- As Philip investigates the fallout from the last operation, Elizabeth sticks close to home, concerned for her family until she gets a mysterious distress signal. Meanwhile, a walk-in arrives at the Rezidentura - providing both Nina and Stan with unique opportunities.—Anonymous
- Philip's FBI lover informs him about counterintelligence openings. Checking on the damage after his colleagues' murder, which terrified Elizabeth so much she stays at home, where Paige is spying on her parents, Philip must deal with a dangerously shocked and armed informant. The Russian embassy deals with the Soviet Minister's ambitious son and an actual candidate technology informer.—KGF Vissers
- Previously on 'The Americans': Stan killed an associate of his Soviet informant/mistress Nina, but lied to her and said he didn't know who killed Vlad. Paige, the daughter of Elizabeth and Philip, began poking around the laundry room. Elizabeth and Philip, meanwhile, caught up with another couple of spies and, while at an amusement park, Philip helped with a mission only to find the spy couple and their daughter killed in a hotel room. Elizabeth and Philip tried to keep things moving as normal in hopes of figuring out who was behind it.
'Cardinal': Elizabeth is listening to a series of numbers and writing down the codes. She hastily puts the crossword book down in a laundry basket, which also has the machine that was playing the codes. She runs outside to get the newspaper and looks around the neighborhood suspiciously.
Philip is with Martha, making her breakfast. She tells him about a senior clerk position opening in another department, but he encourages her to go for a position in the office of counter-intelligence. A TV news report comes on about the family killed in the hotel. Martha wonders about what happened and Philip acts as if he know nothing about it.
Back at the house, Paige is asking about the news report and wonders if they were right in the area when the killings happened. Elizabeth turns it off and walks outside to look around.
At the Soviet embassy, Arkady is demanding information about the killed agents. Oleg, the son of a KGB bigwig, is asking for information he expected from some of Arkady's agents and Arkady says there are circumstances beyond his control, and he goes into a closed-door meeting.
Philip gets to the travel agency and asks Elizabeth what Moscow said, but she didn't finish getting the signal. She didn't want to leave the kids downstairs. Philip says the FBI doesn't know who the spies were. Stan shows up with some friends, Mike and Stewart. Stan wants to plan a "bachelor weekend." Elizabeth suggests Montreal, Philip suggests a dude ranch. Stan is excited.
Nina does her best to stave off Oleg, who wants the information from Arkady's agents. He decides to keep her company while he waits. He chats her up about American music and dancing. Oleg is tired of waiting and says he's going to get the information he needs.
Elizabeth walks through a park and drops a rock in a potted plant. Back at the office, Philip tells Elizabeth that Moscow wants them to check out the agent Emmett, their spy friend, was working with.
At the embassy, Arkady and Nina listen to the tape Elizabeth dropped in the rock. It's Gaad and Stan talking about Vlad, the agent who was shot in the back of the head. Stan tries to blow off the concern and Nina listens, stone faced. She's upset. Arkady says it sounds like things are "complicated" at the FBI. He asks if Stan has mentioned internal divisions, but she says he doesn't like to discuss such things. He tells her she has "to get there." Arkady has to handle a security situation and Nina leaves.
Philip is preparing to leave for a short trip he tells Henry is about travel agency business. Elizabeth gets anxious when a work truck parks across the street.
Arkady goes to talk with the "walk-in," a man, Mr. Dameran, who showed up at the embassy. He talks to the man through an intercom. Arkady calls for the head of security. Mr. Dameran is getting impatient, saying he wants to do what he can "for the cause," but he can't sit around all day. Arkady asks him to explain who he is and what he can do for them.
Philip stakes out and follow's Emmett's agent, the same man he took the brush drop from at the amusement park. He sticks a recording device into a circuit box and continues to follow the agent. Philip next goes snooping around through the agent's house, using a screwdriver to touch and open doors and objects. In a locked dresser drawer, he finds some Playboy magazines, but nothing significant. Walking out of the room, a floorboard gives under his feet a bit and he pulls it up. Seeing a metal case inside, even as he hears a car pulling up, he reaches for it and is immediately blasted with an electric shock, leaving him laying unconscious.
