Scene by scene, Oleg is becoming increasingly disillusioned.
He cries at his brother’s funeral but his brother can’t be buried with full
military honors. Nina doesn’t even get a funeral, dying a traitor where Yevgeny
died a hero. Oleg’s father could not save her and bitterly tells his son to go
back to America, not really making a case for staying in the Soviet Union, a
country he thinks is going to hell anyway.
So Oleg goes back to the Rezidentura and minute by minute,
you can almost see him crack. Arkady mourns Nina too but hammers it home that
she was a traitor and they don’t usually execute people for no reason. The
Soviets disposed of Nina’s body with no fanfare but I like how she still haunts
the cast and that her life and motivations were much more complicated than
anybody could know.
Martha is also losing her illusions, increasingly distressed
by Clark’s absence. He was trying to protect his wife when he left the
apartment after Hans tipped him off to Aderholt’s presence, but she doesn’t
know that. (By the way, Hans is like the barber college of spies. This is the
downside of using a trainee in a life or death situation: It’s very risky to
learn on the job.)
Clark tells Martha he loves her and while he does care for
her, you have to wonder how much he’s working her and how much he really is
concerned for her safety. That’s what makes the Jenningses great spies, as
Gabriel says in a backhanded compliment: They care about people. Clearly
Elizabeth sees something genuine in Philip’s affection for Martha; that was a
hard stare at him during the phone call.
I had to laugh at Elizabeth and Philip talking to Pastor Tim
and Helen Lovejoy because it seemed like such a PR move, bringing in that El
Salvadoran “priest” to gain the sympathy of the pastor and his wife and
highlight the abuses of the Americans in Central America. “You think that guy
was really a priest?” Philip says later, highlighting the infomercial fake-ness
of it all. I loved Elizabeth’s indifferently mumbled answer.
In this week’s irony alert, Elizabeth, possibly tipsy after
a night with Young-hee, laughs at Ronald Reagan on TV saying, “Young people
have a whole new attitude about serving their country.” Paige is watching and
who knows which country she will ultimately serve?
The screws are tightening on all our characters. Oleg will
probably do something drastic after Nina’s death. Stan is closing in on Martha.
The Jenningses are walking a fine line with the pastor. Elizabeth is worried to
recognize Aderholt outside their house as he got a good look at her during
their street fight in season three.
To illustrate all that, this week’s music choice of Queen
and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” was way
on target. So many lyrics can apply to this story, like “Can’t we give love one
more chance?” and “It’s the terror of knowing what this world is about.” The
editing award has to go for dropping in the line “Sat on a fence but it don’t
work” in the Jennings bedroom, applying to Philip’s delicate dance with his two
wives and the couple’s balancing act with Paige and Pastor Tim.
When the pressure gets to be too much, sometimes all you can
do is have raunchy, toe-curling spy sex.
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