This week continues to move forward the narrative forward but without much action or suspense. A few “ghosts” from seasons past appear perhaps just to remind the viewer how long and complicated the lives of people in intelligence and counter- intelligence can be. Some of the teasers from last week’s preview ultimately turned out to be “red herrings” as the series reserves the most explosive action until the last episodes of the season.
The hour opens with Kimmy’s father at his desk at the CIA, where he runs CIA intelligence in war-torn Afghanistan. A colleague hands him a file regarding the “Muj” or Mujahedeen. (The faction the US-backed against the Soviets that later evolved into the Taliban.) A group of fighters has died under mysterious circumstances involving “lots of blood.”
Phillip is seen changing out the bug device in Kimmy’s father’s briefcase. He then presents Kimmy with a birthday cake in honor of her seventeenth birthday. He croons “Forever Young” in a goofy country accent. They still have breezy “friendship.” He is able to converse with her about family and her plans for the future. He had told her he was a father but wasn’t involved with his child. The best lies are they always contain a kernel of truth. Phillip does have a son with whom he doesn’t have a relationship. She jokes with him that “every parent screws up.”
At the travel agency, Phillip and Elizabeth discuss Henry’s progress at school. Elizabeth is incredulous that he’s now getting better grades than his sister. Phillip sits down. Elizabeth observes, “It seems like she’s over to Matthew.” Phillip agrees that would be “good.” Elizabeth asks Phillip whether Tuan ever mentions any girls to him, she worries he’s lonely. She plans to go over and bring the young man dinner, possibly stay the night to offer him more support. Phillip nods in agreement. A colleague enters with a message, “Dr. Tippen is on line one.”
Phillip takes a coded call from the Centre dispatch. “Dr. Tippen unavailable, there’s going to be a substitute, his colleague Dr. Penderson. He’s a very dear old friend and he’s never too busy to help someone in need.” Phillip notes the address for the meeting. (This small moment highlights the elaborate way coded messages were exchanged.) Phillip tells Elizabeth, “One of Gabriel’s people, Thursday.”
Agent Wolfe calls Stan into the “vault for a meeting.” Wolfe informs him they’ve received intelligence that a group of KGB officers traveled in and out of Thailand around the same time that Agent Gaad was murdered. Wolfe encourages Stan to reconsider his feelings about “squeezing Burov.” He notes he or Stan could be the KGB’s next target for murder. (Stan probably wouldn’t cry if they took out Wolfe!) Stan doesn’t respond but looks through the file.
Elizabeth visits Tuan’s home with a take-out meal. He’s not home. In the Jennings basement, Phillip listens to the CIA tape. Elizabeth phones Evgheniya to ask whether Tuan is with his friend Pasha. Tuan is not at the Morzov’s either. Phillip continues to listen to the tape but has yet to hear anything significant. Elizabeth watches television, the late-night infomercials are airing. Her watch reads one forty-five. Elizabeth goes to investigate Tuan’s bedroom wearing dishwashing gloves. Phillip continues to listen to boring office conversations. Elizabeth looks in Tuan’s pockets, she uses a ruler to put the closet doors back in the same position. Phillip reaches the part about the “Muj.” A man says, “Doctor says it’s some kind of hemorrhagic fever, his report is on the way.”
Elizabeth returns home in the middle of the night. “Tuan never came home. I called the Morzov’s about ten. I waited until three am.” Elizabeth explains that something doesn’t feel right about the situation. Phillip can’t explain it either, he doubts he’s in cahoots with the Americans. Their best guess is he was out with the teens that bully Pasha. Phillip reveals what he learned on the tape about the mujahideen fighters. “Maybe it wasn’t about protecting us after a nuclear attack. Maybe they just wanted to use it in Afghanistan.” Elizabeth doubts it is the same virus they sent back but Phillip can’t believe it’s a coincidence.
Phillip goes to a hospital wearing a mustache, glasses and driving cap. He meets up with an Orthodox priest in the hallway. Most of their conversation is in code. The priest shares he was given equipment by Gabriel to “make reports for the next few months.” He complains he doesn’t know how to use it. The priest references a “Father Victor” who’s been out late, meeting with Frenchmen and coming back very drunk. (Hard to know what or whom he means.) The priest worries that “His Eminence” is listening to this “Father Victor” more and more. Phillip rises to leave. The priest requests more meetings with Phillip but Phillip declines unless something “urgent” arises. Phillip promises a new person will be in place in a few months. The priest implores him, “Sometimes I hear things, exactly the kind of things I was supposed to tell you about but I don’t know if they’re urgent. I used just tell Gabriel. He always used to say it was very important to him that we talk them through.” Phillip nods but repeats that he is unable to meet with him on a regular basis. The priest says he’ll pray for him and advises Phillip to try it. “It’s a great solace, especially when you live this kind of life.”
