The Americans - Recap: Three Minutes in a Car

Episode 4 of Season 2 of The Americans, “A Little Night Music,” continued this interesting storyline surrounding the murders of Leann and Emmett, the KGB couple who also doubled as some of Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elisabeth’s (Keri Russell) only true friends. Stan (Noah Emmerich) is also a true buddy of Philip’s at this point, even going as far as to admit to his affair with Nina (Annet Mahendru) this week. While Paige (Holly Taylor) angered her parents immensely by daring to partake in the consumerist American culture via a youth group, Elisabeth and Philip juggled attempting to recruit a Jewish physicist who’d escaped the tyranny of the Soviet Union with seeking out the potential killer of their fallen friends. Here is the Recap and Review of Season 2 Episode 4 of The Americans, “A Little Night Music”!

FX "The Americans"

FX "The Americans"

To kick off the recap, Episode 4 was marked by the return of Margo Martindale as Claudia. Claudia is normally a woman of the code, but after losing two of her agents, Emmett and Leann, to some sort of looming unknown killer, only to then watch as the center scrambled to do anything at all, Claudia took it upon herself to attempt to recruit Philip and Elisabeth to join her in her mission of revenge. Claudia has her own ideas about who murdered Leann and Emmett, leading Philip and Elisabeth to begin targeting a Navy sailor, Brad Mullin, in an effort to get closer to Andrew Larick, a closeted gay man with higher connections the couple had been blackmailing for their own use.

Elisabeth took it upon herself to target Brad, who turned out to be the definition of “loner” and the epitome of someone you wouldn’t expect to be in the Navy. Basically, Brad was a kindhearted young virgin who loved classical music, traveling the world, and simply being a good person. This, oddly enough, would prove difficult for Elisabeth to deal with, considering the fact that she so often uses sex to get what she needs from desperate perverted men. The thing about the scenes in which the Jennings don disguises is that they so often end up shining through as themselves anyway. For example, perhaps it was all part of the plan to lure Brad into a motel room, only to then feign discomfort and shyness, but I do think Elisabeth was truly guilt-ridden when she learned that Brad didn’t have many friends and had never been with a woman. I’d like to think Elisabeth isn’t the type to do that to a decent young man as part of her scheme. In any case, what happened next might have been worse. Elisabeth met Brad at a restaurant a few days later, profusely apologizing before delving into the story of how she was raped by Andrew Larick, though the files pegging him at the scene were allegedly locked away by the government. Brad, wanting to be her knight in shining armor, promised to sneak copies of the files to her in order to give her a means of heading to a lawyer. In the end, however, Brad chickened out. In order to instill a bit of confidence in him, Elisabeth offered up a casual sexual favor from the passenger seat of his car. What’s interesting to consider here is that Elisabeth has actually been raped by her superior in training, and the circumstances were very much what she described. Taking that into account, she didn’t really lie to Brad about the story of a tragic event that probably has scarred her immensely. She simply lied about the culprit, a man who might actually be the killer of Leann and Emmett.

Stan and Philip went out for drinks during Episode 4, and Beeman finally opened up about his affair. It was definitely interesting to listen to the conversation having watched both couples go through struggles. Philip saw this as something that could take away from Stan’s marriage and poison his home life while still being a supportive friend. Stan, however, barely even speaks to his wife about anything. Anything he could ever confide in Sandra would be burdening. Remember, Stan’s killed men in cold blood.

Philip’s central arc this week centered on a Jewish physicist who’d escaped the oppression of the Soviet Union to have a life with his lovely family in America. Baklanov spoke at an event and immediately seemed way too in love with the freedom in his new country to ever consider betrayal. At the rezidentura, Arkady (Lev Gorn) dealt with Oleg Igorevich (Costa Ronin), who seemed to believe that Baklanov was still worth investigating as a new recruit considering all he knows. Igorevich values the consumerist American culture a little too much for Arkady’s taste. In fact, his connections that somewhat unfairly won him a spot at the rezidentura seem more like a nuisance to anyone besides Igorevich, who used them to gain higher security access this week. Nina, meanwhile, had her files exposed through this process, revealing her affair with Stan to Igorevich in the process. Igorevich claimed to admire her strength considering the toll “faking” love could take on one’s soul. See, that’s another very American sort of way of thinking that would, at least as we know her, resonate internally with Nina.

Some quick side-plots to catch up on before heading into the end of the recap for Episode 4. Paige started reading the Bible and joined a youth group with her new friend from the bus ride this week. As KGB agents who see things like prayer and church as nothing more than more consumerism, the Jennings parents were ticked off. Well, Philip was annoyed, and Elisabeth was downright fuming mad. To her, they failed their children by neglecting to instill them with values. Remember, Philip and Elisabeth have tremendous values, none of which are kitchen table talk. Paige and Henry have nothing but what seems like a somewhat broken family. I, for one, hope this doesn't distract Paige from her quest to outdo the FBI in outing her parents as KGB agents. Meanwhile, Philip’s other wife, Martha (Alison Wright) is getting closer to digging up some dirt on “Clark.” During Episode 4, she began applying for a new job, a position “Clark” had previously pressured her into gunning for; however, she needs to put his “top secret” information down as her spouse. It’s only a matter of time before “Clark’s” excuses run out, and she finds something. This woman needs to find just something at this point. It’s hard to not feel sorry for her as we watch her live an entirely empty and false life. Lastly, FBI Agent Gaad (Richard Thomas) was sort of shuffled aside this week as the government began checking in on all of these mysterious KGB executions, like, say, the time Stan killed Nina’s coworker and best friend as revenge for his partner's untimely death last season.

Philip managed to dig up some good information by tailing Baklanov around his campus. Apparently, the man’s home life was not so very happy after all. Instead, Philip discovered an alleged affair. Elisabeth and Claudia had one last chat this week as they walked through the park. She sees the fear in Elisabeth’s eyes following the shooting. Elisabeth, meanwhile, took the same three minutes from their initial car conversation to realize that Claudia most likely still has something to hide. That we do not know; however, by the close of Episode 4 Elisabeth’s professionalism was put to the test. What was meant to be a quick kidnapping of Baklanov after a visit to his mistress ended up unraveling into a full-on battle. While the man laid sprawled out in the Jennings’ trunk, his mistress and another man combated with Elisabeth and Philip. When Elisabeth got caught up with quite brutally obliterating the man’s arm by repeatedly slamming it in the trunk door, Philip was forced to intervene, eventually allowing the female assailant to speed off in their car with their captor.

What did you think of The Americans Season 2 Episode 4, “A Little Night Music”? Is Paige going to stick to the religion, or is she just rebelling? Is this the right path to finding Emmitt and Leann’s killer?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of The Americans Season 2 Episode 4, “A Little Night Music”!