Though the key characters on The Americans are clearly fictionalized  versions of people who may or may not have actually existed, the historical context of the times in which they operated is anything but. We'd even go so far as to say the show could be viewed as a fascinating study covering the height of the Cold War arms race between the U.S. and the USSR, and the waning days of the Soviet Union. 

That's because the series fully embraced the struggles, ideologies, and horrific misdeeds of both the Soviet and American regimes of the time. In keeping with that theme, The Americans' creator Joe Weisberg cleverly utilized the tumultuous early days of negotiations surrounding the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) as a framing device for the show's final season. That treaty actually led to an agreement between the U.S. and Soviet governments to dramatically reduce the number of offensive weapons in their arsenals.

After Elizabeth personally refuses, and then actively prevents, a KGB-orchestrated assassination attempt that would've ended talks between the superpowers, she goes to see her KGB handler, Claudia (beloved character actor Margo Martindale), an old-school Russian agent whose only allegiance is to a KGB-led Soviet Union. After telling Claudia what happened, Elizabeth listens in muted dismay as Claudia dresses her down for turning her back on her country. She then goes on to state it won't matter in the end, as her people have re-taken their country by force before, and will no doubt do it again.

That very event almost came to fruition in 1991, when a KGB-organized coup saw Communist leaders briefly overthrow Gorbachev's reform government. While the coup was short-lived, many still believe it ultimately led to the fall fo the Soviet empire.