Season 1, Episode 7

Air date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 10pm ET/PT, on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

Note: Your regular reviewer, Linda, was unavailable to review “Duty and Honor” so I have taken her place this week.

I have been following The Americans since its premiere, and I’ve been hooked ever since. The seemingly strong façade of Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip’s (Matthew Rhys) marriage is threatening to buckle under the strain of leading double lives. Not that I ever thought being a spy was easy but pretending to be something you’re not can wear on you, especially if it puts your life and the lives of your loved ones at risk.

Philip and Irina

In “Duty and Honor,” Philip works with a former love, Irina (Marina Squerciati), now renamed Anne, to frame Andrzej Bielawski (Andrzej Krukowski), a former Communist hero of Poland. It seems that putting a pretty woman in front of a man will make him forget the ever-important job at hand. The same thing happened with Vasili (Peter von Berg) and Nina (Annet Mahendru) in “Trust Me.” Seeing Philip strike Anne across the face made me think he has a sadistic bent but it is only meant to make the framing credible and realistic.

Not only that, but Stan (Noah Emmerich) is falling in love with Nina. Really? The man has a wife at home, and he’s busy getting a hard-on for a Russian spy? Telling his wife he can’t come home due to work is too much when we know it’s because he’s obsessed with Nina. And Nina doesn’t care about his being married, either. She’s not to be trusted, and being in love with Nina will be Stan’s undoing. I guess this can be considered a positive thing because the men aren’t necessarily portrayed in a complimentary light on The Americans, especially when it comes to men’s second heads.

I loved when Elizabeth meets Claudia (Margo Martindale) in the park and refuses to apologize for beating her in the face. She’s not afraid of the repercussions of her actions, because she’s really furious that her loyalty to the KGB was questioned. And when Claudia calls her “Nadezdha,” instead of Elizabeth, she gets pissed even more. Even when Elizabeth was being tortured, she refused to give up any information, insisting she really is Elizabeth Jennings, dutiful wife and mother. Since that scene, I wouldn’t dare question Elizabeth’s loyalty again. Nor should Claudia.

Claudia tells Elizabeth she had to test her loyalty to her country

When her mission is finished, Irina asks Philip to go away with her and leave their spy lives behind. I doubted Philip would go with her, even though he clearly still carries a torch for her, but his duty is to his country, something he’s always mindful of. Even with the strain on his marriage, he’s not willing to forsake Elizabeth and their children. Elizabeth’s anguish comes through loud and clear when she confesses to missing him and says, “I want it to be…real. Do you think we could do that? I would try. Will you try?” With the lives they lead, it’s hard to know what’s real. Their marriage might not have been genuine in the beginning, but their feelings for each other have deepened throughout the years.

For me, The Americans isn’t just a spy show. It’s also about relationships and the conflicts that go along with them. Now we have to see just how much Philip and Elizabeth will keep from each other, what will happen after Stan’s dalliance with Nina, and whether Philip will go in search of his “son.”

Tune in to The Americans, Wednesdays, 10 pm ET/PT, only on FX.

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You may also want to follow the actors on Twitter:  Philip @MatthewRhys, Stan Beeman @NoahEmmerich, Chris Amador @maxitois4real (Max Hernandez).

All photos courtesy of Craig Blankenhorn / © 2013 FX Networks. All Rights Reserved.