Stan pays a visit to Agent Gaad’s widow Ling. She makes tea and small talk before informing Stan no one from the FBI has been in touch since the funeral. Stan says, “I guess we’re not the best at that.” Ling chokes up thinking about how she had looked forward to spending more time with her husband in his retirement. She quickly apologizes and asks Stan about how his work is going. Stan praises Gaad, “He was a great boss. I’m not the easiest guy to be the boss of.” Ling asks for the real purpose of his visit. Stan requests her confidence before telling her they’ve learned the KGB was behind the murder in Bangkok. Stan reveals he has “something on someone else” but is hesitant to hurt this person. Stan thinks that Frank wouldn’t want revenge. Stan has come to a strange place to get sympathy for his moral problem with “squeezing Burov.” Ling says simply, “He would want revenge.”
Elizabeth and Phillip arrive home to find Henry waiting for them in the kitchen. He says he has something important to tell them. He discusses improving grades and reveals he wants to go to a boarding school called St. Edward’s in New Hampshire. Elizabeth hopes it’s not a religious school. Phillip protests that private schools are expensive and there are plenty of good schools in the D.C. area. Henry counters he could probably receive a scholarship. In fact, he’s already applied there and received a letter of recommendation from Chris’s father. He explains how Chris’s family has attended the school for generations and how he’d “capitalize” on this experience. (Nice choice of words for the KGB parents!) It may be a perfect opportunity to ship off Henry to school where he is far less likely to learn about their real careers.
On a cold Moscow night, Martha prepares a humble dinner of baked potato topped with fried onions. Russian music blares from a radio, perhaps to drown out the loud noises of her neighbors. By Soviet standards, her apartment is luxurious for a single person. She sits to eat when there is a knock at the door. She says “I’m coming!” in Russian, thinking it is someone she knows named Galina. Instead, she finds Gabriel at her door. He apologizes for interrupting her dinner. She looks at him expectantly, perhaps hoping for news about Clark. Martha gets him a glass of water. They sit down, looking at one another uneasily.
Gabriel asks how her language skills are coming, promising her “life will get better when your Russian improves.” Martha asks if her parents know where she lives. Gabriel says no, but informs her they were called and told she was “safe, being taken care of by people who respect you.” Martha hopes he has some news for her but he says no, he’s just retired. Martha asks if he’s married or has a family. “Must be nice.” She quips but Gabriel notes he has no close family. Gabriel asks about her life, her Russian teacher and a man “from your organization.” Again, he tries to reassure her life will improve when she can speak Russian and perhaps find employment translating. Martha’s eyes are on the verge of tears. “Clark thinks about you, he wanted to send you a letter but it’s not allowed. He’s the reason I talked to your parents, he insisted. He wants what’s best for you, we all do.” These words trigger Martha further, “I understand now, all of it!” She shakes her head at the old man and asks him to leave and never to return.
Norm, the African-American “spotter” watches Tuan and his friends from a diner booth. Tuan eats pizza with his high-school friends but then is on the move. Norm clicks a walkie-talkie to signal to Marilyn that Tuan is on the move.
At the Jennings, Phillip slaps down the brochure from St. Edwards down on the counter in disgust. “It’s like an Ivy league college, a country club, a fancy orphanage!” Neither parent can understand why their son would want to leave their comfortable home for this school. Elizabeth thinks maybe he should go away to “grow up.” Phillip is skeptical, “Why can’t he grow up here?” Phillip’s tirade is interrupted by a phone call about Tuan.
Oleg works on papers in his office. A man knocks on the door and enters abruptly, “Oleg Igorevich Burov, we need to talk to you at Yasanevo.” Oleg is escorted out to the curious looks of his co-workers.
Elizabeth wears a tracksuit, blonde wig, and baseball hat to follow Tuan with the assistance of her “spotters.” Tuan has gone to the Greyhound bus terminal. Elizabeth smokes a cigarette outside and receives the walkie-talkie signal. She sees Tuan board a bus bound for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Oleg arrives at P.G.U. headquarters in Yasenevo. It’s a tall bleak building, which rises out of the suburban landscape. (PGU is a division of the KGB specializing in foreign intelligence gathering, Yasenevo is one of the hundred and twenty-five districts of Moscow located in the southwestern region of the city. ) The men begin by thanking Oleg for “cooperating” with their search of his bedroom, extending their appreciation to include Oleg’s father. However, “We still have to ask you a few questions.” They ask him for a list of names of every person he met in the United States, both “personally and professionally.” Oleg notes that this information would be in his reports he made during his time at the Embassy. The man persists, asking for a list of names, even just first names, of every person he met in the United States within forty-eight hours. (Can you imagine attempting such a feat two decades before Facebook!)
