By Joe R
Elizabeth gets word from Claudia that General Zhukov has been murdered in Moscow. Retaliation from the Americans and the latest in an escalating series of murders. Moscow has decided to stop the escalation and not retaliate, but Elizabeth is TAKING IT PERSONAL that her mentor was slain, so she decides to go rogue and take out the CIA official who ordered the hit. Philip pretty strenuously objects, but he ultimately falls in line, dons the most ridiculous disguise he can find, and helps her out.
Meanwhile, after a night out with Elizabeth, Sandra is officially over Stan's constant absences from home. Especially when those absences are less and less explainable as "work."
Nina is tasked with logging all possible meetings to take place at the bugged Secretary of Defense's house. She still isn't getting any answers out of Stan when it comes to Vlad's murder, but she manages to keep Stan close despite his desire to break it off now that Sandra suspects he's cheating.
In between multiple flashbacks to various times when Zhukov gave her good life advice, Elizabeth goes through with her mission to rub out the CIA guy. Starting with picking him up in a bar, beating the shit out of him in the bathroom, dragging him to an isolated warehouse, and talking WAY too much once she gets him there. She's clearly acting under extreme emotion, and she ultimately decides against killing him. Instead, she and Philip drop him off, blindfolded, on a bench somewhere, so he can go back and be questioned by the FBI about what he observed. Which seems like the worst of both worlds, but I'm not an elite Soviet spy, so what do I know?
Also, Elizabeth figures out that Claudia probably told her about Zhukov's murderer so that Elizabeth would break protocol and kill him herself. Claudia says it's because she loved Zhukov too. Physically. Elizabeth, however, thinks Claudia is just trying to get her to fuck up so she can crush her. Because Elizabeth is having a bad time of it lately. No worse than when she awkwardly tries to invite Philip to move back home, only to learn that he bought a new apartment. Might as well have just killed the guy, girl.