Some of the bigger moments of this installment ofThe Americanswere played off as no big thing.
But we know better, right, comrade?
Rather than let him drag on, Elizabeth put a bullet in his brain.
Credit: Patrick Harbron/FX
Gabriel asks, noting their somber expressions.
Philip can barely get the words out.
Im very sorry, Gabriel says.
Then, anticipating a question that wasnt asked: You do understand, we had to have it.
Elizabeth and Philip are good soldiers.
Hans probably would have, too.
Gabriel has other alarming news: Im getting signals from the center every hour.
Theyre not their usual picture of calm restraint.
Famine is sweeping the Soviet Union.
Half of our grain comes from America and its allies.
If theyre doing something to it, contaminating shipments, we dont know exactly what, Gabriel says.
Going after peoples food?
I thought there were things they wouldnt do.
Morozov is heading to farm country in Illinois.
The Jennings are assigned to track him and figure out what hes doing there with the American government.
Back home, Philip and Elizabeth find Paige is missing from her room.
Their daughter is curled up in there asleep.
As she moves to her bed, she groans that it just makes her feel better.
Her parents share an alarmed look.
Their daughter seems to be coming apart.
He is advised to avoid their influence.
Burov is an honest man.
This wont be a problem for him.
He has other problems, although he doesnt know it yet.
NEXT: Fine means fine
Back in the states, Stan confides to Philip about his new special lady-friend.
(Was she, though?
I just notice, she seems…
I spend a lot of time with her.
Maybe its just teenage stuff, Stan says.
I get the feeling everythings not all right in Paige Land.
Philip plays it off by saying she is just a heavy kid, always taking things too seriously.
But now hes spooked, too.
Back home, Elizabeth is giving Paige another self-defense lesson in the garage.
Fine, Paige says.
But thats not good enough for Elizabeth.
I really like him.
Why cant you just let me like him?
I dont think youd ever tell him straight out.
But you might end up acting in a way that might draw suspicion, Elizabeth explains.
Any other boy but him.
Upstairs that night, Elizabeth is pensive.
When Philip returns from Stans she says, Hans hadnt talked to his parents in a couple of years.
His sister is visiting from South Africa in three weeks.
He was all excited.
I guess shell just call and…
And nothing.
I tried to talk to Paige about Matthew.
I think I just made her mad, she says, changing the subject.
When I was over at Stans, he asked me if she was okay.
He said everything doesnt seem right in Paige Land.
How long is it going to be before she slips, Philip?
I dont know, but shes over there all the time.
And hes already picking up on something, her husband says.
At FBI headquarters, Stan Beeman gets a visit from the CIA.
Its good news, his boss says, but thats far from the truth.
They intend to keep working Burov as a source.
This is obviously a good opportunity for us.
Anything you’ve got the option to tell our officers in Moscow?
But Stan warns that Burov wasnt turned.
He only helped because he thought the soviet bio-weapons program was a threat to both countries.
It was a one time thing.
The CIA isnt giving up that easy.
They intend to use the tapes Stan made of Burov committing treason for leverage him.
I just dont think youre listening, Stan says.
Burov will sacrifice himself before betraying his country.
He cant be turned.
How does he feel about his parents?
the CIA operative asks, and Stan looks revolted.
Would he worry about taking them down with him if things go bad for him?
Youre going to get him killed, you know that, Stan says, dropping the pretense of politeness.
Stan eventually pushes the issue with the Deputy Attorney General, but he is rebuffed again.
He put himself at risk.
I cant just stand by while we destroy him, Stan says.
The Deputy AG is unmoved.
We have to play by the rules.
Burov is a decent man.
He did the right thing.
I just dont know what kind of organization we are if we punish him for that.
Thats a devastating statement, but the Deputy AG shrugs it off.
I sympathize, I truly do, he says.
But as I said its out of my hands.
Back at Stans house, Paige has a quiet moment with Matthew.
One has been decimated, the other is vibrant and green.
At home, she tells Philip about what she found, even though he doesnt understand it.
Maybe we should just get rid of him, her husband suggests.
I dont think were going to figure this one out without him, she says.
Stan says she loves sports and beer and seems to be a perfect match for him.
Im thinking thats not an accident.
In Moscow, Burov is walking home when a stranger approaches and hands him a note.
Stan Beeman sent me, he says.
Oleg goes home and hangs his head.
The note is a map with a time on it.
He is being drawn back into the world he was trying to escape.
Id rather die back home than live here, his son, Pasha, tells the table in Russian.
Such a stupid thing to say, Tuan says on the drive home.
My whole family died back home.
I was out with my grandma when they bombed our village.
These kids have no idea.
More food than they can eat, all these clothes.
I can get Pasha to do anything I want.
Tuan reveals that the U.S. government surveillance of the Morozov house is lax.
The car monitoring him has been skipping days.
They think the threat is low, Philip says.
I am not, I would not ever tell him anything, Paige protests.
How do you know?
Sex muddies things, her mother says.
Paige insists they arent doing that, but her parents know where things are headed.
Fine, Ill just be alone for the rest of my life, she tells them.
Theres something we can show you.
A technique, to help you keep your emotions in check.
To help you stay in control, her mother says.
If you could learn this thing, really master it, you could keep seeing him.
They tell her its something she can do whenever she feels overwhelmed, a method of centering herself.
Just a little thing.
But this episode shows that those are sometimes the things that matter most.
