Among the many challenges that most of the characters in The Americans face, pressure is chief among them. Even though Philip and Elizabeth are respected agents in charge of operations, those operations come down from authorities above them. During those operations, the Jenningses (and other characters) will also have to react quickly to how their targets or assets act, working under pressure in an improvisational way. “Divestment” is loaded with pressure: if Nina wants her freedom, she has to extract certain information from Anton; Martha and Agent Aderholt are questioned by Walter Taffet; Agent Gaad is faced with the reality of his negligence as a supervisor; Arkady is pushed to send Oleg back to the Soviet Union, despite the Oleg’s request and the important work he’s doing. Last week’s “Walter Taffet” was as good an example as any of how The Americans viscerally pays off episodes of build-up. “Divestment” shows one of…
↧