Stan waits for Nina at the studio apartment but she eventually arrives. She tells him about the "walk-in," and he wants more information. She tells him Arkady is "very busy." She apologizes for not having more. He tries to leave, but she pulls him close and the start kissing.
Philip comes to and hears Fred, the agent, calling in a signal over the phone. Philip tells Fred that he's a friend of "Paul's." Philip tells him he isn't FBI, DOD or any one else. Philip tries to convince Fred that no one has "caught" him. Philip tells Fred that he's the man who did the drop at the amusement park, trying to convince him he knows more than anyone else could.
At the house, Elizabeth answers the phone and starts writing down a code. She writes down the numbers, then goes to the window to look at the work truck across the street. She quickly suggests going to the movies.
Fred holds a gun pointed at Philip's head, but Philip finally convinces Fred that he's really on "Paul's" (Emmett's) side. Philip asks if there's any chance someone found out about Fred's relationship with "Paul." Philip finally tells Fred that "Paul" and his family were the ones killed in the hotel room. Fred doesn't believe it. Philip tells him it's the truth. Fred cries.
On the way to the movie, Elizabeth seems suspicious of cars around them. She tells the kids she's going to have to drop them off because she forgot something she has to do for Philip.
Fred asks what Paul's real name was, and Philip tells him it was Emmett. Fred thinks about Emmett's son, who was left all alone. Fred wants to give the money he's saved to Emmett's son, but Philip says he can't. Fred asks if Philip got "the settings" -- the information Fred handed Philip. Philip says everything's been put on hold because of the killings, but Fred says they have to resume the mission. The plant where "they're grinding the propellers" is moving and this is the one chance they have to read the settings on the machine.
Elizabeth walks through an apparently rough neighborhood and hears a woman in an alley asking for help. Elizabeth asks for the words she's looking for. We see the woman is holding a gun. The woman, a spy, was drugged and came to the alley with the man, a Congressional aide. He's unconscious and Elizabeth tries to fix the situation.
Stan and other agents are examine pictures of anyone going into the Soviet embassy. He narrows it down to four photos.
Elizabeth brings back a drink and some candy to the woman, who had told her she'd been in the country for two months, advising her not to party with her contact anymore, but to "be his girlfriend." Elizabeth tells the woman, "Your revolution is beautiful. A foothold for us in Central America. Call anytime."
Back at the FBI, another agent has figured out Bruce Dameran was the walk-in at the Soviet embassy. He works at the World Bank. Stan says they shouldn't bring him in yet.
At the embassy, Arkady is sending a message back to Moscow about the same man, Bruce Dameran. He wants code names for Dameran and an operation name.
Philip calls Elizabeth and tells her he talked to Fred. She watches the workers cleaning up across the street and leaving. She's distracted, but tells Philip to go over and see Martha, who has a fever of 102.
Nina is typing up a report on her meeting with Stan, including their sexual intercourse. She writes that she tried to press him for more details and she has reason to believe his feelings for her are "growing deeper." She takes the report and brings it to Arkady, who is in his office.
Philip calls Martha from a pay phone. She tells him she talked to personnel and got an application for a spot in counter-intelligence. She tells him "everybody's been talking about those murders" and she's going to get a gun to protect herself.
Back at the house, Paige is gets on the phone and calls the operator in a Pennsylvania town and asks for the phone number and address of a woman named Helen Leavis. Philip comes home and surprises her. She abruptly hangs up the phone and goes upstairs. Elizabeth seems happy to see Philip.
Stan is staking out Bruce Dameran at a laundromat.
At the house, Philip tells Elizabeth she saw Emmett's son walking back to the hotel room and heard his scream when he went into the room. She wonders what's going to happen to him and how, exactly, the center will make sure he's "taken care of." She tells Philip that all these years she never worried about their kids being safe. She always knew they were risking their own lives, but seeing Emmett and Leann's daughter Amelia dead made her wonder how they're going to live like this. Philip says they'll "get used to it." He still can't believe he pulled Henry into that brush drop and she says he didn't have a choice.
"Yeah," he says. "I did."
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