The Americans - Recap: She Sings Like Pat Benatar and He Called Her Righteous

The Americans has officially hit its stride. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always felt the show was good, albeit a bit slow at its start, but the last few episodes have truly injected the series with a much needed sense of suspenseful drama and looming doom that should accompany a show surrounding the Cold War. “The Oath” saw reversals of fortune both good and bad. With the Season Finale on the horizon, how will our characters untangle this mess?

FX "The Americans"

The episode opened with Elizabeth’s (Keri Russell) recently acquired connection in the U.S. ballistics labs coming through with an amazing connection. Using the same tactics that were used to rope him in, he took it upon himself to recruit an Air Force colonel who’d become quite fed up with the Reagan administration. Fed up enough, indeed, to want to aid the Soviets in their acquisition of U.S. ballistics defense plans. Elizabeth’s baffled sense of annoyance following her connection’s blabbing without her permission was replaced by intrigue once the man explained himself. For $50k, he’d deliver her the most valuable information she could imagine. Still, could she trust him? The sample of the level of information he could deliver through the colonel proved to be impressive. While Phillip (Matthew Rhys) was hesitant to even trust the man, warning Elizabeth that a trap could be set into motion if she were to actually meet this colonel, Grannie (Margo Martindale) revealed that the level of power and value regarding the samples sent through the colonel unveiled information ten times that of which the Soviets had managed to develop. Meaning, meeting this incredibly important connection was pivotal, regardless of how dangerous walking into this situation could be for Elizabeth. It was worth the risk. In other news, Grannie is a PacMan gal, and I love her even more. PacDots don’t have calories.

Meanwhile, Nina (Annet Mahendru) found herself in a position of power as well. It would seem quite useful to receive a promotion as a mole for the Americans. She’d have access to more power and receive word of motions and movements within the Soviet forces more quickly. She’d also have more contact with “illegal’s” than she had prior. This should have all worked out in Stan’s (Noah Emmerich) favor, but Nina still had one thing, and one thing only, on her mind… Vlad. Still reeling over the death of her innocent friend, Nina would use her sex appeal in an attempt to catch Stan off-guard. Stan might have denied killing Vlad with a mere “I would never do anything to hurt you,” but that read far from innocent. Nina had her answer, even if Stan had yet to realize it.

Much of the episode also surrounded the bugging of government spaces. Remember, on the season’s second episode, the Jennings managed to plant a clock in a government official’s office using their housekeeper to carry out the deed. A good churchgoing woman, Viola (Tonye Patano) decided she’d had enough of keeping her lie under wraps. She confessed to the FBI that she’d planted the clock, recalling the story of how her son had been poisoned and how she’d been strong-armed into committing the act. Rather than merely deactivating the Weinberger study clock, Gaad (Richard Thomas) decided to keep things running. Instead, they’d feed the KGB whatever they wanted them to hear. Unfortunately for the Jennings, Viola's description read similar to that of Patterson, the man Elizabeth had captured and released last episode. The FBI is officially after them.

FX "The Americans"

As this was unfolding, Phillip continued his painful romance with Martha (Alison Wright), who is just so uncomfortable to watch at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoy her character, but as this fake relationship continues to snowball, all I can think about is the aftermath. She really believes that “Clark” is her soul mate, the man she’s been waiting for. In an attempt to plant a bug in Gaad’s office, Phillip took things way too far. He proposed to Martha, pleading with her to keep their engagement a secret for fear of revealing an inappropriate workplace affair. Remember, Phillip, as “Clark,” was supposed to be working as an FBI inside man investigating Martha’s department through studying her. Clark just couldn’t resist. Poor Martha played right into his scheme, but on one condition. She wanted to tell her parents the truth about their relationship, even if it was a risk. Phillip agreed, but was pressured into marrying Martha within the next few days. Martha just couldn’t wait any longer.

FX "The Americans"

Needless to say, the wedding was my favorite scene this week. Elizabeth and Grannie in disguise as Clark’s family was especially hilarious. The more Grannie on my screen, the better. I don’t care if she’s double-crossing them at this point. Haven’t they done it to enough innocent people, albeit American people, but still. It was interesting to watch Elizabeth as she watched Phillip and Martha say their vows at the altar. The Jennings never had a true wedding. To Elizabeth, the words mattered.

I thoroughly enjoyed the wedding, but the scene between Paige (Holly Taylor) and her mother, Elizabeth, was great in its own right. Paige was distraught over seeing Stan’s son smitten over another chick.

Paige: “She sings like Pat Benatar, and he called her righteous.”

Elizabeth, attempting to make things better, reminded her that we sometimes see only what we want or need to see in another person. Paige questioned, had Elizabeth done that with Phillip?

The Jennings head into next week facing their greatest risk yet. Elizabeth’s connection was coincidentally arrested for failing to pay child support, and he’d surely have his ties to the KGB uncovered in the investigatory process. Meaning, they were now crunched for time in the process to meet with the colonel (Guess what the series finale is titled). Grannie pressured them to continue to follow orders, while the Jennings questioned ordering a new handler all together.

The episode closed with Nina making an unexpected decision. She made the choice to confess her treason to Arkady (Lev Gorn), admitting to being the true mole. She truly confessed all, even the story of her love affair with Stan, but made Arkady an offer. Rather than sending her back to Moscow to die, or worse, she asked for the chance to set things right with her motherland by turning her back, once again, on The Americans.

What did you all think of the penultimate episode of The Americans, episode 12, “The Oath”? Are you pumped for the season 1 finale? Are you pleased with how the suspense has picked up? Do Phillip and Elizabeth stand a chance? What will come of Stan and Nina? Can Grannie be trusted?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of The Americans, episode 12, “Oath”!