In its third season, FX’s ’80s-set spy drama The Americans continues to be one of the best shows on television (and now one of the best shows on DVD). At the end of the second season, deep cover Russian spies Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip (Matthew Rhys) Jennings were just starting to rekindle the romance in their relationship when Centre suggested it was time for their daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) to become a part of the organization’s second-generation agent program.

As the third season begins, the Jennings are starting to feel increased pressure from the KGB. While Elizabeth sees the situation as a way to bond with her daughter, Philip is adamantly against the whole idea, and the battle over whether or not to reveal the truth starts to take a toll on their relationship. Meanwhile, Paige continues to deepen her new-found interest in religion, and starts having doubts about how her parents are spending their days (and nights), and begins to ask a lot of questions.

While trying to figure out what to do with Paige, the Jennings must still carry on with their work. Both agents are constantly trying to juggle multiple identities and informants. Philip’s alter ego Clarke is getting pressure from wife Martha (Alison Wright) to add a child into the mix. At the same time, he is tasked with seducing the 15-year-old daughter of a CIA executive in order to gain access to his home/intelligence—something Philip finds somewhat repulsive due having his own 14-year-old daughter at home. Meanwhile, Elizabeth tries to control a young new operative who is a little too eager to impress her. At the same time, she works on manipulating her AA sponsor in order to gain access to a government facility. Meanwhile, the Jennings’ next door neighbor, CIA agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), is dealing with his impending divorce. Beeman still has feelings for double-agent Nina (Annet Mahendru), who is currently locked up in prison in Russia. He suspects a woman claiming to be a defector, who the government smuggled into America, is actually a Russian spy, and wonders if he can use this information to help Nina.

The third season of The Americans really amps up the drama and tension, as well as the gore (to some degree) as the Jennings once again find themselves in some really tough situations where things don’t really go as planned. These mishaps lead to some close calls regarding their lives, having their secrets being discovered, and having their long-term assets being burned. At the same time, they must deal with the issue of how to deal with Paige, and time is running out to make a decision.

I had already seen the third season when it originally aired on FX, but once I started re-watching on this DVD, I was captivated all over again. I ended up re-watching the entire season all the way through in a single day! This show is such a great series to binge watch as it is so well written, and each episode leaves you wanting to immediately continue on to the next. The third season is like a roller coaster ride as it is constantly building the tension, only to release it in a “Holy You-know-what” moment, and then it starts ratcheting things up once again. Sometimes these twists and dips come slowly and sometimes they come so fast and unexpectedly.

The acting in this series is also superb. One episode of the season that really stands out to me is episode nine, “Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?”, which features some amazing dramatic performances between star Keri Russell and guest star Lois Smith. And this is just one of many great moments throughout the season, which is filled with action, drama, mystery, tension and even some moments of humor.

As with the second season, there is no Blu-ray release, just DVD. However, the picture quality looks really good, and pretty much on par with the original HD airings on FX. Action sequences were just as crisp and clear as the dialogue-filled dramatic scenes. My only complaint is that at times the picture seemed a bit dark. As for the audio presentation, the dialogue was clear and the few songs that appear throughout the season sound great (Yaz!), but I didn’t generally notice any use of the surround channels. The discs contain a minimal amount of bonus features—five deleted scenes totaling around 7 minutes, and a 10-minute featurette about the Paige predicament featuring interviews with the cast and producers.

What’s Included:
Episodes: (450 min)

• All 13 Episodes of the Third Season:
  “EST Men”, “Baggage”, “Open House”, “Dimebag”, “Salang Pass”, “Born Again”, “Walter Taffet”, “Divestment”, “Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?”, “Stingers”, “One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov”, “I Am Abassin Zadran”, “March 8, 1983”
• 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Closed Captioned

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (7:11)
  A small collection of five deleted scenes is spread across the various discs where the episodes appear. While these scenes don’t really add any big plot changes, it is nice to see them included. Disc 2 contains scenes for episodes 305 and 307 (2:12), disc 2 contains a scene for episode 311 (2:21) and disc four contains 2 scenes for episode 313.
• The Cold War for Paige (10:19)
  The cast and filmmakers talk about the big debate on whether or not the Jennings should reveal the truth to Paige and try to recruit her, and the affect all of this has on their marriage. Includes interviews with executive producer Joel Fields, creator/executive producer Joe Weisberg, and stars Noah Emmerich (“Stan Beeman”), Holly Taylor (“Paige Jennings”), Keri Russell (“Elizabeth Jennings”) and Matthew Rhys (“Philip Jennings”).

Final Thoughts:

In its third season The Americans continues to prove why many critics call it one of the best shows on television. There are far too few people watching this series as it airs on FX, so I hope more people discover it on DVD. While the DVD only contains a small amount of bonus material, the episodes themselves are what make this release Highly Recommended. The series is so well-written and well-acted that once you start watching, you are not going to want to stop. So here’s your chance to catch up before the fourth season premieres on March 16!