"Pilot" is the first episode of the first season of the period drama television series The Americans. It originally aired on FX in the United States on January 30, 2013. The episode was written by series creator Joe Weisberg and directed by Gavin O'Connor.In 1981, Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) are undercover Soviet intelligence agents from the secretive Directorate S of the KGB sent to the U.S. 15 years ago to work deep cover in Washington, D.C.