Season 1

Complete listed story — includes the ending

S1E1 · Pilot

In January 1981, Philip and Elizabeth Jennings are deep cover Soviet intelligence agents from the KGB 's secretive Directorate S, operating in Washington, D.C. Their children, Paige and Henry, do not know their secret. The Jenningses abduct Timochev, a Soviet defector, but his stabbing of a third agent during the kidnapping prevents his transfer back to the USSR. Meanwhile, FBI counter-intelligence agent Stan Beeman has moved in across the street with his family. Philip and Elizabeth disagree on what to do with Timochev in the wake of Stan's presence, with Philip prepared to take him to Stan. However, Timochev reveals he had raped Elizabeth during training years before, leading Philip to kill him. The Jenningses dump the body in the Potomac River. Stan becomes suspicious when he learns that a car similar to Philip's is seen near the site of Timochev's abduction, but finds nothing when he covertly inspects Philip's trunk. In response to Timochev's disappearance, President Ronald Reagan issues a top secret executive order authorizing the FBI to use whatever means necessary to neutralize Soviet agents operating within the United States.

S1E2 · The Clock

Philip poses as a Swedish intelligence officer to seduce Annelise and convince her to discreetly photograph the office of Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. A meeting is to take place in three days between Weinberger, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her defence secretary John Nott to discuss the Americans' proposed Strategic Defense Initiative. Philip and Elizabeth have orders to infiltrate and bug the office; using the photos, they decide to plant the bug in a clock. They coerce the Weinbergers' cleaning lady, Viola, into helping in the plot. Meanwhile, Stan blackmails Nina, a Soviet embassy clerk, to spy for the FBI. She sees the Soviet ambassador celebrating his own undercover agents' work. Meanwhile, Soviet embassy officials listen to a conversation about the SDI.

S1E3 · Gregory

Nina tells Stan about a Soviet agent who was killed the night Timochev went missing. The dead agent is shown to be Rob, the man Timochev had stabbed. The FBI trace him to an address in Philadelphia and discover he had a wife and child. The Jenningses are puzzled when they receive a message from Rob scheduling a meeting in Philadelphia. Suspicious, Philip sends Gregory, a former black militant recruited by Elizabeth, to go to the meeting with his team. There, Gregory deduces that Rob's wife Joyce had set up the meeting, unaware of the surveillance by the FBI. Using his team to distract the FBI, Gregory kidnaps her. Joyce gives Philip a coded note from Rob. Claudia, the Jennings' new KGB supervisor, tells him to contact the person mentioned in the note. The contact sells him schematics for an anti-missile laser. Meanwhile, the Jenningses hand Joyce and her baby over to Claudia, who promises that she will be relocated to Cuba. In the Soviet Union, the baby is handed to Rob's parents. Joyce is found dead by the FBI from a staged drug overdose.

S1E4 · In Control

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan is shot. Both nations' agencies are eager to learn if the other is involved. After completing their first mission of questioning Reagan's nurses who ensure he will survive, the Jennings learn they are to mark key US officials for future sniper hits. This leads to their discovery that Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who to some appeared to have taken control of the White House as acting president, may have the launch codes to the country's nuclear arsenal. Elizabeth wants to inform the Soviets, but Philip insists on further investigation. They see Stan arrive home and learn what he knows. He gives John Hinckley Jr. 's motivation behind the attempt; there was a concern the Soviets might have been involved, but it was quickly refuted. As Stan and his wife grow farther apart, Philip and Elizabeth get closer, as they agree that their act of withholding of the Haig intelligence could get them killed.

S1E5 · COMINT

Elizabeth meets with Adam Dorwin, a manager of a private company contracted by the US government for the missile defense program. Dorwin is later revealed to be a KGB agent codenamed "Udacha", and feels nervous and alone because the KGB cannot contact him out of fear the FBI capturing him; the FBI has new encrypted radios so the KGB cannot tell when they are being followed. Elizabeth turns her focus on another man who handles the technology, and learns the encryption devices are mobile. She and Philip track down one of the mobile units in the trunk of an FBI car. Elizabeth manages to make an imprint of an encrypted card, at the risk of being caught in the car's trunk. Meanwhile, Stan pressures Nina into learning if the KGB will meet with Udacha. When the code is learned by the KGB, the meeting is set. The FBI knew of it and follows Udacha's contact to the supposed meet, while Elizabeth kills Udacha at another site. These actions force the KGB to realize they have a mole.

