Why The Americans season 7 isn’t happening, and why that’s okay

Tonight, The Americans as a series is formally coming to a close, and in some ways, it feels strange to even ask the question: Why aren’t we getting a season 7?

The simple answer is this: Some stories deserve to have a proper ending. To go along with that, we also have to just be grateful that we got six seasons of The Americans in the first place. For the first few years of the show’s existence on FX, there were questions aplenty as to whether or not it would see the light of day beyond one or two years. If this was another network, maybe they wouldn’t have cared about quality and shoved the show aside. FX didn’t. They kept the series around and while it may only be averaging a 0.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic for its final season, it’s getting the fitting end that it deserves.

Not only that, there hasn’t really been any speculation about the end of the show for a better part of two years now, given that the network let everyone know far in advance that we were getting the end of the series with season 6. That’s why there was never any talk about season 7, and with loose ends potentially being tied up tonight we don’t exactly think that there’s going to be a revival down the road. If there was going to be more, that would’ve had to be decided long enough.

Sometimes, though, shows have a very specific shelf life and it feels like we got the perfect one for The Americans. Six seasons is a great stretch of time to be on a show and to tell some great stories. It gave the writers a chance to explore many different dimensions and plan ahead towards something big. The Americans may go down as one of the more underrated shows of the past decade, even with it getting some awards consideration here and there.

Would you have wanted to get a season 7 of The Americans? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments!