Last week saw the emotional loss of former Agent Gaad, Elizabeth’s
crisis of conscience of Young Hee, and the loss and return of Pastor Tim in
Africa. These events ripple out to
further muddy the waters in which all our characters swim. This hour focuses on Elizabeth trying to
connect deeper with Pastor Tim, while Phillip finishes the mission with Don.
Elizabeth answers a bell at the front door to find Pastor
Tim. She invites him in. After some
polite pleasantries, they meet with Phillip in the kitchen. Pastor Tim first assures Henry is out of
earshot, then delivers a speech. “I
don’t feel right about what happened.” Elizabeth
views this as an apology for Alice’s threat of blackmail against them. She calmly replies, “She was scared.” Pastor Tim notes that when he was lost he
thought about his unborn baby, Paige, and “all the things being a parent can
mean.” Pastor Tim apologies and moves to leave. Elizabeth invites him and Alice for a dinner,
and the Pastor accepts. Once alone,
Phillip and Elizabeth share a knowing glance.
Elizabeth arrives at Gabriel’s home, the safe house where
Martha stayed since his apartment became contaminated. Gabriel offers Elizabeth perogi, and she
jokes he must be missing home. Gabriel
informs her the Centre denied her request to find another way to obtain the
codes. Elizabeth looks unsurprised and
resigned.
Dressed as “Patty”, Elizabeth observes Young Hee herd her
children into the family Volvo. After
they drive away, Patty knocks at her friend’s door. Don answers predictably, and he informs her
Young Hee isn’t home. Patty pushes
inside and announces, “I’m pregnant!” Don
is flustered and asks why. Patty scoffs,
“Because we had sex!” She begins to cry crocodile tears. Don says, “You can’t have this baby, it would
destroy everything!” Patty spits back,
“For you!” Don explains this would hurt
Young Hee; an abortion is the only way and he offers to pay for it. Patty becomes angry and declares she doesn’t
want anything from him, “I’ll take care of it myself!” She storms out of his house into the snow.
Stan and Phillip share a beer. Stan is troubled and explains how his former
boss was killed while on vacation in Thailand. Stan is confident Gaad was murdered, even
though the official report states it was a robbery. Stan theorizes, “I think the Soviets killed
him. The KGB, they’re animals. I could tell you stories, except I can’t
because they’re classified. Things you
can’t imagine.” Phillip hides his shock
well at these statements. Elizabeth
arrives home and Stan leaves promptly.
Once alone, Phillip asks her how the mission went with Don. She is vague, stating he is devastated and
it’s “all yours now.” The teens arrive
how and the tension diffuses. Elizabeth grills Paige about Youth Group and she
mentions she has signed up to volunteer at the Food Pantry. Dinner will be grilled cheese sandwiches. The kids head upstairs.
Phillip tells Elizabeth Stan’s boss was killed while on
vacation in Thailand. He notes he put
that information in his report, learning it while he and Stan played
racquetball.
Pastor Tim works in his office, the sound of the choir in
the background. Elizabeth stops in
stating she was there to pick up Paige from choir, but they are still in
session. She adds she has bought Alice’s
favorite dessert, strawberry ice cream for their family dinner. Elizabeth is silent for a moment and looks
pensive. She admits, “I think I’ve, we’ve, been under a lot of pressure.” Pastor Tim encourages her to go on, that it’s
safe to talk to him. Elizabeth continues
to note how hard it was when Alice thought they had something to do with his
disappearance in Africa, and how she felt like she was falling apart. It seems like she is trying to make Pastor Tim
feel as guilty as possible about Alice’s threat, to keep him under their
control.
Two cars pull up to an abandoned industrial area at night. Stan and Oleg exit their cars to talk. Oleg
remarks that Stan looks rough. Stan
explains he hasn’t been sleeping much and “keeps thinking of you.” Oleg flashes
a coy smile, “I’m flattered.” Stan continues to explain that many people have
expressed interest in their meetings and implied he should use Oleg’s fondness
for Nina, and his deceased brother, to try and turn him into an U.S.
asset. Stan recalls his partnership with Chris Amador
and how they developed an unlikely friendship. When Amador was murdered, Stan states he “lost
his mind” and ended up committing an act “just as bad.” Stan concludes, “I
haven’t been the same since.” Oleg asks,
“What do you want me to say?” Stan
states he doesn’t want to have Oleg on his guilty conscience, therefore this is
the last time they will meet. Stan
leaves in his car, Oleg watches, staring out in the distance.
It’s the night of the dinner with Pastor Tim and Alice. Elizabeth has made lamb and Alice joins her in
the kitchen. Alice tries to explain she’s
not a vindictive person, but she was frightened by Pastor Tim’s disappearance. Elizabeth reassures her she would have acted
the same in a similar situation. (Except Elizabeth would have probably followed
through on the blackmail or killed to get Phillip back.) Stan arrives to bring Henry a movie on VHS. Henry invites Stan to dinner. Introductions and pleasantries are exchanged awkwardly.
The seven tuck into the lavish meal. Pastor Tim asks Stan what kind of work he
does, and Henry answers excitedly, “He’s a FBI agent!” Poor Henry, he and Stan are the only ones at
the table who don’t know the truth about Elizabeth and Phillip. Paige
immediately steers the conversation to more benign subjects, talking about her
passion for her newly found faith and social justice. Pastor Tim seems embarrassed when it’s
mentioned he was arrested for civil disobedience protesting a nuclear weapons
site. The mood remains uneasy for the
dinner party.
