Gabriel orders Elizabeth and Philip to develop two sources from the plant they recently visited in Kansas, Benjamin Strobert (Brett Tucker) and Deirdre Kemp (Clea Lewis), even though Elizabeth protests they're stretched too thin. Philip makes contact with Deirdre at her gym, though she doesn't seem too enthusiastic. Elizabeth has better luck with Strobert, as they hit it off when meeting at a health food store, he invites her to go hiking, and they even start making out until Elizabeth breaks it off to entice him for later.
Oleg tells his mother about the tape Stan, through his agent, gave him, and confesses he's afraid of being blackmailed, which causes her to break down. Also, Oleg gets a new partner, Rusian (Ravil Isyanov), who goes with him to the same grocery store Oleg visited before, and this time, they get a name of a contact. Meanwhile, Stan tells the Deputy Attorney General if he's forced to blackmail Oleg, he'll bring up the fact he killed Vlad in cold blood for revenge.
Elsewhere, Mischa finally arrives in America, Elizabeth and Philip go on a double date with Stan and Renee, and while babysitting for Pastor Tim and Alice, Paige begins reading Pastor Tim's diary, which her parents don't want her to do out of fear she'll get caught.
This episode contains examples of:
- Back Story: Yelena tells Oleg she was in a Soviet labor camp for five years.
- Batman Gambit: The man driving Mischa across the Yugoslavia/Austria border has a friend behind him act in an obnoxious manner, so the border guards will shift their attention to him and let the car with Mischa go through without any fuss.
- Foreshadowing: Henry tells his parents his math teacher wants to meet with them, which becomes important later, as does Pastor Tim's diary.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Yelena tells Oleg she did this at the labor camp in order to survive, and she's confident Oleg can do it to avoid whatever fate may be in store for him.
- Literary Allusion Title: The episode title refers to the book What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, by Thomas Frank, about why the author thinks the Democratic Party lost Middle America.
- Shout-Out: Before leaving to go out, Pastor Tim gives Paige a collection of writings by Karl Marx, admitting he makes some good points.
- Shown Their Work: When Alexei and Philip go out for a drink, Alexei mentions the food shortages in the Soviet Union, which is Truth in Television, and one of the major reasons for the collapse in the Soviet economy, which helped lead to the end of the Cold War.
