FX's The Americans - Episode 2.11 "Stealth"
Elizabeth makes a shocking discovery about Kate. Philip pursues a contact for information about stealth. Stan continues his pursuit of the illegals.
"Stealth" is essentially setting up the final two episodes of the season. It's not a throw away episode or one completely flying on auto-pilot. It's just much more of a stealth attempt at moving the plot forward so we can get resolution and answers in the concluding episodes of the season.We still have no clue who killed Emmett and Leanne at the start of the season but now we are given another very crucial piece of the puzzle. Jared is obviously much more important than he was at the start of the season. Why is Kate visiting him without any attempt at disguising her identity? It's a question the show sets up and Elizabeth and Philip want to get an answer for right away. Unfortunately, Andrew Larrick has other plans. He's at Kate's apartment ready to strike and find out where Elizabeth and Philip are. He's this imposing presence. Even when she carefully retrieves her gun and leaves a message, he's still able to over power her. It becomes even more tragic just by looking at the size of each character. She's this petite thing and he's this big, commanding tough guy able to overpower her with ease. Of course, she's not willing to expose any of her assets and he kills her. And that just continues the trend of danger creeping in around Philip and Elizabeth - and their children. Her final message is to get Jared out. What does that even mean? It's an exciting final reveal and hopefully one that will bear interesting complications at the start of the next episode.
And then, there's the walls slowly closing in on Nina. One of the best things about Nina and Annet Mahendru's performance is that there always seems to be a sliver of hope with both sides. It honestly does feel like she could still run away and escape the Soviet Union with Stan. Yes, she's been playing him this entire season. But that option remains open here. It has to in order to make that concluding moment where she sees him in a desperate panicked state. She could be sent back to Russia and tried for treason if she fails to turn him into a double agent. Her best option with that would be a life sentence in a prison. With Stan, there's the chance that she could lead a "normal" life again. It's that option that makes her the biggest wild card on the show while simultaneous sending Stan off the deep end. He truly is defeated. He doesn't feel like a hero when Henry calls him that. And that's not just because he's being humble. He doesn't feel like he should be rewarded for killing a man. Moreover, he really is unsure of where things stand with his wife. She returns but things are exactly as they were before - with neither one of them sure of what to do next. It's that kind of uncertainty that will make him unbalanced. Sure, he has this great lead at work now but if he were to learn about Nina's deception it could really destroy him.
And it's that feeling of being an emotional prisoner to life that runs throughout "Stealth." Paige is the one who gets to physically delivering a line embodying that fact. She doesn't understand why her parents won't let her go to the church camp. She's an independent spirit who wants an answer that they just can't give her. They get to compromise with her going to the rally protesting nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, not every other character on The Americans can escape from their prison mentality.
Some more thoughts:
- "Stealth" was written by Joshua Brand and directed by Gregory Hoblit.
- Zeljko Ivanek truly does an amazing job at showing how defeated his character is right now both physically and emotionally. A nice supporting character for the episode. Now, FX should find a drama for Ivanek to star in.
- We also get another pop-in on Anton in Russia. He's just trying to focus on the work and telling his supervisor what he needs to get.
- It also was really nice to get a good moment of vulnerability from Oleg as he learns about Nina's past and shares it with her. Now, was Arkady expecting him to share that information with Nina or did he honestly want Oleg to know?
- The phone operator guy has a name! It was George.
