- After President Reagan is nearly assassinated events quickly start to spin out of control. The FBI wonders if the KGB is somehow behind it; the KGB worry that they will be blamed for it and possibly result in war.
- After a madman's failed attempt on president Reagan's life, a TV goof about the constitutional order of succession makes the KGB hierarchy declare code red, assuming that defense secretary general Haig is planning a coup and may go to war. Elisabeth instantly digs up the emergency supplies, notably arms, while Philip realizes it's just a meaningless media fuzz, yet worries that Moscow may misunderstand his efforts to avoid a dangerous escalation as traitorous disloyalty. The FBI also pulls all stops until it realizes the 'reds' aren't behind the shooting. Philip learns how Elizabeth's misplaced paranoid partisan attitude stems from childhood experiences.—KGF Vissers
- Previously on 'The Americans': Philip and Elizabeth got a new boss, a woman named Claudia. Philip planted a bug in the home of Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Soviet agents heard Weinberger talking about U.S. plans to coordinate with Britain on a nuclear missile defense system. FBI Agent Stan Beeman turned a woman within the Soviet Rezidentura who is now providing him intel. Elizabeth revealed to Philip that she was so young when she started her spy work that they never really formed their relationship, but she feels like "it's happening now."
'In Control': News reports talk about Russian military exercises that are being seen as threatening. After rushing the kids off to school, Elizabeth asks Philip if they're "still on for" without finishing her sentence. He says yes.
At the FBI, the supervisor, Agent Gaad, tells Beeman and Amador about customs agents stopping the son of the Romanian Deputy Chief of Mission on his way back to Bucharest with three pounds of marijuana. He's going to be brought to the FBI. Gaad wants Beeman and Amador to "take a run at him" and see what he'll offer to stay out of trouble back home, or, as he puts it, "See if he wants to keep his balls."
Elizabeth is in a hotel room when Philip knocks on the door. They say nothing as he walks in and they start to kiss. Apparently, it really is "happening now."
Amador is quizzing Beeman with flash cards on his Russian, but everything stops when Gaad delivers news that President Reagan has been shot. The agents all head into "the vault."
After their little afternoon delight, Philip thanks Elizabeth for suggesting they take the afternoon off.
News reports show the shooting of Reagan and Gaad wants to know immediately if the KGB was behind it. The director tells Beeman he wants agents at the embassy, but not him.
Philip and Elizabeth are leaving the hotel when they first hear reports of Reagan's shooting. They head off to find out what they can.
Back at the FBI, Gaad continues to demand for any connection between Hinkley, the shooter, and the KGB or the Communist Party. He then asks Beeman to check with his contact. Beeman says he has a signal that can get him in touch with her within 24 hours, but Gaad wants action faster.
Philip meets with a journalist friend, Sparrow, who says he has "no access at all." Philip asks for the names of the nurses who were around the president. The journalist who has been identifying himself as a former Socialist turned conservative tells Philip he hopes Reagan dies on the operating table. Philip tells him his "commitment to the struggle always was total."
Elizabeth meets with Claudia as the radio news reports Jim Brady's death from the shooting. Claudia says there is no time for signals today and tells Elizabeth she needs to gather her supplies for "Operation: Christopher." Claudia says she's heard so much about Elizabeth and that they'll do "great things together," but she didn't expect it to start this way. Elizbaeth asks Claudia, "Did we do this?" Claudia doesn't think so, but says "they'll try to pin it on us." She also mentions that the Red Army might move into Poland in the next 24 hours. Elizabeth mentions "Operation: Christopher" and asks if this is "headed toward guerrilla warfare." Claudia hopes not, but needs Elizabeth to find out how the president is doing and about attempts to blame the Russians. She says the Rezidentura will be "worthless." Elizabeth says they'll start preparations for "Christopher" right away. Claudia tells Elizabeth she'll "do well" if she falls behind enemy lines.
Things are buzzing at the Rezidentura and Beeman calls his contact, Nina, and she asks if they can discuss the next day. He says there's a deadline.
Elizabeth is in an isolated area, digging up a large crate. In a flashback, we see a similar crate in her house as her mother and a man lament the passing of Stalin. The man is courting Elizabeth's mother, saying she and her daughter ("Nadezhda") will need "help" "every woman needs a man," he says and offers some supplies that are in the crate from the committee storehouse. Elizabeth's mother thanks him, but declines the offer and says they can manage on their own. Back with Elizabeth and the crate, she clips some wires it was set to explode in the wrong hands before opening it. She pulls out some serious weaponry and more explosives.
A man in a basement with a table full of telephones gets a call from Philip, who identifies himself as "Steve." He says he needs the vice president's office deputy chiefs of staff. The man says he can set up the line in 15 minutes and Philip will call back.
News reports about Reagan continues to show up on TVs as Beeman and Amador wait for sign of Nina from a window across the street. She gets up to leave, but her boss orders her to sit in on a meeting.
Elizabeth is back and Philip says he has names. She says she got orders to be ready for Operation: Christopher, adding, "This could be a coup." She shows him all the artillery in the trunk of the car. He says they'll need a car and she says she'll signal Gregory.
Inside the house, Paige is bothered by the news showing the shooting over and over again. She thinks it's "ghoulish." Matthew Beeman Stan's teenage son is sitting with her and says it's "pretty ghoulish" that anyone who was shot in the incident could die.
One of Gregory's men brings Philip and Elizabeth a Lincoln Town Car with U.S. government license plates. He says he needs it back in a couple of hours. They drive away.
