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.
Nevertheless, he assigns them to meet William Crandall (Dylan Baker), another deep-cover KGB agent who has access to U.S. research into deadly chemical and biological weapons.
At the Soviet research facility, Anton Baklanov (Michael Aronov) confides in Nina (Annet Mahendru) that he fears repercussions if his planned stealth airplane wings fail.
At the Rezidentura, Arkady (Lev Gorn), suspicious of what Tatiana (Vera Cherny) is working on, asks Oleg (Costa Ronin) to watch over her.
In February 2016, FX confirmed that the first episode of the season would be titled "Glanders", and that it would be written by executive producer Joel Fields and series creator Joe Weisberg, and directed by Thomas Schlamme.
Nothing is easy for the Jennings and it's always impressive how this show manages to juggle so many elements that could so easily turn to melodrama in the wrong hands, and make them into exciting, involving and compelling drama.
'Glanders' is more interested in the reverberations than the detonation, allowing the confusion and frustration to rattle around in Paige's head while Arkady stokes suspicions about Tatiana and Martha gets the news of Gene's death.
"[9] Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "we see Philip head to his other home, his other bed, that of Martha, the well-meaning but somewhat gullible secretary who thought he was her husband 'Clark.'
"[10] Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote, "The season premiere of The Americans on Wednesday night began in darkness, literal and metaphoric.
"[11] Genevieve Koski of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It's safe to assume The Americans will tease out these ideas of uncertainty and disconnection even further, particularly as they apply to Philip, Paige, and the Jenningses' bioweapons mission.
"[12] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "In case, you were hoping things somehow got easier for dear ol' Phillip over the break, 'Glanders' was here to overwhelm our family patriarch even more.
"[13] Matt Brennan of Slant Magazine wrote, "'Glanders' highlights Paige's profound isolation with two crafty compositions — even further evidence, if any were needed, that The Americans is as full of formal coups as any of its more flashy brethren.
"[15] Amy Amatangelo of Paste gave the episode a 9.1 out of 10 and wrote, "what's great about this series is that it continues to zig when audiences expect it to zag.