The Oath (The Americans)

12th episode of the 1st season of The Americans

"The Oath"

The Americans episode
Episode no.| Season 1
Episode 12
Directed by| John Dahl
Written by| Joshua Brand
Melissa James Gibson
Featured music|

* "Angel of the Wilderness" by Craig Marsden
* "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain

Production code| BDU111
Original air date| April 24, 2013 (2013-04-24)
Running time| 42 minutes
Guest appearances

* Richard Thomas as Frank Gaad
* Annet Mahendru as Nina
* Alison Wright as Martha Hanson
* Lev Gorn as Arkady Ivanovich
* Tonye Patano as Viola Johnson
* Cotter Smith as Deputy Attorney General
* Tim Hopper as Sanford Prince
* Meg Gibson as Mrs. Weinberger
* Richard Kline as Bill Hanson
* Peggy Scott as Elaine Hanson
* Margo Martindale as Claudia
* Daniel Flaherty as Matthew Beeman
* Inna Beynishes as Sonya
* Jill Shackner as Sarah
* Daniel Bluestone as Harry
* Matthew Gumley as Rich

Episode chronology
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"Covert War"  | Next →
"The Colonel"

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The Americans (season 1)
List of episodes

"The Oath" is the twelfth episode of the first season of the period drama television series The Americans. It originally aired on FX in the United States on April 24, 2013.

## Plot[edit]

Sanford Prince (Tim Hopper) tells KGB agent Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) that he has recruited an Air Force colonel named Lyle Rennhull who will give the Soviets important information on the SDI project for $50,000. Elizabeth brings this new information to her husband Philip (Matthew Rhys), who is wary, citing Prince's gambling addiction. Elizabeth believes Sanford is delivering them the "highest source" within the Reagan administration, while Philip believes it could be a trap.

Elizabeth receives material from Prince at a dead drop, containing schematics for the U.S. missile defense system. She meets Claudia (Margo Martindale) who believes that the Americans wouldn't hand over such important information just as a trap, telling Elizabeth that she believes the Colonel is real and a meeting with him has been set. Elizabeth has grown tired of Claudia as their handler and tells Philip that she wants her to be reassigned. Philip resolves to convince FBI employee Martha (Alison Wright) to plant a bug in Gaad's office to see if the FBI are planning anything. Later, while at dinner, Philip (disguised as FBI counterintelligence agent Clark) proposes to Martha, who happily accepts.

Nina's (Annet Mahendru) suspicions about Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) grow and she accuses him of murdering Vlad, which he strongly denies. Philip asks Martha to plant a listening device in Gaad's office and she agrees. Viola Johnson (Tonye Patano), who planted the bugged clock in Weinberger's study, has been feeling increasingly guilty, and eventually confesses to the FBI. She tells Stan and Gaad what happened, and they surmise that Viola was threatened by the same couple who kidnapped Patterson. Viola agrees to speak to a sketch artist. The FBI discover the bug in Weinberger's study and decide to leave it there now that they know the Russians are listening.

After planting the bug, Martha confronts Philip about their relationship, complaining that they have to keep it secret. Philip agrees that she can tell her parents about the marriage and Martha tells him she wants to get married over the weekend. Philip and Elizabeth listen in on the bug in Gaad's office, where they hear no mention of a trap. Sanford is arrested one night for failing to pay his child support. Elizabeth fears this has something to do with the meeting with the Colonel. At Philip (assuming the identity of Clark Westerfeld) and Martha's wedding ceremony, Elizabeth attends as "Clark's sister" and Claudia attends as his mother. Elizabeth asks Philip if their relationship would be different if they had had a wedding ceremony and taken vows, and Philip says he doesn't know.

Viola's time with the sketch artist results in the FBI looking for a white couple in their 30s or 40s. Nina, who has grown increasingly tired of Stan's lies, confesses to Arkady about spying for the U.S. and volunteers to become a re-doubled agent.

