‘The Americans’ recap: KGB targets Pakistani spymasters

A “kill one/exploit one” mission targets Pakistan’s top spymasters on “Yousaf,” Episode 10 of “The Americans” Cold War thriller on FX.

KGB agents Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) must cultivate a contact inside Pakistani intelligence to learn more about neighboring Afghanistan. Time is short as Soviet troops encounter stiff resistance from U.S.-armed Afghan fighters.

The KGB regards Javid (Mahadeo Shivraj), Pakistan’s No. 1 intelligence official, as incorruptible. But Yousaf (Rahul Khanna), the deputy chief, embraces Western values and has an eye for pretty blonds.

So the strategy is clear: Assassinate Javid and seduce Yousaf.

Rather than “pimp out” his wife for this delicate assignment, Philip recruits sexy Annelise (Gillian Alexy), who thinks she’s helping a Swedish spy.

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“Swedish intelligence needs you,” Philip insists. “Dangerous things are happening in Pakistan -- things that could threaten all of Europe.”

Annelise gamely plays her role in Yousaf’s hotel suite. But when the bedroom action is over, she feels cheap, dirty and used.

“What kind of man are you?” Annelise angrily asks Philip, throwing a glass at his head. Then her rage turns to tears as she sobs in Philip’s arms.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, swims laps with Javid in the hotel pool. Suddenly she puts the spy chief in a choke hold and administers a lethal drug that mimics a heart attack.

Missions accomplished!

Drama also unfolds in the Jennings household when daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) announces that she wants to become a counselor-in-training at a church summer camp. Philip is OK with the idea but Elizabeth is adamantly opposed.

“I’m not trusting someone else with my daughter’s mind,” she says like a true USSR atheist. Paige remains defiant, however, and Philip is caught in the middle.

In other developments, Soviet Embassy leader Arkady Ivanovich (Lev Gorn) persuades Moscow to abandon its claim that diplomat/spy Vlad Kosygin (Vitaly Benko) was murdered by the FBI -- even though it’s true.

FBI Special Agent Frank Gaad (Richard Thomas) could have gone to prison because of the killing, but he would have exposed illegal Soviet activity in the process. A stalemate ensued.

“You could have destroyed us both,” Arkady says to Frank outside his home.

“Mutually assured destruction -- keeps the world spinning,” the G-man replies.

With Frank reinstated as head of FBI counterintelligence, he collaborates with Agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) to prevent the theft of top-secret stealth technology by KGB spy Oleg Igorevich Burov (Costa Ronin).

The feds focus on a triple murder that occurred near a high-level meeting between U.S. military officials and aerospace engineers. Although the FBI hasn’t confirmed it yet, the victims were a Soviet spy couple and their teenage daughter.

Stan interviews the only surviving family member, high school senior Jared Connors (Owen Campbell), who believes that his parents were typical American citizens.

“We all have secrets, right?” Stan asks Jared. “I’m just hoping that if I can figure out some of your parents’ secrets, I might be able to figure out who did this.”

With that, he shows Jared sketches of two suspected KGB agents. The drawings depict Philip and Elizabeth -- predictably wearing disguises.

Finally, Navy SEAL Capt. Andrew Larrick (Lee Tergesen) is out for revenge when he returns from a covert mission in Nicaragua. Blackmailed by the KGB because of his homosexual lifestyle, Andrew is determined to strike back.

Posing as a detective and then a telephone repairman, he tracks down the home number of Kate (Wrenn Schmidt), Philip’s and Elizabeth’s new KGB handler.

With ruthless Andrew on her trail, Kate’s life expectancy just grew dramatically shorter. And it’s not looking so good for Philip and Elizabeth either.

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