Speaking of Keri Russell 😍… Have you watched “The Americans”?

Are you kidding? It’s a show about Soviet sleeper agents, one of whom specializes in seducing women, making them fall in love, and convincing them to make the biggest mistakes of their lives.

I’ve watched every single minute. And unlike many of the prestige shows of the last decade, it didn’t fall apart at the end… The Americans is consistently excellent from start to finish, dramatically increased my respect for Keri Russell as an actor, and turned Matthew Rhys into a new favorite.

It’s also notable for being overloaded with female supporting talent.

Margo Martindale is fucking brilliant in everything —her season of Justified was the best— but The Americans really let her polish her soft-spoken-older-lady-who-will-calmly-watch-you-die routine to perfection.

Alison Wright as sweet, deluded Martha brings just the right note of lonely desperation to the table, making it easy for us to believe that she believes everything Phillip says. Her thorough mindfucking is both entertaining and horrible.

Julia Garner wouldn’t ascend to stardom until Ozark, but she’s fantastic here as one of Phillip’s targets… the whole will-he-or-won’t-he angle on their “relationship” is a major part of his arc, but she makes it work by finding the balance between a young woman’s bravado and a little girl’s wishful thinking. It’s her performance that keeps the audience from hating Phillip for what he’s doing to a 17 year old girl’s life, and provides Rhys the room to move.

And as Sexy Russian Femme Fatales go, Annet Mahendru’s Nina is dramatically more complex and sympathetic than most… in addition to being hot as hell.