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"I can't live like this Clark. I need to be able to just reach my husband." Martha

Clark's Place is the fifth episode of Season Four of The Americans on FX, and the forty-fourth episode overall.1

Synopsis[]

Philip must consider his life with Martha and make a crushing choice from which there is no coming back.

Plot[]

Martha waits alone at "Clark's" place, drinking wine and taking a pill. Clark arrives and apologizes for his absence over the weekend, telling her he had an emergency. Martha doesn't understand why he didn't check his answering machine and says she had an emergency as well. The copies she's made for him at the FBI of William's surveillance reports have been noticed, and Agent Aderholt asked her to dinner. Extremely anxious, she had a panic attack and was prescribed Valium. Saying she can't live under the stress and not being to reach him, Clark gives her the number of the Clandestine call center and indicates that he'll always receive messages she leaves there.



S04E05-Clark and Martha
Why would I expect to keep anything?
At home, Paige wakes Elizabeth in the middle of the night, demanding details of her work and where she and Philip were the last few days. Elizabeth can see everything Paige has recently learned is too much for her and says it's best to take a break from knowing any more. In Moscow, Oleg learns from his father, Igor that Nina was executed. Igor indicates he did everything he could but Oleg critisizes Igor for not being able to get his brother, Yevgeny, out of the Afghan War. This angers Igor as Yevgeny insisted on going into combat. Igor tells Oleg if that's his attitude, to go back to America. At Dupont Circle Travel, Philip tells Elizabeth that Martha is under suspicion. She relates that Stan was asking Henry where they were and encourages Philip to mend his relationship with Stan.



S04E05-Paige wakes Liz
It's just weird, the way you disappear.
At the FBI, Stan tells Aderholt he didn't find anything at Martha's apartment while Aderholt relates that Martha says she's seeing a married man. While this explains some of her behaviour, Aderholt notes it's a good cover. Posing as "Patty", Elizabeth learns how to make a Korean dish at Young-Hee's and they share stories. At Yevgeny's funeral, Oleg and his mother Yelena are distraught. Angry that Yevgeny isn't allowed a military funeral, Igor salutes him by firing a pistol into the air. Arriving home, Elizabeth finds Philip and Paige watching President Reagan on TV. Telling Henry to go to bed, they tell Paige they're going to talk to Pastor Tim and Alice.



S04E05-Igor salutes Yevgeny
Igor salutes his dead son.
At Reed Street Church, Philip and Elizabeth bring a Salvadoran priest, Father Rivas. Knowing Tim isn't happy with the US government's position in El Salvador, Rivas relates that information the Jennings provided him saved him and his congregation from a death squad. Vouching emphatically for the Jennings, a positive impression is made on Tim and Alice. Later when the Jennings drop Father Rivas off, it's revealed Rivas' story was fiction and the Jennings don't know if he's a priest. Afterwards, Paige assumes that Pastor Tim won't be an ongoing risk. The Jennings stress how important it is she make up with him, but Paige is unreceptive. Oleg returns to the US, and after telling Arkady that Nina was executed, learns he's disappointed that Nina was given so many chances she continued to throw away.



Clarks Place Episode 12
These people, they protect us.
Hans watches Martha and, seeing a car following her to "Clark's" apartment, driven by Aderholt, is able to phone Philip in time to escape. Philip dons his "Clark" disguise, brings the answering machine tapes and photographs with him. Martha arrives to an empty apartment. Paige sees Pastor Tim and expresses her frustration with not knowing the details of what her parents discussed with Tim and Alice. He asks if she knows exactly what her parents do in their job. Philip meets with Hans who tells him about the car surveiling Martha. From a pay phone, Martha calls Joan, who tells her Clark will return her call to the phone within the hour. The Jennings meet with Gabriel and informing him of Martha's surveillance, Philip fears her cover is blown. Gabriel believes the FBI may be surveiling many people in her office and recommends continuing to use her to get William's surveillance reports. Philip refuses even after Gabriel says they'll do everything they can to protect her.