## Production[edit]

### Development[edit]

In April 2013, FX confirmed that the twelfth episode of the series would be titled "The Oath", and that it would be written by Joshua Brand and Melissa James Gibson, and directed by John Dahl. This was Brand's fourth writing credit, Gibson's third writing credit, and Dahl's first directing credit.[1]

## Reception[edit]

### Viewers[edit]

In its original American broadcast, "The Oath" was seen by an estimated 1.49 million household viewers with a 0.5 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.5 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[2] This was a 16% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.81 million household viewers with a 0.6 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

### Critical reviews[edit]

"The Oath" received critical acclaim. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode an "amazing" 9 out of 10 and wrote, "Suffice to say, 'The Oath' was a great way to set up next week’s season finale. A lot of balls are in the air, and it seems likely a lot will come crashing down, in dramatic ways, as Season 1 concludes."[4]

Emily St. James of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "'The Oath' is a weirdly sedate hour for the penultimate episode of a season of television that's been building to a major confrontation. I think I mean that as a compliment, too, though I'm less sure about it."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "after something of a dud last week, 'The Oath' was pretty fabulous from start to finish – the sort of episode where my notes became littered with profanity as I realized the very risky place so many scenes were heading."[6] Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "'The Oath' answered the chaos and misery of last week's episode 'Covert War' with a kind of dark solidity; picture hot lava hardening into rock."[7]

James Donaghy of The Guardian wrote, "If it was a criticism of The Americans mid-season that nothing really advanced, no one could say that about this week's hectic episode. Much of the action revolves around two big confessions and the fallout from those revelations will go a long way towards shaping next week's finale."[8] Carla Day of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.8 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "'The Oath' has put all the relationships and informants in a precarious place going into next Wednesday's season finale. The Weinburger bug has been compromised, but now the Soviets have one in Gaad's office."[9]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "(#BDU112) "The Oath"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
2. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (April 25, 2013). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Dominates + NBA Basketball, 'American Hoggers', 'Psych', 'The Daily Show' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 28, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
3. ^ Bibel, Sara (April 18, 2013). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Wins Again, 'American Hoggers', 'Psych', 'Southland', 'The Americans', 'Real World' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
4. ^ Goldman, Eric (April 25, 2013). "The Americans: "The Oath" Review". IGN. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
5. ^ Koski, Genevieve; St. James, Emily (April 24, 2013). "The Americans: "The Oath"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
6. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (April 24, 2013). "Review: 'The Americans' – 'The Oath': Til death do you part". HitFix. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
7. ^ Zoller Seitz, Matt (April 25, 2013). "The Americans Recap: Marry Me Upside Down". Vulture. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
8. ^ Donaghy, James (August 17, 2013). "The Americans recap: season one, episode 12". The Guardian. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
9. ^ Day, Carla (April 25, 2013). "The Americans Review: The Illegals Revealed". TV Fanatic. Retrieved September 19, 2023.

## External links[edit]

* "The Oath" at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

The Americans

Episodes|

| Season 1|

* "Pilot"
* "The Clock"
* "Gregory"
* "In Control"
* "COMINT"
* "Trust Me"
* "Duty and Honor"
* "Mutually Assured Destruction"
* "Safe House"
* "Only You"
* "Covert War"
* "The Oath"
* "The Colonel"

|

Season 2|

* "Comrades"
* "Cardinal"
* "The Walk In"
* "A Little Night Music"
* "The Deal"
* "Behind the Red Door"
* "Arpanet"
* "New Car"
* "Martial Eagle"
* "Yousaf"
* "Stealth"
* "Operation Chronicle"
* "Echo"

Season 3|

* "EST Men"
* "Baggage"
* "Open House"
* "Dimebag"
* "Salang Pass"
* "Born Again"
* "Walter Taffet"
* "Divestment"
* "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?"
* "Stingers"
* "One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov"
* "I Am Abassin Zadran"
* "March 8, 1983"

Season 4|

* "Glanders"
* "Pastor Tim"
* "Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow"
* "Chloramphenicol"
* "Clark's Place"
* "The Rat"
* "Travel Agents"
* "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears"
* "The Day After"
* "Munchkins"
* "Dinner for Seven"
* "A Roy Rogers in Franconia"
* "Persona Non Grata"

Season 5|

* "Amber Waves"
* "Pests"
* "The Midges"
* "What's the Matter with Kansas?"
* "Lotus 1-2-3"
* "Crossbreed"
* "The Committee on Human Rights"
* "Immersion"
* "IHOP"
* "Darkroom"
* "Dyatkovo"
* "The World Council of Churches"
* "The Soviet Division"

Season 6|

* "Dead Hand"
* "Tchaikovsky"
* "Urban Transport Planning"
* "Mr. and Mrs. Teacup"
* "The Great Patriotic War"
* "Rififi"
* "Harvest"
* "The Summit"
* "Jennings, Elizabeth"
* "START"

Characters|

* Elizabeth Jennings
* Philip Jennings
* Stan Beeman

Related articles|

* Awards and nominations

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