I thought Russia was pretty big, but a lot of the same people seem to cross paths a lot there...

The recaps on The Guardian pretty much agreed, though the reviewer said these coincidental meetings spanned many many pages before people eventually ran into each other so perhaps it's just a matter of condensing the main plot points to fit six episodes for television.

Paul Dano was really good as Pierre; I've never heard of him before this series. I really liked the actresses playing Sonya and Marya and thought the latter character finally shone once her dear old Papa was gone.

As for the rest, I had hoped Andrei would live even though everything was pointing to Natasha and Pierre getting together. Helene did get what she deserved though I felt bad about Petya's death. Dolokhov was interesting because he kind of turn out to be a decent fellow at the end of all things, and I thought he'd just be a villain through and through. Sonya deserved better than what she got throughout the series

And while I do like happy endings, the epilogue scene was a little too neat for my tastes.

That being said, do you think you'll ever read the novel now? I was considering it but am not really sure if I could manage it.