After recovering from being shot, Elizabeth comes back just in time for Henry's birthday. In addition for the party they have for him, Elizabeth and Philip take Henry (and Paige) to an amusement park, where they also meet up with another family of undercover agents, Emmett (Jeremy Davidson) and Leanne Connors (Natalie Gold). While there, Emmett asks Philip to pick up a package from Fred (John Carroll Lynch), one of Emmett's contacts. Philip does this, but he and Elizabeth discover Emmett, Leanne and their daughter have all been murdered - only Jared (Owen Campbell) is alive, since he wasn't in the room - which makes them worried they might be next.
Stan is still chasing after the pair of Soviet spies he thought he had a line on, but the trail has run cold. Not only that, but Sanford, upset the FBI no longer believes what he's said about Col. Rennhull, decides to take matters into his own hands, the result of which the Colonel shoots Sanford in the head. Also, Stan is still seeing Nina, who tells Arkady she's still working on turning him, and Oleg (Costa Ronin) has joined the Rezidentura.
This episode contains examples of:
- Black Comedy: The breakfast scene the morning after Paige walks in on her parents having oral sex with each other (see Primal Scene below); Henry telling a story about a classmate getting an apple stuck in his throat, and Paige not being able to keep from staring at her parents' mouths, doesn't help.Elizabeth: (to Philip, while Paige is getting her things for school) After what she saw last night, I'm surprised she even came downstairs this morning.
- Boom, Headshot!: In addition to how Colonel Rennhull kills Sanford, this is how Philip ends up killing the two Afghans, as well as the busboy in the kitchen.
- Call-Back: Philip refunds Stan for the vacation he wanted to take with Sandra that she turned him down on.
- Emmett and Leanne let Elizabeth and Philip know they've heard from Claudia, who was asking about them, and she's still in town.
- Continuity Nod: Paige is still suspicious of her parents' absences.
- The bug is still in place in Agent Gaad's office, and "Clark" and Martha are still married.
- False Flag Operation: Philip poses as an American operative to meet with two Afghan rebels to promise to give them money for the cause - only to shoot them dead.
- False Reassurance: After Philip kills the two Afghans at the restaurant, he walks through the kitchen and sees a busboy cowering in the corner. Philip reassures the boy that he's not going to do anything - and then shoots him in the head.
- Foreshadowing: The war between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan becomes an important part of the season (and the rest of the series), as does Emmett and Leanne's murder. Also, Sandra's quest to find meaning in her life becomes important in later seasons.
- The Glomp: Inspired by watching Leo Buscaglia (who believed the world's problems could be solved if people hugged each other more), Sandra does this to Stan. It doesn't work, though Stan does agree to go to the movies with her (see Shout-Out below).
- Honey Trap: Elizabeth and Leanne pull this on Roy Oatway, who works at Lockheed, so Philip and Emmett can blackmail him into giving him information about where he works (Lockheed), while pretending to be security officers for Lockheed..
- Nepotism: Oleg's father is the son of a top KGB officer. Arkady sighs and admits he thinks the children of top KGB officers joining the KGB will hasten its demise.
- Primal Scene: Paige opens her parents' bedroom door, thinking she's going to catch them doing something suspicious, only to walk in on them having oral sex with each other.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Annet Mahendru as Nina, Susan Misner as Sandra, and Alison Wright as Martha.
- The Schlub Pub Seduction Deduction: Lampshaded by Philip when he and Emmett pretend to be security officers at Lockheed, where their mark works, pointing out to their mark women wouldn't approach him except for his job.
- Shout-Out: When Stan goes to one of the offices of the FBI that has bootleg tapes of movies, one of them is Mad Max. Stan ends up taking The French Lieutenant's Woman to watch with Nina, though she hates it because she thinks it means Stan thinks of her as a whore. Later, when Sandra goes with her friends to see the movie in person, Stan comes along.
- Henry watches an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati at one point.
- When we first see Oleg at his desk, he's listening to "Passion" by Rod Stewart.
- Stan refers to the woman agents Sanford says he saw as Morticia Addams.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Emmett and Leanne, of course, are only in the one episode, but their murder is a set-up not just for a plot that runs throughout the season, but also for the following seasons.
