Elizabeth and Phillip continue to struggle with the realities of being spies and parents in The Americans’ “The Walk-In.”

Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Phillip (Matthew Rhys) are still grieving the death of their spy friends, Leanne and Emmett, not to mention their daughter Amelia, and it is certainly taking its toll on their work. When the couple infiltrates a naval shipyard, Elizabeth is faced with hurting a worker, Derek (David T. Koenig). Crowbar in hand, she should hurt him or kill him, but she doesn’t. He shows her a picture of his three children, and she decides to take a photo as a threat to him instead of resorting to physical harm. She doesn’t want to make his children orphans.

Elizabeth Visits Jared

What is truly eating at Elizabeth is an old promise she made to Leanne. Leanne had once made Elizabeth promise her that if anything happened to Leanne and her husband, she would deliver a letter to their son Jared (Owen Campbell). In the letter, Leanne revealed their true identities as Soviet spies and explained their motivations. Jared, the last remaining member of Leanne’s family, now lives with family friends, and Elizabeth must find a way to visit him. She manages to talk her way into a visit by posing as a children’s advocate, and comforts Jared as he sobs in her arms. After seeing for herself that Jared is being taken care of, Elizabeth decides not to give him the letter. She wants him to try to heal and move forward, giving him the letter would destroy him. Instead, she burns the letter.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Phillip’s daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) is getting close to finding out the truth about her parents. Suspicious of all their business trips and strange behavior, Paige decides to skip school and go to Pennsylvania to visit her Aunt Helen, a sort of mythical family figure whose photograph is in the Jennings household. Aunt Helen (Kathleen Chalfant) pretends to have dementia when Paige arrives, and then calls to warn Phillip about Paige’s curiosity.

When Paige returns home, Phillip plays the stern dad, telling her that she cannot disobey them and that “lying will not be tolerated.” Phillip hopes he scared Paige enough to ensure that she won’t go investigating her parents any time soon.

Stan And Nina Grow Closer

Over at the Soviet Embassy, Nina (Annet Mahendru) continues to be successful in her plan to get close to FBI agent Stan (Noah Emmerich). Stan was forced to kill a Vietnam Vet, Bruce, after Bruce, who had visited the Soviet Embassy, decided to try to kill successful bankers. Stan stopped him before he got a chance to shoot, but was forced to kill Bruce in the process. At night, in bed, Stan tells Nina the story and Nina tells him that she is proud of him. He responds with, “I love you, Nina.” The next day, Nina recounts her progress with Stan with her boss, Akrady Ivanovich (Lev Gorn), who is very satisfied. New spy colleague Oleg (Costa Ronin) is also intrigued by Nina’s work and invites her to a hockey game.

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The Americans airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.

Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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