"Because there are people out there who don't like our way of life. They're afraid of it. Of us." ― Stan at Thanksgiving
Rififi is the sixth episode of the final season of The Americans on FX, and the seventy-first episode overall.
Synopsis[]
A sudden assignment pulls Elizabeth away from her family at a crucial moment. At the FBI, a major development leads Aderholt to approach Stan about an urgent investigation.
Plot[]
| Elizabeth returns home from drinking with Claudia and Paige. Philip tells her about Stan's visit in which he described the murder of Gennadi and Sofia whose bodies were discovered by Sofia's seven year old son Ilia. Admitting to the murders, Elizabeth is defiant. Philip tells her that he sabotaged kidnapping Kimmy and is done running her as an unwitting agent. Elizabeth accuses him of only wanting to sleep with Kimmy and heads upstairs.
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| At the FBI, Stan discusses a case with Agent Pedersen and Delluva until interrupted by Agent Aderholt, who wants him to come down to counter intelligence. Stan is reluctant to get involved given the deaths of Gennadi and Sofia but he agrees. On the way down, the Mail Robot barges into the elevator with them. In "the vault", a team of agents including Brooks, Loeb and Ganzel are working and Aderholt tells Stan that the x-rays of one of Gennadi's diplomatic pouches contained a radiation sensor from Altheon in Chicago. Investigations revealed an attempt to get the sensor from the Altheon plant in Worthington, where three guards were killed.
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| An Altheon engineer in Chicago confessed to being recruited by a man he was intimate with. The man, Dan Murton, code-named "Harvest", has been under surveillance for weeks. An "Illegal," the surveillance has given the FBI intel how the Illegals operate. Aderholt and Stan also note the upcoming summit, General Rennhull's death and Oleg's return as tied to the same sequence of events. Believing that the Russians are using the summit as a front to steal US technology, Aderholt says they're going to use the intel on "Harvest" to find the other Illegals and asks Stan to work with them.
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| Henry arrives at a bus station where Philip picks him up. Home for Thanksgiving, in the car he discusses solutions to the financial problems of him attending St. Edwards with Philip. (♫ Jerry Lee Surber - She's the Reason I Left Texas ♫) He mentions getting a summer job at a tannery and another scholarship. After indicating that he told a rich friend's father about the problems at Dupont Circle Travel who has offered to give Philip some advice, Philip feels inadequate and embarrassed.
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| Using Paige's idea that young congressional interns have access to classified information, Elizabeth pretends to be a D.C. consultant and makes contact at an alternative theatre with Jackson, an intern from Sam Nunn's office. In "the vault", Agent Loeb tells Aderholt and Stan how the Illegals rent garages, safe houses and buy cars. Aderholt asks Stan to go through a stack of cars purchased with cash and cross-reference them with a list of fake IDs Illegals may use. Elizabeth has a smoke outside the theater with Jackson but can't get him to go for pizza with her.
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| At home, Henry catches Elizabeth smoking and they have their first "grown-up" conversation. He notices the distance between his parents. The next morning, Philip takes Henry slot car racing. When Philip's car goes off the track, he swears out of frustration. (♫ The Simplistics - What Is Love ♫) Henry asks if everything is OK with his and Elizabeth's relationship which Philip reassures him about.
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| Elizabeth "runs into" Jackson on the subway, entices him with a management training program and gives him her card. At work, Philip lays off Lacey and Steve but begins with long-time employee Stavos, who is angry at being fired. Claudia meets with Elizabeth and tells her to go to Chicago to extricate "Harvest", and reminds her that neither of them can be captured. Elizabeth tells her that the operation to kidnap Kimmy isn't going to happen as Philip wouldn't do it.
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| Returning home, Philip learns Elizabeth is leaving for Chicago which he points out looks bad since it's Thanksgiving. She rebukes him and leaves but says goodbye to Paige and gives her a cover story. At Stan's, Henry talks about school with Stan while Aderholt and his wife Janine discuss the application Renee made to work at the FBI. Philip and Paige arrive and make an excuse for Elizabeth's absence. Sitting down for dinner, Stan makes an impassioned Thanksgivings speech about the American way of life and the threats to it while Philip and Paige force smiles.
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| After dinner, Philip starts looking for clues what operations Elizabeth has been running. (♫ Tears for Fears - Ideas as Opiates ♫) Looking in the safe in the laundry room, he then drives to a garage they use. He finds numerous signs including Elizabeth's drawings from Erica's art lessons. He leaves a dead drop with a coded message for Oleg. In Chicago, knowing "Harvest" is under FBI surveillance, Elizabeth and Marilyn plan an operation to extract him but realize the odds are poor that it will succeed. Taking a break, Elizabeth practices drawing.
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| In "the vault", the agents eat Thanksgiving leftovers and Aderholt tells Stan that "Harvest" was spotted meeting with a Russian Orthodox priest. He assigns agents to watch priests in D.C. Elizabeth calls Henry and he talks about school. Oleg picks up Philip's dead drop. Henry tells Philip about Elizabeth's call which Philip realizes is unusual for her and takes as a sign that she's going to die on her mission. Oleg decodes the message in the dead drop in his hotel room. Philip calls Elizabeth from a pay phone. In code, she says that the mission is very dangerous and won't succeed without help. Asking her to abort, she refuses and over her protests, Philip says he's on his way.
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Notes[]
- The episode takes its name from the 1955 French crime film adaptation of Auguste Le Breton's novel of the same name, which Elizabeth (in one of her disguises) attends.
- 1987 Thanksgiving Day in the US occurred on November 26. (see Timeline of Historical Events)
- The Mail Robot makes another appearance. The robot interrupts Stan and Dennis on an elevator and forces its way on.
- Aderholt asks Stan if he and Renee are going to have kids but Stan says they're too old.
- This is one of the rare episodes in which Philip doesn't wear one of his disguises.
- "Previously on The Americans" voice: Henry.
Music[]
| Song Title | Performer(s) |
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| She's the Reason I Left Texas | Jerry Lee Surber |
| What Is Love | The Simplistics |
| Ideas as Opiates | Tears for Fears |
Videos[]
| Season Six | ||||||||||||||||||||
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