Pilot (The Americans)

"Pilot" is the first episode of the first season of the period drama television series The Americans. It originally aired on FX in the United States on January 30, 2013. The episode was written by series creator Joe Weisberg and directed by Gavin O'Connor.

In 1981, shortly after the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan, Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) are undercover Soviet intelligence agents from the secretive Directorate S of the KGB sent to the U.S. 15 years ago to work deep cover in Washington, D.C. Their assumed identities are a married couple who run a travel agency, and even their own children Paige (Holly Taylor) and Henry (Keidrich Sellati) do not know their secret.

Reviews for the episode were largely positive. Critics commented on the lead performances of Russell, Rhys, and Noah Emmerich. In the United States, the series premiere achieved a viewership of 3.22 million.^[1]