Could two characters on ‘The Americans’ be… secret brothers?
The problem with finally opening up and being honest is discovering all the past betrayals of someone you trusted.
But weve got to save that for the end of the recap.
Credit: Eric Liebowitz/FX
Her questions are simple.
Theyre treating her like an adult, but the things she wonders are childlike: Are you a spy?
Yes, Gabriel says.
It must be a pleasure to finally just say it out loud.
To you theyre just your parents.
They probably drive you crazy, because they have driven me crazy from time to time.
But to us, theyre honestly heroes.
Theyve saved a lot of lives.
He tells her she is like them.
I havent done anything, she answers.
Yes, you have.
Despite all the garbage youve had to deal with.
You asked for the truth.
And you faced it.
I think thats courage, Gabriel replies.
Asking for the truth.
Theres much more of that to come this episode.
Paige notes the absence of any photos in the safe house.
To her, it looks like Gabriel has no one else in his life.
Her parents assure her thats just a meeting place, not where he lives, but… yeah.
He cares about you, Paige notes.
He cares about you too, Philip says.
Her parents recall the various ways Gabriel has influenced her life.
Buy her the first two.
She has plenty of the third.
A stuffed tiger she treasured as a child?
That was a gift from Gabriel.
Hes like your family?
Yeah, he is, Philip tells her.
Too much security now.
Philips own mark in the operation, Deirdre, is still the ultimate dud.
She doesnt like all his questions, his chattiness.
Are you planning to move to Topeka?
What would happen if I did?
Probably this would end, she answers bluntly.
Thats what she wants.
Philip complies like a kid being told to do his homework.
Whats in the file?
They wont be used for the Kremlins Christmas card list.
Back in Moscow, Oleg Burov goes for a walk.
This is his second attempt to meet up with the CIA blackmailers who were trying to pressure him.
He tells his mother they disappeared.
Part of his reaction is relief, part disbelief.
Maybe a name or two.
In exchange, they can offer her money.
But she wants a guarantee of safety for herself and her young son.
Aderholt says, Thats possible.
Possible is what Americans say when they dont want to make a promise, she answers.
Stan steps forward to say they cant guarantee safety for her or her son.
He knows this for sure.
He thinks Oleg is still on the hook.
Stan isnt lying people into danger anymore.
Sofia makes a hasty escape, and Aderholt shoots death-lasers at Stan.
When Im on my deathbed, dont have a go at make me feel better, he says.
At the Jennings house, Paige and her mother are talking about missing Gabriel.
When Philip returns home, Paige asks him polite questions about his trip which completely unsettles him.
Hi, how was your trip?
Were you working on the grain thing?
Uh, its okay.
They havent told her the American effort is actually to create a strain of super-wheat.
I knew America did terrible things.
But I never thought…
I mean, peoples food, she says.
Is covert action the best way to stop this?
It worked with Watergate.
Let them expose it to the world?
No one would believe us, Elizabeth says.
This rings false, but Paige accepts it.
Later, when Paige meets with Pastor Tim, she tells him life is better for her.
She knows who she is now.
Thats bad news for her boyfriend Matthew.
Paige is tired of making out with him.
She now understands the danger of getting too close to the FBI agents son.
Her loyalty can only be stretched so far.
Paige dumps Matthew, who takes it badly.
When he grabs her, she shoves him across the room.
(That training with her mom has paid off.)
She seems happy to have one less complication in her life.
But she misses him, too.
Paige likes to tell the truth, but now lies are a permanent part of her identity.
Thats the good news, Stans boss tells him after the meeting with the Deputy Attorney General.
Also, he said he wants you transferred out of counterintelligence.
If Stan wants to keep his job, he needs to bring her into the fold.
Afterward, they are digging up the plants, and Elizabeth is unsettled.
I didnt think he was like that.
There was something about him that I thought, maybe…
You liked him, her husband says.
No, I didnt like him.
Its okay to care.
He certainly did about Martha.
No, it isnt Philip, his wife says.
This painful moment gives way to one of triumph.
Theyll plant this back home and make better food out of it.
Philip clutches two fistfuls of the wheat.
