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.
Paige (Holly Taylor) talks to Gabriel (Frank Langella), learning how he has helped Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) for many years.
Philip and Elizabeth decide not to tell her about their discovery at the greenhouse, leaving Paige believing the lie that the US plans to destroy Soviet grain crops.
In March 2017, FX confirmed that the seventh episode of the season would be titled "The Committee on Human Rights", and that it would be written by Hilary Bettis, and directed by main cast member Matthew Rhys.
The site's consensus states: "'The Committee on Human Rights' kicks at the underpinnings of its central characters' convictions just as they're forced to say goodbye to an important ally.
Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "Everyone involved in the various types of espionage on The Americans makes sacrifices most of us would find abhorrent or simply unthinkable.
This episode of The Americans has apparently sent KGB handler Gabriel on his way, but his final line to Philip is simultaneously a refreshing moment of candor and a knife in the heart.
And that was despite seeing Elizabeth and Philip score what may be the greatest triumph of their careers: stealing a stalk of super wheat from a Mississippi field and delivering it to Gabriel, who planned to take it with him back to Moscow where it could help feed the hungry Soviet masses.
"[9] Scott Tobias of Vulture gave the episode four out of five and wrote, "Gabriel's retirement either betrays a lack of faith or portends developments that he can't contain.
"[11] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine wrote, "The sincerity with which one arrives at self-truths is a thematic thread that's run throughout this season of The Americans and is very much front and center in 'The Committee on Human Rights.
"[13] Matt Brennan of Paste gave the episode eight out of ten and wrote, "This is the shadow the series casts on its characters, the oblique angle at which their secrets intersect with the wider world, to the point that the neighbor's new girlfriend, the long day at work, even the notions of 'courage' and 'sacrifice' appear as if through a glass, darkly.