In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday April 30, The Americans creator Joe Weisberg and executive producer Joel Fields answered questions about The Americans.

The Americans season 1 finale will air tonight, May 1 at 10 p.m. The Americans has stunned audiences with its intricate display of the Cold War, the 1980s, and the strained relationship between Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip (Matthew Rhys) Jennings. The FX drama was recently renewed for a second season and will surely put the Jennings in hazardous situations once more.

In regards to the idea for the series, creator Weisberg described the thought process behind the intricate show:

In 2010, if you remember, there were a bunch of Russian intelligence service spies who were arrested in the United States and a lot of people were very surprised that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was still sending this type of deep cover spies to spy on the United States. They were posing as everyday Americans. They were, in other words, illegal, like Philip and Elizabeth. After the FBI arrested them and carted them off to jail, I got a call from the heads of DreamWorks Television, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, who asked me if I’d be interested in developing a television show based on what had happened.

KGB handler Claudia played by Margo Martindale has been a source of mistrust for Elizabeth and Philip. When asked if Claudia would have a role in the second season of The Americans, Fields said jokingly, “You know, we know that there’s some pilot that we’ve been told about, some CBS, little startup – I don’t even know that you could call it a network – but the KGB has a very, very long reach and we believe that when given the opportunity, they will return Claudia to her rightful position doing what it is she should be doing.”

The producers emphasized that The Americans is a show about marriage at its core. Weisberg said, “At the end of the season, Philip and Elizabeth are on the same page, but I think most people who are married would agree that in marriage you’re on the same page and then you’re off the same page – on and off.”

The producers were teenagers during The Americans’ time period of the 1980s and vividly remember their own Cold War experiences, which help to shape the show’s narrative. Weisberg said, “I remember early on when we were talking about this and out of design, all the period stuff, I said, ‘You know, the ‘80s wasn’t that long ago; and every person in the room looked at me like I was crazy. Since then I’ve had to back down and admit it was a really, really long time ago.”

One of the great questions about the series before it premiered was how it was going to make KGB undercover spies during the Cold War likeable. Audiences have fallen in love with the Jennings and sympathized with their issues despite ideological differences. The producers admitted that they were slightly worried about the audience’s reaction but grew to like and sympathize with the characters themselves as they got to know them.

Then an interesting thing happened, which is that once we cast Keri and Matthew and saw them read for the first time, our concerns literally evaporated. They just brought so much of themselves and so much sympathy and likeability to the roles that we just were pretty certain that people were going to feel a great sympathy for the characters, even for Elizabeth with all her toughness.

In regards to the complex relationship between Nina (Annet Mahendru) and Stan (Noah Emmerich) after her reverse betrayal back to the KGB in last week’s episode and their continued illicit affair, Weisberg commented, “As for Nina and Stan, you know, that’s been such a powerful and intense part of the season, both the spycraft and the emotional journey. Seeing where that goes next season is going to be one of the cornerstones of the season next year.”

Joe Weisberg, creator and executive producer of the drama, used his experience as a CIA case officer in the 1990s to create the situations behind The Americans. He went on to write books such as An Ordinary Spy before moving to create the FX drama. Joel Fields was an executive director on Ugly Betty, Raising the Bar, and Rizzoli & Isles, among other shows before The Americans.

Are you excited for tonight’s The Americans season 1 finale? What do you hope occurs?

The Americans’ season finale “The Colonel” will air Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST on FX.

Photo Credit: FX