How do you like Moscow?

[shallowness]

War and Peace
Episode 4

I spent most of this episode wondering how old Natasha’s meant to be these days, anyway, because it felt as if she’d regressed to about 17 for most of it.

Andrei’s father put a spoke in the wheel of Andrei/Natasha from the off – it seemed like snobbishness, but later events would suggest a touch of dementia (NOT crotchetiness, Marya). A year felt a bit harsh, especially for Miss Young and Coasting on Feelings – again, casting James Norton warred against ‘not in late youth’ and the dancing and frolicking in the snow suggested Andrei was all healed fine, so it felt like a bit of a clunky obstacle all round. (Helene and Anatole are of a higher and more acceptable rank to a prince, then? Even though their father was seeking matches for the money?

Basically that was it on the Cheekbones front for nearly the whole episode. Boo.

Countess Rostova, instead of saying ‘no’ when her husband said ‘yes’ to expensive stuff, tried to fob Nicky off on Her Off An Inspector Calls aka Her We’d Forgotten From Episode 1. Nicky got all I Am Too Honourable For That Version of Austerity Even Though I Was The Banks In This Situation, Mother. Granted, we didn’t see him gamble again, so maybe I’m harsh. I’m also confused about how old he is. I know he’s over the age of majority (would that be 21 in Russia in those days?) but he wanted to be a child while wanting Sonya in not childlike ways...? I continue to feel Nicky is mostly an idiot.

Poor Sonya. The best case for her is to be constantly worried about money if she marries the man she loves.

But Jack Lowden really convinces as Ade Edmondson’s son, though.

Poor Marya. Her dad’s got dementia, her companion (though she should have sacked her after the Anatole incident, for serious) is playing up to him like mad, and she feels powerless. She totally missed the Boris boat (which is a good thing as he’s tainted by the Helene), which shows that she’s too busy falling into the family depression to be serious about marrying anyone. A nice moment with Pierre at the name day party, although I think she managed to be oblivious to him all but admitting he loves Natasha.

Thanks to her dear old da, Marya and Natasha couldn’t connect, which was frustrating, leaving Natasha prey to the Helene and Anatole of it all. I was really cross that Helene was the one who got to pounce on Natasha for the fashion advice, when apart from that one lace cap thingy, she doesn’t need it. Apart from being a shade too obvious with the opera gown, Natasha was very well-dressed throughout.

It had been established in the little dance scene that Natasha = true child of Russia. (I’m sure the scene with the wolf was symbolic and significant, but mainly I was thinking there’s bound to be werewolf AUs now.) And I suppose the idea was that Andrei had woken her up sexually, but then left her hanging for a year (but time is weird in this adaptation), and like her equally innocent father is easy prey for people who aren’t what they seem to be. It was clearly sexual with Anatole – and followed a similar quick meet, a bit of dancing BOOM strong feelings pattern to falling for Andrei, except the viewers knew Andrei and were invested in him not being depressed any more, while we also knew Anatole... (He might have sincerely thought it was love, BTW, but his idea of love is clearly warped.)

But, even so, Natasha did seem to have regressed in age.

I was hoping for Sonya to go all Mary Challoner, but because she’s not the heroine (even though she was awesome over the whole Natasha/Anatole thing, asking pertinent questions and still deciding to do the best for Natasha, even after Natasha hated on her, AFTER EVERYTHING SHE KNOWS ABOUT SONYA, because Sonya knows love isn’t controlling or that underhand) we did not get the scene where Countess Rostova had to have seen Sonya in her best light.

I was glad Marya tried again to reach out to Natasha (fighting against personality and feeling squashed at home! That’s my girl), but of course by that time, it was too late. And there was our tantalising knowledge that Marya had info on Anatole that might have checked Natasha. Still, can you imagine telling your besotted brother that his fiancé has dumped him and can’t even write it out in a letter in her own hand?

(I have no hopes of this given the way things are going, but if Tolstoy could give Marya a happy ending of some sorts, I would like that.)

Oh, Cheekbones! It’s very hard to feel sympathetic with Natasha, even given the circumstances of who she is and what she’s been through, that she threw you over. Even if the episode ended with lots of Natasha/Pierre fodder (dude, remember you’re married too) and even if I could make a case for Andrei having not been 100% honourable (more like 80%, which is 100% more honourable than Anatole, who was ignoring all the ‘no’s, doing all he could to get ‘yes’. Even if haughty innocence was a turn-on, ‘if I can’t have you, I will die. Yes, you will kill me if you reject me.’ is emotional blackmail) towards her. Kissing someone like that and yet refusing to hold them to an engagement is sending mixed messages.

Where was I? In this episode of this adaptation, it’s very hard to feel sympathy with Natasha, BECAUSE CHEEKBONES.

Hmmph. So, I had feelings, although, as I suspected, a lot of them were about being cross with Tolstoy as adapted by Andrew Davies.

While the Anatole/Natasha ballroom was not as fancy as the Andrei/Natasha ballroom, as Helene is not the Czar, it had a gorgeous chandelier.

Not!Athos’s Persian costume was something else. Barnard’s Boris was hilarious as he played up to Julia and snaffled her.