Just how patriotic is Philip Jennings? A lot of things happen in “The Deal” which force Philip to ask himself that uncomfortable question, and the episode revolves around this universal theme of one’s sense of national identity. Considering he almost defects in the pilot episode of The Americans, it’s safe to assume that he does not hold his homeland’s ideology in as high esteem as his wife does, and, coupling that with the fact that during this episode he muses aloud on several occasions about how vaguely he remembers Mother Russia, it will no doubt be interesting to see how he reacts to whatever crisis this season is building to.

“The Deal” is ambitious in that it attempts to resolve the various cliffhangers of last week’s episode, whilst also taking a few steps back to refocus a little bit on the show’s characters, before finally returning to the more urgent overarching plot of the season. For this reason, the episode (which runs at a longer-than-usual 51 minutes, and feels slightly less snappy as a result) feels mildly overstuffed at parts, but still manages a disproportionate amount of genuinely touching moments – something the show doesn’t delve into often (but when it does, it usually succeeds wonderfully)

In an attempt to be more efficient, “The Deal” amalgamates two of these aspects together; the character of the Mossad agent is used to both further the plot along, and to evoke in Philip the aforementioned sense of self-identity. Thinking his days to be numbered, the agent reminisces about his family back in Israel, and exclaims how cold the Soviet Union is. Philip’s revealing response – “I like the cold” – shows just how much he has to prove to himself that all of the dreadful things his job entails is worth it, considering that at this stage there isn’t really any motivation for him to continue, beyond the non-tangible ideology he has been shown to have been skeptical of on numerous occasions.

This is compounded by Anton Baklanov’s frantic pleas to Philip to not send him back to Russia. It’s been a long, long time since Philip was there, and it’s not difficult to imagine the doubt planted in his mind by seeing this grown man’s hysterics. Using characters to make statements about other characters is a delicate affair, and is one which “The Deal” handles perfectly.

The episode’s more lighthearted subplot follows Elizabeth’s attempts to persuade Martha to remove ‘Clark’s’ name from her job application. Martha’s enthusiastic description of her husband’s sexual prowess, egged along by the man’s supposed sister, is the type of odd, goofy humour not seen very often on The Americans, and it balances well against a particularly dark episode of the show.

In one of “The Deal”‘s best scenes, Elizabeth, having obtained the files on the Connors’ assassin, lets Brad, the timid naval recruit, know that she was leading him on the entire time. Elizabeth is a character whose stoic nature can often repel any emotional connection the viewer has with her, and the scene is played with a wonderful ambiguity; our protagonists are essentially actors in a life-long production, and forcing the audience to try to differentiate the characters’ fake emotions from their real ones is a brilliant technique to delve deeper into their psyche much less intrusively than a multitude of others (eg. voiceovers narrating a character’s innermost thoughts, I’m looking at you, Dexter).

Quickly becoming one of the show’s most intriguing characters is Oleg Igorevich (I was able to spell that perfectly without consulting IMDB, thanks to the Russians’ wonderful habit of addressing each other by their full names multiple times within the same conversation); when taking into account the brilliant scene back in “The Walk In” wherein he teases his opportunistic tendencies (by describing the very capitalistic act of ticket-scalping), he is fast becoming a pivotal player in the Stan/Nina plot, definitely manipulating the former, while possibly (read: probably) manipulating the latter. Initially dismissed as the spoiled son of a high-up Russian diplomat, he shows significant tact in “The Deal”; the position he has manoeuvred himself into is a direct result of his own gumption, and without knowing his ulterior motives he remains a fascinating enigma.

Perhaps my favourite aspect of “The Deal” is the almost celebrity-like status given to the Jennings throughout. Indeed, according to the Mossad agent, Philip is ‘platinum’, much to his bemusement. Furthermore, their new handler relays the message that the Centre’s top priority is to make him happy, hence her taking the place of Claudia. Due to the highly sensitive nature of their jobs, Directorate S has yet to fully realise just how essential they are. Philip is given a glimpse in “The Deal”, and I shudder to think of the damage he could wreak if he, say, became disillusioned with the teachings of his homeland; a place so deep in the recesses of his memories that he must actively remind himself of its redeeming qualities. In fact, a disillusionment with such illusive redeeming qualities seems likely. Moscow doesn’t know it yet, but their worst potential enemy is possibly one of their most valuable assets.

Grade: A-

Some other thoughts:

Wow, the sound design of that scene in the toilet was a bit too realistic for my liking.

I think there was a Paige/Elizabeth conflict floating somewhere along the edges of “The Deal”, which probably could have been dropped in favour of allowing some of the more important plots room to breathe.

As much as I enjoyed the episode, 51 minutes is still probably a bit too long for my tastes. 40-47 minutes is just about the perfect time for a drama, and is an as-of-yet unrecognised secret weapon of basic cable.

I’d like to reiterate how much I enjoyed that scene with Martha and Elizabeth. Martha is so self-involved that she doesn’t notice her husband’s sister actively seeking out the specifics of his sexual exploits.

I can’t think of a single scene featuring Henry in “The Deal”. While it’s strange to compare the two, both The Americans and Modern Family for the most part ditched their children this week, and not coincidentally both pumped out exceptional episodes. Fingers crossed that TV writers will make this same connection soon – as much as I enjoy Henry’s attempts to coerce his parents into buying him an Intellivision.