Nina is still in her office looking for a chance to get away and tells her boss, Vasili, she's headed to a bar with Congressional aides hang out, just in case she can pick up any info. He says that's a great idea and asks her to report back to him directly when she's back. "Moscow needs us to be ahead of the curve," he says. After she leaves, Vasili asks another man in the office to follow her.
Philip and Elizabeth see a woman named Dana Simon arrive at her home. They present themselves as deputy chiefs of staff for the vice president's office. They thank her for everything she did that day. They tell her this crisis is "about as political as a crisis can get." She says they're quietly checking with everyone to make sure what they're hearing about the president's condition is true. She says he's going to pull through. They thank her and ask her to keep their meeting confidential. They give her a business card with a phone number where they can be reached, and Philip gives her a collectable pin from the vice president's office.
It's dark now, but Beeman sees Nina pull up in a cab. He heads outside while Amador keeps watch from the window. Amador sees the car apparently following Nina and prepares to say something. Beeman notices it, too, and walks by Nina without stopping or saying anything. Amador, too, said nothing.
Elizabeth and Philip are delivering a message in code saying that their hospital source is confirming Reagan's condition is stable. Elizabeth insists they check for confirmation that no one is taking over the government. Philip is a little annoyed, thinking Moscow is overreacting.
Inside the bar, Nina is overhearing Congressional aides talking about the line of succession if Reagan were to die.
Paige goes to Matthew's house and tells her she's sorry for what she'd said earlier. She says she's noticed it's "horrible" that the Secret Service agent (Timothy McCarthy) turned in front of the bullet. She says it made her think about the job his dad does as an FBI agent. She says her dad is just a travel agent. They make some sarcastic comments about how the world of a travel agent can be "filled with peril."
Philip and Elizabeth are set up outside Weinberger's house, with Philip setting up to take a shot at him with a sniper rifle. A neighborhood security guard notices the van and says he needs to call the cops in to assist in searching their van because there's been a rash of break ins. He goes back to his car and Elizabeth calmly walks up next him and shoots him in the head with a silencer. She gets in his security patrol car and drives away. Philip follows in the van.
Philip worries that if there is a war, they might have just fired the first shot. They argue over who "started it." Philip says they are the ones escalating things.
Nina walks around outside and slips into Beeman's car. She tells Beeman he can't call her at the embassy. She thinks she'll be killed. He assures her he called from a secure line and isn't being followed. She says she knows nothing about the assassination attempt, but "everyone was freaking out, while running around like cut-off chickens." He corrects her on the phrase and then has to assure her he doesn't think it's a joke. She says the Russians are worried the U.S. is trying to pin the shooting on them "to justify the coup." They think that Gen. Alexander Haig's announcement that he was in charge of the government until the vice president returned was a coup. Beeman says that's not what happened.
"Both sides have their finger on the trigger, and that's how that happens," Nina says.
"How what happens?" Beeman asks.
"One mistake," she says. "That's all it takes."
Philip and Elizabeth are listening to the tap from Weinberger's office. There isn't much useful at first, but then they hear some chatter about the nuclear football. Elizabeth says they need to get it to Moscow, but Philip wants to check it out first. She wants to move on it immediately, but Philip tries to assure her that there is no coup in the works. He tells her she still doesn't know how things work in the U.S. She accuses him of having forgotten where he came from.
Beeman tells Gaad that his source says the Russians had nothing to do with the shooting. There's some tension, suddenly, between Beeman and Amador, and Amador reveals that he saw the follow car behind Nina but didn't say anything because there was a glare and he couldn't see the occupants' faces. Beeman tells him next time just tell him there's glare and he'll "act accordingly."
Philip and Paige watch the news and "Charles Duluth," the journalist Philip had spoken to earlier and Elizabeth had referred to as Sparrow, is on talking about how concerned "we" (conservatives) are about Reagan, "for the implications of his recovery on the world stage." Elizabeth notices that Beeman is home across the street and suggests they go over and "see how they got through the day."
They go over to the Beemans' house and talk it over. Beeman immediately recalls how he reacted when Kennedy was shot and Elizabeth quickly chimes in, saying, "Yeah, nothing really felt safe after that." Elizabeth asks Beeman if he thinks "it's going to all be alright." Beeman says it'll be fine and adds that Hinkley is "100 percent nuts," adding that Hinkley was trying "impress this movie star, Jodie Foster." Beeman tells them they had to investigate whether the Russians were involved but it looks like they weren't, "which is a good thing because that could've started World War III." Philip and Elizabeth nod and agree, "Yeah."
We next see Philip out in the wilderness tapping out a code that an FBI source confirms Hinkley acted alone and that the U.S. government won't blame the U.S.S.R. for the shooting. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is in bed alone and flashes back to her life in Russia as a child after the man with the crate left. She insists that he was trying to help them, but her mother says he wanted something from them.
"What did he want?" Elizabeth asked her mother, who doesn't respond to the question but tells her young daughter that she has to rely on only herself in this world, no one else.
Back at the Beemans' house, Stan's wife is quiet but says "never mind" when he asks what's going on. She says it feels petty to think about this sort of thing, then admits she was happy when they lived in St. Louis. She says they made a good life while he was out on his assignment, but she thought they would get to know each other again now that he's back. She tells him he never talks to her and asks why it's so hard.
"I don't know," he says, adding that he was "living with psycho-militants for too long." He says "it just doesn't feel like it did before." He says he's trying.
Philip gets home and finds Elizabeth in bed awake. She tells him she's glad they did it his way this time, and that "the center was lucky to have you on the ground today." Philip says that if Moscow ever finds out they sat on the Haig intelligence, "we're finished."
She hugs him and says, "I won't tell if you won't."
They kiss and fall into bed together.
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