The Americans - I Am Abassin Zadran - Review

Previously on The Americans: Elizabeth's mother is dying back in Russia, Philip is attempting to arrange a trip for Elizabeth to visit her mother one last time, and Paige knows that her parents are Russian spies and is having trouble adjusting.

     Now that Paige knows that her parents are spies, a lot of viewers have to be wondering a number of things. Will she tell Pastor Tim? Will she tell Henry? Will she tell Agent Beeman? A lot of the questions that fans have to be asking themselves go like this. Those who suspected that Pastor Tim would be the first person that Paige revealed her parents' secret to were in for a treat on last Wednesday's episode as their suspicions were almost confirmed. I enjoyed this scene because it was extremely well balanced. Philip and Elizabeth had their concerns, but they, luckily, didn't react like they would have if someone like Hans went rogue the way Paige did. My favorite scene of the episode, however, was what came directly afterwards. Philip, Elizabeth, and Paige's discussion in the garage was very revealing about Paige's state of mind. She doesn't despise her parents, but she is having difficulty processing the information. Paige's main difficulty in all of this is deciding what about her life is real and what is a lie. I'm really hoping that Paige gets to meet her grandmother in the next episode so that she has a way of seeing that it's not all a lie!

     Paige and Martha are in very different situations, obviously, but both of them have to be experiencing parallel feelings of betrayal. It will be interesting to see how Martha reacts to the influx of new information on who Clark really is. Martha certainly responded with shock upon Philip's reveal that he had been wearing a wig the entire time. Will you miss the Clark wig as much as I will? Overall, I've been extremely pleased with the progression of Martha's story this year. Finding the bug was a major game changer and the wig reveal was huge. I'm amazed at how the writers continue to find perfectly plausible ways to include Martha in this show.

     Over at the FBI, things are getting pretty tense with Walter Taffet's investigation seeming to go nowhere. The only person who has a clue about anything, Agent Aderholt, suspects Stan could have placed the bug. It's funny to me that he suspects Stan as a result of his obvious infidelity, but is completely blind to Martha's nervousness and double life. Stan's story has been all over the place this season. First, he was struggling with his divorce, then he was romancing a woman from the EST group, then he was playing video games with Henry, and now I'm not entirely sure what he is doing. It's like the writers have no clue what to do with him. As great as The Americans is, Stan Beeman's story really needs an upgrade in the season finale.

     Philip and Elizabeth's mission this week was really quite interesting. The Americans is not the type of show that you can watch while you read your Twitter newsfeed; it requires close attention and this story line was no different. It took me 2 complete viewings to completely understand what was going on. Their conversation with Abassin Zadran was fantastically entertaining. Slowly convincing him that he needed to kill the rest of his group was an interesting and entertaining method of getting the job done. This brings to close a season long arc that started with the death of Annelise. While I enjoyed the cloak and dagger aspect of this story, it was particularly difficult to follow this season so I was glad to see it come to an exciting end.

     This week also featured the return of one of this show's best characters, Margo Martindale's Claudia! While I wasn't extremely thrilled by the single and uneventful scene that she was in, it was fun to see her and Gabriel interact without Philip or Elizabeth present. Deciphering Gabriel's true intentions has been difficult this season and while I've always tended to believe that Gabriel was more dedicated to the Centre than Paige, it was great to see him stand up for her in this episode. Gabriel and Claudia are an interesting pair of characters that I hope to see share more scenes next season.

9.4/10 - This was a very good episode. I enjoyed Phillip and Elizabeth's mission and was happy to see that story come to some sort of a conclusion. Gabriel and Claudia's scene involved a lot more setup than actual action, but was enjoyable. RIP Clark wig.

Comrades, the season finale is next!! I can't believe this season has gone by so fast!

About the Author - Brandon Rowe

Brandon is a Computer Science major at Fresno State University and has been a SpoilerTV writer since his sophomore year in high school. He enjoys watching an extreme amount of television and movies and is currently reviewing The Americans, Falling Skies, and True Detective. Brandon also managed the "In the Hot Seat" competition here on SpoilerTV in 2012 and is planning on doing it again in early 2015. Feel free to use the Facebook, Twitter, or G+ links below to contact him.

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