A glint in the eye, a slight flare of the nostril or a half smile that threatens — these all signal that a character in a film or TV drama may have villainous intent.  But I’m here today to tell you that I knew from the first time the character of Pastor Tim made an appearance on the fabulously addictive TV series “The Americans”, that he was up to no good. And all because of his hair.

Forget Javier Bardem’s bad boy bowl haircut in the Coen Brothers’ film “No Country for Old Men” (which, sadly, later seemed to have been emulated by Dylan Roof, the suspect in the 2015 murders of worshippers at a Charleston, South Carolina, church).

The frothy, reddish-blond, whipped cream coiffeur of Pastor Tim (portrayed by Kelly AuCoin) is hair that aims to deceive. In its 1980s TV drama context, it’s the hair of a man who wants to suggest he’s down with the kids and that being a man of God doesn’t mean he can’t pay attention to his looks.It’s also meant to show the older men in his congregation that he’s superior, by virtue of having a fine full head of hair. (Ironically, the actor AuCoin playing Pastor Tim has either very little hair or no hair.)

And it’s also meant to disarm, as in, how could someone with hair like that have any secrets? Dealing with the hair alone would take up too much time to allow opportunity for pursuits outside singing “Kumbaya” with his youth group and going on bus adventures. But no…

The hair is lying to us all. Frankly, it’s pervy hair. The hair of a twisted view of life, hair that is intended to tempt potential victims to run their hands — or a comb — through it to catch them off-guard. Yes. Truly pervy — for perverted — hair.  Whoever dreamt up this hair is an evil genius.

Now why does this fascinate me? Ok, pervy hair is interesting on its own — it interests me, anyway, and I’ve been intrigued by Pastor Tim’s hair for some time now. Just ask my husband. However, there’s actually a strange twist to this tale. Let me take you back to my very early years as a journalist in the US state of Oregon.

Even as a very junior reporter, I had the pleasure of covering Oregon politics at both state and local level. One of the first politicians I interviewed regularly was a dashing US Congressman who represented Oregon in the US House of Representatives. This guy epitomised the idealistic, Kennedy-esque Democrat who made you believe in a better America, a better Oregon. A former marketer, he was highly skilled in making the right gesture at the right time for the cameras, expert at sound bites — he was damn near perfect at communicating an image and message. He was also a pretty sharp politician. I enjoyed reporting on him.

And he had perfect hair. Slightly long but not too long for a Congressman, well cut. Hair that never was out of place. His hair was simply a work of art, a true gift of nature. My ultimate moment of truth with regards to his hair arrived when I reported from an outdoor event at which he spoke, the heavens opened with heavy Oregon rain, and his hair remained perfectly coiffed. It didn’t get wet. It didn’t plaster his head. It was actually as if the rain had gone around him or if his hair had been waterproofed. Not quite believing what I had seen, I later confided this vision, if you will, to press colleagues. Apparently I wasn’t alone in thinking I’d seen this; other press colleagues admitted they had had similar experiences with this same Congressman at outdoor events doused by rainfall.

I hadn’t thought about the Oregon congressman’s miraculous hair in some time. However, about a week ago, after watching a particularly dramatic episode of “The Americans”, I did an online search on Pastor Tim to find out about the actor (and his hair) playing the role. His surname, AuCoin, rang a bell. “Oh, no, he can’t be…” I thought. A bit more of a search revealed that this actor, who sports the worst hair in television, is actually the son of former US Congressman Les AuCoin, whose perfect hair was the former object of my abject amazement.

I checked out the former Congressman online, to see what he is now up to. His hair is silver now, and it’s shorter. And it doesn’t look as perfect as it did way back when; yet it looks natural and healthy. Real hair, without an agenda. But I suspect that he and his actor son have had interesting conversations about hair with intent. The son has learned from the master.