“Amber Waves” is an immediate reminder that The Americans is an edifice brilliantly constructed of contrasts.
The series proves once again that action need not be explosive to be effective.
The episode establishes the rifts in the show’s key relationships through a series of skillful compositions.
The Americans traditionally finds suspense in the slow, summative effect of its wary glances and closed doors.
A master class in suspense, not only of spies caught in a tightening net, but also of characters whose choices begin to feel less like liberty and more like entrapment.