10 Reasons The Americans Is The Best TV Show You've Never Seen

While I already talked about Elizabeth in other entries, I had to create an entry specifically for Keri Russell's performance because she's truly in a class all her own.

While both Elizabeth and Philip are the heart of the show, Elizabeth just edges out her husband as the defining character of the series thanks to Russell's incredible performance.

Russell perfectly encapsulates Elizabeth's personality. She's a spy putting on a charade as an American, she's unafraid to get her hands dirty, all the while trying to live a normal family life that her kids don't know about. Elizabeth is a complicated character who does plenty of terrible things throughout the series, yet at the same time remains a sympathetic figure, and Russell plays the part to perfection, especially in heavily dramatic moments.

One of her best moments comes in Season 2. Elizabeth wakes Paige up to teach her a lesson about what it's really like to be a grown-up, by making her clean the refrigerator in the middle of the night. Due to a lack of quality uploads on YouTube, there's no link to this scene, but trust me when I say it's a superb scene elevated by Russell's performance.

There are many great actors in the show, but if there's one who carries it above all the others, it's Russell.