Last week explored themes of disconnection and the need for constancy in an ever-evolving world. The very nature of the Soviet Union is changing under Gorbachev while the United States seems ready to soften its rhetoric led by an ailing Ronald Reagan. This hour, characters from previous seasons return with new conflicts. The complexity of the game on both sides is illustrated with Stan and Elizabeth’s different ways of handling past informants. Phillip finds it difficult to maintain the same sense of purpose now that he’s out of the business. The stress of maintaining operations by herself while trying to shield Paige from the reality of the work is taking a toll on Elizabeth.
Phillip sits alone at the breakfast table watching as Elizabeth comes downstairs but leaves him to smoke outside. Stan is discussing operations in his new position in “criminal investigation” when he is summoned down to “counter-intelligence.” Stan remarks how the office seems empty, Aderholt explains that “there are many Russians in town” ahead of the big summit. Aderholt explains that “Teacup” called the operations line and Stan has to meet with him. Dennis mentions another development, Oleg has returned to Washington D.C. on a tourist visa and is taking classes in urban transport planning. Oleg has been out of the KGB for three years but Dennis would like Stan to meet with him to ascertain whether he’s still involved with Soviet intelligence.
Phillip crushes numbers on a calculator at the travel agency. He looks tense and alone. Meanwhile, Elizabeth follows an older gentleman into a bookstore wearing a short brown wig and glasses. Elizabeth greets the man, using the identity of “Meghan” from the State Department. The man works for the Department of Defense and the pair exchange views on the upcoming summit. The man confides that the United States feels like it has the upper hand in the negotiations because the “Soviet Union can’t afford an ongoing arms race.” There are rumors that Reagan is “going soft”, perhaps because he’s thinking about his legacy. Still, there are enough “hawks” in the administration like Caspar Weinberger who will keep Reagan to the right. McIneesh exclaims, “We can win this Cold War!” Elizabeth suggests discussing these issues further over lunch, however, McIneesh insists on meeting her at the State Department cafeteria instead of an “off-campus” location. Elizabeth agrees, but this will make her more vulnerable to exposure.
Stan meets with Gennadi, the Soviet hockey player from last season. Gennadi complains that he and Sofia (a journalist at the Soviet news agency TASS) have not been getting along. Sofia has kicked him out of the house. “I was watching game, relaxed. I ask her to bring me beer. She get mad! She was already standing!” Stan appeals to Gennadi to do everything possible to repair the situation, reminding him that they need him to keep working for the FBI. Gennadi hugs Stan as they say goodbye. “You’re a good friend!”
Elizabeth is in her caregiver role at the Haskart home. Erica screams in pain, demanding more morphine. When Glenn arrives to comfort his wife, Elizabeth explains that it’s “too soon for more morphine, she might develop a tolerance.” (Even in this era, that is not likely a concern for a hospice patient. The goal is to make the patient comfortable.) Glenn ignores Elizabeth and gives his wife the medicine. Erica pleads, “I need you to end this, soon!” Glenn assures he that he’ll help her.
Later, Glenn attempts to work while listening to a baseball game on the radio. Elizabeth asks to speak to him about whether he plans to help his wife end her life. Glenn acknowledges that he’s seen her suffering and knows that she doesn’t want to continue on like this. Elizabeth explains she knows people who’ve done it, cautioning him that it can “go wrong.” She asks him how he plans to do it. Glenn admits that he’s been saving unused morphine and is planning to give her a large dose in approximately one month. Elizabeth cautions that a morphine overdose can lead to a coma or brain death and to let her handle it instead. (This is not true, a morphine overdose will generally cause a cessation of breathing followed by cardiac arrest, and it is generally peaceful and painless.) Glenn agrees to let Elizabeth help.
Elizabeth discusses Erica’s situation with Claudia. Claudia affirms, “You just have to keep her alive through the summit.” Elizabeth notes, “She’s really going to suffer now.” (My guess is that Elizabeth will continue to withhold morphine and perhaps even give small doses of a narcotic reversal agent to keep Erica awake and in pain. This is a heartless thing to do in both my personal and professional opinion!) Claudia asks about Erica’s artwork and it clearly makes Elizabeth uncomfortable. “She paints faces, people. At least her husband is DOING something.” Elizabeth places no value on creativity or expression because she doesn't understand it.
Elizabeth describes her upcoming lunch date with McIneesh at the State Department cafeteria. McIneesh is important because he has a direct role in the negotiations for the summit. Elizabeth wonders what the odds are of her being unmasked in such a setting. Claudia cautions her to not think about those odds. Claudia has another request from the Centre. Elizabeth is to get back in touch with an Air Force general in order to obtain lithium based radiation sensor. This piece of technology will help the Soviet general whom she met with in Mexico. (To assist with the “Dead Hand” technology.) Elizabeth accepts these assignments without question but adds, “Paige has taken to you, and if anything happens to me, you can finish with her.” Elizabeth notes that Paige will “have it easier” being a double agent working for the CIA or State Department. Claudia assures her, “You’ll be fine, both of you!”
