The Americans (2013) s05e03 Episode Script

The Midges

1 Previously on "The Americans" Streiter: Burov is back in Moscow.
This is obviously a good opportunity for us.
We can go with the tape you made of him admitting their defector was actually KGB.
You're going to get him killed.
Burov gave us the tip of the century and then went home to live his life.
Alexei: I am a consultant for your Department of Agriculture.
Gabriel: Half our grain comes from America and its allies.
If they're doing something to it, people will starve.
Does Morozov know about bugs? I don't know.
He's an agricultural expert.
Paige, listen I'll just be alone for the rest of my life.
Would that make you feel better? There's something we can show you.
If you can learn this thing, really master it, you can keep seeing him.
I could feel at the time There was no way of knowing Fallen leaves in the night Who can say - No! - Aw.
Oh, you will do better, Pashenka.
Don't sweat it, man.
The first time I bowled, I threw the ball so hard it went into the lane next to me and knocked down some other guy's pins.
Start at least four steps from the foul line.
Bend at the knees and aim for the arrows in the lane.
[Laughter.]
- Blind leading blind.
- [Laughs.]
In Russia, we have bowling alley in Gorky Park.
Pasha was little, hard to push ball, so I stand behind him and help give ball push.
One time he go down down lane with ball.
You remember? Another time, ball don't move.
[Laughter.]
Very popular in Russia.
Very popular.
And then place went to shit.
Again with this.
Wood cracks, ball chip.
Russians can't keep something simple as a bowling alley, okay.
- Your turn, Dad.
- Oh.
People don't have any power to make better.
System destroy everybody who tries to make change.
You see Pasha is unhappy.
Tuan is a friend now.
He will be okay.
Where did he go? Uh We have different time growing up.
Evgheniya view and my view on Soviet Union is different.
When I was 14, they drag my father out of our apartment in night, no talking, no explaining.
Six months later, letter come, tell us he's in camp.
So my mother and I, we ride train to see him.
Take us nine days to get there.
And it's horrible.
Just horrible.
Prisoners outside for everybody to see, with lice, starving to death, not human.
We wait in the room for two days.
And the guard comes and tell us my father is not allowed any visitors.
He die 15 years later.
They never let us see him.
That is the Soviet Union I know.
Sounds like Evgheniya and Pasha didn't know Alexei was planning to defect.
What do you mean? She was angry at him about not telling them they were coming here.
He must've just put them in a car one day, and it was the CIA taking them out of the country.
How could somebody do something like that? That man really hates his country.
One day the U.
S.
will destroy the USSR, just like they did Vietnam.
I'd like to see what Alexei has to say when everyone and everything he ever knew in Russia is wiped out.
Well, hopefully, we'll prevent that from happening.
Yes.
Of course.
I just meant he's a traitor.
Okay if I drop you at the house? Yes.
[Garage door whirring.]
I was just thinking how we would have done it if we had to go back.
Tell them first or when we got there? It's different.
Alexei didn't have to run.
He wanted to come here and be a big shot.
He didn't give a shit what his family thought.
He gets them here, buys them big meals at Bennigan's, and he's starting a famine back home.
Tuan's right.
He should be shot.
That was smart, him throwing the gutter balls to make Pasha feel better.
He's got great instincts.
[Clears throat.]
Did Paige say anything about Matthew? Mnh-mnh.
She can't handle this.
Any of it.
What if we tell her about this operation? It's a good thing.
She'll get it.
I don't know Compared to this, Matthew Beeman won't seem so important.
Just as I suspected.
A closet general.
Step right this way, sir.
Crap.
Check outside.
[Sighs.]
Hi, honey.
- Hi.
- All clear.
Where are you taking him? - Henry here? - Nope.
What? [Sighs.]
Oh.
All we need is for somebody to salute him.
You're gonna be returning it as a reflex.
Okay.
[Television clicks off.]
We think the U.
S.
government is planning to attack the Soviet Union's grain supply.
What? We found a greenhouse they've got where they're testing pests that can destroy entire wheat crops.
I know it's a shocking thing to hear.
But that's something that they do.
They go after us any way they can, including the food people eat.
We're not a rich country.
So nuclear weapons aren't bad enough? If we stop this, then a lot of people won't have to suffer.
Can you stop them? - Uh, we're trying.
- How? Last year, the, uh, the CIA snuck an agricultural expert out of the Soviet Union.
