Stealth (The Americans)

In April 2014, FX confirmed that the eleventh episode of the season would be titled "Stealth", and that it would be written by Joshua Brand, and directed by Gregory Hoblit. This was Brand's sixth writing credit, and Hoblit's first directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "Stealth" was seen by an estimated 1.12 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 12% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.27 million household viewers with a 0.4 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"Stealth" received extremely positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.8 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "This week's Americans made things even more complicated, as it looks like Jared may already be more involved than it seemed, while Nina has to pull a Hail Mary to save herself. It's too bad Kate's story ended just as it was starting, but there's a ton in play to fuel the last couple of episodes of the season."[4]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "In general, this kind of show does not do well by the offspring of its adult characters, since their stories can feel, at best, like a distraction from what the show's really about. But in the case of The Americans, the family drama is fundamentally baked into the concept, it provides frequent tension both personally and professionally for Philip and Elizabeth, and the battle of Soviet and US ideologies makes a story as innocuous as Paige's interest in church become something much thornier and more interesting."[5] The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "'Stealth' is the 'get everything set up for the last two episodes' episode, the 'holy shit, has this show gotten tense this season' episode. Every moment of it crackles like bombs are about to start exploding all over. And some of them do."[6]

Jen Chaney of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The Americans was oh so quiet this week, oh so still. There were no shouting matches, no pops of gunfire on military bases, and no spy-business set pieces unfolding to the blast of intense music by Pete Townshend. This one was mostly talk, a series of conversations that easily could have taken place in a library without eliciting a single 'Shhh!' It was low-key, but in an effectively unsettling way, the calm before the last two episodes of the season, which may bring a serious storm to the Jennings family."[7] Carla Day of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.7 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "There's only two episode left and I won't even hazard a guess at where the story will end up at the season's end. There's so many different directions that it could go. Everyone is in some sort of danger."[8]