If I gave up on shows because of an unlikely coincidence, I'd never would have Broke Bad.

I mean C'MON. A drug kingpin just so happens to be married to the sister of the DEA agent trying to catch him?!? Yeah, right!

And don't even get me started on LOST.

Terrible comparison, as Americans and Prison Break are aspiring to completely different things. That sort of forced contrivance was par for the course in PB (the ENTIRE show was idiotic), but in Americans, it sticks out like a sore thumb because the rest of the show isn't as forced as that situation.

Another false equivalency, as he didn't start out a drug kingpin. Not to mention, his brother being a DEA agent was probably right behind him being a chemist as a reason he would consider cooking meth.

Just admit it guys, them turning out to be neighbors is pretty fucking stupid.

I already said that it is an unlikely scenario, but why would that necessarily equate to stupid? Because it bothers you that much? Sorry, just because you think it's stupid doesn't make it so. The story they want to tell is to have these people interact and behave as friends while keeping their secrets. Is there any way to meet this requirement that would not seem contrived to you? Or are you saying there is no reality where this could possibly occur?

If I was going to nitpick, this definitely wouldn't be where I would start. I think there's probably a lot more leeway that needs to be granted to buy into the fact that the kids are so oblivious to their parent's activities. I can't imagine being a spy is a 9 to 5 job or something that can be taken up once the kids are put to bed and completed before they wake up.

Weird glitch tonight by Directv.

This was originally set to be 67 minutes. It reverted back to 60 minutes for some odd reason.

Anyways, I got screwed on the last few minutes. What happened at the 1 hour mark when Phillip's 2nd wife was about to talk to him?

Good to see that Matt & Kerri made up...as their daughter discovered.

Awwwwkwaaard...!

69 with Felicity? Best episode ever.

I almost expected to see J. Walter Weatherman jump out and say "And that's why you always knock before opening a door!"

They could easily have explained the situation away by saying that their brains were aligned to the earth's axis in opposite directions.

Same problem here. Pretty annoying, esp. for a long-awaited season premiere.

Had something different happen with my Directv, but luckily it all recorded. The episode was recorded twice, first was only partial and abruptly cut off at 47 minutes. Subsequent replay was recorded fully.

What happened was:

This is what happened to me too. I happened to be watching it live so I didn't miss anything, but I noticed my recording stopped and the channel info was displaying something like "to be announced" and then the next showing was set to record.

I got 43 minutes of the first airing and 14 minutes of the replay. Unfortunately, the two recordings could not combine to give me the whole episode.

http://vod.fxnetworks.com/watch/theamericans

did they really have those automated robots on tracks to deliver mail back in the 80's?

Anyways, I thought it was a great start.

The murder of the other spy family was certainly surprising. Now I wonder if Phillip and Elizabeth are potential targets this season for whoever killed them.

at their daughter catching them in the 69.

Surprisingly graphic sex scene earlier with Elizabeth and the other spy wife in that 3 way.

And Nina is still screwing Stan and reporting back to Russia.

The first season is now available via Amazon Prime.

Looking forward to finally watching it.

Should we start an list of anachronisms?

1) The mustard bottle at the birthday party was one of the "fridge friendly" types with the "stay clean cap" that didn't come out until the mid to late 90s. This would be nitpicky... except there are plenty of brands of mustard that still come in the traditional "barrel bottle" from the 80s. The prop master could have "gotten it right" by literally moving his hand 10 inches in either direction at the grocery store.

2) In the scene where Elizabeth is checking to make sure all the doors and windows are locked, the windows are clearly from the mid 90s or later. The windows are two pieces of glass (one large piece of glass each for the top and bottom of the window). If the house had been built in the 70s, each window would have 6 small, individual pieces of glass. Single pane windows existed in the early 80s, but were much thicker than what we saw on the screen, and the latches were usually much bigger than the more steamlined, "hidden" ones the Jennings' house has.

3) No houses shown via exterior shots have TV antenna on the roofs as far as I can see and I bet almost nobody had cable in 1981.

I also wanted to comment about how funny it was here that slop was complaining about how implausible that an FBI agent would move in across the street from a pair of spies. This on a show where for the past few months Phillip has been working in a travel agency, doing spy missions at night AND still while having an alias who is currently married to Martha. All this without having Elizabeth around for a few months, and all this while the kids still require a babysitter for date night! (Isn't Paige like 16 now? I leave my kids alone by themselves when my wife & I go out now that my daughter is 12).

Anyway, I liked the premiere. The assassination of the Afghan warriors was shocking and brutal. The killing of the other spy couple -- wow that was a surprise. I loved the look Phillip gives the boy as he returns from the pool -- knowing it's the last pure, happy moment in the poor kid's life. Heartbreaking.

were they that popular? Seems like most people used rabbit ears right on the tv, not a rooftop rig. I don't recall anything noticeable from when I was a kid in that time period.

Maybe not in apartments or dorm rooms, but every house of at least median income had something like this :

Mine got off with DTV. Got cut off right after Stan's wife asked him to go to the movies. Thanks for the update.

Oh, you missed a good joke : Stan, somewhat reluctantly, takes her to The French Lieutenant's Woman. She loves it

I had to laugh -- once I was dated two girls and had to take them both to see Malcolm X in successive weeks. And pretend I hadn't just seen it. That sucked.

Well, not if you are on Directv apparently- I haven't been able to find a way to watch the episode online- anyone else??