Where to watch Keri Russell in The Americans (while we wait for The Diplomat season 2)

Keri Russell is such a talented actress, having won a Golden Globe for her performance in the beloved drama series Felicity. She now stars in Netflix's The Diplomat, which landed her another Emmy nomination, and the series will be back with its second season later on in 2024. Before we tune into the second season, it's time to relive one of her best projects: The Americans.

The show first premiered in January 2013 and ended in May 2018. Can you believe it started over a decade ago? Time flies! In the critically acclaimed series, Russell took on the role of Elizabeth Jennings. Joining her onscreen was on-screen and real-life husband Matthew Rhys as Philip Jennings, the Manifest actress who we all love to hate Holly Taylor as Paige Jennings, Keidrich Sellati as Henry Jennings, Noah Emmerich as Stan Beeman, Costa Ronin as Oleg Igorevich Burov, and Brandon J. Dirden as Dennis Aderholt.

The period drama is centered around the Jennings family in the 1980s, led by husband and wife Philip and Elizabeth. But this is no ordinary couple. The couple is a pair of undercover Soviet agents asked to live in Washington, D.C. as part of their assignment. They arrived in the 1960s and are still there, having American-born kids who don’t know the real identity of their parents.

The Americans ran for six seasons, each consisting of 13 episodes, except the final season, which received a 10-episode order from its network. The drama originally aired on FX. So what does that mean? Where is the series streaming now? Whether you’ve seen the show or want to tune in for the first time, you might wonder if the series is streaming on Netflix. We’ve got the answer for you below!

The Americans is streaming on Hulu (not Netflix)

Unfortunately, you can’t follow the Jennings family’s story on Netflix because FX shows go to Hulu. That means all six seasons are currently streaming exclusively on the streaming service. If you’re not subscribed to the platform, it costs $7.99/month with ads or $17.99/month without ads. You can also bundle Hulu with Disney+ for an added fee ($9.99/month with ads), which can also include an ad-free experience ($19.99/month without ads).

Here's a thorough breakdown of the available Hulu plans:

• With ads: $7.99 per month
• Ad-free: $17.99 per month
• Hulu and Disney+ bundle with ads: $9.99 per month
• Disney+ and ESPN+ bundle with ads: $14.99 per month
• Disney+ and ESPN+ bundle: $24.99 per month
• Hulu + Live TV: $76.99 per month
• Ad-free Hulu + Live TV: $89.99 per month

If you aren't a Hulu subscriber and would still like to watch, or perhaps even own, The Americans, each episode and season of the series is available for purchase on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video. The complete series has also been released on a DVD boxset, which can be purchased on Amazon for about $34.99 depending on how the price might fluctuate with sales. It's definitely worth the investment for diehard fans!

The Americans awards and critical reception

During its six-season run, The Americans was one of the most praised shows on television, and to most fans, it was also one of the most underrated. While the series won a few sizable awards, including two Peabody Awards and bringing in a cumulative 26 award wins, it never managed to bring home any of the highest honors, such as the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, which it was nominated for twice (in 2016 and 2018).

Russell herself landed five major award nominations for her role as Elizabeth Jennings: two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress — Television Drama Series (in 2016 and 2018) and three consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (in 2016, 2017, and 2018). Unfortunately, she never took home any major hardware for her performance even though she truly deserved to be excessively awarded for her excellent work.

Take a look at the big awards the show won:

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best Television Series — Drama (2018)

Primetime Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Margo Martindale (2015)
• Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Margo Martindale (2016)
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Matthew Rhys (2018)
• Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg (2018)
  

The show holds an overall fresh rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it might have one of the most consistent and impressive runs on the review platform. All six seasons are rated as fresh and none of the seasons dip below 88%. What's more, the series' scores don't decrease with each season. Rather, they increase, with the final season closing out with a near-perfect 99% rating. Oh, and all of these scores are based on 30 or more reviews, so they're solidly reliable.

If you're still looking for something to watch on Netflix and want it to be similar to The Americans, the streaming service offers plenty of its own action-packed content. Netflix has three original action dramas to its name with spy drama The Recruit, political thriller The Night Agent, and action-comedy FUBAR. You could also give shows like Treason, The Gentlemen, and Bodyguard a shot. Of course, don't forget to watch Keri Russell in The Diplomat on Netflix!

All six seasons of The Americans are streaming on Hulu.