Paige is still reeling from finding out the truth about her parents, asking what about them is real. Elizabeth tries to bond with her by talking about her own mother, but Paige is still upset. Speaking of Elizabeth's mother, Philip tells Elizabeth he thinks he knows how he can arrange Elizabeth to visit her, but Elizabeth doesn't think it's possible, and though Gabriel says he sympathizes, the Centre won't allow it. Gabriel is glad Paige knows the truth, as it means she can be trained.
Nina and Anton continue to bond. Anton tells Nina he needs to get photos in order to do his job better, and she agrees to help with that. Anton also opens up to her about his family, and when searching his room, Nina discovers papers written to his son Jacob. She tells Anton she knows about that, but promises not to tell anyone else.
Elizabeth begins a relationship with the hotel manager, and when she's in his office, she takes advantage of an "angry customer" (Philip) to go into the computer, find out where one of the mujahadeen is staying, and copies the room key. Philip, in turn, meets with Yousaf, who tells him about the mujahadeen the CIA is meeting with, and how crazy they are.
Martha continues to be nervous about Walter Taffet, so "Clark" coaches her on how to answer questions about the pen, and anything else. She manages to get through an interrogation with Taffet without arousing any suspicions from him. Gaad, meanwhile, goes through his own files to try and remember what he might have talked about in the office while the bug was there.
Elsewhere, Arkady assigns Oleg and Tatiana to "Operation Zephyr", where they go over the transcripts of the recordings from the Mail Robot, and Elizabeth meets again with Lisa and Maurice, but Maurice demands that he and Lisa get paid for whatever Elizabeth is asking Lisa to do.
This episode contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: When Paige finds out her parents are from the Soviet Union, she asks why they don't have accents. This is apparently an allusion to Matthew Rhys, who is from Wales and has a heavy Wales accent, but speaks with an American accent on the show.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Elizabeth starts to tell Paige about her own mother, Paige listens, but then asks, "How can I believe anything you say?"
- Call-Back: Paige brings up the time Elizabeth and Henry took her and Henry to a motel, asking if something was going on then.
- Yousaf says he's still shaken about killing Annelise.
- When questioning Martha, Taffet brings up Chris Amador.
- Literary Allusion Title: The title of the episode refers to the book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,
about a prisoner in the Soviet gulag. - Shout-Out: When Oleg and Tatiana are going over the transcripts for Operation Zephyr, Tatiana brings up the USFL, though Arkady has to correct her on how its spelled, and tell her what it refers to.
- Was It All a Lie?: Paige wonders if the entire family is a lie, even if Henry is really her brother.
