- Elizabeth and Phillip are supposed to get a biological weapon sample but fail to make the exchange when someone is watching. Nina works Anton in hopes it will lead to her freedom. Paige wonders if she can trust Pastor Tim with her secret.
- Martha is upset when Philip relates Gene's role in protecting her. The trip to Germany has repercussions for the Jennings family. Gabriel tells Elizabeth and Philip about William, who has samples of US biological weaponry, which they are to acquire. Back in USSR, Nina continues to leech onto Anton for her own freedom... or does she have another agenda? Pastor Tom continues to pry information out of a guilty and confused Paige, but they do not know the phone is bugged. Philip and Elizabeth have numerous problems meeting William without a tail. Either his new openness with Martha or his talent for killing are causing Philip to have very bad dreams about his childhood. Arkady is upset when he learns Tatiana is from the secret "Dept. 12." Elizabeth and Philip make the acquaintance of "burkholderia mallei." A distraught Stan accuses Philip of sleeping with Sandra, as he was not honest with Stan about continuing EST and Elizabeth does not even know.—LA-Lawyer
- Picking up on the heels of last season's finale, the season 4 premiere of The Americans sees Philip and Elizabeth dealing with the fallout of all they've wrought. What will happen when the FBI finds out about Gene's suicide? How will Pastor Tim deal with the revelation that they are Russian spies? And will they be able to handle a dangerous, new bioweapons assignment?
- Philip lies in bed thinking back to his childhood, when he was chased into a tunnel by bullies taunting him. Philip, then known as Misha, grabbed a large rock and hit another boy in the head with it, hitting him over and over again.
Philip visits Martha, and tells her that she is going to hear some shocking news about her coworker Gene Craft, who in the next few days will be found dead in his apartment of an apparent suicide. She doesn't understand until he tells her that he will be found with the recorder used to bug the pen, and that his death was the only way to protect her. Stunned, she begins to sob and backs away from Philip. "What have you done?" she cries. "What have I done?"
In the morning, Paige tells her mother she heard someone leaving at 3 am. Elizabeth tells her that her father had to work. She informs her that he was meeting a source. Paige asks if it was dangerous work and Elizabeth says no, that it is more about getting someone to trust you.
Martha wakes up on the couch in her apartment, where Philip had watched her all night from a chair. She says she plans to go to work like normally. Philip looks at the framed wedding photo of the two of them and informs her he won't be able to come back there, even when the investigation into the pen ends. He says Agent Beeman's suspicions makes it too dangerous to return, but that it won't change anything between them, and that they will be together just as often at his place. Martha looks at him blankly.
Stan, now in a relationship with Tori from EST, tells her he is spending less time at the office as he is an unpopular man there recently.
At school, Paige waits inside while her class stands to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, then walks in like she is just a minute late.
A furious Gabriel berates Elizabeth and Philip for her bringing Paige to West Germany to meet Elizabeth's mother, after he told them no. He says he came out of retirement to help them, and if things are going to be this way, he will return to his hometown of Sergach and they can get another handler. They insist they want him to stay, so he says they will move on. He tells them that there are biological weapons they are not allowed to make, per treaties they have signed, but that they are sure the Americans are making them so they make them too. He says another agent, William, has been getting samples of pathogens the Soviets have analyzed, and that Gabriel was unable to intercept his message as he had a tail. Gabriel pulls out several vials of liquids. He says anyone who gets near these pathogens has to be vaccinated against the diseases, which includes a form of meningitis. Elizabeth asks if William is on his own. Gabriel tells them William had a partner who didn't work out, adding, "Not everyone is as lucky as you two," as he vaccinates Elizabeth.
At the Soviet lab, Nina tells Anton how peaceful and luxurious she found her room there after the misery of the prison, and that she happily pictured herself staying a long time. She apologized as she said she understands it's not how he feels being there. Anton later tells her he was unfaithful to his wife and a horrible husband. Just then, a Soviet Army soldier shows up and demands Anton go with him.
Paige is talking to Pastor Tim in his church office. She says she shouldn't have told him about her parents being Russian spies and that they trusted her. He says she shouldn't feel that way as it is too difficult a thing to keep to oneself. He suggests her parents come in and they all four discuss the situation, confidentially. She said absolutely not and that not everything can be resolved with talking things out like he seems to think. He suggested she talk to her parents and find out more about what they do.
A disguised Elizabeth and Philip at a sidewalk cafe having dessert. Elizabeth talks about Henry's new cologne and how awful it smells, and Philip comments Henry is not even old enough to shave. William walks by slowly and Elizabeth and Philip decide to get up and leave, but something doesn't seem right. Philip leads her away and to their hidden car. Philip says he is not sure what he saw, but that he had a bad feeling. An annoyed Elizabeth points out that they were clear to go yet broke off when he didn't even see something. Philip reiterates that he had a bad feeling, and that Gabriel did the same thing, meaning there was a good chance William is under surveillance.
At an EST meeting, Philip gets up in front of everyone for a one-on-one "hypnosis" with Howard, the EST instructor. Eyes closed, he recounts the story from his childhood, being chased by the bullies, who used to rob him. He recalls the two boys splitting up in the tunnel before he hit the first one. He thinks back, remembering himself with the rock, and Howard asks him, "How do you feel?" "Strong," Philip replies. "Powerful?" Howard asks. "I don't know," says Philip, remembering now hitting the other bully in the head. "You got in a fight; you were a kid. What's the big deal?" asks Howard. Philip recalls smashing the other boy in the head over and over, surely murdering him as well, his blood spraying all over Philip. "It's not just that," Philip says, before saying he can't do anymore. Philip says he didn't mean to hit the boy so hard. Howard tells him that he is giving himself a hard time and that it should be the bully he hit asking him for forgiveness. "Did you ever ask him for forgiveness?" he asks. "Did you ever talk to him about it?" Philip thinks back to the two boys' lifeless bodies, their heads covered in blood. He says no, "because he moved away." The audience applauds loudly as he takes his seat.
