Episode 8); due to his cold and subtle assassin features, I was mesmerized for a a while. The man had more potential than required for a guest appearance! The intensity he brought to the role with his mere accent and mysterious smile, was incomparable. All in all I would have loved to have him on the show for much longer than a single episode! Well, if you wish to get more of him, do watch Animal Rescue (I know I will) in 2014, where Chris plays the role of Jimmy.
Vlad: This, according to me, was one of the most lamentable death on television! I seriously can’t emphasize enough how dissatisfied I was I was to see this innocent man fall! The character portrayed an innocent man, who had nothing to do with the intelligence strategies, falling victim to the war situation. This was, however, a typical scenario for on-going war countries. Hard as it may be to admit, an uncountable number of people are penalized only by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Vitaly Benko, who played Vlad in The Americans, is indeed another brilliant actor. Putting aside the tragedy of the role, Vitaly’s performance in his death scene was marvelous. The reason behind the woeful scene was the representation of the character in such an ingenuous and vulnerable way by Vitaly. The scene was definitely well written and performed to serve its purpose.
Vitaly Benko appeared as Vlad in The Clock (Episode 2), Trust Me(Episode 6), Mutually Assure Destruction (Episode 8) and was finally killed in Safe House (Episode 9).
Chris Amador: Chris’ death was more painful than any others! The poor guy wasn’t granted enough morphine in time and died a sad death. He was a fun dynamic character on the show and his enthusiasm was hard to over look. Besides, he was the only person capable of getting Stan out of the robot-zone and make him be his human self. With the loss of Chris, Stan lost his only friend. Chris’ decease was, however, justified as it made Stan more true to the cause making the mission to take down the Russians his personal business.
I started watching this FX series from the very first episode. I appreciate the art direction which has completely replicated the look and feel of the circa 70’s era, from the fashions right down to the backdrop scenes. The later is very difficult to pull off when you are shooting on location, outside of a movie studio set. I like the character of the Russian female informant who sleeps with the CIA agent.
It never ceases to amaze me the decisions that they make about TV shows. The cancelled one of my favorite shows last season and it was rated number one so I couldn’t figure that out and they also moved a highly liked show to another station. We were watching one last night where the entire cast of the last season was gone except two people. How and who decided this stuff?
I really like this new show. I first got interested when I was sitting in a movie theatre and the early promotions of this show were being shown along with the coming attractions in theatres. I thought that was a great strategy on the part of the FX network. By reaching the movie going audience, they were reaching out to a demographic that appreciates and pays for good drama. And that is what this new TV show qualifies as: a very good drama.
I can’t believe what the shows do sometimes, I understand that there are new shows that come out all the time and to give them a chance you have to change some things but why pick the ones that are top ranking with the viewers? I would pick the sitcoms that don’t do any good anymore rather than a hour long show that everyone watches. And never cancel midseason!
Why do they do this kind of stuff, people are really into a show and they kill people off that don’t make any sense or they cancel the show half way through the season so you don’t even get to find out what was going to happen, like CSI New York, that was one of the better CSI’s and they cancel it instead of one of the others. Who makes these choices?
As an episode of “The Americans,” I think “The Colonel” works very, very well. It’s tense, it’s emotional and it moves a bunch of plots (particularly Nina’s conversion and the KGB’s interesting in SDI) along significantly. I wasn’t wild about the car chase after Philip rescued Elizabeth, but everything else story-wise was strong. I am looking forward to seeing season 2, but I don’t think it has been cleared for a second season just yet. I hope it doesn’t suddenly get canceled as some tv shows inexplicably do.
Everywhere you look, someone is championing the self-referential glories of NBC’s “Community or singing the praises of Fox’s “Glee and going on (and on) about CBS’ “The Good Wife. And it doesn’t stop with the broadcast networks: AMC’s “Mad Men is trending toward event status. Which got me to thinking; has the ever expanding universe of channels finally begun to infill with quality? Maybe TV hasn’t really gotten all that more exciting, but with burgeoning social networks, perhaps an increasingly lively social media universe makes it seem that way.
I guess we can consider this article an In Memorium’ segment, where we honor those characters we love and love to hate – just like the segment of every award show where they honor those industry pros who passed away during that season. Speaking of award shows, I hope The Americans gets nominated for a Globe or an Emmy. I’m sick of seeing the same old shows like Mad Men and Homeland living off their past success.
I wondered just like Stephen, whether TV shows have gotten better and it is my feeling that the caliber of TV dramas has gotten better in the last decade. I am not even including reality Tv in my opinion. Reality TV exploded at the turn of the century and has been getting better and more elaborate ever since. Shows like The Americans demonstrate another raising of the bar for TV dramas.
This show is shockingly good. If you’re expecting another 1-dimensional jingoistic action-adventure where all the characters do stupid things all the time, look elsewhere. The acting is brilliantly downplayed, the plot is engaging and clever and the juxtaposition of the US and Russian characters, hopes, dreams and beliefs is very perceptive. You end up caring about *all* the people involved, and yet it’s exciting enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.