Martial Eagle (The Americans)

"Martial Eagle" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American television drama series The Americans, and the 22nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on FX in the United States on April 23, 2014.

Plot

Elizabeth and Philip infiltrate the contra training base. Elizabeth assassinates their intended targets, while Philip takes photos of the training exercises. He's forced to kill some American personnel who stumble upon him. The Jenningses later find that the truck driver they kidnapped for information has died as well. Philip is upset by the unnecessary deaths.

The Jennings family attends a service at the church that runs Paige's youth program. They accidentally learn that Paige has donated $600 of her savings to missionary activities. Neither of her parents approve of this gesture, especially Philip. Philip also gets angry at Paige when they return home. Philip later meets Pastor Tim (Kelly AuCoin) and angrily asks him to stay away from his daughter. Elizabeth awakens Paige in the middle of the night to do chores, telling her that being a grown up means having to do things, even if you don't want to.

Stan receives the code-word clearance. Three stealth aircraft scientists meet with Stan, and reveal that scientists all work separately and both Northrop and Lockheed are competing for the DoD contract for stealth aircraft. They also tell Stan about the date and location of a key meeting of the defense contractors. Stan meets Gaad, who has been summoned to testify in front of the committee for the killing of Vlad. Gaad later meets Arkady and threatens that if he's forced to testify he'll reveal the information about hidden KGB agents to the press; Arkady listens politely but does not respond. Fred reveals to Philip that he and other scientists have been summoned to a meeting by the FBI but doesn't know why; it turns out to be for Stan's investigation. Stan later arrives home to learn his wife is considering an affair with a man she met in est. He also learns that the key meeting occurred on the same day as the unsolved murders of a family (actually KGB sleepers Emmett and Leanne and their daughter) and begins exploring a possible link between the events.

Philip plays a doctored tape to Martha to poison her relationship with Gaad, and tells her that someone in her office is leaking information about the stealth aircraft project. They start to get intimate, but Philip stops her saying he's drunk and upset. Meanwhile, Elizabeth attends an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to befriend a Northrop employee and glean stealth technology information from her.

Production

The story for the episode was written by Oliver North and Tracey Scott Wilson, while Wilson wrote the teleplay. The episode was directed by Alik Sakharov. Oliver North was roped in for his experience and knowledge about American government's covert involvement in helping contra rebels.^[1]

Reception

The episode was watched by 1.37 million viewers, as per Nielsen ratings.^[2] The reviews for the episode were positive. The A.V. Club rated the episode an A–.^[3] Alan Sepinwall from Hitfix reviewed the episode positively.^[4]

References

External links

• "Martial Eagle" at FX
• "Marital Eagle" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Martial Eagle" at TV.com