‘The Americans’ Season 5, Episode 2 Spoilers: “Pests” – Philip, Elizabeth Tasked With New Mission; Stan, Oleg Face Consequences of Connection

‘The Americans’ season 5’s episode 2, titled “Pests,” is set to follow Philip and Elizabeth as they are tasked with a difficult new mission while Stan and Oleg will have to face the consequences of their connection to each other.

The synopsis for episode 2 posted on TV Guide reads, “Stan (Noah Emmerich) and Oleg (Costa Ronin) wrestle with the harsh consequences of their complicated history as Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) face a new mission with devastating implications for their country.”

Season 2 of the period drama created and produced by former CIA officer Joe Weisberg began with the episode titled "Amber Waves." According to the recap posted on Fansided, the first episode followed Elizabeth and Philip as they began a new assignment with Tuan (Ivan Mock) while disapproving of their daughter Paige’s (Holly Taylor) growing relationship with Stan’s son Matthew (Danny Flaherty).

Oleg, on the other hand, was back in Moscow and tasked with a new dangerous assignment of his own. The KGB also launched a mission to retrieve a tissue sample from the body of William, who succumbed to a deadly virus. Hans was then killed by Elizabeth upon learning that he was infected after tripping over William’s grave in Fort Detrick.

It seems that episode 2 will feature new challenges for Elizabeth and Philip, especially with Paige hounding them with difficult questions about the real work that they do. The upcoming episode’s promo opens to Paige asking the couple “Is it hard? Pretending to be other people?” Philip replies, “Sometimes, it’s really hard.”

In the next scene, Paige seems to be showing signs of passive-aggression as she practice punches a bag held by Elizabeth. Elizabeth has been teaching their daughter some lessons in self-defense. In the next scene, Philip drops disconcerting news and reveals, “The U.S. government is planning to attack the Soviet Union.”

Meanwhile, Stan and Oleg remain connected by the same issues despite being in different parts of the world. It will be interesting to see if the KGB would discover that Oleg has been providing Stan with valuable information.

‘The Americans’ season 5’s episode 2, titled “Pests,” is scheduled to air on FX on March 14, 2017. It was directed by Chris Long and written by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg. It will be followed by episode 3, titled "The Midges," scheduled to air on March 21 and directed by Stefan Schwartz.