Stan pays a visit to Sofia at her apartment. She is agitated when discussing her strained marriage to Gennadi. “He lazy, he drinks and has affairs!” She has decided to divorce him. Stan tries to interject but Sofia confesses she’s talked it over with Bogdan, a senior correspondent at TASS. Sofia insists Bogdan is just a good friend who listens but her tone suggests that she is developing feelings for him. Stan states that if she leaves Gennadi, he will be in danger. “You figure it out, I have to take care of my boy!”
Phillip again eats breakfast alone while Elizabeth sneaks outside for her morning cigarette. After a moment, he goes outside to join her. “You got home pretty late last night.” Elizabeth apologies for disturbing him but Phillip wants to know how she’s feeling. Elizabeth again apologizes for being so busy. She explains that she thinks that Paige will be a good agent but she made a mistake recently. “She got someone’s name wrong.” (Unless this a code for what happened, she is lying to minimize the scale of Paige’s mistake.) Phillip is more understanding, noting they too made mistakes in the beginning. “I learned fast.” Elizabeth declares. She asks that Phillip not discuss the matter further with Paige. Elizabeth is torn between being forgiving of Paige as her daughter but tough on her as an apprentice.
Dennis looks for Stan to get an update on the situation with Gennadi. Stan is too busy to have the conversation in the “vault” so they step into an empty room for privacy. Stan states, “Things are bad, and she’s met a guy at work.” Neither of them trusts Sofia not to confide in her new beau spontaneously one day about her and Gennadi’s work for the Bureau. Gennadi has a flight and information drop scheduled for the next day. The men share how complicated divorces can be in their line of work. Dennis hopes that Sofia is not looking to get Gennadi killed. Dennis sighs, “He goes, we work on her and sleep like shit as always!” Stan replies, “I can’t tell you how much better it is to deal with murderers, drug dealers and corrupt politicians. I’m serious!” Stan is called away to attend to matters in his own department.
A uniformed Air Force general walks at night, Paige and the older women are in the area to keep an eye out for witnesses. Elizabeth approaches General Renhall wearing a short blonde wig and large glasses. “The future looks bright, don’t you think.” (This was likely a previously established code.) Renhall looks wary so Elizabeth continues, “One of my colleagues approached you in ’81 about a future arms race in space.” (Probably Reagan’s “Star Wars” proposal.) The general says it’s not a good idea to talk to him. “We need a piece of technology, a lithium-based radiation detector.” General Renhall scoffs, “Do you even know what that is?” Elizabeth responds, “It’s a sensor that can detect a nuclear blast very quickly, we just need one.” Renhall tries to dismiss her, “There are proper channels of communication between our two countries, and I’m not a channel. Don’t contact me again!” Elizabeth insists, “You need to get this for us.” She barks out a time and place for their next meeting.
Gennadi lands at JFK International airport with his diplomatic pouch. (As a former hockey player for the national team, Gennadi has the privilege of carrying such an item into the U.S. on a regular basis.) The Talking Heads song, “Slippery People”, punctuates the scene. Stan observes Gennadi entering the airport and making his way to the restroom. Other agents act as lookouts for the agent holed up in a men’s room stall dental style x-ray equipment. Gennadi is in the next stall when he flushes the FBI agent takes an x-ray of the pouch through a concealed hole between the stalls. The exchange is done in a matter of minutes but the tension is high for all involved.
Elizabeth enters the State Department as a visitor wearing a straight long blonde wig and light framed glasses. She has signed up to take the eleven o’clock tour. The tour guide discusses statues, as Elizabeth appears to blow her nose before sneaking off to the restroom. After a few moments, Elizabeth exits the bathroom in her “Meghan” personae, with a short dark wig and dark-framed glasses. The tour guide notes her absence and sends another woman into the restroom to look for a lady with “long blonde hair.”
Phillip calls out to a man named Jeremy, a loyal client of his travel agency. Phillip asks if he can help the man plan his next vacation and the man sheepishly confesses to using another company, which specializes in “budget travel.” Phillip tries to assure the man that they can also offer competitive rates but the man states he wouldn’t want to bother him for a less expensive trip. The men part ways amicably but Phillip is clearly worried about the future of his business.
When Phillip returns to the office he speaks with his colleague Stavos regarding Jeremy. Phillip is upset that Stavos was unable to keep one of Phillip’s oldest clients. Stavos explains that the man insisted on speaking to Phillip but Stavos was trying to “take personal responsibility” and not burden his boss. (Phillip is still pushing his “Est” teachings on his employees.) In these moments, Phillip misses Elizabeth's savvy with clients of all types.
Elizabeth meets with McIneesh at the State Department cafeteria. He speaks paternally to her, advising her to “broaden her horizons” and perhaps pursue an academic career or work with him over at the Department of Defense. Elizabeth tries to remain poker-faced as she observes security guards mounting a search for the “long haired blonde woman” from the tour. She encourages McIneesh to go and eat outside. Once outside, McIneesh drops a bombshell of information, it is rumored that Reagan may be going senile.
