History YMMV / TheAmericans

** Season 5, which was entirely too slow and espionage-free for some fans, though others appreciated the focus on the characters' interior lives. Most agreed it wasn't quite up to the standards of seasons 3 and 4, though.

* BadassDecay: Stan Beeman. Over two seasons, he falls from a hardened ex-undercover into a lovestruck adult child who fails to realize how thoroughly his supposed source has been fooling him ([[spoiler:Although Beeman does redeem himself somewhat in the season 2 finale, where he decides not to betray his country even if it means that Nina, the woman he loves, will be taken away to Moscow for trial]]).
** This seems to be the case in season three too, [[spoiler: until he pulls a successful BatmanGambit on Oleg and gets immunity from oversight.]]
** Americans government agencies in general suffer a badass decay in the second season. In the first season the FBI and CIA were portrayed as being worthy opponents to the KGB, and the CIA even managed to kill ''three'' high-ranking KGB officers in Moscow via assassins. In the first half of the second season, however, the KGB pulled off successful operations willy-nilly and the American agencies seem powerless to stop them. Until the back half of season two, when the Americans pull a BatmanGambit on the Russian military.

* AwardSnub: Although it earned quite a few precursor nods (including recognition from the Critics Choice Awards and TCA), the show's first season was almost completely bypassed by the Emmys in 2013, with no nominations for Series, Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys or Noah Emmerich. Margo Martindale managed to earn a Guest nomination for her work as Claudia, though that could be attributed less to the show and more to good will for her following her win for ''Justified'' just a few years prior.

** Martindale's win for Season 3 was seen by this as some, given how her only appearance in the ''entire'' season was opposite Frank Langella's character in a single scene at a diner. Several fans thought that the true standout guest star of the season was Lois Smith in "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?" and that Martindale won more due to her being a familiar name to Emmy voters.
** Finally averted on the whole with Season 4, which earned the show its first Emmy nominations for Drama Series, Lead Actor for Matthew Rhys, and Lead Actress for Keri Russell. The show also earned nominations for Writing and Margo Martindale once again. There were still the unfortunate omissions of Alison Wright and Holly Taylor in the Supporting Actress category, but many fans were nonetheless satisfied that the show had finally caught on with the TV Academy in a big way.

** Americans government agencies in general suffer a badass decay in the second season. In the first season the FBI and CIA were portrayed as being worthy opponents to the KGB, and the CIA even managed to kill ''three'' high-ranking KGB officers in Moscow via assassins. In the second season, however, the KGB has been pulling off successful operations willy-nilly and the American agencies seem powerless to stop them.
*** Well, until the back half of season two, when the Americans pull a BatmanGambit on the Russian military.
*** This seems to be the case in season three too, [[spoiler: until he pulls a successful BatmanGambit on Oleg and gets immunity from oversight.]]

** Martha Hanson. The writers try to justify her desperation by hinting at her ChristmasCake quality, but fandom just consider her stupid and pathetic.

** Oleg is this In-Universe, being a spoiled child of power who pulls strings to get what he wants.
** Paige, whose obsession with discovering her parent's secrets quickly progresses from precocious to dangerous, her self-entitled and shortsighted actions eventually putting multiple lives in danger.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Oleg, who went from a SmugSnake with family connections, to someone who genuinely came to care and love Nina.

** Larrick, because he's a grade-A {{badass}} who is intelligent enough and deadly enough to be a credible threat to the Jennings. Even Claudia, who fought in the Battle of Stalingrad and has decades of experience as a KGB agent, is scared shitless of him. Some people have compared Larrick to Anton Chigurh from ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' due to the fact that he's an intelligent, resourceful, relentless killer.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In season 4 episode 5, "Clark's Place," is Arkady's reaction to [[spoiler:Nina's execution]] a callous and self-centered expression of victim blaming, or a desperate attempt to reconcile his belief in Soviet justice with his knowledge that [[spoiler:Nina, a person he was fond of, did not truly deserve to die?]] Based on his chilly response, Oleg thinks it's the former...
* AnticlimaxBoss: Considering how great of a villain character that [[spoiler:Larrick]] was, many viewers felt that the final confrontation between him and the Jennings was anticlimactic.

