120 Fun Facts About The Americans

On which US cable network did The Americans air?

It ran for six seasons from 2013 to 2018.

Who plays Elizabeth Jennings?

Russell had won a Golden Globe for a WB drama more than a decade earlier.

Who plays Philip Jennings?

The Welsh actor won the Lead Actor Emmy for the final season.

Which Soviet agency do the Jenningses secretly work for?

They belong to its Directorate S, which ran deep-cover illegals abroad.

In which Virginia suburb do the Jenningses live?

It sits just outside Washington, D.C., where the couple work.

What cover business do Philip and Elizabeth run?

By the finale Philip has retired from spying to run it full time, badly.

Who is the FBI counterintelligence agent who moves in next door?

He becomes Philip's best friend without suspecting a thing for years.

Who plays Stan?

Emmerich almost turned it down because he was tired of playing men with badges.

What was the creator's job before television?

He later called joining the agency a mistake, but it gave him his storylines.

What are the names of the Jennings children?

Both were born in America and grow up unaware of their parents' work.

Whose presidency has just begun when the series opens?

The show ends in December 1987, on the eve of a superpower arms deal.

Which arms-control agreement is about to be signed when the series concludes?

The finale is nonetheless titled after the START talks that followed the Washington Summit.

How many episodes were made in total?

Five 13-episode seasons and a 10-episode finale run.

How many episodes were in the final season?

Every previous season had 13.

What is the title of the series finale?

It aired on May 30, 2018.

What does the finale's title refer to?

Negotiations began in earnest after the Washington Summit.

Where does Stan confront the Jenningses in the finale?

He draws his gun, hears them out, and lets them drive away.

What last American meal do Philip, Elizabeth and Paige eat in the finale?

They then sit apart on the train north.

Where is the family's train heading when they cross the border?

They clear border security at Rouses Point, New York.

What shocks Philip and Elizabeth as the train leaves the United States?

Paige goes back to Claudia's abandoned safe house and pours a vodka.

Which child do the Jenningses decide to leave behind in America?

Philip and Paige ask Stan to look after him at boarding school.

Which 1980 Soviet film shapes Elizabeth's closing vision of her unlived life?

She had watched it with Paige and Claudia in "Dead Hand".

Whom does Philip warn Stan about before leaving?

Whether Stan's wife is a KGB plant is left unanswered.

What passports do the Jenningses use to escape?

They bury the evidence of their American lives, including a fake passport Henry will never use.

Who is arrested by the FBI in the final episodes after picking up a dead drop?

Because he entered on a student visa he cannot be traded in a prisoner exchange.

Which Emmy did Rhys win for the finale?

Weisberg and Fields won the writing Emmy for the same episode.

Who directed the pilot?

A friend of Emmerich's, he talked him into taking the FBI role.

Whom do the Jenningses kidnap in the pilot?

He had raped Elizabeth during her training; Philip kills him in their garage.

What does Stan borrow from Philip in the pilot that lets him see the Jenningses' car?

The car matches the kidnappers' vehicle, but with Virginia plates.

How many US viewers watched the pilot?

No later episode came close; the finale drew 922,000.

What is Elizabeth's Russian birth name?

She was named after Lenin's wife.

What is Philip's Russian birth name?

He later learns he has a son of the same name back in the USSR.

In which city was Elizabeth born?

Her father was shot as a deserter, a fact she learned only from her mother.

In what year did Philip and Elizabeth arrive in America?

They had been assigned to each other as a couple three years earlier.

Whom did Elizabeth recruit and have a long affair with in the 1960s?

Derek Luke plays him; he returns in a dream in the finale.

Whose study do the Jenningses bug with a clock in season 1?

Philip poses as a Swedish intelligence officer to get photos of the room.

Under which false identity does Philip romance FBI secretary Martha?

She marries him without ever learning his real name.

Who plays Martha Hanson?

It was the English actress's television debut.

Where is Martha flown to when the KGB gets her out of the country?

She arrives with the rat carrying the tularemia sample.

What is Martha allowed to do in the USSR in season 5?

Her language instructor tells her after consulting Gabriel.

Who is Nina Krilova?

Stan blackmails her into spying, then falls for her.

What happens to Nina in season 4?

Her appeal is denied and the sentence carried out on the spot.

