Episode 2: A Gentleman in Moscow show vs. book

#147: An Invitation

Good day to you!

I’m writing this first part in advance because I’m hoping a few things happen in this episode.

Predictions for Episode 2, An Invitation

1. More with the Triumvirate. We met Andrey and Emile last week but there wasn’t enough time to establish the relationship. I expect more of them this week.

2. Meet General Kutuzov (the one-eyed cat) and Anna. I’m excited for the scene with the dogs that serves as their introduction.

3. The Count will discover his secret room!

4. We say goodbye to Nina.

Let’s see what happens!

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What’s working

• Ewan McGregor’s wig. It looks great, I like the decision to make it curly. You don’t get any description of the Count’s hair in the book so kudos to the team for coming up with this look.

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s wig. She makes a great blonde! It’s a solid bob.

• The music delightfully matches the tone by adding a playfulness or mischievousness.

What’s not working

• I should have mentioned this last week but the fake snow continues to look and move really bad. It’s fine while it’s in the air, but terrible on the ground.

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***************Spoiler Section**********************

Mishka

Some interesting changes from the book to note:

• I miss the characterization of Mishka as someone who “could easily pace twenty miles in a twenty-foot room” and could “wear out the carpet.”¹ In the book he’s a poet and member of the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers. The show has given him a more prominent and outspoken role in the revolution.

• We start the episode with animosity between Rostov and Mishka and discover that they had a falling out. Mishka loved Helena, he even painted the portrait! But Rostov got between them due to Mishka’s social standing. Would Helena be alive if the Count hadn’t interfered? This is all show convention.

• We learn in this episode that Mishka wrote the poem that was attributed to the Count, thus saving the Count’s life. We don’t find this out until much later in the book and to me it was a big reveal.

And the similarities? The bar fight highlighted each of their characters:

Sure enough, while Mikhail was prone to throw himself into a scrape at the slightest difference of opinion, regardless of the number or size of his opponents, it just so happened that Count Alexander Rostov was prone to leap to the defense of an outnumbered man regardless of how ill conceived his cause. Thus, on the fourth day of their first year, the two students found themselves helping each other up off the ground, as they wiped the dust from their knees and the blood from their lips.²

Kudos to the writers for mixing things up and keeping us book readers on our toes!

Osip

We have two scenes between him and the Count. First, he asks for help to understand Mishka better, for insight into his character. It seems Mishka doesn’t have the full trust of the Party. This pretext for future interactions is quite different than the book but I think it will work to the same end.

In the second, the Count slips him a copy of War and Peace, which Osip takes reluctantly but I think we just witnessed the beginning of something.

Sidenote: I was glad to see this book dialogue, albeit stated more aggressively:
“Let’s just say that I am charged with keeping track of certain men of interest.”
“Ah. Well, I imagine that becomes rather easy to achieve when you place them under house arrest.”
“Actually, it is easier to achieve when you place them in the ground. . . .”³

Anna and Nina

• Anna isn’t all that likeable, at first. She’s haughty and rude to her assistant, Olga. But she holds her own with the Count as they banter flirtatiously. I very much enjoyed that most of their dialogue together was from the book. “How could I relinquish my memory of this?” (which, for the record, is more romantic when said post-coital).

  • He readies a tip to the bell hop but she beats him to it.

  • He hangs up her clothes! Ah, the attention to detail.

• And Nina, dear, dear Nina. I chuckled when she approached the bar to interrupt the meet-cute with Anna, but it hurt when the Count brushed her off. Luckily, they made up by the end and we get a tender scene between them. “To an entirely unanticipated and truly wonderful friendship.” The exchange of gifts, the hug, it’s all so sweet and touching.⁴ Her gift of the key immediately changes the Counts possibilities and outlook and I imagine it will continue to serve him well.

Overall, we leave the Count in a much better position than at the end of episode 1. I’m excited for what’s to come!

What did I miss? Let me know what you thought of the episode!

Thanks for reading!

Kyle

End Notes: Omissions and Inclusions

• No one eyed cat. I don’t think I’ll get over this - I really liked that cat!

• The Bishop is barely in this episode but still lurking.

• The staff party was a lot of fun with the instruments, music, dancing, food and drink. I’d like to attend a party like that! But where is Emile? I need more Emile.

• The discovery and outfitting of the secret room is a wonderful scene. I love that one must travel through matching wardrobes and it’s an excellent use of lighting and photography to make the space feel bright, large, and welcoming opposed to his dark, cramped, and cold bedroom.

1. Towles, Amor. A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel (p. 79-80). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition

2. Ibid page 79

3. Ibid page 211

4. Rendered in the book as “Or perhaps it was the utterly unanticipated blessing of Nina’s friendship.” (pg. 104)