I Am Abassin Zadran

In March 2015, FX confirmed that the twelfth episode of the season would be titled "I Am Abassin Zadran", and that it would be written by story editor Peter Ackerman and co-executive producer Stuart Zicherman, and directed by Christopher Misiano. This was Ackerman's second writing credit, Zicherman's third writing credit, and Misiano's first directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "I Am Abassin Zadran" was seen by an estimated 0.98 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 slight decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.04 million household viewers with a 0.3 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"I Am Abassin Zadran" received extremely positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.5 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "With the Season 3 finale next week, this week's Americans once more showed just how unstable and precarious things re with Paige and Martha, now that both of them are in the know - even if it's not quite at the same level."[4]

Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "Withholding information is crucial to the characters of The Americans, but the show itself doesn't have to play so safe. Gabriel and Claudia's greasy-spoon rendezvous pushes season three toward its climax with a strategic confession, one previously unknown to the troops on the ground as well as those watching at home. By letting its secrets out, The Americans continues to top itself."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "It may just be that Fields and Weisberg plan to carry a lot of the current arcs into next season. But even so, I don't feel the sense of narrative momentum that I did at comparable points in the previous two seasons. I expect the emotions of the finale to be as fraught as they've been all year, and that's ultimately what matters most. But I'd like to see a bit more balance between plot and character going forward, if that's possible."[6] Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Good Lord, what a terrifying reveal! After several expository installments, this penultimate episode of season 3 of The Americans was a live-wire of action as some of the slow-build machinations of The Center came to fruition and a few loose-cannon actions threatened to upend everything."[7]

Laura Hudson of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Spying is largely a profession about knowledge — stealing it, knowing it, and sometimes transforming it into lies. Not everyone does very positive things with the knowledge they've been given this week, and sometimes it's downright terrifying."[8] Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Like Abassin Zadran, himself, 'I Am Abassin Zadran' ruthlessly accomplishes its goal: setting up next week's finale. Maybe someone will make it out of a hotel room unscathed."[9]

Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "Exactly one year later, oh how the tables have turned. Philip revealing his true self to Martha after she threatened to leave him shows just how attached he's become to his second wife. Sure, he could still kill her and eliminate the problem, but the revelation seems like a whole lot of trouble for him to take it all back next week."[10] Matt Brennan of Slant Magazine wrote, "'I Am Abassin Zadran' in fact hinges on several internecine struggles, within families as well as within intelligence services, a paranoiac hour in which skepticism of one's erstwhile allies places renewed strain on all concerned."[11]

For the episode, Margo Martindale was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series at the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.[12] She would win the award, becoming the first actress of the series to win an Emmy.[13]