TV #49 of 2021:
The Americans, season 4
This remains a good show from scene to scene, but I’m growing frustrated with some of the larger plotting decisions. Last year built up a few tense and untenable situations that never came to a head, like Kimmy’s advances and the literal Chekhov’s gun in Martha’s kitchen drawer, and the natural yet apparently faulty assumption would be that those elements are due to be picked up here. And while subverting audience expectations can sometimes be an effective piece of storytelling, this lack of follow-through doesn’t feel intentional enough for that.
The new plots aren’t much better, either. The actual motivation behind the operation with Young-Hee isn’t disclosed to us until near the end of the run, making it harder to share Elizabeth’s headspace of why it’s important. Pastor Tim and his wife still seem like obstacles rather than true characters, despite their increased prominence. Nina’s arc concludes in a way which casts further doubt on why she was kept around for so long, and the Rezidentura scenes continue to be uninteresting in her absence. The sudden timeskip hints at writers running out of ideas as well, and the numerous dream sequences — a first for the series — serve no apparent purpose beyond padding out the runtime.
I’m nitpicking because this is a program I generally enjoy, and any one of the issues above should be easy to brush aside. Taken in aggregate, however, they suggest structural insecurities that I hope are addressed before the upcoming endgame. Since this season thins out the cast a bit, there’s a potential to rebuild the narrative up to its former quality with everyone left. But this is the second stretch of episodes in a row I’ve been less impressed by.
[Content warning for PTSD, gun violence, suicide, and gore.]
★★★☆☆
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