The series is set during the Cold War and follows Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB intelligence officers posing as an American married couple living in Falls Church, a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., with their American-born children Paige and Henry.
Tuan (Ivan Mok) informs Elizabeth (Keri Russell) about his plan to bully Pasha, and she in turn states that she won't report his actions.
Paige (Holly Taylor) tells her parents that she continued seeing Pastor Tim (Kelly AuCoin) and that she kept reading his diary, finding that he made some comments about her that hurt her.
Stan (Noah Emmerich) and Aderholt (Brandon J. Dirden) visit Sofia (Darya Ekamasova), who tells them about Gennadi, a former Soviet hockey star who carries confidential diplomatic packets to the country.
In April 2017, FX confirmed that the tenth episode of the season would be titled "Darkroom", and that it would be written by executive producer Stephen Schiff, and directed by Sylvain White.
The site's consensus states: "'Blackout' ratchets up the tension with a surprising emotional turn that lays the groundwork for the final episodes of The Americans' fifth season.
"[6] Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote, "The season as a whole continues to be a slow burn, even by Americans standards, but in moments like that one — and, for that matter, in the contrast between the emotional high of the wedding ceremony and the uncomfortable low of the development process and what it reveals — the show can still hit with devastating force.
'"[10] Emily St. James of Vox wrote, "'Darkroom' is another episode of the show turning up the burners underneath its simmering pot of water and letting us wonder if the damn thing is going to boil already.
"[13] Matt Brennan of Paste gave the episode a 9.5 out of 10 and wrote, "'Darkroom' pieces together otherwise disparate fragments through its elaboration of a single theme, though I must admit I was wrong, in my review of 'IHOP,' to predict its form as 'fission.'
No, in the exchange of rings as in that blood-red light, or in the match cut of Philip's face as he hears he's a pre-programmed machine, The Americans achieves a far more powerful force: fusion.