The Romanoffs Review: The One That Holds Everything (Season 1 Episode 8)

The Romanoffs Season 1 Episode 8, “The One That Holds Everything” essentially ruins itself by hinging on an end-of-episode twist that becomes too much of a cliché for its own good.

This show has too often had decidedly lofty goals. Episodes beyond one hour, trying to dissect topics far beyond its scope with million-dollar budgets that are spent too much on gaining production value while ultimately losing its meaning–it’s not a particularly pleasant sight to see.

While this episode treats Candace with a surprisingly large amount of respect from what I expected of this show, it absolutely undermines itself by the end. Why does each emotional story need to come with some ridiculous, over-the-top end? Why does a resolution need to come with some bizarre solution?

Perhaps the most infuriating part of this is that it was a mildly interesting, enjoyable episode compared to many of the others ones–something emotional, something a little more curious, something with a different lens–and then the rug was pulled out from under us.

Ah, yet another somewhat shallow episode of The Romanoffs. What else?

It’s so easy to ruin something good with a bad ending, while something with a bad start can still end up with a good ending. This is the perfect example.

While this episode has a tighter Romanov/Romanoff connection, the tie is nonetheless still tenuous. We get little to nothing more in this episode regarding the cohesiveness of the anthology series, let alone any sort of narrative payoff from having dutifully watched all eight episodes. Whoops.

I’m left particularly relieved that The Romanoffs is over. With everyone saying that there probably won’t be another season due to the cost and critical panning of the series, I’m glad the show existed, even if it was just to show what a series can be and ask others to never do that again.

So many characters on this show felt like pawns in a larger plan–and maybe I would have felt like the uses were a tiny bit worth it if there were something grander at play. We don’t get as much of a white, cishet storyline here (thank God!), so I’m grateful for that. However, it does take advantage of one surprise and tries to cash it in for another, failing miserably.

With such a complicated episode, I was hoping for even a happier, potentially more rigorously engaging ending. Yet we’re left unsatisfied with an episode that actually had some potential in terms of narrative and character. Something about it just leaves a weird taste in your mouth that carries over from the rest of the series.

So for now, let me live in the glory of episodic, serialized television–short episodes that engage and thrill, no matter how pulpy. I’ve gained an overwhelming appreciation for shows like that in the laborious nature that The Romanoffs ever so tried to bring to the small screen–with debatable levels of success.

What did you think of this episode of The Romanoffs? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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 The Romanoffs Season 1 is available on Amazon Video.

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