Claudia tells Elizabeth she needs to meet with Colonel (now General) Rennhull and get a lithium-based sensor from him. Rennhull is not happy to see Elizabeth, and refuses to give the sensor to her. Elizabeth threatens Rennhull by saying she'll expose his previous contact with the Soviet Union, and gets him to come back to another meeting in the park. At that meeting, however, instead of giving her the sensor, Rennhull pulls a gun on Elizabeth. Elizabeth manages to jump into him before he can fire at her. There's a struggle, and she ends up shooting him. Paige, who's been in the car as a lookout, runs out to see what's wrong, and Elizabeth, whose face is covered in blood, orders her to go back to her post.
In addition to that, Elizabeth also continues to work as a "nurse" for the Haskards, and Erica is still battling her illness. Claudia wants Elizabeth to make sure she can keep Erica alive so Glenn can go to the Washington Summit, but Elizabeth asks Glenn to prepare for having to help Erica kill herself, and says she'll do it when the time comes.
Stan is working in the Criminal Investigation Division of the FBI when Aderholt approaches him to tell him Oleg is in D.C. He also tells Stan Gennadi and Sofia are arguing all the time, and Stan comes back reluctantly to try and help them work things out. Stan also gets involved in the continuing operation of the information Gennadi is bringing into the country.
Elsewhere, Philip's travel agency isn't doing as well as he thought, especially after he loses a client, Elizabeth meets with someone in the State Department, Philip continues to try, and fail, to get information about Elizabeth's activities, and Paige continues to get lessons in Russian culture from Claudia.
This episode contains examples of:
- Blackmail: Elizabeth tries to do this to Rennhull, threatening to expose the fact he gave military secrets to the Soviets if he doesn't give her a lithium based sensor. It doesn't work.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Elizabeth ends up killing Rennhull, though she ends up getting most on the blood on her face.
- By "No", I Mean "Yes": When Paige asks Elizabeth if people in the KGB use sex to get information, Elizabeth tells her no at first, but then admits sometimes people might get close to a source, or sometimes it's used to get information. This lie becomes important later in the season.
- Continuity Nod: Elizabeth is still is still smoking a lot.
- Failed a Spot Check: Averted. Elizabeth sneaks into the State Department by pretending to be part of a tour group, and then slips into the bathroom to change so she can meet her source, but the tour guide realizes she's missing, and security guards come into the building to look for her, leading Elizabeth to suggest to her source they go outside to eat lunch.
- Foreshadowing: Philip's troubles with the travel agency will continue to play out for the rest of the season.
- Historical Domain Character: Elizabeth's source at the State Department tells her about the worry Ronald Reagan was going senile, which was Truth in Television.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Elizabeth ends up shooting Rennhull with the same gun he pulls on her.
- I Have a Family: When Rennhull pulls a gun on Elizabeth, she begs for her life and invokes this. When it doesn't work, that's when she rushes him.
- Man Hug: Gennadi ends up giving one of these to Stan as a way of showing thanks.
- Premature Encapsulation: Aderholt tells Stan Gennadi and Sofia's codename is "Teacup", which becomes part of the title of a future episode.
- Shout-Out: When the FBI is X-Raying Gennadi's bag through a bathroom stall, Talking Heads "Slippery People" plays over the soundtrack.
- Title Drop: Claudia plays Tchaikovsky's "None but the Lonely Heart Op. 6" for Paige. When Elizabeth warns her Paige isn't a fan of classical music, Claudia retorts she hasn't heard Tchaikovsky.
