Annet Mahendru is back on FX’s “The Americans” as KGB agent Nina Krilova.Photo: James Minchin/FX Last season of “The Americans” ended with a shock after KGB spies Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) disclosed their true identities to their teenage daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) — which she then revealed to her confidante, Pastor Tim (Kelly AuCoin). Dealing with the fallout will be paramount when Season 4 premieres (Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX), namely how the Jennings will protect their cover, and what — or who — will be their casualties along the way. The season’s other uncertainty is the fate of KGB officer Nina Krilova (Annet Mahendru), who was sent back to the Soviet Union for treason after failing to turn her FBI lover Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) against the US. Assigned to use her gifts of persuasion to motivate scientist Anton Baklanov — whom the KGB is holding captive for his expertise on stealth technology — Nina found herself having a crisis of confidence about her mission, which continues in Wednesday’s premiere. “It picks up four days after the end of Season 3, so she’s still with Anton. She’s been figuring him out,” Mahendru tells The Post. “When she meets Anton, here she is capable to get into everyone’s head and he’s so different … because he’s living for something else. He’s the most human thing she has met so it therefore makes her more human.” For the past three seasons, Nina has been a (mostly) loyal soldier, devoting herself to the Soviet cause and not asking questions — betraying Stan to work as a double agent and turning in her cell mate in exchange for a meal. But in Season 4, her growing friendship with Anton makes her start to re-evaluate those priorities. “That relationship takes a turn … It’s not so much of a game. There’s no higher agenda. She can actually talk about what she feels,” Mahendru says. “Before, it was [her] comforting Stan and comforting all these relationships and now she can say, ‘Hey, I’m tired and I don’t want to do what I’m doing any more’ … So, she’s figuring out how to do that so that life [means] something and not just survival.” Since Nina was deported from the Rezidentura [in Washington, DC] at the end of Season 2, Mahendru says she “absolutely” misses filming scenes with Stan, Oleg (Costa Ronin) and the rest of the cast, though she does relish the fact that Nina now has her own mission. And this season will finally delve into her character’s previously-unknown personal life. “We feel for her because she’s a survivor but we don’t know who she is,” she says. “This season I get to the core of her. We get to see who we’ve been rooting for.” As for who exactly Nina turns out to be, well, that’s strictly classified. This is a spy drama, after all. “It is a very emotional season,” Mahendru teases. “All these time bombs that have been ticking since the beginning are going off this season.”
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