S1E6 · Trust Me

Philip and Elizabeth are separately abducted and questioned about being KGB spies in America. Neither admit to it, even if evidence is presented otherwise. Their captors are revealed to be KGB agents trying to ferret out the mole, as the Jennings were first to discover the encryptions which were immediately changed by the FBI. The Jenningses manage to turn the tables on their captors; Elizabeth mercilessly beats Claudia to send a message to whoever authorized their abduction. Philip seethes at Elizabeth for what he considers a betrayal after she tells him that she had earlier told their handlers that he "liked the US too much" which he feels has led to them being under suspicion. Although fearing being caught, Nina frames Vasili, the KGB Rezident, in a plan devised by Stan. Meanwhile, not knowing where their parents are, Paige and Henry hitchhike home from the mall. Nick (Michael Oberholtzer), the man who picks them up, becomes suggestive towards them, leading them to escape after he stops along the way. The two kids promise to keep the situation a secret between them.

S1E7 · Duty and Honor

"Irina Semenova" redirects here. For the Uzbekistani chess player, see Irina Semenova (chess player). Philip is sent to New York City to discredit a Polish dissident. While there, he has sex with agent Irina Semenova, who was his lover before he left Russia. She asserts that her son in Russia is from their relationship. After the successful mission, she tells Philip she plans to leave the KGB and disappear; she invites Philip to join her, but he declines. Elizabeth gains a new source within the SDI project by paying off his gambling debt. Meanwhile, Stan misses a family dinner to work late; his colleague takes him to a bar and urges him to pick up a woman for casual sex, but he instead calls Nina, and they have sex. Agent Gaad indicates that the FBI may never deliver on Stan's promise to extricate Nina from the embassy. When Philip returns, Elizabeth apologizes for their prior rift and asks him to try to make their marriage real. He agrees, but lies to her about his night with Irina.

S1E8 · Mutually Assured Destruction

Claudia tells Elizabeth about Philip's affair with Irina; Elizabeth decides to be his professional partner only and abandon the "real marriage". Elsewhere, the KGB has hired a West German contractor to kill American scientists, but has changed its mind and cannot recall him. With unwitting help from Philip's informant Martha, an FBI clerical worker, the Jenningses track him down and eliminate him. However, he has already rigged a time bomb that kills a scientist and three of his FBI bodyguards — Gaad vows vengeance. Meanwhile, until Nina can be extracted for protection, Gaad gives Stan the keys to a safe house in which to meet her, which she surmises Stan means to be their love nest. Lastly, after being spurned by Martha, Agent Amador becomes suspicious and starts to follow her.

S1E9 · Safe House

Philip and Elizabeth tell the kids that they are going to live apart for a while—they do not take it well. Meanwhile, Gaad plans to assassinate Arkady, the new KGB resident, on his regular jogging route. Philip spends the night with Martha, and the next morning Amador confronts him. They fight and Amador is stabbed; Philip takes him to a deserted building where he and Elizabeth attempt to treat him and question him about the FBI's plans. At the time of Arkady's regular jog, the FBI find only his assistant Vlad, as Arkady is fortuitously injured. On Stan's unauthorized initiative, the FBI seize Vlad and take him to the safe house. Stan phones Arkady and threatens to kill Vlad unless Amador is released. Amador dies in the Jennings' custody and they dump the body; after he is found, Stan returns to the safe house and kills Vlad.

