At its heart, The Americans is about two spies who are just doing their job. I would not classify them as anti-heroes. Let's face it: if these were Americans and not Russians, there wouldn't even be a discussion about them as anti-heroes. We've seen plenty of spy movies where the "good guys" kill a bunch of bad guys in the service of their job. That's essentially this show.
But the bodies have been mounting up. People have just gotten in the way of Phillip and Elizabeth. They are on a mission, they get discovered, and the unfortunate witness just had to die. If Phillip and Elizabeth were to continue being relatable and sympathetic, the amount of bodies would have to get to them at some point.
All of which is to say that this episode has been a long time coming. And it's been well plotted in its way to get there. Phillip had to kill a guy when he was trying to gather information in THE ARPANET. Phillip took that death harder than normal. Last episode, Phillip insisted that they let the truck driver live instead of killing another innocent life.
And then when Phillip and Elizabeth sneak into the compound that Andrew Larrick told them about, things don't go as planned. Things rarely go as planned. Phillip cuts a guy's throat and shoots two others. Elizabeth kills a guy herself. And the truck driver dies anyway. I'm not sure if its the three guys he has to kill, the truck driver dying a pointless death, or the combination thereof but Phillip is devastated.
What better time then for Paige to use her newfound faith to force her parents to go to Church? Holly Jennings is a really good child actor. She really just wants her parents to see what she sees. And when she looks over at Phillip, it's heartbreaking that he looks like he's in hell. The pastor talks about how God accepts everyone unconditionally. Phillip is in self-hating mode and isn't buying it.
Unfortunately, they also find out Paige donated $600. Now, to be fair, I think MY parents would be pissed at me for doing this. But Paige getting her parents to come to Youth Day has the exact opposite effect. Phillip and Elizabeth both seem to look at Christian faith as an immense threat. Phillip visits the pastor and it seems like he'll kill him (thankfully nothing happened). Elizabeth wakes Paige up in the middle of the night and forces her to clean.
Matthew Rhys is terrific in this episode. I think this episode will be his Emmy submission. He's emotionally distant, ignoring Henry, and pretty much directing all his anger towards Paige's new faith. I don't have the proper words to describe the powerful scene when Phillip tells Paige "YOU RESPECT JESUS, BUT NOT US." (That whole scene really is fantastic) It's really too bad Rhys has no shot at the Emmy.
I also liked how Phillip's inner conflict was made external. The deaths had gotten to him and he made it explicitly obvious by his coldness. On the flip side, Elizabeth's inner conflict was kept to herself. It's not so much that the deaths don't get to her, it's that Elizabeth is really fucking good at hiding it.
Meanwhile the show does not one, but two fake outs on the audience. At first, it seems like Elizabeth is going to an AA meeting for personal reasons. She has lunch/dinner with the AA speaker, using her personal struggles with Phillip as a way to connect. By all accounts, it seems like she got what she was looking for. And then it turns out she works for the government.
Then, since Phillip is in a fuck the world mood, he shows Martha the tape he had previously decided to hide. It seems like he is taking out his anger on poor Martha. But no, he's just using this piece of information to get Martha to do something she wouldn't have done, which is to acquire certain files. And then the bastard leaves her. (Did anybody else laugh at ""I've never been good at seduction or romance" from Clark - I laughed out loud)
Meanwhile, Stan for the first time this season, is doing good spy work. Seriously, has he done anything besides get duped this year? He's looking into the disappearance of Anton from earlier in the year. He discovers that all of the stealth plane creators last met in the same place at Alexandria, Virginia. That happened to be the same time as the Connors family getting killed way back in episode one of this season.
So Stan interviews all the scientists who were at that meeting, including Fred, the Connor's turned informant. I like John Carroll Lynch in this role a lot. Anyway, Fred does pretty good as he seems the most comfortable of all the interviewees. Emmett trained him well, indeed.
Also that interview was a nice mirror of Stan's betrayal to his country. He describes how if they make you silent, they are winning. That you never imagine betraying your country. That the KGB goes after your weakness. (Which was made evident when Elizabeth goes after the recovering alcoholic government worker) It's pretty clear he's talking about himself and it's nicely done. By the way, Nina is sorely missed in this episode.
While Stan finally gets off his ass, Sandra does the same. She knows Stan has been having an affair and has made an emotional connection with another man. It's REALLY hard to feel bad for Stan because he's been cheating on Sandra this whole time. He looks devastated, but seriously Stan go fuck yourself. Sandra rightfully points out that Stan, a CIA agent, did not notice she was having an affair of sorts.
This episode had a lot of season one callbacks. So Stan killed a KGB agent in retaliation for his partner's murder (even though Phillip actually killed him). Agent Gaad is getting in trouble for that. So he goes to the Arkady and threatens him if the KGB keeps worrying about that. He says he will reveal Richard Patterson's testimony about the agents who tortured him - the agents were Phillip and Elizabeth - if the KGB doesn't just drop this. Arkady plays it cool as a cucumber, but they have to back off because Phillip and Elizabeth aren't getting caught this early.
In terms of 80s references, I think that the compound they visited was a training ground for contras, which explains all the references to Nicaragua this season. If you don't know, contras were a rebel group opposed to Nicaraguan government that was financially and militarily supported by the United States. They got banned by the US Congress, but the Reagan administration continued it secretly. Also, Dr. Ruth was giving Sandra sex advice, which may I add was hilarious. I don't know if it's her voice or Stan's expression, but I could not take that tape seriously.
Overall, this was yet another great episode. It looks like Larrick will be seeking revenge for the murders (as he finds out about the deaths, but not the details - he can fill in the blanks though). And another week we wait.
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