Watching “The Americans,” the new spy thriller on FX, really impressed upon me just how much time has passed since the time of the show’s early 1980s setting.

The Cold War grew stone cold not many years later. Ronald Reagan, remembered as Kindly Old Grandpa President by many now, is referred to – albeit by a KGB agent – as a “mad man.”

As a matter of fact, the early 1980s setting of “The Americans” seems more remote to us today than the early 1960s setting of some flashback scenes.

Nevertheless, creators Joe Weisberg and Graham Yost (“Justified”) have made “The Americans” feel fresh. Its “Spy vs. Spy” plot set within the United States has some kitsch value, sure. But the “who do you trust?” theme of the story is immediate.

Keri Russell – still “Felicity” for most of us, but maybe that will change after this show – and Matthew Rhys play Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, a typical American couple with two school-age kids.

But Elizabeth and Phillip aren’t typical Americans at all. They’re Russian sleeper agents, sent to the U.S. in the early 1960s to … well, I guess they do what sleeper agents do. They establish identities, settle in and raise kids and … wait for a chance to foment rebellion from within? Maybe.

As the premiere opens, Elizabeth is seducing a federal agent to learn some secrets and Phillip is on a mission with a fellow spy. Things go bad and the comrade is wounded, but Phillip captures Russian defector Timachev.

Elizabeth – who is a stone-cold bad ass – finds herself in a tough situation. The Jennings are supposed to keep Timachev safe until he can be turned over to the mother country. But only Elizabeth knows that Timachev brutally raped her when she was just a cadet back in Russia.

Meanwhile, Phillip is – after nearly 20 years – having second thoughts about their mission. He’s seriously considering defecting and setting up a new life for him, Elizabeth and their kids.

There’s a realistic amount of tension between Elizabeth and Phillip, some good action and some good drama involving FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) who lives across the street.

Will Beeman discover their secret? I imagine some future episodes will revolve around this question.

If you’re okay with the premise – we’re rooting for people who were working against the United States at the time – you will probably enjoy “The Americans.”

Random observations:

If one scene in particular jumped out at all of you other aging TV fans, it was no doubt one late in the first episode. Elizabeth and Phillip are driving around after putting the finishing touches on a mission and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” is the mood music on the soundtrack. Of course, the song was used in the premiere of “Miami Vice” back in 1984.

There’s a couple of nice musical touches in the show, including the use of Quarterflash’s “Harden My Heart” in the opening moments, when Elizabeth seduces – pretty overtly – a federal agent to get his secrets.

So far, “The Americans” hasn’t gone overboard on the period touches. Russell rocks some high-waisted jeans and has Breck girl hair by the yard, but there’s not a lot of gratuitous pop culture references to set the story in its time. In other words, there’s no moments like in the 1980s-set “The Wedding Singer,” which featured a scene of Adam Sandler yelling from another room, “Come in and check this out. I think somebody just shot J.R.!”