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"When you get older, you realize that your parents are also just people, like everyone else. And just like everyone else in the world, you can't really know everything about them." Stan to Jared

Yousaf is the tenth episode of Season Two of The Americans on FX, and the twenty-third episode overall.

Synopsis[]

A new mission with international stakes has Philip calling on Annelise for assistance just as an old foe returns to D.C. with a vendetta. Stan makes a discovery that could put the FBI hot on the trail of illegals.

Plot[]

At home, a distraught-looking Philip sits at the kitchen table in the middle of the night. Elizabeth enters and he apologizes for waking her. Philip expresses a desire to apologize to Paige, but Elizabeth tells him not to and comforts him. The next morning, Andrew Larrick returns to the US from Nicaragua to find the Jennings and exact revenge for the deaths of two Navy Seals. George calls and in code, tells Elizabeth about a meeting with Kate. Kate gives them a new mission, making the second-in-command of a Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) division an agent. Elizabeth is tasked with turning the man, Yousaf Rana. Arkady approaches Agent Gaad outside his home. Both acknowledge Gaad’s reinstatement and speak of Vlad and Chris Amador.



S02E10-Arkady and Gaad
You could have destroyed us both.
At a hotel, the ISI members arrive in Washington for a meeting and Elizabeth silently flirts with Yousaf who is interested. When she returns to Dupont Circle Travel, Philip tries to convince her that Annelise should be given the job instead. Elizabeth points out that Annelise has no experience doing this sort of thing, and tells Philip she can do it. He insists on coaching Annelise to accomplish the mission, sparing Elizabeth. At the FBI, Gaad finds Stan trying to make a connection between the Stealth meeting in Alexandria and the Connors' murders. Looking over the evidence, Gaad asks Stan if he ever takes his briefcase with him on vacation. He then examines the Connors' case more closely and discovers a hidden panel which he identifies as a tool used by intelligence services.



S02E10-Gaad Stan briefcase
Holy shit.
Posing as "Scott Birkeland", Philip meets with Annelise in a restaurant. Telling her "Swedish Intelligence needs you," he convinces her to finagle an invitation for herself and her husband to a dinner at the home of the new head of the National Security Council. He shows her a picture of Yousaf and asks her to talk to him. At home, a cautious and still hurting Paige approaches Philip as he unpacks groceries. Saying she wants to go to a church youth camp all summer, she hands him a brochure. Philip is receptive and says he'll talk to Elizabeth about it. In bed, Oleg discusses his motivation for being at the Rezidentura while Nina remembers a simpler time when she was a Young Pioneer and valued her red Lenin pin. Acknowledging her skills, Nina expresses fear that they'll be her undoing.



S02E10-Nina Oleg kiss
You're one of those people who can do anything.
Philip tries to discuss the camp Paige wants to go to with Elizabeth but she is unwilling to consider it and cuts him off. Philip and Annelise meet again, she tells him she spent most of the evening talking to Yousaf. She determined that Yousaf's boss, Javid Pervez, keeps him largely in the dark about their operations. Yousaf wants to see her again. Philip meets Kate and says he wants to shut down the mission as Yousaf doesn't know anything. Kate is surprised to learn Annelise is running the mission and indicates she'll ask the Center for instructions. Posing as a police officer with a fake warrant, Larrick tricks a phone company employee to trace the call center's phone number to a junction box. Back in Gaad's old office, Stan discusses the Connors' case and Gaad unpacks and puts the bugged pen into a drawer.



Kate in Yousaf episode
If we mess up, we're dead.
The Jennings receive a signal from The Center to kill Javid, so that Yousaf will then get his job. Meeting Philip in a car, Annelise proudly tells "Scott" she has arranged to have dinner in Yousaf's hotel room the following night. He expresses doubt that Yousaf will talk to her. At their safe house, Stan asks Nina what happened at the Rezidentura when the Connors were murdered. Claiming to know nothing, Stan tells Nina that he has clearance for Stealth and intends to get at Oleg. Stan also reveals that Sandra is having an affair. At home, Elizabeth finds that Paige has been practicing Elizabeth's signature. Confronting Paige, Elizabeth says she's called Pastor Tim and told him she won't be allowed to go to camp. Paige leaves in a huff. Larrick follows phone cables from the junction box and finds the Clandestine call center.



S02E10-Paige and Liz
You don't know what's best for you.
Philip gives Elizabeth an andidote for a poison gas she plans to use to kill Javid. Elizabeth tells Philip about her confrontation with Paige. George is able to activate a self-destruct on the phone exchange before Larrick kills him. Stan interviews Jared, telling him that if he can find his parent's secrets, maybe he can find out who killed them. Jared doesn't have any insights and speaks highly of his parents. Stan shows him the sketches of the Jennings made from Viola Johnson and Patterson's descriptions and asks if he recognizes them. In his hotel room, Annelise has dinner and sex with Yousaf, as Philip uses a device to listen through the wall of the room next door.



Yousaf Episode Annelise
Is it shocking to look at me?
At a swimming pool, Javid does laps and Elizabeth enters when only Javid is left in the pool. (♫ Pete Townshend & Nathan Barr - It Must Be Done ♫) Surprising him from behind, she puts him in a choke hold with her legs, pulls him underwater and letting him surface, she sprays poison gas into his face as he breaths in. Javid expires, seemingly from a heart attack. An enraged Annelise barges into Philip’s room, screaming and shattering glasses, accusing him of being a pimp who's turned her out. Philip manages to calm her and speaks of the larger cause they are both serving. Larrick is able to repair the exchange enough to call Kate's number and passes it off as a wrong number. At home, Philip and Elizabeth share the success of both their missions while Elizabeth, unusually, smokes in the kitchen.



S02E10-Liz kills Pervez
It must be done.

Notes[]

  • “Leggo my Eggo” (ie. “Let go of my Eggo waffle”) was an expression originating from an advertising campaign for Eggo brand waffles. In each commercial, Character A would attempt to steal Character B's waffle, causing Character B to yell out "Leggo my Eggo," to express disdain at Character A's lack of respect and rude actions.
  • Henry protests that "April Fool's (Day) is in a week, Dad," dating the episode around March 25, 1982.
  • When posing as Scott Birkeland, Philip wears one of his disguises. However, when he first contacted Annelise, he didn't wear a disguise. ("The Clock")
  • "Previously on The Americans" voice (in Russian): Nina.

Music[]

Song Title Performer(s)
It Must Be Done Pete Townshend & Nathan Barr

Videos[]


Season Two
#201 "Comrades" #208 "New Car"
#202 "Cardinal" #209 "Martial Eagle"
#203 "The Walk In" #210 "Yousaf"
#204 "A Little Night Music" #211 "Stealth"
#205 "The Deal" #212 "Operation Chronicle"
#206 "Behind the Red Door" #213 "Echo"
#207 "ARPANET"
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