"You just killed a man in front of me. I might as well know everything." ― Paige
A Roy Rogers in Franconia is the twelfth episode of Season Four of The Americans on FX, and the fifty-first episode overall.
Synopsis[]
As Paige deals with last episode's trauma, she sees her mother in a new light...and finds she has inherited some of her parents' skills. Plus, has Oleg reached his breaking point with Stan?
Plot[]
Henry and Philip are playing a video game when Elizabeth and Paige arrive home after the attack by two men, one of whom Elizabeth killed. Philip meets them both upstairs and learns the full extent of what happened. Paige questions how Elizabeth could react so calmly and wonders if she's killed anyone before. Elizabeth says yes, but only in self-defence. Philip tells Paige he needs to leave for work which concerns her.
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Agent Aderholt visits the shop where the Mail Robot was repaired and asks questions about the death of the show owner, Andy's, mother. Andy says her death wasn't a surprise because she had a heart condition and no autopsy was performed. After Norm clears the scene, a disguised Philip meets with William and gives him the code to access the Lassa virus at his lab. Describing the horrible manner in which the virus kills, William refuses to obtain it due to the danger it poses. He says Philip should tell Gabriel his position.
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Tatiana tells Oleg she's been promoted to be the Rezident in Nairobi, due to her work for Department 12 in the US. Allowed to choose her deputy, she asks him to consider the job. Oleg congratulates her and says he'll think about it. He comments that whatever she's done in the US must have been impressive. She jokes it will be if she doesn't kill half the people on the Eastern seaboard. Returning home, Philip talks to Elizabeth about the attack. She says that just before the attack, Paige told her that Stan had told Matthew details about Martha spying at the FBI. Returning to the FBI, Aderholt enlists another agent's help in examining the Mail Robot. They find the recording device Philip planted and put it back.
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Reporting the bug to Stan and Agent Wolfe, Aderholt recommends surveiling the robot, following whoever exchanges the tape and arresting the KGB agent who picks it up, Wolfe sees the futility. Saying the KGB agent will be a low-level person from the embassy with diplomatic immunity who will be deported, Stan remarks that's the way it's always been. The next morning, Paige stays home from school with Elizabeth. She asks if Elizabeth knew her job would be dangerous when she joined and is frustrated when she evades the question. Elizabeth tells Paige about growing up in war-ravaged Smolensk and how the people there banded together and fought in horrendous conditions. She admired what they'd done and always wanted to emulate their spirit and sacrifice. Dangerous work didn't dull her convictions. Elizabeth wonders what Smolensk looks like now and wishes she go there with Paige.
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Oleg looks at photographs of the US space shuttle Challenger with Tatiana, wondering if it has a "dual purpose." Finding appeal in joining her in Kenya, he is troubled by the situation with his family back home, especially his mother, Yelena. Tatiana says to take his time making his decision. Agent Ganzel and Loeb watch a security monitor to see who will change out the tape in the robot. When a female janitor tries to open the robot up, they arrest her and she's interrogated.
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Stan reports that she thought she was working for a mobster who she met at a restaurant in Franconia who was concerned the FBI would sting a gambling operation. Indicating she's going to make the drop for her KGB contact, Aderholt asks if Wolfe believes catching the KGB officer is futile. Wolfe says that the State Department has agreed to deport higher-ups at the Soviet embassy. Multiple teams of agents prepare to watch her make the drop. Philip accompanies Gabriel to a pay phone where Gabriel calls Martha's parents, saying their daughter is fine and being taken care of by people who respect her very much. He says she loves them and thinks about them often.
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Oleg calls his mother and they talk about Yevgeny. She misses Oleg and asks if he knows when he'll be home. Elizabeth and Paige watch a soap opera which Elizabeth tries to understand. Henry and Matthew arrive and Matthew shows him how to hook his computer up to the TV. Stan gets a message and leaves to meet Oleg. Elizabeth listens to Paige and Matthew talk about the dangers of Stan's job. Oleg tells Stan that he's worried about the lack of resources Soviet scientists have and that some of the things they're getting from the US aren't properly handled. He then betrays Tatiana's confidence by telling Stan that the Russians have someone in place at a private lab where pathogens are created for the US military. He doesn't have specifics and tells Stan that he's done.
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Stan tells Wolfe and Aderholt what Oleg shared. Wolfe pulls everyone off the robot drop site except one car with a video camera. He feels Stan's news is so big, they can't afford to disrupt the Rezidentura. After Marilyn does surveillance, Philip picks up William and brings him to Gabriel's to discuss his reluctance to get the Lassa virus. William expresses his concerns about the pathogen's destructive power. Gabriel says it'll be his last mission and then he'll go home a hero knowing that their people will be safer because of what he's done. At the FBI, the agents analyze employee lists for three government contract labs, looking for people with high level access. After William leaves, Philip discusses how Gabriel got William to agree to get the Lassa virus. They talk about how well Philip and Elizabeth work together and tired, Gabriel confesses how the job is getting to him, made harder by being alone.
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Matthew gives Paige a ride from school and arriving at his house, says Stan hasn't been home for two days. Paige says she's glad Matthew is spending time at Stan's and they joke about Matthew's band and "Celery." They kiss for the first time and Paige leaves. Arriving home, Paige reports that Stan hasn't been home for two days. They tell her she doesn't need to spy on anyone for them and is free to have relationships but has to be careful what she says. Questioning why she's forced to maintain the relationship with Pastor Tim and Alice, she argues with them until the phone rings. At the FBI, they find William has a fake identity and assign surveillance teams. Philip indicates he has to leave for work, so Paige questions why and is frustrated when she's not given details. Elizabeth finally says he's meeting someone to get a part of a weapon which doesn't make Paige any happier.
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Notes[]
- Philip and Henry play the video game Defender.
- The Mail Robot makes another appearance. While investigating the death of Betty Turner, Agent Aderholt visits the repair shop where the FBI's mail robot was sent to be fixed. Several robots are seen in the shop. Aderholt and an agent discover the bug in the robot. Later, two agents arrest a janitor who was switching out the tapes in the robot.
- The poster behind Oleg, as he meets Tatiana and learns she's been promoted, says "ты записапся доьровопьцем?" (Have you enlisted in the army?)
- Roy Rogers Restaurants is a mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States chain of fast food restaurants founded by the Marriott Corporation in 1968 in Falls Church, Virginia. Named after cowboy movie actor Roy Rogers, the restaurants numbered over 650 at their peak.
- Franconia is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located just southwest of Alexandria, Franconia has existed as a community since the 1870s, when a station by that name opened on the RF&P Railroad. It is named after the Franconia region in Germany.
- When Paige stays home from school, Elizabeth joins her in watching a soap opera, which appears to be a General Hospital episode involving the characters Celia Quartermaine and Grant Andrews. The Grant Andrews character was a Russian spy, and portrayed by actor Brian Patrick Clarke from 1983-85.
- First appearance of Marilyn.
- "Previously on The Americans" voice: Stan.
Videos[]
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