A Roy Rogers in Franconia

In May 2016, FX confirmed that the twelfth episode of the season would be titled "A Roy Rogers in Franconia", and that it would be written by executive producer Joel Fields and series creator Joe Weisberg, and directed by executive producer Chris Long. This was Fields' 15th writing credit, Weisberg's 16th writing credit, and Long's second directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "A Roy Rogers in Franconia" was seen by an estimated 0.93 million household viewers with a 0.3 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.3 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[2] This was a 14% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.81 million household viewers with a 0.2 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"A Roy Rogers in Franconia" received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 100% approval rating for the episode, based on 14 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Long-played intrigues come to a head in 'A Roy Rogers Franconia' as The Americans sets the stage for what promises to be a harrowing season finale."[4]

Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A" grade and wrote, "In all sincerity, it is great. 'A Roy Rogers In Franconia' is another breathless chapter in what's proven to be the best season of the best show on TV. No other ongoing series can match The Americans for its balance of long-term and short-term storytelling. Tonight's episode achieves that all-important Peak TV goal — payoff — while also functioning as a compelling piece of standalone entertainment. It's a sterling example of The Americans seeing the forest and the trees, wondering through its characters if working toward a greater good is worth all the personal sacrifices it requires."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "This job is too much, whether you're a hardened operative like William or a kid like Paige. Everyone hits a breaking point. But it looks like a lot of characters are hitting their breaking point at the same time, which should lead to a nerve-wracking finale. Not fun, but riveting as hell."[6] Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "So begins the penultimate episode of season 4 of The Americans, which is building toward... we don't really know. The infiltration of the bio-weapons lab?"[7]

Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote, "'A Roy Rogers in Franconia' forced a reconsideration. Not a total one — we still miss the exiled Martha desperately. But Mr. Weisberg and Mr. Fields, through sheer persistence and a radical but deftly handled twist at the end of last week's episode, have managed to make Paige's between-two-worlds predicament interesting."[8] Genevieve Koski of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "That skeptical aspect of Paige's personality has been clear for some time now. Even her attraction to religion was born out of a search for meaning and a desire to make change happen. But in recent episodes, The Americans has more explicitly implied that this very same instinct could end up drawing Paige into her parents' world. Paige and Elizabeth are linked by their passion, by their desire to make the world better, and that connection may ultimately supersede whatever ideological nuances separate them."[9]

Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "It all set the stage for next week's sure-to-be-wild season finale, but 'A Roy Rodgers in Franconia' certainly can stand by itself as a thrilling episode of television."[10] Matt Brennan of Slant Magazine wrote, "In tonight's episode of The Americans, 'A Roy Rogers in Franconia,' the sources of fear are specific and conditional, ranging from an immediate threat (an attempted mugging) to a speculative one (a Lhasa outbreak on the Eastern seaboard), but fear itself is the common thread, the experience each character shares."[11]

Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "One of the many things that The Americans does better than any show on television is to create a sense of fatigue: both for its audience and its characters. I suspect that's one of the reasons it hasn't caught pop culture's rabid attention like other shows have."[12] Amy Amatangelo of Paste gave the episode a 9.6 out of 10 and wrote, "What I continue to find fascinating about The Americans is that I can simultaneously root for both Stan and Elizabeth and Philip. I want them both to succeed, which I know is not possible. The show has put Stan, a good FBI agent, in this position of being close to finding out the truth many times. Since the show recently announced it will conclude at the end of the sixth season, the fourth season finale seems like the perfect time for Stan to start to figure out the Jennings’ true identity."[13]