The Americans Season 3 Episode 8 Review: “Divestment”

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 the kinds of build-up and how the series creates opportunities for its various climaxes and major character beats.

Even with another five episodes left in the season, I would be surprised if Nina’s endgame is to return to action at the beginning of next year; The Americans has balanced the storylines of the rezidentura alongside the Jenningses’ and Stan’s extremely well, so there’s no reason to doubt how interesting Nina will be with a different subset of characters for, say, another year. That said, the idea of her freedom that is presented in this episode is one that we care about, more for her sake than our own. She asks forgiveness for not jumping up and down at the thought of a ten-year sentence, which isn’t even needed to address how demoralized she’s been since the beginning of the year. A character with genuine ambition and skill, Nina got caught in the unfortunate circumstance that the would-be bomber who gets let go did: She was a little in over her head. The price for that in The Americans is unfortunately high, and even though Nina certainly deserves to be where she’s at in terms of the law and logic, it’s much easier to sympathize with someone like her than it would be to sympathize with a more hardened agent who got caught making a mistake. This also puts her into an interesting moral dilemma. Right now, Nina has every reason to be bitter against her country. Throwing Anton under the bus likely won’t be an issue when it comes down to it, but it follows having to give up Evi, her cellmate. Once she does return to whatever kind of position she’s allowed to, the psychological damage will have been severe to the point where she’s likely to look and act like a different character.

That goes double for Martha, who finally finds out that Clark isn’t who he says he is. Easily Alison Wright’s most impressive moment in the series thus far, Martha’s breakdown as she has to react to Clark is the heartbreaking moment that has been promised since the two got married. Philip manages to juggle, again, the pressure that comes with reaction, but even if he’s able to convince Martha for the moment that Clark really does love her and that he would do anything to protect her, this is absolutely the beginning of the end. How Philip deals with this in the coming episodes will certainly be a concern, but “Divestment” lets Martha shine in the most unfortunate of ways by letting her own psychological collapse be at the center. The reality that one’s own spouse has been lying since the beginning is a world-changing shock for someone. The follow-up question–who are you, really?–is even worse. It’s interesting that The Americans would pull the trigger now based on where it happens within the season, since that sets up another kind of climax for Martha’s character at some point in the finale. Here, it works well just by adding to the overall stress level of “Divestment,” which forces characters to make difficult decisions.

Arkady’s, though, seems to be less difficult. I’ve generally been least interested in the rezidentura of all the settings in The Americans, and maybe it’s the lack of character development for Arkady that’s been responsible. So, his interactions with Oleg and Oleg’s father go a long way in making me care about him, since he shows that he’s willing to stand by his agents under political pressure. What’s going to happen? He won’t be able to ride the trains when he goes home? It’s played for humor, but it’s a wonderful beat for Arkady as a leader. We’ve seen various kinds of leaders or mentors in The Americans, some of whom have been quick to drop the people under them for causing them any kind of grief. Arkady proves to be one who is willing to fight for his underlings rather than fight with him.

Gabriel also falls into that category, and it’s kind of sad that I’m beginning to not care about seeing Claudia again because of how excellent a supervisor Gabriel has been in such a short time on-screen. A calming presence in every way, Gabriel’s scene with Elizabeth at the end of “Divestment” is, finally, the most emotion-driven piece in response to pressure. At first, it looks like Elizabeth is trying to alleviate some things for Philip by messing with the Kimberley situation, but it turns out she’s asking for some help in bringing Mischa, Philip’s son, back from Afghanistan. Gabriel’s surprise mimics our own, as this shows extraordinary support on Elizabeth’s part for her husband and partner. It’s amazing Philip has lasted this long without exploding from his internal conflict. Elizabeth can see that and makes an attempt to help in any way she can, despite how she must feel deep down.

Covert Observations:

– Again, the directing in “Divestment” is just superb. From the opening shot of Hans, director Dan Attias captures all of these scenes in a way that is noticeably different from other directors of the series in how it feels more immediate and on-the-ground, less detached from the way that The Americans is typically shot.

– Unfortunately, that makes the tire scene feel all the more real. Yeesh. Talk about a bad way to go. At the very least, it highlights a difference in how the various groups within The Americans treat payback in warfare. Sometimes, a message has to be sent when being quiet and covert isn’t enough.

– Paige continues to do some of her independent research, finding out more about Gregory. She’s actually pushed to the side in this episode overall, but the thread isn’t at all forgotten. Elizabeth gets to have a serious conversation with her about how definitions of good and bad aren’t as black and white as they appear to be. What someone might call criminal in nature, another person might call the same action heroic. These are all things being battered around in Paige’s head, and she moves closer to the reveal that will change everything about her life as she knows it.

[Photo via FX]