Phillip, Gabriel and the communist librarian have arrived at
the Foster Medical Group. Phillip wears
a shaggy blonde wig. He tells the
security guard they are “The Rawlings family” and request to see Don. Don arrives in the lobby, perplexed by this
group of visitors. Phillip says
forcefully, “We are Patty’s family and we need to speak to you.” Don knows this will be a sensitive
conversation and invites the group to his office for privacy.
Once in his office Don asks why have they come. Phillip sneers, “Patty is dead! She killed herself after you told her to get
an abortion.” Don weakly offers his condolences,
which further enrages Phillip. Gabriel
coughs and appears ill. The librarian
has been introduced as Patty’s stepmother.
They make a convincing family.
Phillip shows Don a death certificate. He demands he pay for shipping her body to
California and all of her funeral expenses. Don agrees, but he doesn’t have the cash on
hand and will need to go to the bank.
Phillip insists on going with him. Gabriel continues to feign weakness and cries,
“You killed my beautiful girl!” The
“step-mom” states her husband is weak and they request to wait in Don’s office.
The shamed man reluctantly agrees, due
to his need to keep this meeting private.
The minute Don and Phillip leave, Gabriel and the librarian
go to work. She accesses his computer
while Gabriel works to open the filing cabinet. Their goal is to locate the access codes to
the “Level 4” division of the lab. Don
is the administrative director and should have the access codes somewhere in
his office.
Pastor Tim meets with Elizabeth again at his church office. He thanks her for the dinner and remarks Stan
has an “interesting profession.” Elizabeth remarks on how they can’t choose
their neighbors, and that they were there before the Beemans. She continues by remarking how they didn’t
“choose” to have Pastor Tim in their lives, but it has been good for their
daughter. She credits Tim for bringing
their family closer. Tim remarks that he’s pleased to see them opening
themselves up. He notes it took faith to
tell Paige the truth. Elizabeth looks at him oddly. He comments, “You act like
you’ve gone out on a limb and handed me a saw.” Elizabeth says, “I’d suppose
people like you would say it’s all in God’s hands.” Pastor Tim acknowledges her lack of faith, but
notes faith makes life better.
Don and Phillip return from the bank. Don says he’s deeply ashamed and very sorry.
The trio leaves in silence.
At the FBI, Dennis has made a “curious” discovery. Dennis confides when Agent Gaad broke the
mail robot, Martha covered for him. (He assaulted the machine by kicking it
repeatedly.) The robot received a “911”
repair, which resulted in the death of the warehouse’s owner. (The old lady who
Elizabeth coerced into talking a fatal dose of heart medication, so as to cover
their tracks and leave no witnesses.) The woman’s death was listed as “natural
causes”, but it looks suspicious. It
could appear Agent Gaad was working with Martha by breaking the robot. If the KGB killed him in Thailand, it could be
inferred it was to ensure his silence because he was a spy.
Elizabeth is getting ready for bed when Phillip returns home
from his errand with Don. She asks how
it went and Phillip replies, “He went for it, he looked scared.” Elizabeth
continues to look emotional about the whole affair and betraying her friend. Phillip notes that the codes were not in the
physical files, but they hope to find them on the computer files they
duplicated. Elizabeth wonders if Don
will tell Young Hee Patty’s dead.
Phillip looks weary, “It’s hard to know.”
Elizabeth uses a payphone at the park to retrieve her
messages. Young Hee has left an
emotional message crying, “Why don’t you call me?” Elizabeth looks shaken, knowing she can’t ever
speak to Young Hee again.
Elizabeth arrives at the church’s food pantry to pick up
Paige. Pastor Tim is surprised to see
her, and hints next time she should come earlier so she can help their
efforts. Elizabeth asks him what to do
about obsessive thoughts she’s having. He advises her to pray. Elizabeth admits she doesn’t believe in God
or religion. Pastor Tim counters that
it’s not the important thing; the important thing is how we treat one another.
Elizabeth has spent a lot of time with Pastor Tim this
episode. Is she flirting with him,
trying to garner his support after the near disaster with Alice?
Paige is ready and they leave to walk to her car. Paige asks if she needs to keep up her
relationship with Pastor Tim and Alice forever.
Elizabeth explains that Alice’s guilt over her actions is a powerful
tool to exploit. Paige wonders about the
tape Alice made, and her mother thinks maybe it’s okay to let them keep it if
it makes them feel better. Paige
confides Matthew has been opening up to her about his father’s work. She has learned Stan had dinner with the
father of his secretary, whom they suspect was a spy. (Martha.) She also learned that the spy disappeared. Elizabeth
seems impressed with her daughter’s budding proclivity for the family business.
Suddenly, two men approach and ask for cigarettes. Paige suggests they find a nearby
market. Elizabeth, sensing danger,
offers the men her wallet and says, “We
don’t want any trouble.” One man sneers
at Paige and asks how old she is. Elizabeth
springs into action striking him. The
other takes out a knife and she turns it on him, stabbing him in the neck!
The man who was hit, sees his friend bleeding to death and flees
in terror. Paige looks dumbstruck by the
rapid succession of events. Elizabeth
grabs her daughter by the arm and hastens her to the car. But, did she leave her wallet behind?
Will Paige ever believe her mom and dad “don’t hurt people”
after witnessing her mother murder a man?
(Even in self-defense?) There are two episodes left this season. The preview for next week shows Paige
questioning her parents after the attack. Oleg and Stan appear to meet one more time,
and the bio-weapons mission that has been building all season is near
completion. The lingering threat of exposure looms like the moon in the
background, distant but ever present and changing. I wish the season didn’t have to end!
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