The Americans: Season 1

In January 1981, Philip and Elizabeth Jennings are deep cover Soviet intelligence agents from the KGB's secretive Directorate S, operating in Washington, D.C. Their children, Paige and Henry, do not know their secret. The Jennings abduct Timochev, a Soviet defector, but his stabbing of a third agent during the kidnapping prevents his transfer back to the USSR. Meanwhile, FBI counter-intelligence agent Stan Beeman has moved in across the street with his family. Philip and Elizabeth disagree on wh

Philip poses as a Swedish intelligence officer to seduce Annelise and convince her to discreetly photograph the office of Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. A meeting is to take place in three days between Weinberger, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her defence secretary John Nott to discuss the Americans' proposed Strategic Defense Initiative. Philip and Elizabeth have orders to infiltrate and bug the office; using the photos, they decide to plant the bug in a clock. They coer

Nina tells Stan about a Soviet agent who was killed the night Timochev went missing. The dead agent is shown to be Rob, the man Timochev had stabbed. The FBI trace him to an address in Philadelphia and discover he had a wife and child. The Jennings are puzzled when they receive a message from Rob scheduling a meeting in Philadelphia. Suspicious, Philip sends Gregory, a former black militant recruited by Elizabeth, to go to the meeting with his team. There, Gregory deduces that Rob's wife Joyce h

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan is shot. Both nations' agencies are eager to learn if the other is involved. After completing their first mission of questioning Reagan's nurses who ensure he will survive, the Jennings learn they are to mark key US officials for future sniper hits. This leads to their discovery that Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who to some appeared to have taken control of the White House as acting president, may have the launch codes to the country's nuclear arsenal. E

Elizabeth meets with Adam Dorwin, a manager of a private company contracted by the US government for the missile defense program. Dorwin is later revealed to be a KGB agent codenamed "Udacha", and feels nervous and alone because the KGB cannot contact him out of fear the FBI capturing him; the FBI has new encrypted radios so the KGB cannot tell when they are being followed. Elizabeth turns her focus on another man who handles the technology, and learns the encryption devices are mobile. She and

Philip and Elizabeth are separately abducted and questioned about being KGB spies in America. Neither admit to it, even if evidence is presented otherwise. Their captors are revealed to be KGB agents trying to ferret out the mole, as the Jennings were first to discover the encryptions which were immediately changed by the FBI. The Jennings manage to turn the tables on their captors; Elizabeth mercilessly beats Claudia to send a message to whoever authorized their abduction. Philip seethes at Eli

Philip is sent to New York City to discredit a Polish dissident. While there, he has sex with agent Irina Semenova, who was his lover before he left Russia. She asserts that her son in Russia is from their relationship. After the successful mission, she tells Philip she plans to leave the KGB and disappear; she invites Philip to join her, but he declines. Elizabeth gains a new source within the SDI project by paying off his gambling debt. Meanwhile, Stan misses a family dinner to work late; his

Claudia tells Elizabeth about Philip's affair with Irina; Elizabeth decides to be his professional partner only and abandon the "real marriage". Elsewhere, the KGB has hired a West German contractor to kill American scientists, but has changed its mind and cannot recall him. With unwitting help from Philip's informant Martha, an FBI clerical worker, the Jennings track him down and eliminate him. However, he has already rigged a time bomb that kills a scientist and three of his FBI bodyguards — G

Philip and Elizabeth tell the kids that they are going to live apart for a while—they do not take it well. Meanwhile, Gaad plans to assassinate Arkady, the new KGB resident, on his regular jogging route. Philip spends the night with Martha, and the next morning Amador confronts him. They fight and Amador is stabbed; Philip takes him to a deserted building where he and Elizabeth attempt to treat him and question him about the FBI's plans. At the time of Arkady's regular jog, the FBI find only his

The FBI investigation of Amador's death makes rapid progress when Amador's ring (which he left in the trunk of the car transporting him) turns up at a pawn shop. Stan locates an associate of Gregory's who ditched the car, and is hot on the tail of Gregory himself. The KGB, to cut its losses, frames Gregory for the murder of Amador and offers him exfiltration to Moscow. He refuses and instead proposes to end his life on his own terms, and neither Claudia nor Elizabeth can change his mind. Claudia

The CIA assassinates three KGB officials in Moscow, including Elizabeth's mentor, General Victor Zhukov. Elizabeth decides, against KGB orders, to kill the CIA official who Claudia claims planned the operation. She succeeds in abducting him, but eventually relents and lets him go. Afterwards, Elizabeth visits Philip to reconcile, but leaves when she learns he has rented an apartment. She then confronts Claudia, accusing her of manipulating her into moving against the CIA official to destroy her

Elizabeth's new source, Sanford Prince, tells her he has recruited an Air Force colonel who will give important information on the SDI project for $50,000. After seeing some of this information, Moscow orders Elizabeth to meet with the colonel despite her misgivings. To see whether the FBI are on to them, Philip asks Martha to plant a bug in Gaad's office, promising to marry her to ensure her loyalty. He does so in a private ceremony witnessed only by her parents and Clark's "mother" (Claudia) a

With the meeting with the colonel approaching, Claudia and the Jennings are worried that it has been compromised. Claudia urges Arkady to abort the mission, while Philip and Elizabeth work out a plan to take the kids to Canada if one of them is captured. Arkady accepts Nina's offer in spite of Moscow's skepticism. Meanwhile, Stan tells both Sandra and Nina that his counterintelligence mission will soon be over, but Sandra rebuffs his attempt at reconciliation and Nina tells Arkady. Without incid