The Americans
Season 4, Episode 11 – “Dinner for Seven”
Directed by Nicole Kassell
Written by Joshua Brand
Starring: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Lev Gorn, Susan Misner, Costa Ronin, Keidrich Sellati, Holly Taylor, Richard Thomas, Dylan Baker, Alison Wright, Noah Emmerich, and Frank Langella
FX
Air date: Wednesday, May 25th, 2016, 10pm
Considering events with Philip (Matthew Rhys) dominated the front half of the season, it’s refreshing to see Elizabeth (Keri Russell) fall back into the spotlight for the back half of season four – with one of the most rewarding aspects of that pendulum swing being the way in which Elizabeth and Pastor Tim (Kelly AuCoin) find themselves in one another’s orbits throughout “Dinner for Seven.”
It’s easy to paint AuCoin’s Pastor Tim to an antagonist role – a reaction that’s reductive and wrongheaded – but the strength of the character comes from his empathy: something that Elizabeth desperately needs throughout this episode as she comes to terms with having to wrap up the Patti operation. I guessed that the pregnancy angle would be how Elizabeth approached it, but I forgot that you’d still need some way to actually get into Don’s office. My heart sank for Elizabeth as Philip entered into that building – that’s the goodbye she was referring to a couple of episodes back.
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