The Americans recently finished its first season and what a fantastic season it was. Great characters, awesome storylines and a 1980s setting – what’s not to love?

The Americans follows two deep-cover Russian spies, sent to America by Moscow in the late 1960s to pose as a newly married couple. Over the next sixteen years, they have two children, get to know their neighbours, open a travel agency…and undertake innumerable missions. Our story begins when an FBI agent and his family move in across the street from our covert spies, himself emerging from a decades long deep cover amongst cultists. Will our spies be discovered?

However, the show is way more awesome than I’m making it sound. Elizabeth, played by Keri Russell, is all manner of awesome, a staunch Russian patriot completely dedicated to her cause. Her husband, Philip, played by Matthew Rhys, questions the loyalty demanded of him and Elizabeth to the motherland, and wonders what’s really so bad about America. This leads to an interesting and inherent conflict between the two, and when they begin to realise their partnership contains complex feelings including love, the show gets seriously good.

Ultimately, this is a love story with a really interesting and intense spy dynamic. A suspense with strong romantic tendencies, I guess you could say. The choices for each of the characters is consistently smart and believable, and I never felt as if the storylines were dumbed down, always a massive plus. As an aside, the reason I started watching this show is because Graham Yost, the creator of Justified, was involved. If you know that show, you know the level of awesome The Americans contains.