And he's advising them on all of their grain stuff.
And we found him.
And now we're developing a relationship with him.
In secret.
He's he's a source? Yeah.
Yeah.
Something like that.
How can you trust what he tells you? Well, we don't necessarily trust what anyone tells us.
But we can get a sense from people, and sometimes we can check their information.
But aren't you afraid that people will call the police on you or tell somebody or something? We take precautions.
- Like what? - We don't tell them our real names.
So they just think you're, like other people? [Sighs.]
So who does the Russian guy think you are? [Sighs.]
A pilot and his wife, who's a stewardess.
[Chuckles.]
Are you pretending to be his friend? Sometimes we do that, yes.
To get the information that we need.
Is it hard, pretending to be other people? Yeah.
Sometimes it's really hard.
[Woman coughing.]
[Sighs.]
[Car door closes.]
[Sighs.]
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, last week.
Saturday, Monday, Thursday, week before last.
So far this week, it's been Tuesday and Wednesday so no regular shifts that I see.
It would be easier if I had a dog to walk.
How's, um how's Pasha? He wants me to tell him how to be cool how to dress.
Like changing his shirt is gonna make anybody like him.
He should try learning a few more words in English and quit talking about how much he hates his dad.
He's lucky he has a dad.
He's always picking at his food, while his mother is telling him what to eat, like a baby.
Back home, I ate garbage off the street most days.
Other days, I never ate at all.
My father died when I was six.
In the war? No, after.
But before before he died, there wasn't enough food.
Not as bad as you, but we went hungry a lot.
Here you go.
Hello, Anatoli.
We're from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In case you can't tell from our suits.
We're sorry to disturb your lunch.
We only want to talk to you for two or three minutes.
We know you work for Aeroflot.
This is an organization that's very interesting to us.
We were hoping you'd be willing to get together with us at some other time, in some other place, and maybe, y What? He didn't touch it.
Our entomologists tell us the bug we sent them was a cryptic species, previously unidentified, related to a kind of midge that's never been seen out of Australia.
Not only can this midge decimate grain, it can carry spores that can do even further damage.
Don't we inspect the grain they send us? Oh, the bug's larvae are apparently too small for detection.
And this pest, released in our grain supply, could destroy us.
[Sighs.]
The rezidentura in Canberra came across some customs documents.
A shipment of midges was sent six weeks ago to a business address in Oklahoma.
Aren't we going to stop the grain shipments? We don't know what we're talking about yet.
Maybe they're infecting the grain shipments.
And maybe the bugs are intended to attack our own harvests.
They could send them over in a million different ways.
We'll get to Oklahoma as soon as we can.
We told Paige a little bit about what we're doing here.
How did that go? Looks like she's, uh, rethinking a lot of things.
Including us.
She doesn't like people being starved.
She feels closer to you.
In that case, I think it was a good idea.
So my dad started dating this woman he met at the gym.
They've only been out like a couple times, but, uh, he keeps going on and on about her.
It bothers you? I don't know.
It's just weird, you know? Yeah.
When my parents separated that time, I was always scared they would start dating other people.
Are you okay? You seem sad.
The world just seems so messy right now.
It's hard to figure out what to do about it.
Well, there's nothing we can do about it.
You really think so? Yeah.
Is everything okay at home? - Are your parents fighting? - No.
Nothing like that.
What is it? Okay.
You can tell me.
[Sighs.]
I'm I'm fine.
I just, uh I'm totally behind on this Napoleon paper I have for history.
And, uh, it's making me tense.
Is that it? Well, yeah.
I got a B on my last paper, so I got to pull my grade up.
Okay.
I can help you with that.
- Okay? - [Exhales.]
Okay.
Paige: Mom? - Hey.
- Hi.
What are you doing? Work.
It's, um quiet and private down here.
It's a good place to get things done.
Are you working on that grain thing? Yeah.
How's it going? Are you closer to stopping it? Uh, we're gathering information.
We're actually going to Oklahoma tomorrow.
Follow a few leads.
It could be nothing, but it always takes so much time and work to figure anything out.
[Sighs.]
I had an awful conversation with Matthew.
What happened? I don't know.
He was just asking about you guys and how things are at home And what did you say? I don't know.
Uh [Sighs.]
Nothing.
I [Sighs.]
Did you use the technique we showed you? I looked him right in the face and I lied about why I was so tense.
