The Americans - Recap: An Eye for an Eye, A Body for a Body

We knew it was bound to happen eventually. Things got bloody on The Americans this week, and our first key player bit the dust. “Safe House” found the Jennings’ relationship further falling to pieces, while the FBI dealt with dishing out repercussions following the murder of the ballistic scientists at the hands of the KGB during the episode prior.

The episode opened with Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Phillip (Matthew Rhys) announcing their separation to Paige (Holly Taylor) and Henry (Keidrich Sellati) over their favorite meal, fried chicken. I’m guessing the two will never be able to stomach the dish again without suffering the bitter aftertaste of parental separation. Paige questioned how her parents could simply fall out of love with one another. It was interesting watching the children react knowing as viewers that these people were never in love with one another. They’d only recently decided to give a true relationship a go.

FX "The Americans"

The next day, the family found themselves at one of Stan’s (Noah Emmerich) house parties, if only to mingle with FBI agents following their botched attempt at intercepting the assassin last episode. Not much was turned up. If anything, the Jennings found themselves under the microscope following their separation. Everyone knows everything in suburbia. It’s a spy’s dream and nightmare wrapped up into one. Meanwhile, the FBI buddies met privately to discuss an upcoming hit on Arkady (Lev Gorn), the KGB Resident. Still reeling over the death of some of their own, the FBI leader, Agent Gaad (Richard Thomas), wanted to hit the KGB hard. The attack would be voluntary, considering it hadn’t been approved. It was an act of pure revenge. Stan, unwilling to put himself in the middle of something additional and unofficial, was the only agent to back out.

Phillip continued masquerading as “Clark,” the proclaimed love of Martha’s life. Martha, Gaad’s secretary, had fallen head over heels for Phillip’s alter ego. We know Phillip is the type to let something like this eat away at him, so I’m looking forward to seeing this relationship unravel, especially following the conclusion of this episode. After spending the night at Martha’s, “Clark” left with a small bit of information. He managed to uncover the planned attack on a KGB agent. The target was, however, still a mystery.

Outside of his car, Phillip found himself caught off guard by Chris Amador (Maximiliano Hernandez). This was an interesting confrontation. We know Chris pined for Martha all season long, but it was unclear at this point whether or not he was approaching “Clark” as a jealous suitor or as an agent who’d discovered Phillip’s scheme to milk Martha for all the information she could dish. Unable to merely walk away, Phillip ended up getting physical with Amador. Unfortunately for Chris, he ended up knifed in the gut. Once you end up locked in a trunk, you know things are looking bleak.

Phillip had somewhat unwillingly acquired a hostage, much to Elizabeth’s concern. Phillip recognized that this move could have been a massive mistake, but they figured they might as well use Chris for information regarding the hit. Elizabeth brought her own morphine supply, and the two cleaned up Chris’s knife wound on their own. Still, it appeared as though Amador’s hours were numbered.

Stan knew something was up when Chris, his partner, missed a meeting. After an unreturned phone message, Stan decided to do some snooping. Chris’ apartment came up short, but Stan made note of the wide variety of missed messages on Amador’s machine. Afterwards, he checked out his partner’s car. When forensics managed to discover that the car had been sterilized and wiped of all prints, the KGB were as good as guilty in Stan’s eyes. Agent Gaad was still cautious in pointing fingers. Amador had a history of partying and chasing tail late night. Stan knew disappearing was uncharacteristic of Chris.

Stan’s first instinct was to contact Nina (Annet Mahendru), his KGB mole. The two had been growing closer since developing a romantic side to their relationship; however, Stan was relentless in his pursuit of his partner, even getting a bit aggressive with Nina when she turned up short. Phillip and Elizabeth had, of course, kept their hostage under wraps. When all else failed, Stan decided to join Gaad’s assassination attempt, if only to make sure things turned out in his favor. If they killed the KGB Resident, they’d be singing Chris’ death certificate themselves. He wanted Arkady taken alive. Minor setback; Arkady suffered a burn from a nasty hot potato (seriously), and his young running partner, Vlad, would end up jogging through the park alone that day. The plan to capture Arkady went awry, but Stan decided to take matters into his own hands. Instead, he had his men capture young Vlad for his own torturing.

Did you enjoy Stan’s hunting dog metaphor? When a hunting dog retrieves a shot bird for its master, it carries it with a loose bite. The bird, dead or alive, falls limp in the dog’s mouth. Playing dead, they sometimes fly away upon being dropped, like an instinctual last ditch effort. Stan had Vlad in his teeth, but he had no intention of dropping him at his master’s feet. He could bite hard if Vlad refused to cooperate in finding Chris. Of course, Vlad was totally clueless, as was Arkady, who would receive a threatening phone call from Stan.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Phillip came up short with Amador. The man was loyal to the core, even getting ballsy enough to declare America the imminent winner of the war straight to Elizabeth’s face. When Chris discovered that the clock had turned past five, he laughed, and gave them the information they wanted. He figured Arkady was already dead, and he was on his own way out. Panicked, Elizabeth called the embassy and discovered the U.S. had botched their assassination. Either that, or Amador was lying for some bizarre reason. Instead of Arkady, they’d picked up a first tour officer. Shortly after, Chris Amador died.

The FBI discovered Chris’ body ditched in some random lot, having been dead long before being placed there. Agent Gaad assured Stan that he would be avenged, but was concerned with Amador’s loyalty on the brink of death. Did he rat out Nina? Stan knew his partner too well. My favorite parts of the episode were the flashback sequences between Stan and Chris. Chris was a lone wolf; no family, wife, etc. This didn’t put his loyalty into question, though. Having served in Vietnam, he learned the only thing worse than death was shame. He’d never shame himself.

An eye for an eye, a body for a body; R.I.P. Chris and Vlad.

What did you all think of The Americans Episode 9, “Safe House”? Will you miss Chris Amador? Do you favor the Jennings or Stan? Will you be tuning in for Season 2?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of The Americans Episode 9, “Safe House”!