Episode Title: “The Walk In”
Writer: Stuart Zicherman
Director: Constantine Makris
Previously on “The Americans:”
Spying runs in the Jennings family as Paige (Holly Taylor) goes on a mission of her own and it’s not to buy jeans in Georgetown. Meanwhile, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) is her creepiest yet when she corners a propeller plant worker with a crowbar.
Philip (Matthew Rhys) is a master at pulling off the seedy dirt bag look with his shaggy wigs and droopy mustaches, but there’s something truly terrifying about Elizabeth’s mousey appearance as “Jackie” at the propeller plant where she intimidates a worker, fearing for his life, into giving up classified plans.
At home, the usually easy-going, even-tempered Philip proves again that he, too, has a scary side when he confronts Paige about her visit with “Aunt Helen.” If Paige was confused by her parent’s behavior before, Aunt Helen’s Alzheimer’s act must have her thrown for a loop. Philip follows it up with an uncharacteristically stern lecture about “not tolerating lying.” It seems a little extreme considering all Paige wanted to do was meet her only living relative aside from her parents and younger brother. Then again, consider what just happened to Emmett and Leann.
The reality is that not only will her parents tolerate her lying but Paige will probably get better at it. She sneaks out of the house later that night to hang out with a girl she met on the bus to Pennsylvania. Now that she has a confidant, it’ll be interesting to see how Paige’s relationship with her parents evolves.
Family continues to be a major theme this season and it’s especially strong in this episode. The plant worker Elizabeth encounters tries to appeal to her humanity by showing her pictures of his children, who he says will expect him home for dinner. Later on, Elizabeth checks on Emmett and Leann’s son, Jared, who’s now living with family friends. In a flashback, we learn that Elizabeth promised Leann she’d give her son a letter explaining who his parents really were, should they die. Not surprisingly, Elizabeth burns the letter instead of giving it to Jared. Not only would the truth hurt him, it could also hurt Elizabeth and her own family.
Interestingly, the Russian spies are more concerned with preserving their now very “American” families than the Americans, themselves. While Elizabeth frets over Emmett and Leann’s son as well as her own children, Agent Beeman (Noah Emmerich) continues to neglect his wife and son while getting dangerously closer to Nina (Annet Mahendru), whom he professes his love to in this episode. Arkady (Lev Gorn) considers Beeman’s deepening attachment to Nina a checkmate for the KGB. Not only is the FBI agent enamored with the Russian beauty, he’s dependent on her to keep him informed on the KGB’s movements.
Indeed, Nina’s intel on Embassy “walk-in” Bruce Dameran is almost too good. Beeman visits Dameran’s employer and learns he’s taken the day off – the same day a major World Bank event is happening in town. Beeman finds Dameran on the roof of the laundromat where he saw him the night before. Dameran tells Beeman it’s the bankers, not the enemy he fought in Vietnam, that needs to be killed. He turns his rifle on Beeman who immediately shoots him. He later tells Nina he’s going to be awarded a medal for his actions.
In addition to wrapping Agent Beeman ever so tightly around Nina’s finger, “The Walk In” does an excellent job of expounding on the family theme by making us question exactly what “family” means to certain characters. Honesty is a big part of it but in different ways for the Jennings and their deceased counterparts. Emmett and Leann ultimately wanted their son to know who his parents really were while Philip and Elizabeth go to great lengths to keep that very same truth from both their children and the orphaned Jared. At the same time, Paige starts to spin tales of her own in an attempt to uncover what her parents are hiding – a truth wilder than anything she’s imagined.
