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But for FXsThe Americans, this deja vu is uncharted territory.
Below, they explore the newly knotty relationship between the present and the past portrayed onThe Americans.
From left: Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg, Stephen Schiff, Tracey Scott Wilson, Peter Ackerman, and Joshua Brand inside their offices.Mettie Ostrowski for EW
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You started breaking this seasons story in April of last year.
As youre well aware, spring 2016 was a very different time in American politics.
We write the show in a bubble of the early 80s.
From left: Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg, Stephen Schiff, Tracey Scott Wilson, Peter Ackerman, and Joshua Brand inside their offices.Mettie Ostrowski for EW
We were all surprised, frankly, as everybody else.
So when things like this happen, you think, Yeah, people reallyareactive.
Thats a real change.
Illustration by Lincoln Agnew for EW
People are like, I didnt know that Russians actually care somuchabout what were doing all the time.
They really care!WEISBERG:I like that you said that the Russians care.
We are watching that happen again in real time, and thats a pretty bizarre experience.
When we talk about these thematic elements in a show, people usually doze off, you know?
So the same questions about international relations are coming up, if not the same events.
How did we not do that?
This stuff writes itself.FIELDS:We still have a season ahead of us.
That allowed me to step back and realize that its a complicated situation.
How do you think about history when it comes to the stories?
It was easy to compartmentalize the show from season 1.
Its a tonal question.
[Laughs] No one wants to feel our presence.
The Americansairs Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
