Martial Eagle

The Jennings' carry out their mission to infiltrate the Contra training camp.

This is another excellent episode mixing plot and character development, whilst presenting a number of very memorable scenes.

We see Phillip and Elizabeth execute an operation that doesn't go particularly smoothly, leaving them with more psychological torment to deal with. Phillip struggles with this throughout the episode leading to a number of difficult moments for him and the family. Stan who's pushing through with his investigations has more incredibly well-written moments of irony in both private and professional life.

The Cold War is very much taking its toll on most people in The Americans, particularly the ones who struggle with justifying the cause as a reason to kill innocent lives.

Cleverly the writers seem to be slowly heading towards plot lines that will likely run alongside the reveal of the actual Contra scandal as a backdrop and possible trigger for further events.

As always there are a number of brilliant performances, but for me this is Matthew Rhys' best performance of the show so far and worth the 50 minutes of a viewer's time alone. Noah Emmerich and Susan Misner are also superb throughout.

The last two scenes of this episode are quite downbeat, but so well made they stick with you for a while afterwards.