I feel like one of the guys in the posters, he says.
The second one is coming up…
Back home, Gabriel unwraps his new centerpiece.
You wouldnt believe the instructions I have for this thing.
Ive been thinking about Paige, he tells Elizabeth, whos visiting him alone.
She doesnt think the world owes her happiness, which is no small accomplishment growing up in this country.
Sometimes I think put too much on her, Elizabeth says.
Gabriel, why are you leaving?
It adds up, the old man says.
Some of its okay.
Some of it isnt.
But it adds up.
What are we going to do without you?
Gabriel asks, noting his has one cousin and a nephew back home.
He doesnt sound very close to either.
They sit quietly for a long moment.
I leave late tonight.
Send your husband to say goodbye, Gabriel tells her.
At home, Elizabeth contains her delight that Paige has kicked Matthew to the curb.
Shes dealing with her own betrayal with Stobert, but she cant commiserate about that with her daughter.
Across the street, Stan and his mysterious new girlfriend, Renee, are watchingBreaking Awayon TV.
She turns off the TV, nudging him toward opening up about whats on his mind.
He knows, um, not to trust the people he trusts.
But this time, he drops his guard.
I thought I was going to get fired the other day, he says as Renee listens earnestly.
He was not happy about it.
This scene is hysterical.
Stan is telling her all the verbs but none of the nouns.
Renees eyes widen, like someone trying to see through deepest darkness.
He talks and talks, but theres no telling what hes talking about.
Forget about that part, he tells her at one point, after telling her nothing.
Then he tells her some more nothing.
Thanks, he says at the end.
He was glad to get all that nothing off his chest.
He says he gets it, her feelings of isolation: Youre different from everyone else.
Its a million times worse than that, Dad.
I felt that way before any of this, she tells him.
I still think youre a beautiful girl.
In time, youll get used to these things.
Back in Moscow, we get another glimpse of Burov on a new mission.
His mother said she was imprisoned because her husband was a high-ranking person in the party.
More on this in a moment… Ive got a mind-blowing theory.
Back in the U.S., Philip goes to Gabriels place for their goodbye.
Im sorry youre leaving.
Really, Philip says.
Thats good of you to say.
Weve had our ups and downs, the old man tells him.
He indicates the wheat.
Im glad its all ending on this.
I doubt well ever see each other again, he says.
Whats this thing Elizabeths doing?
Philip asks, but Gabriel is cagey.
Theres a reason they didnt involve Philip in the psychiatrist office operation.
Philip and his nagging conscience cant be trusted with the dirty work anymore.
Can I ask you something?
You said when you were younger, you did terrible things.
Philip has earned this one.
It was worse than you could imagine.
Worked to death in the camps.
Some were counter revolutionaries, Gabriel says.
But some… some hadnt done anything.
Gabriel persecuted these people too, he says.
To set an example.
The organization was full of people who were scared and confused.
But not you, Philip says.
I believed I was acting in the service of a higher purpose.
But I was just scared.
It was terrible, terrible times, Gabriel says.
Last week, he confirmed that Philips father also worked at the camps.
A lumber camp, actually.
Gabriel told him this wasnt the case, but… was it?
Was he pulled in the same way Paige is being recruited?
Is Stan Beemans new girlfriend one of us?
Actually, he says, not that he knows.
Youre losing it, Philip, Gabriel tells him.
Its possible the Center didnt tell me because they knew you would ask me this question.
But as far as I know, she is not one of us.
The old man opens his door to leave.
But he has a parting thought for Philip.
You were right about Paige, Gabriel says.
She should be kept out of all this.
Gabriel all but forced Philip to reveal their secret life to Paige and draw her into the organization.
Now he tells him that was wrong?
(Notice that Gabriel didnt say this to Elizabeth.)
Again, when you live in lies, the truth can feel like a betrayal.
The consequences of Gabriels admission are going to reverberate for some time in Philips hollow heart.
I did a search on that, just to learn a little more.
In real life,it was a lumber camp.
These story lines onThe Americanshave always run parallel, and seemed to be diverging.
Has Burov ever had a scene with Philip or Elizabeth?
