<em>The Romanoffs</em> Is a Self-Indulgent, Intriguing Muddle
In a scene from the second “episode” of The Romanoffs, set on a ultra-luxurious cruise ship in undetermined waters, a lecturer (played by an actor whose identity I’m not allowed to disclose) addresses a group of holiday makers. The men in the room wear chinos and brightly colored shirts; the women sport patterned blouses, scarves, and eccentric jewelry. They all believe they’re directly descended from Russian royalty. The Romanov name implies glamour, tragedy, and almost mythological trauma, but what it really conveys, the lecturer tells them, is delusion. Their heritage, he says, is “some combination of the grandiose and the terrified.”
If you were looking for a way to summarize the commonality of ’ eight episodes, which mark Matthew Weiner’s semi-triumphant return to television for the first time since concluded in 2015, might be as good as it gets. Amazon’s new series—the first time the streaming service has elected to release a show in weekly portions—is extravagant and ambitious, intermittently brilliant and baffling. Each installment (at least judging by the three made available for review) is feature-length and apparently distinct from the others, apart from a simple connective thread: The stories all consider different people who claim to be descendants of the House of Romanov, whose ruling members were by Bolsheviks in 1918.
