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"I won't say this job is twice as hard for women, but it's something close to that." Claudia to Elizabeth

COMINT is the fifth episode of Season One of The Americans on FX, and the fifth episode overall.

Synopsis[]

A crucial agent crumbles under emotional distress and threatens to topple a valuable network of KGB informants. Professionally, Philip and Elizabeth are tasked with infiltrating the FBI's new communications encryption system, while personally they are forced to grapple with one of the darker aspects of life as a spy.

Plot[]

Disguised as a representative from "Viseotech Security," Elizabeth goes to the home of Adam Dorwin, manager of a private company contracted by the U.S. government for its missile defense program. She has been sent by Claudia to surreptitiously assess his mental state. Dorwin is a KGB informant, code named "Udacha," who is feeling panicked and alone. His wife has recently died, and his handler Vasili has been unable to contact him for some time. The FBI has new encrypted radios, leaving the KGB unable to tell when they are being followed. This has led to a suspension of contact between the KGB and its operatives. Claudia urges Elizabeth to find a way to get the FBI's encryption codes, so communication between handlers and agents can be restored.



TA-1.5-6 FULL
I'm very sorry about your wife.
At home, in her car, Elizabeth passes Stan and Philip who are coming back from playing racquetball. At the FBI, Agent Frank Gaad tells Stan and Chris Amador that an FBI listening post picked up a conversation between Vasili and a nervous agent (Dorwin) and tells them to find the agent. Stan meets with Nina and encourages her to find out the identity of the agent, stressing that she's beautiful. Philip, disguised as "Clark Westerfeld", meets with Martha Hanson in her home. He kisses her but tells her he cannot have a relationship with her, due to their respective jobs. He expresses concern that Gaad did not properly vet the encryption contractor. Martha unwittingly provides him with the name of the contractor, Kurt Schultz.



TA-1.5-1 FULL
One day, you'll be living a different life.
At the embassy, Arkady Zotov and Vasili talk about the urgency to meet with Dorwin before the FBI gets to him and brings down their whole network into the ballistic missile program. At home, Philip discusses the progress he's making into working Stan as a source. Elizabeth turns her focus to seducing Schultz, and learns from him that the devices are portable and are in the trunks of the FBI's surveillance cars. After having sex with Elizabeth, he beats her with a belt. Meanwhile, Nina performs oral sex on Vasili for information.



Vasili in COMINT
Vasili "relaxing."
When Elizabeth returns home and Philip sees her injuries, he grabs a gun and prepares to go after Schultz. Elizabeth and Philip argue, Elizabeth saying she doesn't need Philip to fight her battles for her, and that he's not her daddy. Philip responds that he's her husband, but Elizabeth denies this. Philip stays home, but he is clearly still furious with Elizabeth the next morning, and verbally takes it out on Henry while Paige watches. Nina meets Stan and after saying how she got Vasili to talk, Stan expresses shock and insists he never meant for her to get the information that way. Claudia meets Elizabeth and while noticing her unsettled state, says she'll get information on the FBI's surveillance cars.



S01E05-Liz whip marks
That's not nothing.
Finding one of the FBI cars with an encryption unit, the Jennings cause it to have an accident. While in an auto repair shop, a disguised Philip poses as a patron also needing repairs. Elizabeth slips out of a car trunk while up on a hoist and enters the FBI car trunk. She manages to make an imprint of an encrypted card, but is trapped in the car's trunk in the process. Hours later, she escapes after the car is left in a government parking lot. Starting to walk home, she sees Philip waiting for her. With coffee and her favorite donut, he apologies, and has put the previous night's argument behind him. Elizabeth tells him that every night before she falls asleep, she has only one wish, to wake up and not be worried. Philip asks "about what?" and she replies "everything."



S01E05-Liz sneaks into trunk
Elizabeth sneaks into the FBI car trunk.
While Stan is at home learning Russian, he rejects Sandra's sexual advances. As she recalls fond memories of their life before he went undercover, he acknowledges their connection but still insists he needs to study. The Jennings relay the code to the KGB and a meeting is arranged with Dorwin. Nina learns of its day and time while again performing oral sex on Vasili. (♫ Alexander Scriabin - Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1 ♫) She tells this information to Stan, and Agent Gaad prepares his team to intercept the meet. He also has the codes changed, causing Arkady and Vasili to suddenly encounter static. Realizing the meet with Dorwin will no longer be secure, they discuss what to do.



S01E05-Sandra Stan
Oh, you're killing me.
Stan and Amador follow Vasili to his supposed meet, but he simply stands alone on a river walkway, gazing out at the Potomac River for a while, before walking away. Concurrently, Dorwin is shot in the head by Elizabeth at another location. These events force Arkady and Vasili to realize they have a mole.



S01E05-Dorwin shot
Did my friend send you?
Claudia meets with Philip and tells him the codes they stole were changed immediately by the FBI, "as if they knew." Both also come to the conclusion that "somebody's talking." Philip arrives home to find Elizabeth already in bed. She wakes and asks him what Claudia said. Recalling their earlier conversation, that Elizabeth wishes each night she'll wake up in the morning and not be worried, Philip tells her "don't worry about it, I'll tell you in the morning."



S01E05-Philip and Claudia mole
You call a lot more than Gabriel ever did.

Notes[]

  • Communications intelligence (COMINT) is information gathered from the communications of individuals, and includes telephone conversations and many types of online interactions. In this context, "intelligence" is information that gives an organization support for making decisions that provide a strategic advantage. COMINT activities aim to determine details about the communications such as who the communicating parties are, where those parties are located, the time and duration of communication, and whether encryption was used.
  • "Previously on The Americans" voice: Philip.  

Music[]

Song Title Performer(s)
Etude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 2, No. 1 Alexander Scriabin

Videos[]


Season One
#101 "Pilot" #108 "Mutually Assured Destruction"
#102 "The Clock" #109 "Safe House"
#103 "Gregory" #110 "Only You"
#104 "In Control" #111 "Covert War"
#105 "COMINT" #112 "The Oath"
#106 "Trust Me" #113 "The Colonel"
#107 "Duty and Honor"
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