As much as he'd warned Martha off the idea of having children, the couple visited a foster home, and Philip was undeniably excited at the concept of raising another kid, although he wouldn’t admit it. That led him to a nostalgic conversation with Elizabeth about Paige and Henry’s toddlerhood, and a dress-shopping bonanza with Paige for her baptism that was clearly an effort to stay on memory lane. “What are you doing?” Elizabeth asked, and Philip didn’t really have an answer—but it was also clear there’s no place he’d less like to be than in the present.

Otherwise, this week functioned (from a plot perspective) as a bit of a table-setter. Elizabeth moved closer to her big score on the CIA sub-contractor, and in doing so committed a rather shocking murder-by-dropped-vehicle that had to be seen to be believed. Oleg and Stan began to spin the wheels of a possible escape plot for Nina to have her pose as a defector—a clever resolution to the plot of the main defector, who aroused baseless suspicions in Stan but led him to the concept of Nina becoming a triple-agent just to get her back in the States.

One thing I’ll admit to feeling a little stiffed on at this point: Frank Langella, who dropped by for one scene a week to softly mutter some advice to either Philip or Elizabeth but otherwise didn’t have the kind of presence that Margo Martindale possessed as their handler. One imagines some big twist or plot arc will wrap their semi-retired mentor into the Afghan War plot a little more concretely, but I wish Langella had a bigger role, considering his stature as a performer. So far he mostly exists to make the subtext a little more textual, which is my least favorite part of any serious drama. It's already understand that there are ongoing fractures in Philip and Elizabeth’s relationship. Why have him underline them?

Khazan: I watched this episode as a wind-down from a busy day, and let’s just say I was unprepared for those final three minutes. Philip’s recollections of his own training are, in a way, what I’ve been wanting all along—some sort of background on what he had to endure and how his psyche functions. And yet, there was something about the sight of that old man looking Young Philip in the eye, smirking, and dropping trou that made me wish I had never asked. No wonder Philip wants to dwell on the comparatively blissful childhoods of Paige and Henry: both his present and past are horrific.

It’s telling, though, that Elizabeth hesitated when Philip asked her if he should sleep with Kimmie. Elizabeth had just killed an innocent man by dropping a car on him, so it’s interesting to see what her boundaries are.

I found it oddly cute that this was (I think?) the first time Oleg and Stan admitted to each other that they both loved Nina. If nothing else can bring the Cold-Warring countries together, perhaps a beautiful girl can. It's kind of surprising that the Russians hadn’t thought of the double-defector idea before. It’s pretty clever, but presumably it would also get Stan back on thin ice with his job. It’s still not clear to me which he loves more: Nina or America.