What goes up must  come  down. It is a fundamental law of physics. And despite “Pan Am’s” penchant for defying gravity (the airplanes, Maggie's hairdos), even they cannot evade the inevitable decline. Following last week’s upward turn, this week’s episode “The Genuine Article” saw things come crashing down like a Jay Sean song.

It should be noted that despite last week’s lesson oriented recap, the “Pan Am” characters are by no means role models for good decision-making techniques. As a follow up, this week’s recap will be in a series of “un-lessons”, basically what NOT to do to in order to avoid such minorly uncomfortable situations as being forced to betray a loveLd one, or being arrested in a foreign country with absolutely no knowledge of the language.

“Un-lesson” #1: Don’t try to live your life out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Just don’t. Six weeks in, viewers finally got a glimpse into the life of the mysterious Maggie, and the truth wasn’t pretty. Stuck in a dead end waitressing job in Washington in 1959, Maggie (and her Great Gatsby novel) skipped town with the first trucker to challenge her ambitions. Two years later she was working a job in the registrar’s office at Berkeley… and picking up classes dropped by unsuspecting students. Does this count as the college education required to be a Pan Am stewardess? Probably not. Do (es - delete) the three phrases of Portuguese she learned while working in Washington count as being fluent? Again, probably not. But this was not to hinder Maggie, caught in her charade and inspired by a student who worked as a Pan Am stewardess. Able to achieve her dream job through charm and clever use of her limited mastery of the Portuguese language, present day Maggie was not about to give it up. On the brink of being fired for her overly sassy attitude, Maggie was willing to resort to any method to save her job. Her antics included trying to usurp Laura’s modeling opportunity (rude!!), and eventually selling out Ted and Ginny’s affair to the Vice President of Pan Am (even ruder!!). She was able to save her job, but at what price? Jay Gatsby never achieved his happily ever after, and if Maggie keeps up her antics, nor will she.

“Un-lesson” #2: Being in LIFE magazine isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It got Laura arrested after all… indirectly. A couple months after her LIFE magazine cover featured in the premiere episode, the magazine wanted to do a follow-up about the day in the life of a “Pan Am” stewardess. Something Laura, despite her supermodel-ish good looks, was not too comfortable with. She couldn’t help but pose and smile in front of the camera, apparently a problem for this photographer who wanted natural. Sensing Laura’s distress, and more likely, an opportunity to promote herself, Maggie came to her rescue with a perfectly concocted itinerary for the most appealing shots down in Rio de Janeiro, one which resulted in their being arrested when they purchased stolen goods from the wrong cart. With the two of them stranded in a Brazilian police station, Laura was left to panic and pout (which she does so well) until Ted came to save the day (which he does so well… when Laura is involved). I don’t know how much longer “Pan Am” can tease viewers with the adorable not-couple that is Laura and Ted,. Bbut in an episode where romance was shot down like a rival fighter jet in WWII, their cutesy antics were more than welcome.

“Un-lesson” #3: Just because your lover lets you wear his uniform, that does not give you permission to ruin his life. Ginny. Oh Ginny! She has a thing for dramatic entrances. Last week she dramatically entered Dean’s life when she wandered into the cockpit in search of jujubes, while this week she wandered into his bedroom, wearing his uniform (well, half of it anyways), in search of something entirely different. Her proclivity for the dramatics landed her right on Dean’s flight down to Rio (coincidence? Certainly not) and right under Maggie’s suspicious eye. If she wasn’t obvious enough then, she was absolutely begging to be caught when she insisted Dean and Colette come out to dinner with her and her other lover, the Vice President of Pan Am. Poor Colette. She served this week only as a foil in the viewer’s ability to get behind Dean and Ginny’s romance, as her classy manners made Ginny seem all the ruder and at times, downright insane. Well, downright insane just about describes her behavior as she cooed and kissed at Dean’s hotel door, begging for him to come out. She is in love, she admitted… but there is one VP who is going to be less than thrilled about Ginny’s romantic revelations. Unfortunately, he is the one whom Maggie targeted with the news. What is to become of Ginny? Or Dean’s employment? Next week’s promo was devoid of any clues so your guess is as good as mine!

“Un-lesson” #4: Love and the CIA do not mix well. Silly Kate! She could have learned this from James Bond. It was what forced Bridget out of a job, and now it might do the exact same thing to her. Grounded for a missing smallpox vaccination, and falling more in love with Niko, the handsome Yugoslavian diplomat everyday, Kate was tasked with finding out his political alliances. Just who was she sharing a bed with? Not a communist, it turns out, as Niko’s political views lay more equally with Martin Luther King Jr.’s than with those of the communist ruler of his country. Good news all around? Not quite, as Niko was forced to leave (albeit temporarily) to try and save his cousin, corruptly on trial for something he never did, and Kate was forced to accept the fact that turning Niko (which apparently means making him a spy, despite how utterly vampiric it sounds) was probably the only way to save his life.

Lots of “un-lessons” going around this week. Lots of characters making lots of bad decisions which will lead to lots of lasting consequences. But that’s what drama is. The wait until next week is going to be difficult given all the loose ends left at the end of this episode. What is going to happen to Dean and Ginny? What is going to happen to Maggie when they find out it was her who ratted them out? Will Kate be able to save her Yugoslavian boyfriend? Will Kate be able to save herself? And finally, When will Laura and Ted just become an official, adorable couple already?

So many questions, only one little promo…. but a tempting one at that. Check it out for a sneak peak at next week’s episode, “Romance Languages."