The men hone in on Stan Beeman, asking Oleg about his contact with him and why he “never recruited him.” Oleg claims the Rezidentura ran the operation in which he was part of but not responsible for its outcome. Nina’s name is mentioned, they know Stan had a relationship with her, they also know Oleg had a relationship with her. Oleg confirms their information. Oleg describes how Nina was first recruited by Stan, admitted it to the Soviet ambassador and then helped provide “important intelligence regarding FBI activities.” Nina had tried to “turn” Stan but was unsuccessful, then she was returned to Moscow and executed for treason. The interviewer sighs, “What went wrong with the operation with Stan Beeman?” Oleg counters that these types of missions are rarely successful. They ask Oleg if he was angry about what happened to Nina, Oleg admits he’s still angry. (A defiant and dangerous thing to admit to this agency.) The man asks him if he “did anything about it.” Oleg shrugs, “What could I do?”
Phillip waits for Tuan to exit the Greyhound bus in Harrisburg. Phillip exits his vehicle to follow the youth.
Oleg returns home to find his parents squabbling about politics in the father’s workplace. Yelena gets feed up with the conversation and reports she has a headache, leaving the room. Oleg’s father complains, “She picks these fights.” Oleg defends his mother, “She’s doing the best she can.” Oleg tells his father he knows she went to a camp. He is surprised, Oleg’s deceased brother did not know the truth either. The father is defensive, “Every family has a story like this!” He confides when she was taken away he wanted to kill himself, noting when she returned she was a different woman. He notes many husbands didn’t accept their wives after the camps. ( Likely the woman had been subject to sexual exploitation during their incarcerations.) Oleg’s father claims he stayed with her, had a family and tried to move past it. He feels disclosing the truth would have prevented his family from “having this life.” Would Oleg and his brother given their lives in service of the State had they know what happened to their own mother? A comfortable life in the Soviet Union was only possible by being a member of the Party. How will Oleg feel about his work in corruption going forward knowing the truth? Would Oleg ever turn?
Tuan walks down the street towards an International House of Pancakes. Marilyn signals Elizabeth to his location. She watches the restaurant from a distance.
Oleg visits the prison where the grocery distributor is being held. The cell a white brick enclosure, with light streaming in from a high window. The man is dressed in a gray sweatsuit. Oleg brings him a fresh red apple. “These men are more powerful than the KGB.” Oleg counters he used to think his father was the most powerful man in the world because he is the Minister of Transportation. The man asks Oleg when was the last time Oleg had to go to a “gastronome” or grocery store. He states “these people, they control the food everywhere.” He states these men are even more powerful than his father. Oleg tells the man about his brother, how he decided to serve his country as a soldier. This brother could have avoided going to Afghanistan but he didn’t and served and died as an officer. “Now, he’s just a picture on a wall.” Oleg offers the man his perspective, “You are worried about the wrong things Demitri, the wrong people. You should worry about putting up a picture of your son or wife on the wall. We are stronger than you think!” Demitri offers Oleg a name, “God help me!”
Tuan returns home to D.C. later that night. Phillip violently pushes him against the wall and Elizabeth emerges to confront him with a small revolver. “Where were you!” Tuan yells, “I was out and I caught surveillance!” Tuan explains he went to make a phone call to check on his stepbrother who is ill with leukemia. He went out of state to be extra cautious but he noticed he was being followed (by Phillip’s team) and he ate at the IHOP and went home. “They’re not bad people, they took me in and he likes me. He’s been doing terrible.” Tuan begs them not to put this incident in their reports, he knows it was a “dumb thing to do” but he doesn’t want to get in more trouble with his own government. Elizabeth and Phillip let him go.
Driving home Elizabeth states she believes him. “If we report it, do you think he’ll be sent back to Vietnam?” Phillip muses maybe that’s what Tuan desires, “to be pulled out of this shit!” (It certainly is what Phillip has desired.) Elizabeth observes, “It’s not who he is.” She is probably saying this more about herself. The hour closes with the silence of their diverging desires.
Next week’s preview highlights more details about the viral outbreak in Afghanistan, more drama with Tuan and Paige returns in spy mode. The ripples of lies are spreading out touching all the those know Elizabeth and Phillip.
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