* CanonSue / VillainSue: The Jennings have been accused of being these. They're far smarter and deadlier than almost every character in the show, their {{batman gambit}}s almost never fail, and they can seduce anybody.
** On the other hand, the moment this issue is finally addressed, the moment the American side finally catches up with the Jennings, this series is practically over. Why? Because there is no more narrative to be presented when your heroes--or in this case [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]]-are dead or imprisoned or deported out of the setting. Whether this is a good use or a bad use of TropesAreTools is up to the audience to decide.
** It's also at odds with the larger failures of the KGB apparatus throughout the series, which repeatedly get the Jennings nearly killed or set up for failure. The Jennings are great at collecting intelligence, but we see repeatedly that the KGB is ''terrible'' at actually applying that intelligence properly and more often than not it's up to the Jennings to fix their mistakes.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Can be found in the pilot, with its use of "Tusk" by Music/FleetwoodMac. What was previously known as a quirky little jungly-sounding song has now been rendered as an amazingly intense bit of soundtrack.
** Also, PeterGabriel's "Games Without Frontiers" during the montage that closes the season finale.
** Another great use of a Music/FleetwoodMac classic song "Chain", at the end of "Walter Taffet" when Phillip and Elizabeth kidnap the son of a South African politician at a diner.
*** Unfortunately, a Brit can't listen to that without thinking of a certain Stuart Hall.

** Larrick, because he's a grade-A {{badass}} who is intelligent enough and deadly enough to be a credible threat to the Jennings. Even Claudia, who fought in the Battle of Stalingrad and has decades of experience as a KGB agent, is scared shitless of him. Some people have compared Larrick to Anton Chigurh from ''NoCountryForOldMen'' due to the fact that he's an intelligent, resourceful, relentless killer.

** In "Echo" we learn that [[spoiler:Kate seduced Jared and started grooming him to be a KGB spy. Jared is only about sixteen years old.]]

*** This becomes worse in season 3's "stingers" when [[spoiler: she learns the truth about her parents and is asked to become their SecretKeeper.]]

** Martha's [[spoiler: life is destroyed utterly in season 4. First she learns a co-worker was murdered to protect her. Then her cover gets blown anyway and she's forced to go to Russia where she doesn't speak the language and doesn't know anyone and will probably never be able to talk to anyone she knows in the US again.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Stan starts off as a HeroAntagonist, going after Soviet spies in a legal manner and just trying to protect his country. [[spoiler:Then he murders Vlad in cold blood in revenge for Amador's murder.]] Although he doesn't do anything as bad after that, he can never be the hero after such a heinous act. To his credit, he finds it abhorrent himself and is still haunted by the deed as much times goes by.

* MoralEventHorizon: Stan starts off as a HeroAntagonist, going after Soviet spies in a legal manner and just trying to protect his country. [[spoiler:Then he murders Vlad in cold blood.]] Although he doesn't do anything as bad after that, he can never be the hero after such a heinous act.

** Betty in "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?" is perhaps the most empathetic and decent person to ever sadly run across the Jennings. Her death clearly has a major impact on Elizabeth who is usually the colder and less emotional of the two leads. Her final conversation with Elizabeth clearly got under her skin. “That’s what evil people tell themselves … when they do … evil things.”

* MemeticMutation: What are the two things that this show is famous for? Wigs and sex scenes.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Oleg, who went from a SmugSnake with family connections, to someone who genuinely came to care and love Nina.
** Martha in season 3 once the horrific implications of what she's gotten herself wrapped up in start to play out and make her much more sympathetic.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Played with, in tandem with VillainProtagonist and exploited by the creators.
-->'''EW.com:''' As a viewer, it's odd because you find yourself sort of rooting, a little bit, for the murderous Soviet spies to kill an innocent [[spoiler:pastor]] just to resolve the tension you feel inside about the existential threat to your main characters.\\
'''WEISBERG:''' Different people probably feel different ways, or even differently inside themselves. A part of me is rooting for that and a part of me isn’t. A part of me would be relieved, and a part of me would be devastated. That’s a rich experience.