Who plays Nina?

Mahendru has a Russian mother and speaks six languages.

Who is Oleg when he first arrives at the Rezidentura?

A minister's son, he was posted to Washington to enjoy its comforts.

Who plays Oleg?

The Russian-born Australian later played another Russian spy on a rival network.

Who is the KGB Rezident played by Lev Gorn?

By season 6 he is deputy chief of Directorate S and a Gorbachev supporter.

Who plays the Jenningses' handler Claudia?

She won two Emmys for the role, in 2015 and 2016.

How many Emmys did Martindale win for playing Claudia?

She was nominated four times in the guest actress category.

Who plays handler Gabriel?

Langella has won four Tony Awards.

Who plays FBI supervisor Frank Gaad?

Thomas is forever John-Boy to a generation of viewers.

What does Gaad break in a fit of temper, giving the KGB an opening?

The Jenningses bug it at the repair shop and meet Betty there.

What does Elizabeth let bookkeeper Betty do after revealing she is a Russian spy?

The scene is in "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?", an Emmy-nominated script.

Which season 3 episode was Emmerich's directorial debut?

He directed again in seasons 4 and 5.

On the night of which Reagan address does season 3 end?

The finale carries the date as its title.

Whom do Philip and Elizabeth finally confess their identities to in season 3?

Her minister had urged her to confront them about their secrecy.

Whom does Paige tell her parents' secret to?

The Jenningses debate killing him and his wife Alice, then decide to "work" them instead.

Which teenage girl does Philip cultivate because of her CIA father?

Julia Garner plays her across four seasons.

What does Gabriel give Philip to help him bond with Kimmy?

Philip plants a bug in her father's attaché case.

Who is William Crandall?

Dylan Baker plays him for one season.

Which disease agent does William hand the Jenningses in the season 4 premiere?

Philip finds the unbroken vial in his pocket after Stan slams him against a wall.

How does William die?

Delirious, he describes a spy couple with two kids, a clue Stan remembers years later.

Where is William's body dug up in the season 5 premiere?

Hans cuts his hand in the grave and Elizabeth kills him on the spot.

Where do the Jenningses finally take the kids on a family trip in season 4?

The episode is named after a David Copperfield TV special.

Which 1983 TV film unsettles the characters about nuclear war in season 4?

The episode shares its title.

On the night of which event does season 4 end?

Paige and Matthew are watching the game at Stan's house.

Which self-help programme do Philip and Stan's ex-wife Sandra both attend?

Stan tried one meeting and decided it was stupid.

In season 5, what cover identities do the Jenningses use to work the Morozov family?

A young Vietnamese agent, Tuan, poses as their adopted son.

What crop does Elizabeth learn the US programme in Topeka is really trying to breed?

The Center had assumed sabotage; Philip is crushed by guilt over a needless killing.

Whom do the Jenningses execute in "Dyatkovo"?

Anna admits her wartime past at gunpoint; Elizabeth pulls the trigger when Philip hesitates.

What is Philip's secret from his past that he tells Elizabeth in season 3?

The son eventually travels to America looking for him.

What does season 6's title "Dead Hand" refer to?

Hardliners plan to overthrow Gorbachev if he renounces it.

How many years pass between the end of season 5 and the start of season 6?

Season 6 opens in September 1987.

What has Henry become by season 6?

Philip refuses him the school in season 5, then relents.

Whom does Elizabeth kill in "Jennings, Elizabeth" to protect Gorbachev's negotiator?

Tatiana had been sent as her replacement to assassinate Nesterenko.

What does Philip do to Marilyn's body after she is killed in "Harvest"?

Elizabeth disposes of them so the body cannot be identified.

Whose artwork stands in for dying artist Erica Haskard's paintings in season 6?

Some pieces were created just for the series.

Which 2010 real event partly inspired Weisberg to write the pilot?

He moved the story to the 1980s so the enemies would feel real.

Whose smuggled KGB notes were among Weisberg's research materials?

Mitrokhin was a KGB archivist who defected to Britain in 1992.

Which producer read Weisberg's pilot and helped develop the show?

Yost had created the series on which Martindale won her first Emmy.

Whose idea was it to cast Russell as Elizabeth?

A DreamWorks casting head suggested Rhys after seeing him in a play.

