It has only been off the air for a couple of years but the loyal fanbase of FX’s The Americans already misses it. After all, there’s a reason the series won an Emmy for writing in its final season and the Golden Globe for the Best Drama Series that same year.
The Americans delivered six seasons of outstanding drama and nostalgia from a bygone era. With every episode in the books and now that a few years have passed, it’s interesting to really see what the fans felt about it in terms of which episodes were the best in history.
Chloramphenicol (9.0)
Several episodes were tied with a 9.0 rating and those have been sorted by the total number of reviews on IMDb. A lot of the beginning of season four dealt with a biological weapon. The fourth episode, “Chloramphenicol,” sees Philip, Elizabeth, and William infected by it.
That causes them to quarantine in an apartment for 36 hours to avoid infecting anyone else. The biggest moment of the episode came at the end, as Nina had a blissful dream where she got out of prison. The harsh reality came at the end when she was shockingly executed.
Do Mail Robots Dream Of Electric Sheep? (9.0)
The scene where a frustrated Agent Gaad destroys the mail robot is one that many fans will never forget. “Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?” is the ninth in season three, and it saw Martha tell Philip about what happened to the FBI’s mail robot.
With it needing to be fixed, Philip and Elizabeth infiltrated the repair shop to install a recording device on it. It’s there that they ran into an old woman named Betty. Elizabeth and Betty shared life stories before Elizabeth admitted she was a spy and allowed Betty to die by overdosing on heart medicine.
Echo (9.0)
More often than not, great shows know how to end their seasons with a bang. That’s just what The Americans did. “Echo” is the season two finale and it came with the startling revelation that Jared was the one who killed his sister and parents because they didn’t want him in the KGB.
This was said with his dying breath, ending that storyline but opening the door for a major new one. The season wrapped up with the news that The Centre wanted to recruit Paige to be an agent, similar to Jared, meaning that Philip and Elizabeth had a lot to consider going forward.
The Summit (9.2)
You kind of get the sense that The Americans ended at just the right time. The sixth and final season was splendid and “The Summit,” which was the eighth of ten episodes, was great. It featured Philip revealing to Elizabeth that he had been reporting on her activities.
Although she was upset at first, you could see that Elizabeth was starting to realize that Philip was right. She refused to kill her target and questioned Claudia about it, finally getting the truth explained to her. It set the tone for the final two episodes.
Stingers (9.2)
Most of the second and third season saw Paige getting closer and closer to discovering the truth about her parents. It all came to a head in “Stingers,” the tenth installment of season three. She sat down her parents and demanded that they come clean about what was going on.
Whatever else happened in the episode almost seems irrelevant, even if it was good. This was all about that incredible scene where Paige spoke to her parents. She never expected to learn that they were Russian spies and it changed the show forever.
The Colonel (9.2)
Remember that bit about The Americans delivering strong season finales? Well, it all began back in the first season with “The Colonel.” Things were awkward immediately as Claudia worked as Philip and Elizabeth’s handler after knowing that they requested her transfer.
Stan came very close to discovering Philip and Elizabeth, even actually shooting Elizabeth during a failed mission. That failure caused problems for his plans for Nina. The season ended with Paige getting suspicious of her parents. She didn’t find anything but it let you know that she was curious.
The Great Patriotic War (9.3)
The fifth episode of the sixth season, “The Great Patriotic War” marked the halfway point for the final season. It also saw the ending for a character who had made sporadic appearances over the previous few seasons, Kimberly Breland, played by Emmy winner Julia Garner.
Philip had formed a strong bond with her and ultimately decided, after all of those years, to break up with her and warn her not to visit any communist countries. That sabotaged their overarching mission and added another wrinkle to his rift with Elizabeth. Elsewhere, Paige met a boy who she would go on to use for information as a real agent would.
Harvest (9.4)
The previous entry started a trend as all of the top episodes in The Americans history are from the sixth and final season. “Harvest” is the seventh episode and was a big one. Philip and Elizabeth had been at odds for most of the season, with her deeper into the spy world and him having mostly retired.
However, when he heard that she was in need of help, he dropped everything to go to Chicago and hop back in at her side. It showed how much he still loved her. The big moment was Stan realizing that the spies he’s looking for might be the Jennings, setting up the end of the series.
Jennings, Elizabeth (9.6)
The penultimate episode of the series, “Jennings, Elizabeth” was a whirlwind hour of television. After what went down in “The Summit,” Elizabeth made the big decision to stop the murder of Nesterenko and informed his people of the plot against him. Claudia verbally ran her down for this act of betrayal.
Stan continued to close in on the Jennings and Paige confronted her mother over something she had done in the past. Paige called her mother a whore and left after Elizabeth scolded her on the differences in their lives. The cliffhanger ending saw Elizabeth pack a bag to flee the country.
START (9.8)
It’s fitting that The Americans ended with its greatest episode ever. “START” saw Philip and Elizabeth agreeing to leave the country and take Paige but opting to leave Henry at school. They had the showdown fans waited for since the premiere episode, as Stan finally caught them. The whole scene was an emotional roller coaster.
Stan ultimately let his friends go as they planned to go to Canada. As they passed a check from border security on a train, Philip and Elizabeth were stunned to see that Paige got off the train. She returned to Claudia’s home for a drink, while the Jennings headed to Moscow to live out the remainder of their lives without their children.
