The Americans - What's the Matter with Kansas? - Review: "Doing the necessary thing"

A theme that is ever-present in everything Philip and Elizabeth do for their country is the morality issue over how far they’re willing to go to do what is deemed necessary. Last season, having to stage Don as though he had drunk too much wine and had sex with ‘Patty’ was incredibly difficult for Elizabeth, given her friendship with Young-Hee - but it had to be done for the mission.

“What's the Matter with Kansas?” saw that concept spread to Stan. His arc across these four episodes has, at any given moment, contained one of two things: his new relationship with Renee, or his determination to keep Oleg from a Soviet prison or death. That second point has been particularly important to him, and the CIA’s efforts to turn Oleg have left him flustered and angry. So, of course, the next step - after hearing Aderholt’s story about the man they blackmailed in San Francisco - was to tell Deputy Attorney General Warren that he killed Vladimir Kosygin and that he’ll go public if the CIA don’t back off.

Um.

That is almost certainly not what Aderholt was suggesting.

Stan has, for the most part, remained continually loyal to the United States; the only doubt over his devotion came during his relationship with Nina. So for him to actively blackmail the Deputy AG in order to protect not only a foreign citizen but an enemy spy is a big move. And yet, it is a completely understandable one on his part. Over the course of a season and a half, he and Oleg became unlikely - and very loose - friends and Stan came to understand that while their two countries are battling it out, Oleg is not the epitome of evil that Reagan would have him believe. He is a human being, with human emotions, a family, a life. He is, quite simply, a man serving his country.

Yes, Stan feels he owes him for betraying his country and giving the FBI “the tip of the century”, but without that human side underneath, he may not be so quick and determined to save Oleg. That’s where he is, however, and while it seems likely that Warren will sweep Stan’s confession under the rug and get the CIA to back off as he wishes, it is fascinating to think about what is going through Stan’s head and how much further he would be willing to go to keep Oleg alive.

There is a real tragedy to the hour, though, as Oleg vaguely tells his mother about the trouble he is in and that Stan is the one blackmailing him. The CIA’s operative using Stan’s name two episodes ago means that while he is putting his career and his freedom on the line to keep Oleg from prison and/or death, Oleg thinks he is having his trust betrayed. As viewers, we have become even more sympathetic to his situation across the seasons than Stan has, and so it is particularly difficult to watch him be told to “do what you need to do” to survive (*), knowing what that might mean for their relationship.

(*) The episode does not lack irony either, with Oleg wanting to avoid pressuring the Baza leak by using his son in Afghanistan as a weak spot.

The Americans does emotionally brutal storytelling better than virtually every show on television, and this is the first real power punch of season five. And despite Martha’s survival, this show doesn’t like opting for happy endings. We’re not yet at Nina-level doomed - and, on some level, Stan and Oleg’s failure to save her may be in the back of their minds as what might happen if their differing actions aren’t successful - but the future looks bleak.

There is impending doom outside Russia too as Mischa arrived at JFK Airport, having successfully been smuggled out of Yugoslavia. Those scenes were fun, especially as his transport was searched at the border - the plan to distract the guard and thus limit his search was great. All that is left to do now is find out where Philip is a travel agent and show up outside his door, thus piling more stress on him...

…Not that he needs it, of course. As he notes to Gabriel while trying to get Elizabeth and he out of travelling to Topeka, between the midges, maintaining the Eckart cover, and Paige’s situation, they’re not exactly short of things to worry about. It is a real hindrance, then, once Philip - under the guise of Gus Alexander - discovers that his latest mark, Agricorp Vice President of Production and Distribution Deirdre Kemp, is incredibly boring and unsociable. Not only does that make his latest assignment more arduous and likely lengthy, but even less enjoyable than having to do this to someone is normally (*). Philip’s blank, almost irritated, stare as he calls Deirdre sums up his feelings better than any words ever could.

(*) On the bright side, the chance of him becoming as close to her as he did Martha is, presumably, non-existent.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, gets to lure in the “carob-gorp-eating-hiking expert of Topeka,” a task that quite understandably disgusts her. “I have to sit there with him while he makes his jokes. The guy's laughing while he's trying to starve an entire country,” she says. That viewpoint really puts things into perspective and serves as a nice reminder as to the importance of this operation. And after seeing the Philip-Martha relationship and Elizabeth develop a friendship with Young-Hee, it’s also interesting to see the show have the Jenningses gain the trust of people whom they dislike - Alexei Morozov included.

Paige gets to babysit Claire Louise, Tim and Alice’s baby, an action that Elizabeth doesn’t seem particularly comfortable with, and becomes even less so once she learns of Paige searching Tim’s house. Although her frustration is warranted - the constant threat of this life being torn apart means Paige needs to be careful - Elizabeth wanted to bring her into this life. With great power comes great responsibility, yes, but the Jenningses have two decades plus of experience over their daughter, who has to appease her parents after putting them in such a precarious position. And so her impulsive attempt to help may have been done in good spirit, but it was a recklessly dangerous thing to do. Had she found something, it might have been a slightly different story, but it was a risk not worth taking.

Still, it will not be the only reason Elizabeth might regret bringing Paige into their line of work. Initially, she was forced to report back on Tim. Now, she attempts to get information about him on her own accord. Where does it stop? And, perhaps more relevant, is the next stage pretending to be like Brenda Neill? Elizabeth wanted to bring Paige into this, but the contemplation of her daughter using people as she and Philip do is a situation she could never have imagined would present itself so soon.

“What’s the Matter with Kansas?” Gabriel asked the Jenningses using just a stare. The answer: a distraction from a similarly pressing - and potentially more destructive - issue.

A slightly slower episode than the previous three, but between Stan blackmailing the Deputy AG and the building pressures for Philip and Elizabeth - including the one they don’t know about - there was plenty of exciting material here.

Notes:

• Henry not only appeared this week but was the subject of conversation on two occasions! He may or may not have a girlfriend (or two, given Paige’s knowledge of Kira and Wendy). That’s along the same lines as the fact that he may or may not appear on-screen again this season - who is to say? Fortunately, Elizabeth won’t need to have the same sex conversation with him as she did Paige two weeks ago. Not yet, at least.

• I’m particularly fond of director Gwyneth Horder-Payton’s first shot of Deirdre, using the mirror at the gym before eventually panning to her in the flesh.

• Hadžibegić and Radanović, the footballers referenced at the border, are likely Faruk Hadžibegić and Ljubomir Radanović. At the time, they were at FK Sarajevo and FK Partizan, respectively. However, as far as I can work out, the two teams played each other on April 1st, 1984, but Partizan won 1-0. They might have been playing in a game for Yugoslavia, but Hadžibegić didn’t score his first international goal until January 25th, 1985.

• So many shows tend to put old plot points that are about to be revisited in that episode’s previously, so I appreciate the restraint shown to not feature Kosygin’s execution here.

What did everyone think of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” Leave your thoughts in the comments!