Yousaf (The Americans)
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"Yousaf" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American television drama series '' The Americans'', and the 23rd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on FX in the United States on April 30, 2014.


Plot

Elizabeth wakes up in the middle of the night to realize that
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
is unable to sleep because he's upset over getting angry at Paige. Elizabeth consoles him, saying that he was right to scold her for her disrespect. Kate informs Philip and Elizabeth that The Centre is happy about the result of their mission and assigns them a new mission: Extract information from Yousaf Rana (
Rahul Khanna Rahul Khanna (born 20 June 1972) is an Indian actor, VJ and writer who works in Bollywood. He is the older son of actor turned politician Vinod Khanna and the older brother of Akshaye Khanna. Early life and background Khanna was born and rai ...
), one of the Pakistani
ISI ISI or Isi may refer to: Organizations * Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a classical conservative organization focusing on college students * Ice Skating Institute, a trade association for ice rinks * Indian Standards Institute, former name of ...
agents on a visit to America to meet CIA officials. Elizabeth begins reconnaissance on Yousaf, but Philip suggests they use
Annelise Anneliese (, ) is a female given name of either German language, German, Dutch language, Dutch or Nordic countries, Nordic origin. It is a compound form of "Anna (given name), Anna" and "Liese", a short form of "Elizabeth (given name), Elisabeth". ...
(
Gillian Alexy Gillian Alexy (born March 13, 1986) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her roles as Tayler Geddes on ''McLeod's Daughters'', Gitta Novak on ''Damages'', and G'Winveer Farrell on '' Outsiders''. Early life Alexy graduated from the Jo ...
) for the mission instead. Elizabeth is hesitant but agrees to it. Philip (as a Swedish intelligence officer, Scott Berman) meets Annelise and seeks her help to extract information from Yousaf. Kate is angry with Philip that they are not keeping her in the loop about the mission. Annelise informs Philip that Yousaf and his boss, Javid Parvez are here about a top-secret mission, but Yousaf doesn't know the details because he is second-in-command. The Centre orders them to kill Javid so that Yousaf will take his place and they can get information from him. Elizabeth kills Javid at the swimming pool in the night, making it appear to be a heart attack. Annelise meets Yousaf secretly and they have sex, and later Annelise angrily rushes into Philip's room. She feels bad about having sex with another man while she's trying to repair her relationship with her husband. Philip calms her down saying it pains him as well but it's for a cause bigger than both of them. Arkady Ivanovich (
Lev Gorn Lev Gorn (russian: Лев Горенс; born 1971 in Stavropol) is a Russian-born American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his role as KGB officer Arkady Ivanovich Zotov in ''The Americans''. Later, he had a recurring rol ...
) visits Frank Gaad and informs him that after his threats, the Russian government has withdrawn the charges in Vlad's murder case. Gaad tells him that he is reinstated and as long as they kill American people, they'll hit back and kill Russians. Beeman tells Gaad that he suspects that the secret meeting in Alexandria and the death of family (Emmett and Leanne Connors) are connected. After inspecting the briefcase from the evidence, Gaad is confident that they were part of an intelligence service. Later, Beeman informs Nina about his suspicion that Emmet and Leanne were illegals and also that his wife Sandra is having an affair. Beeman meets Connors' surviving son Jared; initially hesitant, he agrees to answer his questions. Beeman shows him sketches of Philip and Elizabeth and asks him if he knows them. Andrew Larrick ( Lee Tergesen) returns to America and hints that he wants revenge to get back at the people who are blackmailing him and killed his friends. Larrick cleverly tracks down the KGB's DC-area switchboard operator and kills him. The operator fries the switchboard before being shot, but Larrick discovers Kate's phone number from the remnants of it. Paige tells Philip that she wants to go to a church summer camp. Philip seems hesitant but agrees to talk to Elizabeth. Philip says he's afraid that if they deny her, Paige will rebel and resort to alcohol or other drugs, but Elizabeth disagrees. While emptying the garbage, Elizabeth discovers that Paige is trying to forge her name on a form for the summer camp. Paige reacts angrily when Elizabeth tells her she can't go.


Production

The episode was written by
Stephen Schiff {{Infobox person , name = Stephen Schiff , image = , image_size = , alt = , caption = , birth_name = , birth_date = , birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, ...
and Stuart Zicherman, and directed by
Stefan Schwartz Stefan Schwartz (born 1 May 1963) is an English and Canadian film and television director, writer and actor, most known for the feature film ''Shooting Fish'' and his work on the BBC's '' Spooks'' and ''Luther'', AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' ...
.


Reception

The episode was watched by 1.27 million viewers and scored 0.4 ratings in 18–49 demographics, as per
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
. The critics' review of the episode were positive. The A.V. Club gave the episode an A−. Alan Sepinwall from Hitfix reviewed the episode positively, saying the relationships are heading for complications.
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
review said, "The way that plotline has surfaced in such a smart, substantial way to the FBI makes me want to hug this show."


References


External links


"Yousaf"
at FX * {{The Americans The Americans season 2 episodes 2014 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Stefan Schwartz Television episodes written by Stephen Schiff