The Americans Episode 10 Recap: Only You Can Take The Blame

"Only You" follows the murder of Chris Amador. The FBI is pulling out all the stops to find the killer. Chris cleverly left his ring in the trunk of the car he was stuffed into by Phillip. Gregory's team disposed of the car and oops didn't see the ring. Guess who's on the hot seat?

The KGB's plan is to send Gregory to Moscow or, if he doesn't agree to that, to have Phillip kill him. Both Elizabeth and Claudia try to convince him to go. No dice. Gregory wants to run away with Elizabeth instead. She says she can't do that. I don't think Gregory would like Moscow either. Instead he goes down in a gun battle with the police.

Elizabeth breaks down when she's home alone. She did love Gregory. Both Liz and Lip see he's dead on the news (from their separate locations--Liz at home and Lip in a hotel room). Elizabeth steadies herself and then sits down to dinner with the kids. That girl is tough.

Twice in this episode someone talking about how desperately they wanted to find the killer TO the actual killer (Nina to Stan about Vlad and Stan to Phillip about Chris). Do they know? Do they not know? Don't change your facial expression in any way. Keep lying and act supportive. Tense and excellent scenes.

The concept of dying for your beliefs brings up a lot of interesting questions. I first thought Gregory just went along with Elizabeth because he loves her. It seems he really believed in Communism though. Liz is also a true believer. Lip not so much. I'm not at all sure Claudia is a true believer. I think she's just playing the cards she was dealt. Stan is a true believer in the American way. John Boy Walton also appears to be a true believer. I wonder with all the personal sacrifices what they are really accomplishing? It seems the system is just chewing them up and spitting them out. But maybe that's the true nature of war.

Favorite quotes:

"I'm a guard dog. I don't take any chances with the people I protect."- Claudia to Gregory. I love that woman!

"The world is a shitty place, Gregory, that's what I really think."- Elizabeth to Gregory.

"The world that we live in is a little darker and a little uglier than you know."- Stan to his wife.

Grade: 3 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). Some viewers have commented that this was the best episode of the season. For some reason it just didn't hold my attention as much. I'm sure things will keep heating up though. The season finale is on May 1st.