It was easy.
He had no idea.
It felt gross.
[Sighs.]
Do you think it would have been fair to tell him the truth? To put that burden on him? So that's how it's gonna be? Just for the rest of my life, I have to be fake with my boyfriends? Paige, wait.
It's not being fake.
It's being in a relationship is complicated.
You don't share everything.
You hold back what you need to.
Everybody does.
[Door opens and closes.]
[Bell dings.]
[Door opens.]
[Bag unzips.]
[Door opens, closes.]
[Alabama's "Old Flame" plays.]
Marilyn said they'll meet us at 10:00.
Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
And I could tell you Once were lovers All this land out here.
You know what it looks like? Home.
We've got this, too.
There's an old flame Burnin' in your eyes Why can't we grow enough grain ourselves? That tears can't drown and makeup can't disguise Alexei some of what he says uh [Sighs.]
Everybody has problems.
But it's been burnin' longer Than any spark I might have started In your eyes You said it ended When he left you You say your love Do you think they're gonna make me queen of the rodeo this year? But those old memories Still upset you Well, I might be a memory Before too long 'Cause there's an old flame burnin' In your eyes That tears can't drown and makeup Can't disguise Now, that old flame might not be stronger But it's been burnin' longer Than any spark I might have started In your eyes There's an old flame burnin' In your eyes That tears can't drown and makeup Can't disguise [Urinating.]
[Door opens.]
[Door closes.]
[Urinal flushes.]
[Water running.]
[Water shuts off.]
Mr.
Pirogov.
We're with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
We wanted to talk with you about your work with Amtorg.
If you'd be willing to talk with us and help us figure out certain things we need to know, we can offer you help.
You missed the meeting.
Stay away from me.
I'm sorry.
[Click.]
[Oleg sighs.]
An order came in from the Centre.
No assassinations without the approval of all departments at the Centre and the local rezidents.
Stan: She got a message to them.
It can't be a coincidence.
- She's working for us.
- [Click.]
[Sighs.]
[Insects chirping.]
[Radio static.]
[Lock clicks.]
[Insects buzzing, chirping.]
[Chirping.]
[Wings fluttering, tapping on glass.]
[Insects buzzing.]
These could be them.
Maybe.
[Radio static.]
[Radio static.]
[Flashlight clicks.]
[Lock disengages.]
[Door opens, closes.]
Oh, Je Th-there's no money in here, but here.
Y-you can take my car, too.
Philip: What is this place? It's a lab.
And what kind of work do you do here? I-I don't know.
I'm I'm just a lab technician.
Randy Chilton, Deputy Director, Smith-Poole Research Laboratory.
I'm sorry.
I'm I'm not allowed to talk about the work that we do here.
Who do you work for? You really should tell us, Randy.
I'm sorry, but I can't.
What kind of bugs are these, huh? What do they do? Randy? [Gasps, grunts.]
We don't it doesn't have a name.
W-we derived it from Sitodiplosis mosellana.
- What does it do? - It's a pest.
It eats crops.
- What kind of crops? - Wheat.
It's it's a wheat-eater.
- Who do you work for? - The lab has a contract - with a-a company called AgriCorp.
- And who's your contact there? We just get phone calls from different people.
Jim, Mary, I-I don't - I don't know their last names.
- What department are they in? I don't know.
They don't tell us anything.
They just contracted us to breed Sitodiplosis mosellana for them.
How many pests have been delivered so far? We don't send the bugs.
We we send eggs.
How many eggs? 30,000 to 40,000.
It's-It's not that many.
It's it's complicated.
- Do you know anything about bugs? - Where are you sending them? I-I ca I can tell you.
It's it's in in my Rolodex.
Can I go to my desk, please? Here.
- When does the next shipment go out? - Two weeks.
What are they using them for? W-we don't ask those questions.
We just breed the bugs they tell us.
You should have asked.
- Please, I - [Grunts.]
- Stop, please! - [Bone cracks.]
[Breathes heavily.]
[Roxy Music's "More Than This" plays.]
I could feel at the time There was no way of knowing Fallen leaves in the night Who can say where they're blowing? As free as the wind And hopefully learning Why the sea on the tide Has no way of turning More than this You know there's nothing More than this Tell me one thing More than this There is nothing You okay? Yes.
[Breathing heavily.]
Should we tell Paige about this? [Sighs.]

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