"Martial Eagle" (named after the bird of prey with the same name, the
martial eagle
The martial eagle (''Polemaetus bellicosus'') is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa.Ferguson-Lees & Christie, ''Raptors of the World''. Houghton Mifflin Company (2001), . It is the only member of the genus ''Polemaetus''. A species of t ...
) is the ninth episode of the
second season of the American television drama series ''
The Americans
''The Americans'' is an American period spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also serve as showrunners a ...
'', and the 22nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on
FX in the United States on April 23, 2014.
Plot
Elizabeth and Philip infiltrate the
Contra
Contra may refer to:
Places
* Contra, Virginia
* Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California
* Contra Costa County, California
* Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...
training base posing as septic system employees. Elizabeth assassinates their intended targets, while Philip takes photos of the training exercises. He's forced to kill three American personnel who stumble upon him. The Jennings later find that the truck driver they kidnapped for information and left tied up in the forest has frozen to death. Philip is upset by the unnecessary deaths.
The Jennings family attends a service at the church that runs Paige's youth program. They inadvertently learn that Paige has donated $600 of her savings to missionary activities. Neither of her parents approve of this gesture, especially Philip. Philip lashes out at Paige when they return home. Philip later meets Pastor Tim (
Kelly AuCoin
Kelly AuCoin (born February 14, 1967) is an American actor who has appeared in film, television, and theater. He is best known as "Dollar" Bill Stern on '' Billions'' ( Showtime), and Pastor Tim on ''The Americans'' ( FX). He has had recurring ro ...
) and angrily asks him to stay away from his daughter. Pastor Tim responds by telling Philip he, too, can be saved before Philip walks out. Elizabeth awakens Paige in the middle of the night to do chores, telling her that being a grown up means having to do things even if you don't want to do them and not always getting what you want.
Stan receives the code-word clearance for the "Have Blue program". Three
stealth aircraft scientists meet with Stan, and reveal that scientists all work separately and both
Northrop and
Lockheed are competing for the
DoD contract for stealth aircraft. They also tell Stan about the date and location of a key meeting of the defense contractors. Stan meets Gaad, who has been summoned to testify in front of the committee for the murder of Vlad. Gaad is packing up his office, believing he will be fired shortly after the testimony due to his involvement in the murder. He also learns that the key meeting occurred on the same day as the unsolved murders of a family (actually KGB sleepers Emmett and Leanne and their daughter) and begins exploring a possible link between the events. He searches through the evidence from the murders but does not find anything of interest. Gaad later meets Arkady and threatens that if he's forced to testify he'll reveal the information about hidden KGB agents to the press; Arkady listens politely but does not respond. Fred reveals to Philip that he and other stealth scientists have been summoned to a meeting by the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
but doesn't know why; it turns out to be for Stan's investigation. Stan questions several attendees of the meeting, including Fred, who insists that he would "never betray his country". Stan seems skeptical. Stan later arrives home to learn his wife Sandra is considering an affair with a man she met in
est. Stan asks if Sandra is leaving him, and she walks out.
Philip plays a doctored tape to Martha to poison her relationship with Gaad, and tells her that someone in her office is leaking information about the stealth aircraft project. They start to get intimate, but Philip stops her saying he's drunk and upset. Meanwhile, Elizabeth attends an
Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to befriend a
Northrop employee and glean stealth technology information from her.
Production
The story for the episode was written by
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...
and
Tracey Scott Wilson
Tracey Scott Wilson is an American playwright, television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in English and from Temple University with an MA in English Literature.
Early life
Born in ...
, while Wilson wrote the teleplay. The episode was directed by
Alik Sakharov
Alik Sakharov (born May 17, 1959) is a film and television director. A former Director of Photography, he is an active member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).
Career
Sakharov entered the US film scene when he began sharing the ...
. North was involved due to his experience and knowledge about American government's covert support of
Contras in Nicaragua.
Reception
The episode was watched by 1.37 million viewers, as per
Nielsen ratings. The reviews for the episode were positive. ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' rated the episode an A−.
Alan Sepinwall
Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...
from
Hitfix
HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
reviewed the episode positively.
References
External links
"Martial Eagle"at
FX
*
{{The Americans
The Americans season 2 episodes
2014 American television episodes
Television episodes directed by Alik Sakharov