Well, The Romanoffs certainly saved the most wicked, and very likely the best, episode for its finale, episode 1.8. Matthew Wiener as director and co-writer presents the most narratively complex story in the series - at least three stories within stories - and pulls it off with style and aplomb, including at least one scene with music that feels like David Lynch was behind it. There's even a touch of Hitchcock in this episode, in the sense that beware what happens when you talk to a stranger on a train.
The stories are what the woman on the train tells the writer (who happens to be the writer of the Romanov series we've seen or seen mentioned at least two or three times in earlier episodes, all excellent, too - the series within Wiener's series). This in turn leads to Simon's story (as a young man), which in turn leads to Christopher's story about Simon as a boy.
Except, that's not the end, by any means, because the woman on the train turns out to be Simon, who is transgender and fully transitioned into Candace (she took that name because Simon's mother always called him her "sugar candy"), so she's in fact telling the whole story, all along. About that story, I won't say anything more, on the slim chance that you're reading this and haven't yet seen this episode, except to say that the ending comes with just deserts par excellence.
In many ways, this is one of the most remarkable series I've ever seen on television. Not all of the episodes were equally brilliant, but all were good enough, and it's hard to expect more of eight episodes which are standalone except insofar as they each have more or much less of a Romanov connection.
I'd watch another season in a heartbeat. And, in the meantime, while I'm waiting or if it never comes, I know I'll be replaying a lot of what I've seen in these episodes in my head.
See also: The Romanoffs 1.1: The Violet Hour: Compelling, Anti-Binge Watchable Comedy of Manners ... The Romanoffs 1.2: The Royal We: A Walk on the Dark Side ... The Romanoffs 1.3: House of Special Purpose: Ghost Story ... The Romanoffs 1.4: Expectation: Unfulfilled ... The Romanoffs 1.5: Bright and High Circle: Music and Abuse ... The Romanoffs 1.6: Panorama: The Royal Disease ... The Romanoffs 1.7: End of the Line: The Adoption Racket
It all starts in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn walks off the set
of The Misfits and begins to hear a haunting song in her head,
"Goodbye Norma Jean" ...
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