In the three years between 1984 and 1987, Philip has become a full-time travel agent running an expanded Dupont Circle Travel, Henry attends boarding school and plays hockey, and Paige attends George Washington University in D.C. and is a Soviet agent in training. Stan has married Renee and has moved out of FBI counterintelligence except for the now-married Sofia and Gennadi, while Elizabeth is exhausted and resentful from handling a full KGB case load nine weeks before the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in D.C., with most of her work focused on the summit. Claudia informs Elizabeth that she has been ordered by certain unknown parties in the Center to travel to Mexico City and meet with General Kovtun of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces, who tells her about "Dead Hand" and the Soviet military's plan to overthrow Gorbachev if he renounces it. Kovtun asks Elizabeth to spy on Soviet negotiator Fyodor Nesterenko, who is meeting with American negotiator Glenn Haskard. Kovtun also gives Elizabeth a cyanide pill to take if captured. Meanwhile in the USSR, Arkady, now deputy chief of Directorate S and a Gorbachev supporter, recruits Oleg, now married and out of the KGB, to travel to the US and ask Philip to uncover Elizabeth's unapproved new mission; due to internal Soviet opposition to Gorbachev within the Center, Arkady cannot trust his own officers with this task. After arriving in D.C., Oleg signals Philip and then meets with him, telling Philip that he will stay in D.C. to await Philip's answer. While Paige is on a surveillance detail, a young U.S. security officer tries to coerce her for a date by taking her college ID. Elizabeth then kills him and recovers the ID. That night, when Philip tries to tell Elizabeth about Oleg's visit and points out the emotional toll of her job, she rudely dismisses him.
In its original American broadcast, "Dead Hand" was seen by an estimated 642,000 household viewers and gained a 0.14 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. "Dead Hand" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a 100% approval rating with an average score of 9.8 out of 10 based on 14 reviews, with the consensus stating: "Tensions mount in 'Dead Hand,' an unusually fast-paced installment that barrels toward the show's seemingly inevitable endgame." The A.V. Club gave the episode a perfect A grade. Alan Sepinwall from Uproxx reviewed it positively saying, "'Dead Hand' wastes little time in establishing just how bad the conclusion could be for all involved."
