The Americans: “Stealth”

The Americans has always been a show full of surprises. But the ending of “Stealth” left me stunned.

All this time I’ve been thinking of poor Jared – the teenager whose parents and sister were violently killed—Jared, who didn’t know that his parents were KGB agents. But what if his parents had already indoctrinated Jared into their world before their deaths? Let’s consider the evidence: Kate is meeting with Jared and, as Elizabeth points out, she’s not trying to disguise her appearance. Kate leaves a clandestine note hidden in a toilet paper roll (clever!) with the urgent message, “Get Jared out.” And, perhaps most telling, we know that Emmett and Leanne were willing to use their children on their missions-—something that Elizabeth and Philip never did. If Jared turns out to be a spy-in-training, it will probably be one of my favorite plot twists ever.

There was so much going on in this stellar episode. Larrick finds Kate, and when he realizes she won’t reveal how to find Philip and Elizabeth, he breaks her neck. Philip trails John Skeevers, a dying man (Željko Ivanek in another great guest star turn), to learn critical information about the Stealth technology. Skeevers is so ill, bitter, and downtrodden that he easily gives Philip what he needs.

And Nina’s life gets much more complicated. Interestingly, Philip learns that the FBI knows about Emmett and Leanne not because Nina has turned this information over to the KGB, but from the bug in Agent Gaad’s office. All along, I’ve thought Nina has been hedging her bets and playing both Oleg and Stan until she figures out which one she needs the most.

In another surprising twist, it turns out Oleg really does care for Nina. What I love about Costa Ronin’s cagey performance is that I never really know what Oleg is up to. After Arkady tells him that if Nina does not get Stan to turn over critical Stealth technology, she will be sent back to Moscow and tried for treason. Oleg promptly tells Nina this. “If you don’t think Stan will betray his country for you, you need to run,” he says. I almost wonder if this is why Arkady told him the truth about Nina – he can’t warn Nina, but Oleg can.