4x02 Pastor Tim

[9.2/10] Writers, and reviewers for that matter, are always looking for metaphor. It’s hard for me, with my brain trained for symbol-hunting, not to see the vial of a dangerous biological weapon as something other than just a macguffin to drive the plot. It is this perilous, unwelcome thing that the Jennings are forced to keep in their home and can’t seem to get rid of, despite concerted efforts to dispose of it and send it on through the usual channels.

Because Philip’s pain is coming home. The risks and fears for their children are coming home. The concerns about being found out are coming home. Hell, even Nina’s past is coming home. Throughout the episode, people are, if you will pardon my french, dealing with their shit. That’s not unusual on The Americans, but it feels persistent and pernicious in a way that’s usually only centered on Philip.

The show brings that to the fore, in a big way, though. In my last write-up, I talked a bit about the season premiere doing more to plant seeds than to actually move the story along. But man, the plot moves unexpectedly quickly here, starting with the cold open. I have to admit that I was a little concerned when Philip came clean about the source of Stan’s consternation, his secret visits to EST seminars, and his camaraderie with Sandra. But the fact that Elizabeth responded in a calm, mature fashion (albeit with some fair questions), and then went so far as to ask if he’d want her to come to any of these sessions, is one of the most heartening scenes the show’s given us so far.

It’s weird to think of the Jennings as having one of the most mature adult relationships on television, but it’s there. The change in Philip’s demeanor when Elizabeth makes him that offer, her reaction and consolation to his story about killing his bullies as a ten-year-old child, their shared moment of solace in the car at the end of the episode, all speak to a couple that are, individually and jointly, having to deal with some serious shit, but are treating one another with understanding and support, the way that a good couple ought to.

That’s not to say that the two of them don’t still have challenging moments. I’ll admit that Philip’s moment on the airport bus feels a little Dexter-esque in the way it has a “it seems too easy to get away with murder in a public place like this” vibe. Still, the way that one anxious pilot and one overeager member of airport security force Philip to kill once again is compelling, and the “Tainted Love” soundtrack from an oblivious “hip girl” adds a lurid, almost comic sense to the scene. But the way the sequence is shot, with Philip looming over the camera from above, forces the audience to confront the sort of mania that he has to channel in order to do these deeds, and reinforces how damaging it could be.

Whether he’s ready to admit it to himself or not, Philip is ready to quit this life and run away. The opportunity, or at least an excuse, to do that pops up when Elizabeth learns through her bug that Paige has told all their secrets to Pastor Tim. That too is a plot point I didn’t expect The Americans to burn this quick, and it prompts a debate and discussion between Philip and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, as usual, is on brand and on mission, reckoning quickly that if they take him out fast, maybe they can do damage control. Philip, on the other hand, wants to get gone, and reasons that Paige will inevitably realize it was the two of them who did it, and never trust them again. Elizabeth, resolute as ever, responds that better she should lose Pastor Tim than to lose them. Philip reluctantly agrees, and with some of the usual breaking and entering, the Jennings figure out that Pastor Tim writes his sermons in an isolated cabin with a gas oven and space heater that create plenty of potenital for mischief.

But then a sudden monkey wrench is thrown into the plan, as Paige confesses. I really like that as the thing that puts the break on this whole hit. Elizabeth plays it cool as ever, but it makes it much more complicated to pull off that murder, or at least to do so and keep Paige from realizing it was the two of them who pulled it off. It’s a problem without an obvious solution, one created by Paige being honest about her deeds and her feelings with her parents, which makes it doubly interesting.

At the same time, it prompts the hint of an awakening in Elizabeth. The dream sequence where Paige sees the dead body of her pastor who turns into Elizabeth’s rapist is a powerful one. That, coupled with the emotional force of her mother’s death, signifies Elizabeth’s own sublimated concerns about bringing someone else into this life. Philip talks about EST as dredging things up, things that the program helps you deal with, but that are not pleasant to consider. As stoic and devoted as Elizabeth has been through this whole thing, this episode is one of the first to suggest she may have as much damage and reason to doubt in her as Philip, and that those reasons are starting to bubble to the surface.

The other common thread in this episode is people trying to reckon with what’s true to themselves verses what people want to use them for. Nina tries to use her husband (who has an interesting, Coen-esque conversation with her), to get a message to Anton’s son. It blows up in her face, but she tells Anton that she did it for her own reasons, and tells the former Rezientura that she’s changed since he knew her last. There’s a sense of agency of here, of people who are so used to being told what to do starting to wake up, listen to themselves, and choose what they want, that frees them, but also threatens to disrupt their world.

It also brings a lot of crap their way that can’t be escaped, whether it’s Oleg’s brother’s death, or Elizabeth’s repressed fears for her daughter coming to the fore, or Philip’s continued struggle over his constant killing. There is something unpleasant, something dangerous, that our heroes keep trying to shed, and they can only hope to be rid of it fast enough, lest it be unleashed and hurt them and everyone they care about.