Everybody’s hungry as The Americans begins its penultimate season efficiently and effectively.

Thats not to chastise anyone involved.

Its timely and its valid.

But it does miss the point aboutThe Americansas an artistic entity to a certain extent.

One of the biggest ongoing themes, however, is fear.

Last seasons episode The Day After briefly offered the real life story of Stanislov Petrov.

Thats a day ending in y in The Cold War.

We can ignore that in hindsight because nothing truly disastrous ever happened.

The people alive during the time ignored it because they had to.

Go to the grocery store.

SeeReturn of the Jediin theaters.

The message is clear: this is the end, my friends.

And theres one thing on everyones mind: food.

Want to hear a joke?

Oleg Bourovs new boss asks him.

A woman walks into a food store and says, do you have any meat?

We dont have fish.

The place that doesnt have meat is across the street.

Sometimes I wake up at night and I cant breathe.

This is a hard place, she says.

Philips Russian-born son Mischa takes his first steps in coming to America to meet his father.

He passes through customs hesitantly.

The facility is bleak.

Later on he boards a bus in the Ukraine and opens a letter from his deceased mother.

If I could do it all over again…Id do it differently, she writes.

This is the reality of war…even the cold kind.

And this is what losing one looks like.

Feeling your stomach rumble and not knowing if the store will have any food for you is real fear.

Stanislov Petrov and his fault nuclear signal reader?

Thats abstract and its out of your hands.

Welcome to the food season ofThe Americans.

Which could otherwise be known as the fear season.

Hell, the first thing we see is food.

This beingThe Americans, however, things arent what they seem.

You see any lines around here?

*The Americansattention to espionage detail continues to impress.

How do you do the lights?

Sorry you had to wait in line to eat, Elizabeth says about Pashas dad in the car.

Hes old enough to remember having nothing to wait in line for.

Elizabeth shares how her mother used to go days without eating and pretended that she was not hungry.

Philip says when the time is right.

Elizabeth asks what the right time will be and Philip says nothing.

In a perverse way here is the love ofThe Americansclashing with the fear.

Love and devotion for country and a cause can sometimes make those violent hunger pangs feel like love taps.

What happens when love for country must reconcile with love of family?

Did neighbors always used to be this close?

Making out with Matt Beeman isnt enough to stop Paiges night terrors, however.

Watching your mom efficiently murder three carjackers/potential rapists will do that to you.

So Elizabeth invites her to the garage for some combat training.

And just like that, Paiges spy training has really begun.

It started one day with the Rezidentura ordering Philip and Elizabeth to begin training her and them adamantly refusing.

Why wouldnt Elizabeth want to show her daughter some moves when shes afraid to sleep at night?

The final scene of the premiere is among the most striking and powerful the show has pulled off yet.

It serves as almost an epilogue to season 4.

Gabriel informs Philip and Elizabeth of Williams fate from last season.

He died a hero.

But he also leaves behind one final mission.

Having access to the Lassa virus is a must.

The final 15 minutes or so of the episode are a wonderful silent movie.

Philip, Elizabeth and company infiltrate the grounds of the Fort after dark and begin digging.

Then keep digging…and digging…and digging.

Its almost a parody for people who (wrongly) think the show is too slow.

There is no such thing as too slow if the action onscreen has a purpose.

And of course: it does.

The sky is blue.

Russians steal elections.The Americanschurns out good TV.

Rating:

4 out of 5