Where was the show mostly filmed?

Brooklyn's Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens stood in for the D.C. suburbs.

Which storm delayed early filming of season 1?

Filming for the rest of the season began in November 2012.

Where were some scenes for the last two seasons filmed?

Oleg's Russian storyline moved the show behind the old Iron Curtain.

Which co-showrunner did FX pair with Weisberg?

The two later co-created another FX series together.

Which Who guitarist wrote a song for the season 2 episode "Yousaf"?

It was called "It Must Be Done", written with the show's composer.

Who composed the show's music?

He was Emmy-nominated for the main title theme.

Which HBO vampire series did the show's composer also score?

He also scored Carnival Row and The Great.

How many Peabody Awards did the show win?

It was the first drama since Breaking Bad to win a second during its run.

Which Golden Globe did the final season win?

Rhys and Russell were nominated but did not win.

How many Emmy nominations did the show receive in total?

Critics considered its early omissions snubs.

Where did the show rank on Rolling Stone's 2022 list of the greatest TV shows?

The Guardian had put it 43rd on its 21st-century list in 2019.

Which UK broadcaster dropped the show in January 2015?

It later picked up seasons 3 and 4 for ITV Encore.

Which country's remake of The Americans was announced in 2025?

The Koreans, announced in 2025, reimagines the story with North Korean sleeper agents in the 1980s.

Which 1990s WB series won Russell a Golden Globe?

She played the title character from 1998 to 2002.

On which Disney Channel show did Russell start out at 15?

Her dancing at the audition got her the job.

What is true of Russell and Rhys off screen?

Their first child, a son, was born in 2016.

Where was Rhys born?

He attended Welsh-medium schools and speaks only Welsh to his son.

Which ABC family drama made Rhys's name in America before this show?

He played Kevin Walker from 2006 to 2011.

Which 2017 Spielberg film cast Rhys as Daniel Ellsberg?

He then played Lloyd Vogel opposite Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Emmerich is best known for which 1998 Jim Carrey film?

He played Truman's best friend Marlon.

Martindale won her first Emmy as Mags Bennett on which series?

The creator of that series also executive-produced The Americans.

Which Broadway role brought Langella one of his four Tonys in 2007?

He repeated the role in the 2008 film and got an Oscar nomination.

Thomas is best known as John-Boy on which series?

He won an Emmy for the role.

Wright received an Emmy nomination for which season?

She appeared only as a special guest that year, in the USSR.

Which Ryan Murphy series did Wright appear in after the show?

She also appeared in his Hollywood in 2020.

On which series did Ronin later play Yevgeny Gromov?

Another Russian intelligence officer, another American spy drama.

Dylan Baker earned three Emmy nominations for which CBS legal drama?

He played the unnervingly polite murderer Colin Sweeney.

Which 2007 novel did Weisberg publish after leaving the CIA?

Reading it led a producer to discover the author had also written a spy pilot.

What was Weisberg's job between the CIA and television?

He helped students at a Queens school found their newspaper.

Which 2022 FX limited series did Weisberg and Fields co-create next?

Steve Carell played a therapist held captive by a serial killer.

Why do most Soviet characters go without surnames on the show?

"Ivanovich" means son of Ivan; "Sergeevna" daughter of Sergei.

What does the show's creator say the series is essentially about?

International relations, he said, is just an allegory for human relations.

What does the KGB want to do with Paige, as revealed in the season 2 finale?

The first such recruit, Jared Connors, murdered his own family.

Who really killed the Connors family in season 2?

His parents had objected to his recruitment.

Which FBI man does Philip accidentally kill in season 1?

Amador had confronted him outside Martha's; Gregory falls under suspicion for it.

What does Stan do to Vlad in the season 1 safe house?

It is his revenge for Amador's death, and it haunts him for years.

Who shoots Elizabeth in the season 1 finale?

Recovering, she speaks Russian to Philip for the first time: "Come home."

What hobby does Elizabeth actually enjoy, according to her character page?

She is otherwise described as having few hobbies.

Which US programme does the season 1 colonel dismiss as technically infeasible?

He suggests it may even be a ruse to make the USSR waste money.

What was the KGB agent Rob's fate after the pilot's botched pickup?

Timoshev stabbed him during the chase.