Plot

Philip uses his agent Charles Duluth to help him gain access to an early precursor to the Internet so that the KGB can bug American government communications. Nina faces the threat of a potential FBI polygraph exam, bringing her closer to KGB colleague Oleg.—Anonymous

Stan can only save his lover Nina if she passes a polygraph test, but Oleg manages to train her how to beat it. The Jennings must prevent Lucia from exacting revenge on Andrew Larrick, which would compromise using him to infiltrate the Contra training. Although clueless what it's for, Philip goes all the way with traitor Charles Duluth to steal the Internet-precursor ARPANET.—KGF Vissers

Previously on 'The Americans': A physicist Philip kidnapped and put onto a cargo ship back to Russia had offered to put the Soviets on the ARPANET, saying they didn't have it in the Soviet Union. Oleg explained to Arkady that the ARPANET was a sophisticated way to share information, calling it "the future." Oleg was also using what he knows about Nina's relationship with Stan to blackmail Stan into giving him the FBI logs on him. Stan asked Nina to take a polygraph.

'ARPANET': Arkady tries to convince Nina to take the polygraph, which she thinks is impossible to fool. Oleg offers to train her to trick the machine. She says that if she fails the test, Stan will kill her.

Philip meets Kate in a parking lot and she instructs him to "bug the ARPANET." She gives him the bug, which will take 30 seconds to transfer the information from the computer system, which no one seems to understand. Before she leaves, Kate tells Philip she's sorry they have to work with Capt. Larrick, then wishes him luck.

Henry watches a family across the street through his telescope before running downstairs to answer his mom's call.

Nina meets with Stan to tell him she'll take the test. She tells him she loves him and agrees to take the test that night.

Philip breaks into an apartment (after knocking a couple of times) and inside finds a passed out guy named Charles, who he calls a "fall-down drunk" after waking him up by dumping an ice bucket on his face.

Elizabeth meets with the Nicaraguan spy, Lucia, and asks about her family. Philip shows up and wants to know why she was at a talk Larrick was giving. He said Nicaragua was the spear point for Soviet domination in the Western Hemisphere. Elizabeth gives Lucia instructions for getting into the training camp. She wants to know where in the camp Larrick will be.

Oleg gives Nina her polygraph training -- in English, because the test will be given in English. He connects her to the machine, then asks a couple of initial questions because asking, "Do you trust me?" She answers, "No."

"Good," he says.

The travel agency is being painted, but Elizabeth tells Philip that Larrick wants to meet. Philip wants to take the meeting in a public place, but Elizabeth says she'll do it because Philip is "the better shot."

Philip poses as a reporter doing an article on technology, talking to a professor who is working on data transmission. He walks them through the process of how data is transmitted through an Interface Message Processor. He says "anything and everything shared on a network" is run through the IMP.

Oleg's training of Nina continues, and it doesn't seem to be going well. When she lies, the machine goes nuts. Oleg asks for a break and he tries to coach her to fully believe and embrace what she says.

After his meeting with the professor, Philip asks him friend Charles to get him into the computer lab.

Oleg gives Nina one last tip: "Squeeze your anus." It works.

Elizabeth meets with Larrick in a public spot, with Philip watching through the scope of a sniper rifle from a nearby building. Larrick tells Elizabeth he's leaving for Nicaragua and won't be at the training camp. He's setting up a contra base there. Elizabeth tells him they're still going to need his help getting onto the training base. He asks if she came alone, and says he's surprised when she says she did. He gets up and leaves.

Nina and Oleg bond just for a moment before getting back to business. He asks her to close her eyes and envision the room where the interrogation is going to happen. He asks her to picture an empty space in the room, then says, "That's where I'll be. I will be there."

Elizabeth meets with Lucia and tells her they need a new plan. Lucia insists that Larrick needs to be there. She says he's a monster and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of her countrymen. Lucia says she was going to kill him when they got onto the base. Elizabeth warns Lucia that Larrick is a great asset and they need him alive.

Elizabeth tells Philip that Lucia isn't happy about the change in plan, and that she wants Larrick dead. Elizabeth worries that Lucia is young, impetuous and "burns hot," to which Philip replies, "That sounds like someone I know."

Henry sneaks across the street and, finding a key under a doormat, goes inside the house that the neighbors left empty. Inside, he plays a video game.

Nina shows up to the studio to take Stan's polygraph. A technician asks the questions and takes notes on her responses while Stan watches and listens. She's asked if she knows who murdered Amador and she says, "No." Asked if she knows who murdered Vlad, she turns and looks at Stan and says, "Yes." She's asked if she is pretending to be an FBI informant while actually spying for the Soviet Union and she says, "No." After the test is done, Stan steps aside and talks to the technician for a moment, then comes back and telling Nina, "You passed."

Charles goes to the university at night and tells the guard he left his glasses in the professor's office from earlier in the day and asks if he can go up and get them. The guard gives him a key to the office and Charles goes into the office and rifles through the desk. He finds a code and writes it down on his hand. He heads for the computer lab but finds it full of students. Philip is already inside the building, posing as a janitor. Charles is panicked about the lab not being empty, but Philip tells him to wait a moment before he walks away.

Stan apologizes to Nina, but she tells him she would've done the same if she were in his position. Nina tells Stan she doesn't want to leave him. Stan tells her he will give Oleg the FBI reports he wants in order to keep her safe. She draws Stan in and asks him if they're together now, "forever, yes?"

"Yes," he says.

Philip goes to the basement of the university building and pulls the fire alarm. Everyone evacuates. Philip comes back to Charles and asks him for the code, and he finds the ink has smeared on his hand. Charles thinks he's memorized it and tells Philip what he thinks it is. It works and Philip gets inside. He hooks the bug up to the IMP and sets his timer. A student comes back into the lab for his wallet and notices the IMP door is open. Saying nothing, Philip emerges and stares the kid down. We don't see what happens to the student, but next see Philip walking out of the hallway pushing a wheeled garbage can and holding the lid over it.

Later, Charles meets Philip at a bar and Charles says it was "exhilarating," but Philip isn't as enthused. He tells Charles he killed someone who just happened to be in the wrong place. Philip is questioning why he killed the kid. Charles insists he's not drinking, telling Philip that it's just cranberry juice and soda, offering Philip a taste. Philip refuses. Charles assures Philip he's not drinking anymore and the he has value to "the cause." He leaves and Philip orders whatever Charles was having. The bartender puts some ice in a glass, pours some cranberry juice in, then adds some vodka.

Nina frolics around a fancy hotel room in a robe, before dropping it and falling into bed -- with Oleg.