Clarks Place Episode 13
Clark told me you might call.
Oleg meets with Stan who is devastated to hear of Nina's execution. Stan is the only person who shares Oleg's feelings about Nina's fate. Oleg relates that at his brother's funeral no mention of the war he died in was allowed. "Clark" calls Martha at the pay phone. Calming her and saying he loves her, they make plans to meet which she insist he follow through on. Elizabeth watches Philip make the call and realizes that Philip genuinely cares for Martha. Arriving home, Paige tells them that her meeting with Tim went well and that he cares for her. Matthew arrives at Stan's house to find Henry, who acts like he lives there. Henry convinces Matthew to play a game with him. Elizabeth tells Philip that Gabriel might be right and that Martha's cover may not be blown. Commenting how much time Henry is spending at Stan's, Philip goes to get him.



Clarks Place Episode 14
You've got to be there!
Giving the boys pizza and demonstrating his triva prowess, Stan answers the door to find Philip there. After some awkwardness, given their fight, Philip apologizes for not telling Stan that he met with his ex, Sandra, after some EST meetings. They reconcile and Philip shares some things Sandra told him about Stan. Agreeing to let Henry stay with Matthew to watch a movie, Philip and Stan leave where Aderholt is waiting to take Stan to surveil Martha. Philip meets Aderholt and shakes his hand while Elizabeth watches from the bedroom window. (♫ Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure ♫) Meeting Elizabeth in their bedroom, Philip says Aderholt took Martha for dinner while Elizabeth recognizes him as one of the agents she fought with. In order to take Philip's mind off the situation, Elizabeth initiates passionate sex with him. Martha sits alone and takes a Valium. Stan and Aderholt sit in a car outside her apartment.



S04E05-At Stans
Mr. Beeman is a Trivial Pursuit genius.

Notes[]

  • Philip and Paige are shown watching US President Reagan's March 23, 1983 address to the nation on defense and national security, on TV.
    CISPES Pastor Tim episode
  • Pastor Tim refers to C.I.S.P.E.S., the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, which was founded to oppose US aid to the Salvadoran military and government during the Salvadoran Civil War.
  • Rutilio Grande García was a Jesuit priest in El Salvador, and a close friend of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero. In 1977, Grande was the first priest assassinated before the civil war. After his death, Romero changed his conservative attitude toward the government, and began to speak out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture. In 1980, Romero was assassinated while offering Mass; an extreme-right wing politician and death squad leader likely gave the order.
  • Max Dugan Returns is a 1983 American comedy-drama film starring Jason Robards, Marsha Mason, Matthew Broderick and Donald Sutherland. In the film, both Matthew Broderick and Kiefer Sutherland (cameo) make their first movie appearance. The plot centers around an English teacher and struggling single mother, whose life is disrupted when the father that abandoned her as a child reappears.
  • Howdy Doody was an American children's television program (with circus and Western frontier themes) which aired in the United States from 1947 until 1960. Wildly popular, it was a pioneer in children's television programming, setting the pattern for many similar shows. Howdy Doody himself was a boy marionette with 48 freckles (one for each state of the union at the time of his creation), originally voiced by Buffalo Bob Smith.
  • In 1932, Walt Disney received his first Academy Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse was called the winner by many, even though technically Disney won; the press tagged Mickey as the "first non-human to win an Oscar." 
  • Lassie is a fictional canine character created by English novelist Eric Knight. Published in 1940, Knight's novel was filmed by MGM studios in 1943, as Lassie Come Home, with a dog named Pal playing the Collie hero. Pal then appeared as Lassie in six other MGM films through 1951. In 1954, the long-running, Emmy-winning television series Lassie debuted. The Lassie character has appeared in radio, television, film, toys, comic books, animated series, juvenile novels, and other media.
  • During the stake out of Martha, Stan and Dennis are listening to a University of North Carolina basketball game and hear the game winner by Michael Jordan for the 1982 NCAA Championship over Georgetown. This game was played on March 29, 1982. (see Timeline of Historical Events)
  • "Previously on The Americans" voice: Philip.

Music[]

Song Title Performer(s)
Under Pressure Queen & David Bowie

Videos[]


Season Four
#401 "Glanders" #408 "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears"
#402 "Pastor Tim" #409 "The Day After"
#403 "Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow" #410 "Munchkins"
#404 "Chloramphenicol" #411 "Dinner for Seven"
#405 "Clark's Place" #412 "A Roy Rogers in Franconia"
#406 "The Rat" #413 "Persona Non Grata"
#407 "Travel Agents"
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