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.
As Philip (Matthew Rhys) prepares to meet with Tuan (Ivan Mok), he tells Henry (Keidrich Sellati) that he will be allowed to go to the boarding school if he is accepted.
They must investigate Natalie Granholm, a woman suspected of being a Nazi collaborator, Anna Prokopchuk, that was involved in executions at Dyatkovo during World War II.
Henry visits the FBI offices for a school assignment, with Stan (Noah Emmerich) introducing him to Aderholt (Brandon J. Dirden) and Wolfe (Peter Jacobson).
In Moscow, Oleg (Costa Ronin) and Ruslan (Ravil Isyanov) follow Lydia (Julia Emelin), and they are surprised upon finding that she is only supplying normal food.
In April 2017, FX confirmed that the eleventh episode of the season would be titled "Dyatkovo", and that it would be written by consulting producer Joshua Brand, and directed by Steph Green.
The site's consensus states: "'Dyatkovo' puts its protagonists to the test with a grueling final act that poses high-stakes questions for The Americans' series endgame.
'"[6] Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote, "The show has done some muted finales in the past, and had license to do so because the seasons leading up to them were filled with so much physical and emotional violence.
And, as I've said, I still have absolute faith in Fields and Weisberg to bring this story home in suitably devastating fashion; it's just a shame things had to drag along for a bit to get there.
This is as close to a stand-alone episode as we're likely to get this season, with Philip and Elizabeth dispatched to investigate whether a late-middle-aged woman from Boston is actually a Nazi collaborator hiding under a new identity.
"[8] Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote, "The continuing disillusionment of Philip has been the season's primary arc, but the toll on Elizabeth has been greater, really, and for one episode the show let her waver.
"[11] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine wrote, "Maybe the show's ultimate project is to recognize its characters' collective disillusionment as that which will bring the Cold War to its dissolution.
'"[12] Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The promise of Elizabeth's pleas at the end of 'Dyatkovo' is that this very well could be the last time they ever do so.
"[14] At the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, Keri Russell submitted the episode to support her nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.