Crossbreed

Phillip looks into his past.

This is a strong episode with compelling focus on characters.

I liked the focus of the plot, particularly on Phillip's backstory and the parallels with his children. Also some of the soul-searching done by Gabriel and Oleg is very cinematically presented.

I appreciate that to tell the full story about someone you need to focus on all aspects of what makes them who they are and drives them to certain actions and decisions. The Americans does this thoroughly and in this episode there is a good emphasis on Phillip's childhood memories. Information about this has been drip fed in other episodes but everything feels like it's comes together here.

There are quite a few scenes of self-reflection by other characters. The best for me being Gabriel and Oleg. Gabriel's scenes are brilliantly filmed with great, atmospheric location shots and Oleg's has a certain sense of dread where you worry about what he's about to do.

If you are looking for spy-thriller scenes, this episode isn't the one for you as it's very much focused on memories, emotions and relationships.

All performances are up to the usual high standard with Frank Langella and Matthew Rhys standing out.

This show gets slow paced and moving as lethargically as it never was. Its not that the quality is compromised anyhow, but when scenes get stretched out without forwarding the story enough, it gets on my nerve. Specially when so much is happening. This episode really felt like a filler. I know the reveal in the end was something close to a cliffhanger, but the way felt too dull and uninteresting.