** On the other hand, the moment this issue is finally addressed, the moment the American side finally catches up with the Jennings, this series is practically over. Why? Because there is no more narrative to be presented when your heroes--or in this case VillainProtagonists-are dead or imprisoned or deported out of the setting. Whether this is a good use or a bad use of TropesAreTools is up to the audience to decide.

* {{Narm}}: TheReveal of who killed Emmett and Leanne in "Echo". While shocking that it was [[spoiler:their son Jared]] it is funny that [[spoiler:he has a DeathbedConfession that lasts a '''long''' time, all while bleeding from a gunshot wound to the neck. He has time to tell Philip and Elizabeth (and the viewers) everything to wrap up the mystery including that he had been recruited by the Center and had had an affair with Kate, his handler.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In season 4 episode 5, "Clark's Place," is Arkady's reaction to [[spoiler:Nina's execution]] a callous and self-centered expression of victim blaming, or a desperate attempt to reconcile his belief in Soviet justice with his knowledge that Nina, a person he was fond of, did not truly deserve to die? Based on his chilly response, Oleg thinks it's the former...

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In season 4 episode 5, "Clark's Place," is Arkady's reaction to [[spoiler:Nina's execution]] a callous and self-centered expression of victim blaming, or a desperate attempt to reconcile his belief in Soviet justice with his knowledge that Nina, a person he was fond of, did not truly deserve to die? Oleg thinks it's the former...

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In season 4 episode 5, "Clark's Place," is Arkady's reaction to [[spoiler:Nina's execution]] a callous and self-centered expression of victim blaming, or a desperate attempt to reconcile his belief in Soviet justice with his knowledge that Nina, a person he was fond of, did not truly deserve to die?

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In season 4 episode 5, "Clark's Place," is Arkady's reaction to [[spoiler:Nina's execution]] a callous and self-centered expression of victim blaming or a desperate attempt to reconcile his belief in Soviet justice with his knowledge that Nina, a person he was fond of, did not truly deserve to die.

*** Martha's [[spoiler: life is destroyed utterly in season 4. First she learns a co-worker was murdered to protect her. Then her cover gets blown anyway and she's forced to go to Russia where she doesn't speak the language and doesn't know anyone and will probably never be able to talk to anyone she knows in the US again.]]

** Anton Baklanov, a Jewish Refusenik scientist who fled anti-semitic persecution in the USSR to a seemingly happily ever after ending in a much safer United States, [[spoiler: except he is repatriated to the USSR against his will and betrayed by the Mossad agents who were protecting him in exchange for one Mossad agent and emigration rights for 1,500 Soviet Jews to Israel. His verbal assault on Philip as he is being driven to the boat back to the USSR is [[TearJerker one of the most painful scenes in the series]].]]

** Betty in "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?" is perhaps the most empathetic and decent person to ever sadly run across the Jennings. Her death clearly has a major impact on Elizabeth who is usually the colder and less emotional of the two leads. Her final conversation with Elizabeth clearly got under her skin.
''Betty: “You think doing this to me will make the world a better place?”
Elizabeth: “I’m sorry. But it will.”
Betty: “That’s what evil people tell themselves … when they do … evil things.”''

* RewatchBonus: Try to watch the scenes involving [[spoiler:Jared]] after watching the season 2 finale without feeling sick in the stomach. This also goes to some extent for scenes with [[spoiler:Kate, who isn't just the Jennings' handler.]]

** Anton Baklanov, a Jewish Refusenik scientist who fled anti-semitic persecution in the USSR to a seemingly happily ever after ending in a much safer United States, [[spoiler: except he is repatriated to the USSR against his will and betrayed by the Mossad agents who were protecting him in exchange for one Mossad agent and emigration rights for 1,500 Soviet Jews to Israel. His verbal assault on Philip as he is being driven to the boat back to the USSR is [[TearJerker one of the most painful scenes in the series]].]]