The Americans "Chloramphenicol" Recap

Episode 4 kicked off with Elizabeth calling home and telling a frightened Paige (crybaby) that they won't be hone until Saturday and that Epcot is off for now. Meaning they aren't killing Pastor Tim yet. 

We get our "William Moment of the Week" early in this one:

I cant stress enough how much I love that guy, pause.

Gabriel is still battling Glanders while the other three stay quarantined themselves. Cut to Stan's house and Henry shows up looking for milk since his parents are away in order to not potentially infect anyone with what may be an incurable and contagious disease.

This week on "Guys Being Dudes":


This has been "Guys Being Dudes". Made me think of Jake from State Farm.

Henry asks about how Stan and Sandra met and what happened after that first encounter, and Stan responds with the most depressing summary ever:

Thanks for that, Stan.

Stan asks about Phillip and Elizabeth always going away, and obviously Henry doesn't know anything other than what the other three members of the family tell him. You get the sense that eventually Stan is going to put 2 and 2 together.

Back at the FBI, Neil DeGrasse Tyson puts the moves on Martha and snags a date for that night. 

Good for you Neil. Or Fat Shaggy, whichever one works. 

FBI looking' for a mole. It wasn't me! 

But the date isn't as harmless as we thought. If you recall last episode, Neil/Fat Shaggy offered to take Martha out so Stan could snoop her apartment. Lets take a look at what he found. 

If Young Metro don't trust ya, Martha's gon' shot ya.

Martha ain't the only one packing heat! Hey nowwwwwww!

The next morning at the office is gonna be SUPER awkward. Once you find the Kama Sutra in the secretary's drawer, you cant look at her the same way ever again. 

That dinner actually showed a nice progression from Martha. She told Neil/Fat Shaggy she was dating  married man and she wasn't ashamed of it. She said she wasn't expecting anything from it. Whether it was her coming to terms with what she and Clark/Phillip were or she was telling half-truths to cover for herself and him, it was a great scene. Especially considering right before that she was having a breakdown while calling Clark's apartment multiple times looking for advice on how to handle the dinner with an FBI agent.

Elizabeth is throwing up in the toilet, so it looks like she's coming down with the sickness

What have I done...

She proceed to tell Phillip that should anything happen to her, blame her for what happens with Tim and Alice. When Phillip says he won't do that she tells him that he can take the kids and run and live as Americans. And then she throws in the final jab. "Its what you want. Its what you've always wanted." Another wife move from Elizabeth! "Honey I'm dying I think, if I don't make it take care of the kids, also you aren't Commie enough you loser."

Obligatory cut to Russia where Kristaps Porzingis brokers a deal with his dad to stay in Russia if he (the dad) can help Nina. His parents want him home after his brother died on the front lines, but he really considers America to be his home. 

Back to the quarantine, Elizabeth looks like she's taking a bad turn and has a dream about her own mother being sick. William and Phillip actually have a really nice talk together. William tells Phillip he's lucky to have a family, and a wife who he can talk to about what they do. Phillip counters with Paige's situation. It's a nice moment where you can sort of see the toll the job has taken on them and where they're at mentally. 

After that exchange William asks Phillip what he would do, and he says he would be normal, but only with Elizabeth. It's poetic in a way that he really doesn't want to do this anymore and keep putting himself and his family in danger, but he cares so much about his wife that he keeps going with it.

And then Elizabeth is fine and just had a bad reaction tot he antidote, and Gabriel is fine so the antidote worked

Elizabeth, I guess as a result of her dream and realization of what it would do to Paige, tells Phillip they cant kill Pastor Tim and that they should work him and Alice, despite how hard that would be. They tell Gabriel, who seems reluctant to agree and tell the Center.


But in the end he agrees to help them out. They return home and take the kids out bowling, because thats fun after you think you might die.



OMG HOW FUNNY! I WAS HEARTBROKEN WHEN YOU TOLD ME OUR ENTIRE LIVES WERE JUST BIG LIES AND YOU'RE ACTUALLY FROM THE COUNTRY THE ONE WE ARE IN NOW HATES THE MOST! VITAL PART OF SOVIET SPY TRAINING IS BOWLING LOLOLOLOLOL!

I really wish Henry had heard them and was just like, "Uhhh, what now?"

And then the final sequence. At first I thought it was real but the beam of light made me think maybe it was a dream.

So it seems as if Nina has been granted release, and she starts to walk out before encountering the scientist. They end up walking outside together. 

Right there I thought they were going to get sniped or something. But then Nina wakes up and is told she's moving cells. Take a look:

Ohhhh shittttttt. Nina got murked. Absolutely capped. Even though we really should have seen it coming, the manner in which she's killed was shocking. But according to the show runners it was extremely accurate. People would get executed like this for real. They would be told they were moving cells and be brought down to a place like that where the death sentence was read out loud. And there were always two guards on either side so when the persons knees buckled they could be held up and shot in the back of the head. It was meant to be a painless way to die. And then theres small details like having someone there to check the pulse and pronounce her dead, the fact they used the burlap sack as a type of body bag because it was easy. There was a mop ready to clean the blood quickly. You see that clue upon second look:

At first I thought it was like a janitor's room or hallway or something. 

And apparently Stan and Oleg find out, so that will end up being a very interesting dynamic moving ahead. We knew Nina couldn't last but goddamn that death was portrayed beautifully, in a sick sort of way. Alas...

Next week's episode is titled "Clark's Place" and directed by Noah Emmerich, who plays Stan, so it'll be interesting to see what creative direction he takes. Here's the preview:

Hit me up with other theories, questions, comments, let me know if you think I missed anything here, the whole 9 on Twitter @TheSituAsian508. Имейте хороший товарищей.