Among all the cold opens The Americans has done, the sequence for “Baggage” stands out as one of the series’ best. Three different short scenes all contribute hugely to establishing the episode and showing off the technical prowess of just about every person involved in the making of them. A dolly shot moves from a Moscow prison corridor to roll into Nina’s cell, where she sits on the toilet–bare, stripped of the energy that once made her feel so alive, alone. Then, a similar shot takes us past Annelise’s dead body as Philip leads Yousaf into the adjoining room to talk practical considerations. The look on Yousaf’s face is about as cold as his dead lover’s, and visually comparing Nina to Annelise is a drastic way of showing the complete lack of margin of error or lapses of discretion while living in the world of The Americans. Finally, we get a surprisingly warm…
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