Elizabeth reports this dramatic news to Claudia. “I can’t fathom the implications of this!” Claudia reasons that even if Reagan is impaired, his aids and advisors are shrewd and hard against Soviet interests. Paige enters without knocking. Claudia sharply steers the conversation to something completely different by asking Paige if she likes Tchaikovsky. Paige groans and Elizabeth confesses Paige doesn’t care for classical music. Paige softens and remembers how she went to the Nutcracker as a girl. Claudia puts on a record of “None but the Lonely Heart.” The older woman explains how this piece helped her cope with the sadness after the war. The three generations of women all looked moved by the music. While this appears to be a touching scene, Claudia seems to have a strategy of using art, music, and film to further connect Paige with her Russian roots.
Paige and her mom walk her back to the University. Paige asks, “Do our people ever use sex as a method of getting information?” Elizabeth looks startled, “Where do you get that idea?” Paige explains she’s been reading a book she found in a used bookstore about “our organization.” Elizabeth dismisses the notion as “bullshit” and a mere ploy to sell books. (In modern parlance, “fake news!”) Paige is adamant that the book seemed credible. Elizabeth notes she can’t speak for every officer but sometimes people do get close when working together and their relationship can turn into something else.” Paige asks if she’s heard of that happening. Elizabeth says she’s “cut off” from everyone else and would not hear such stories. (If you can imagine how hard it is to think of your parents having sex, poor Paige might have to imagine her parents both having sex with other people.) Elizabeth says, “It’s easy to see things as black and white but the world is more complicated than that!” Elizabeth advises her daughter to be very careful when obtaining books; she suggests an out of town used bookstore in the future.
Paige acts as a lookout again as Elizabeth makes her way to meet General Renhall in the park. Elizabeth approaches Renhall, this time in civilian dress standing with legs apart defiantly. “How are you?” begins Elizabeth. “Like you give a shit how I am!” Elizabeth retorts, “I give a shit about my country and it’s in trouble right now!” The general grumbles, “Whose fault is that?” He continues to explain how he never wants to see “you people” again. Renhall recounts his guilt over someone who died in connection with their interaction in ’81. “All those people I killed in Korea, and this is what I have nightmares about!” Renhall shakes his head, “I’m not going to give you the God damn sensor or anything else!” Elizabeth cautions him to think the matter over. “You may think I’m a traitor but I was trying to do the right thing. You used me, that’s not going to happen twice!” Elizabeth states that the Soviets will expose the past misdeeds that would shame him and possibly land him in jail. Elizabeth calls out the next meeting place and time before walking away.
While Glenn is occupied, Elizabeth photographs documents he’s taken home to work on prior to the Summit. Erica paints furiously but then cries out in agony. Elizabeth goes to tend to the dying woman. Erica asks for her opinion of the work, a black and white sketch of a woman with her hand over her mouth. Elizabeth is not able to see any deeper meaning or emotion in the work. Erica scoffs, “You wouldn’t be the first.” Erica insists that Elizabeth take up a pencil and draw. Elizabeth insists she can’t draw. Erica replies, “That’s not your problem.” Erica asks her to draw a mug, noting that everything is simply light or dark. She asks Elizabeth draw the dark parts. (Again the theme arises of Elizabeth’s black and white thinking in the shaded world.)
Phillip calls Henry from the office late at night. Even Henry can sense that his dad sounds, “Like you are about to jump out of a window.” Phillip relates the story of Jeremy to his son. They are able to share some levity, which is so desperately lacking in Phillip’s life. Henry is the last “uninfected” person in the family; Phillip craves his son’s ignorance of the dangers his wife and daughter are subject to.
Paige waits in the car as Elizabeth goes to her meeting with Renhall. The older woman serves as another lookout. As soon as Elizabeth approaches him, he pulls out a handgun and aims it at her. He says, “I’m not going to jail! I’m not going to betray my country!” Elizabeth tries to calm him, saying maybe she pushed him too far. Renhall sneers, “You people don’t pray do you?” Elizabeth begins to kneel and explains she’s a mother of two children. As Renhall looks down at her Elizabeth rushes at him, reaching for his gun which accidentally fires. Elizabeth gets him into a headlock and aims his gun under his chin and fires. Elizabeth is covered in Renhall's blood and brain matter but otherwise unharmed. Paige comes rushing towards her mom. Elizabeth looks like a demon, her eyes obscured by the blood- covered glasses. She screams at Paige to get back in the car and “follow the plan.” Paige runs away quickly.
The episode highlighted Elizabeth’s increasing difficulty in handling her work without Phillip’s emotional support. The stakes keep being raised, as Elizabeth has to lie and manipulate Paige just like her many other “marks.” But Paige isn’t naïve; it’s likely that she will discover the truth about the work soon, especially under these increasingly volatile situations.
The next week preview shows Stan and Dennis discussing the General’s “suicide” in the park. Phillip tells Elizabeth that Paige thinks that Renhall killed himself. Perhaps he’s beginning to question whether Paige should be told the truth about the work. Is this really the life they want for their daughter? Stan and Oleg reunite, he cautions the former KGB agent to "Not do whatever it is your planning." With critical weeks before the Reagan-Gorbachev summit, the tensions and dangers are mounting on both sides.
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