So, Nina Sergeevna might be the smoothest operator in the world of The Americans. Even with the benefit of omniscience, it’s impossible for us as viewers to ascertain who she’s playing. Stan? Oleg? Both? Neither? As Oleg says when he and Nina are in bed, “You have no armor, nothing to protect you. Only your courage and your beauty.” And Nina has definitely made the most of it.
“Arpanet” was a pretty slow episode of The Americans. It was all about technology tonight, as Oleg trained Nina to pass a polygraph test, and Phillip prepared to place a bug on Arpanet, which is more or less a precursor to the Internet. He and his FBI contact Charles Duluth meet with a Professor Rosenbloom, who eloquently explains the whole concept. I think I admired this scene more than I enjoyed it: it’s well edited and directed (by Kevin Dowling, a veteran of Necessary Roughness and Army Wives) but the problem with living in the twenty-first century is that we all have at least a working knowledge of how the Internet works, which means that Rosenbloom’s explanation of Arpanet slows down the episode a bit.
Not too much, though, because later we get to see Phillip dress up like a serial killer to plant what looks to be the world’s biggest bug on Arpanet. The operation goes well, to an extent. Phillip ends up having to kill someone who was, in his words, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Matthew Rhys plays world-weary very well, and when he asks Duluth, “Do you know how many people I’ve killed?” he already sounds tired of the knowledge. Unfortunately for Duluth, he shows a little too much enthusiasm for what Phillip does; that, and he continues drinking after promising he’d stop, so I don’t think he’s long for this world. By Phillip’s resigned body language – slumped shoulders, downcast eyes – I think he agrees.
Nina passes her polygraph with flying colors. There’s another scene of exposition, wherein Oleg explains the basic workings of a polygraph machine, but I liked this one better. He uses a very evocative comparison to a wasp, and how panic besets panic. This is where Nina truly starts to warm up to him…I think? Like I said, the end of “Arpanet” finds the two in bed, but Nina has become so good at lying that it’s impossible to tell what her endgame is. Who knew she’d end up being such a major player?
A Few Thoughts
– Also on the show’s hit list: Lucia, who Elizabeth describes as “impetuous.” Seems like a generous descriptor for someone who planned to immediately sabotage a mission in order to kill Larrick
– Speaking of Larrick, his name is Charles, not Andrew, as I’d previously written. My bad (UPDATE: Never mind, it is Andrew. I’m just terrible at my job)
– Henry breaks into the neighbor’s house to eat an apple and play video games. Wonder where this is going
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