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Recap / The Americans S1E10 - Only You

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After Chris is murdered, the FBI in general, and Stan in particular, go on a massive manhunt to try and find out who's responsible. Elizabeth had told Gregory's people to dump the body in an alley, and dump Chris' car, but Chris had hidden his ring in the car, and when the owner of the garage Gregory's people dumped the car at tries to pawn the ring, Stan is able to get a line on Gregory. Realizing this, Elizabeth, with Claudia's blessing, offers Gregory a chance to defect to Moscow, where he'll be treated as a hero. Gregory, however, refuses, opting instead to be killed by the police to keep them away from Elizabeth and Philip.

This episode contains examples of:

  • Blackmail: Claudia informs Gregory she's left evidence in his apartment linking him to Chris' murder as a way of protecting Elizabeth and Philip, so that Gregory will have no choice but to defect. Gregory responds, "You guys don't play."
  • Blatant Lies: Nina, who has been friends with Vlad, angrily asks Stan who killed him. Stan claims he has no idea who did it.
  • Call-Back: When the garage owner is looking at mug shots, he starts to say all the black people look alike before Stan cuts him off by saying, "Don't finish that sentence." Given the fact Stan had spent three years as a Deep Cover Agent inside a white supremacist group, it makes sense he'd be angry about any potential racist comments.
  • Continuity Nod: Curtis, one of Gregory's people, is the same person Stan had chased but couldn't catch up to.
  • Dramatic Irony: Stan commiserates with Philip at the beginning of the episode over Chris' death, unaware Philip is the one who killed him.
  • The Easy Way or the Hard Way: Claudia presents Gregory with this choice - defecting to Moscow (easy), or being arrested by the FBI (hard). Gregory opts to Take a Third Option (see Suicide by Cop below).
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Stan tries to invoke this with Curtis when he gets arrested; he tells Curtis he believes he, Curtis, had no idea Gregory was working with the Russians, and says while he knows the two of them have nothing in common, he believes at least they both see the Russians as a common enemy. Turns out he's right.
  • It's Personal: The FBI in general is still treating Chris' death as this, especially Stan.
  • Shout-Out: Roberta Flack's "To Love Somebody" plays as Gregory gets killed in a shootout with the police.
  • Suicide by Cop: Gregory opts to die like this.
  • When I Was Your Age...: When Elizabeth tries to get Paige and Henry going in the morning, Paige responds, "You're the one who wanted it this way." Elizabeth angrily responds that when she was a teen, her mother would never have tolerated Elizabeth saying that.

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