A Little Night Music is the fourth episode of Season Two of The Americans on FX, and the seventeenth episode overall.
Synopsis
When turning Anton Baklanov is deemed unlikely, the Jennings are assigned to exfiltrate him by force. Claudia tells the Jennings that Andrew Larrick is her primary suspect in the Connors' murders. Elizabeth gets his file by seducing a naval recruit. Fallout from Vlad's death affects Agent Gaad's job. Paige's new friend Kelly takes her to a church function.
Plot
Phillip follows Anton Baklanov, a brilliant physicist and Refusenik who escaped from the Soviet Union a decade ago. He quickly realizes Baklanov would rather die than betray his new homeland; The Center then orders the Jennings to abduct Baklanov and exfiltrate him by force.
Claudia meets with Phillip and Elizabeth and tells them the Center isn't interested in finding out who murdered the Connors. She suspects Andrew Larrick, since he was being blackmailed, and she thinks Brad Mullin, a young naval recruit, might be the key to learning more about him. Phillip offers to develop Mullin, and Elizabeth thanks him, but declines, saying "I'll handle it." She approaches Mullin at a music store in Virginia Beach, under the guise of wanting recommendations for classical music. Mullin is just about to listen to Mozart's "A Little Night Music" and she asks if she can join him.
The House and Senate Intelligence committees open an inquiry into Vlad's murder. Gaad gets sidelined and Jim Halliwell is brought in to head the counter-intelligence unit. Stan and Phillip hang out at a bar and Phillip tries to keep a straight face when Stan overdramatizes what it's like to "take a guy off the face of the earth." Stan then confides in Phillip that he's having an affair, but says it's with a married woman.
Back at home, Henry continues to harass his parents for a video game system (Intellivision). Paige's new friend, Kelli, takes her to a church youth group. She tries to hide from her parents the fact that she's reading the Bible, which makes them upset at her. Phillip and Elizabeth are very unhappy with her new religiosity, and Elizabeth feels they are failing to impart their values to their children.
Oleg uses his family connections to get a higher security clearance. Arkady warns Nina he now has access to her reports, detailing her meetings with Stan. Oleg later approaches her saying: "Our jobs are all about deception. And maybe it's not so hard to deceive with our eyes, the smile, the things that we say. But the body ... the parts of the body that can love ... they want to tell the truth. And when we train them to lie, that's hard on the soul."
Elizabeth and Mullin go to a small motel together, but she leaves, upset, after some brief kissing. Later, she tells Mullin that Andrew Larrick raped her, but the Navy is stonewalling the investigation. She describes her rape to Mullin in details nearly identical to her rape by Timoshev. Distraught, Mullin promises to get her Larrick's file, but when they meet again, tells her he was too scared to do it. Elizabeth gives him a hand job. Phillip tails Baklanov and discovers he has a mistress. When the Jennings touch base with each other to find out how each mission is going, Phillip is clearly bothered by Elizabeth's (presumed) seduction of Mullin.
Claudia meets briefly with Elizabeth, and tells her she's worried Elizabeth returned to service too soon. Meanwhile, Martha wants to have a "lazy morning" with Clark, but needing an excuse to leave early, he picks a series of fights with her until she throws him out. She later starts to fill out a job transfer application, and calls Phillip to discuss what to write under marital status. When she can't reach him, she decides she'll mark "married," and write down his name.
The Jennings try to abduct Baklanov as he leaves his mistress's house. After knocking him out with chloroform, they are hauling him into their car's trunk when they are attacked by Baklanov's mistress and another man. In the fight that ensues, Phillip briefly subdues the mistress but his attention is diverted by Elizabeth repeatedly slamming her attacker's arm in the trunk. Alarmed at her rage and lack of control, Phillip pulls Elizabeth off of him, giving the mistress an opportunity to speed away in their vehicle, Baklanov in the trunk. The episode ends with Elizabeth, Phillip and the unconscious attacker stranded in the middle of a dark street.
Notes
- The Intellivision is a home video game console by Mattel Electronics, its name being a portmanteau of "intelligent television." Intellivision was released nationwide in the US in 1980, with a price tag of $299; it included Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and a library of ten cartridges. From 1980 to 1983, over 3 million Intellivision units were sold. Though not the first system to challenge Warner Communications' Atari, it was the first to pose a serious threat to the market leader.
Music
| Song Title | Performer(s) |
|---|---|
| I Melt with You | Modern English |
| Eine kleine Nachtmusik | W.A. Mozart |
| Beer Bar Blues | Lloyd Conger |
| This Little Light of Mine | Guy Carawan |
Videos
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