After class, Sandra and Philip stop to get a bite to eat. She praises Philip and says he needs EST. They chat together, laughing, as they are spotted by Tori, who looks shocked at how cozy they seem as Sandra takes a bite of Philip's cake.
At the FBI office, Gaad gets a phone call, then tells Martha to call Walter Taffet and have him meet Gaad in the vault.
In a small room at the Rezidentura, Tatiana dictates a message via a cryptographer to The Center on Directorate-S, regarding "special instructions for temporary use of Directorate-S operatives received and relayed." Arkady knocks and demands to be let in. Tatiana stalls, telling him she will be done in five minutes, but Arkady insists she open the door. She finally refuses, and tells him to contact Colonel Umametev at The Center for the explanation as to why. He walks away.
At home, Elizabeth is listening to tapes from Pastor Tim's office, which they have clearly bugged. Philip arrives and they leave to once again try to make contact with William. As he strolls down the street, they drive by slowly. This time it is Elizabeth who spots the surveillance. "Keep driving," she says. For the third time, nobody meets William.
Anton, returned to the lab, tells Nina that they took him to an aircraft hangar to show him a wing they built for a prototype plane they are building based on his designs. If it fails, Anton will be sent to a labor camp. He tells that as a child, he loved living there, and that the anti-semitism that made it hard for him did not happen until much later, and that he enjoyed his life before they destroyed him. She tells him he is not destroyed. He points out his son has already probably forgotten him and will grow thinking he just left without even sending him a letter. He tells her that if he sent to a camp, he pictures himself turning to dust ground up into dirt, nobody remembering him.
Martha arrives at "Clark's" apartment in tears. She tells him they know Gene is dead. She asks if Gene knew he was going to die. He tells him no, and that he was not in pain when he died. He comments that Gene's apartment was filled with kids' toys and action figures. She says she is glad he told her, and that even if it is bad, she needs to know. He tells her he did what he did to take her out of danger and that he won't put her back in. She says they need to decide things together in the future, and he tells her that "they" want the details of a particular surveillance team.
Nina meets with Vasili Nikolaevich and tells him that Anton is not a usual man and is not interested in her romantically, so she is pretending to be his student. Vasili seems doubting about their relationship, but tells her that everyone is pleased with the early testing on the prototype made from Anton's designs. She tells him she has a demand: she wants to see her husband.
At the FBI office, agents talk about Gene's death, confidently claiming they always knew something was strange about him. Martha casually gets the surveillance reports for March 1983 out of a locked drawer and takes them to be copied. Stan watches her closely, then approaches her to talk about Gene while she quickly hides the file. Stan says he is sorry as he knows the two were close. Martha says she is surprised, but asks how well can you really know anybody.
Arkady has tea with Oleg and asks him about Project Zephyr, telling him that he often hears Oleg laughing while listening to the tapes with Tatiana. Oleg says occasionally an FBI agent will say something funny, but that mainly he gets along well with her. Arkady says that is good but that he needs to know he can speak with him confidentially, such as now. He asks if he has ever witnessed Tatiana doing anything odd. Oleg laughs a little and says everything they do there is odd, but says he will keep his eyes open.
Philip and Elizabeth look at the surveillance report. They see that Philip was imagining something the first night, but that Elizabeth was not, and the green station wagon she thought was suspicious was indeed an FBI team. They see there is no one scheduled to follow him the next two days, and Elizabeth suggests they go tonight. He sighs and she asks him what's wrong.
Arkady informs Tatiana that Colonel Umametev confirmed she was not to be bothered, but that he made some calls, and discovered it was "seventh floor" she was dealing with. He asks her why she came to America and how long she has been with Department 12. She says nothing. He reminds her that she is in his Rezidentura, and he must not be kept out of the loop if there are dangerous viruses and bacteria floating around. She apologizes but says she cannot discuss it.
Elizabeth and Philip walk arm in arm and stop to chat with William, who is sitting on a bench. After they use the right introductory phrase, he asks where Gabriel was. They asked if he knew he was under surveillance, and he replies sarcastically. He says his laboratory just got a new contract from Fort Detrick, the bioweapons lab for the Department of Defense, and that it has come with FBI surveillance, which is why he sent the signal to Gabriel. He gives them a small tin box and tells them to keep it in their freezer and get to Gabriel within 48 hours. He says it is Burkholderia mallei, which causes glanders. They protest that the inoculation they got was for a kind of meningitis. He laughs and says, "This is to meningitis what bubonic plague is to a runny nose. Gabriel and his friends at the Center have been waiting my whole goddamn life for this. Tell them I send it with love."
As they pull into their garage, Stan walks in. Philip quickly puts the tin box in his breast pocket before Stan asks to speak with him alone. Elizabeth goes inside and Stan informs him that Tori saw him together at a restaurant with Sandra, looking "intimate." Philip tries to explain but Stan gets rough and grabs him, asking him if he's screwing his wife. Philip tries again to explain, saying he went back to EST and they went to eat afterward as friends. Stan doesn't believe him and stars to rough him up again but Philip does nothing, telling him to stop. Stan says "Screw you" before leaving. Philip carefully pulls out the vial, bubble wrapped in the tin box, and sees that it has not broken.
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