Hot Takes: Why I'm revisiting The Americans

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys from The Americans.

WATCHING After the finale of The Americans aired recently, it felt like I was approached by everyone I knew. "Did you see it?" they asked. "What did you think?" I had to plead ignorance; I'd only ever seen the first season. So, with Russian-American relations still making headlines on a daily basis, I decided to rectify this, and I'm glad I did. Like The Wire, The Americans is one of those slow-burn shows that creeps under your skin and, suddenly, it's all you can think about. Lightbox has the lot, and I'm bingeing. Also, I learnt a super fun fact during some late-night googling: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are not Russian spies in real life but they are a real-life couple with a real-life kid together. Cute!

SIGNING UP: "Tidal's still a thing?" That's the question bouncing around my head as I learnt of Beyonce and Jay-Z's joint album release over the weekend. Reluctantly, I plugged in my details, gave up my credit card number and handed over $14.99 so I could hear Everything Is Love through the official channel. I last used Tidal when Kanye West dropped The Life of Pablo in 2016, but it hasn't changed much. It's a decent music-playing app that feels entirely unnecessary when you've already got Spotify and Apple Music. Which I do. And both of those now host Everything Is Love in its entirety. Tidal, where's the unsubscribe button?

REVISITING: One of my very first true crime binges involved the mysterious case of Kathleen Peterson, who was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham home. Who did it? How did it happen? That's the question riveting documentary The Staircase tries to answer. Mostly, the blame seems to lie at the feet of Peterson's husband, Michael. But there are several other theories, including owls. She died in 2001, the series first aired in 2004, but the whole case is still going on. You can watch it all, plus several new episodes bringing you up to date, on Netflix now.

STREAMING: You've heard of deep dives, but nothing as extensive as this. On the podcast Watching the Throne, Chris Lambert and Travis Bean have spent the past three years unravelling the lyrics of Kanye West albums. His recent record Ye has given them even more podcast fodder: on a recent episode, they spent nearly 90 minutes breaking down a single track, opening number I Thought About Killing You. Yes, it' a lot, and I've only been diving into it in small doses. But they have an ability to make Yeezy make sense. And that's a talent.