Today I ran across this comment that I once made in a discussion in my own journal, and it struck me that it made for a better response to this question than the one I actually gave!
I've become convinced that The Americans doesn't tend to work for people who don't (for whatever reason) want to watch it with their brains fully engaged--it's a verrrrrrrry subtle show that relies on you not only remembering but fully comprehending the various layers of things that have happened in past episodes without shoving reminders in your face first. There are actually things in it--sometimes crucial things!--that are so subtle that I sometimes don't fully understand them until second viewing, and I already watch pretty attentively the first time around. That means that if you're not watching carefully, you only end up seeing the frame of an episode rather than the meat, and the frame is just so very much not the point of that show.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-10-02 04:32 pm (UTC)I've become convinced that The Americans doesn't tend to work for people who don't (for whatever reason) want to watch it with their brains fully engaged--it's a verrrrrrrry subtle show that relies on you not only remembering but fully comprehending the various layers of things that have happened in past episodes without shoving reminders in your face first. There are actually things in it--sometimes crucial things!--that are so subtle that I sometimes don't fully understand them until second viewing, and I already watch pretty attentively the first time around. That means that if you're not watching carefully, you only end up seeing the frame of an episode rather than the meat, and the frame is just so very much not the point of that show.
-J