S1E10 · Only You

The FBI investigation of Amador's death makes rapid progress when Amador's ring (which he left in the trunk of the car transporting him) turns up at a pawn shop. Stan locates an associate of Gregory's who ditched the car, and is hot on the tail of Gregory himself. The KGB, to cut its losses, frames Gregory for the murder of Amador and offers him exfiltration to Moscow. He refuses and instead proposes to end his life on his own terms, and neither Claudia nor Elizabeth can change his mind. Claudia asks Philip to kill him out of compassion for Elizabeth, but Elizabeth convinces him to agree to Gregory's own plan, which turns out to be a fatal shootout with the police. Meanwhile, Stan promises Nina he will find out who killed Vlad; Stan's wife asks him to quit the FBI and move away with his family; and the Jennings deal with boundary issues in their separate parenting.

S1E11 · Covert War

The CIA assassinates three KGB officials in Moscow, including Elizabeth's mentor, General Victor Zhukov. Elizabeth decides, against KGB orders, to kill the CIA official who Claudia claims planned the operation. She succeeds in abducting him, but eventually relents and lets him go. Afterwards, Elizabeth visits Philip to reconcile, but leaves when she learns he has rented an apartment. She then confronts Claudia, accusing her of manipulating her into moving against the CIA official to destroy her career. Claudia says that she was Zhukov's lover and denies any ill will toward the Jenningses; she is surprised that Elizabeth did not carry out the killing. Meanwhile, Stan's wife leaves him; he goes to Nina and attempts to break off their affair, but ends up losing his resolve to have sex with her instead. The newly promoted Nina is given access to the material obtained by the Weinberger bug, but keeps the information from Stan in order to further investigate Vlad's death. Martha surprises "Clark" by introducing him to her parents, who like him.

S1E12 · The Oath

Elizabeth's new source, Sanford Prince, tells her he has recruited an Air Force colonel who will give important information on the SDI project for $50,000. After seeing some of this information, Moscow orders Elizabeth to meet with the colonel despite her misgivings. To see whether the FBI are on to them, Philip asks Martha to plant a bug in Gaad's office, promising to marry her to ensure her loyalty. He does so in a private ceremony witnessed only by her parents and Clark's "mother" (Claudia) and "sister" (Elizabeth). With the planned meeting only a few days away, Prince is arrested for an unrelated child support issue. Viola tells the FBI about being forced to plant the bug; they provide the KGB with disinformation through it. From her account, and that of the CIA official that the Jenningses abducted, Stan and Gaad conclude that they are looking for a thirtysomething married couple and produce a sketch of them. Meanwhile, Nina is sworn into Directorate S and, after a conversation with Stan, confesses her spying to Arkady and offers to become a re-doubled agent.

S1E13 · The Colonel

With the meeting with the colonel approaching, Claudia and the Jennings are worried that it has been compromised. Claudia urges Arkady to abort the mission, while Philip and Elizabeth work out a plan to take the kids to Canada if one of them is captured. Arkady accepts Nina's offer in spite of Moscow's skepticism. Meanwhile, Stan tells both Sandra and Nina that his counterintelligence mission will soon be over, but Sandra rebuffs his attempt at reconciliation and Nina tells Arkady. Without incident, Philip meets with the colonel, who asserts that the SDI project is technically infeasible and may even be a ruse to get the USSR to waste resources. Because of Nina's tip, Arkady cleverly manages to get an abort order to Claudia, who warns Philip; they both realize Elizabeth is the one in danger. Philip picks up Elizabeth just as she reaches the parked car with the Weinberger tapes, which the FBI has staked out. They evade the FBI pursuit, but Elizabeth is shot in the abdomen. While she is being treated at the deserted building, Philip phones Stan and has him look after the kids. While in recovery, Elizabeth speaks to Philip for the first time in their native Russian, asking him to "Come home." Meanwhile, Claudia assassinates the CIA official that Elizabeth spared. Prince cracks under FBI pressure and tells them all he knows about the colonel, while Nina gives Arkady a file on Stan. Paige is increasingly puzzled by Elizabeth's behavior and, late at night, enters the home's laundry room—which is off-limits to the kids—but all she finds is laundry.