Friday, September 9, 2011

Russian Dolls: Ep 5 Recap “Calendar Girls”

Anastasia flipping out at salon


Diana and Anastasia entered a “Calendar Girls” beauty contest and they make it into the next round. The competition starts off with 100 girls and it’s narrowed down to 12, 1 girl for each month. Already I have to ask myself why isn’t Anna participating? Anna is strikingly beautiful and she has modeling experience. Maybe the answer will be revealed in the episode? If they win they will be in the calendars all over Brighton Beach. Excuse me, but the world is a lot bigger than Brighton Beach. Diana says, some girls have even met their husbands by being in this calendar. Well now that’s what I call “success” (sarcasm).

They visit with Anna’s grandmother and talk to her in Russian. Anna tells them she was very beautiful when she was younger and used to call herself “diamond” because she was like a rare diamond. Anna tells us why she isn’t doing the “calendar thing,” she is way too busy with her modeling school. She does have a lot of experience under her belt and she will use it to help her girls win. They do a practice photo shoot so Anna can tell them how to pose.

Over at Renata’s house, she is trying on dresses for Boris because she is hosting the Calendar Girl Beauty Contest. He doesn’t like the first dress because he thinks it has to be more glamorous. He loves the next dress, BUT he is afraid she will overshadow the participants. He wants her to find something more glamorous, again. He likes the third dress. As she twirls around for him, he spots a varicose vein on her leg and points it out. Renata admits it’s not the most beautiful thing about her, but it’s never been a problem. But if Boris notices it, she feels it may be getting worse. And he tells her they have to do something about it. I am very disappointed that he takes every opportunity to make her feel self conscious one way or another. His criticism may be well intended, but it is hurtful. He says she has a problem from the knees down. He advises her to go see a doctor.

Albert says Russian women “don’t take crap from anyone.” Then he says they need someone to control them and slap them back into place. I imagine he is joking about this and can’t be serious.

The girls get ready for the photo shoot. Anastasia says she is not intimidated by other girls. Next she starts fussing with the hairdresser doing her hair. After all she paid $800 for her extensions (pretty extravagant if you ask me) and she thinks the hair dresser was frying her hair making thin, dull, ugly curls. The hair dresser says she understands what she wants and Anastasia tells her she doesn’t think she knows how to curl hair. Diana is getting her hair done also, but Anastasia screams for her to come over to her station. She whines to Diana that they don’t know how to do hair while Anna is standing nearby rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Anna says when she heard Anastasia pitch a fit she wanted to take the curling iron from the stylist, curl her hair herself and then beat her with it. Anastasia keeps crying and Diana promises her she will be happy in the end. The salon owner is upset because she is being so disrespectful. The salon is actually sponsoring the Calendar Girls Contest. And everyone in Brighton Beach talk, so this episode is going to get around. If it doesn’t by word of mouth, it will by the airing of the show! Anastasia keeps saying her hair will be hideous. Diana has to calm down a hysterical Anastasia or she is going to blow the competition. Anastasia refuses to compete and is crying. Diana is insisting she calm down.

Anastasia says that no one knew what they were doing with her hair, BUT finally it came out nice. Anna tries to tell her that she was wrong to treat the hair dressers that way, but Anastasia insists if she hadn’t old them they would have messed up her hair. Ana tells her you don’t behave that way and lash out. This is one of Anna’s favorite salons and “princess” decides to flip out because her hair didn’t seem to come out exactly how she thought she wanted it. Anna says, “If Anastasia keeps acting like a four year old, this photo shoot is going to be a total disaster.”

Renata goes to the doctor. The doctor says he can fix it with an injection, it’s pure cosmetics, no surgery. But, the insurance will not cover it. It will cost $1,000. She has to think about it and talk to Boris. Come on now. She can make this decision herself. It’s obvious they have $1,000 for this procedure and Boris is the one who aims for perfection! Renata goes home to talk to Boris. He seems surprised to learn she went to the doctor. She tells him she is not doing the work because she looks ok, more than ok, she looks adorable. She says it’s a cosmetic procedure and insurance will not cover it. He wants to know how much it will cost. She says $1,000 and he answers “you’re worried about $1,000?” She says yes and he gets up and gets her $1,000 cash and hands it to her. He tells her use the money to fix her problem, she says it’s not a problem. He compares her to a diamond with an imperfection that kills it. It’s like a brand new car with a scratch on the bumper. But, Renata says, if she fixes this there will be other imperfections and they can’t fix they all. Finally, seeing he can’t win, Boris takes back his money and says she looks more sexy today than the day they met and all is forgiven.

The girls go to a studio for the photo shoot. They get their makeup done. They have 16 contestants and only 12 openings. During the photo shoot, Diana feels like a million dollars. The photo shoot actually looks very good and professional.
Anna tells Eddie all about Anastasia’s behavior and it sounds like they agree that she is a spoiled brat who has to have everything her way. And then take it a step further and say she is creating a bad reputation for herself which will stick with her. Even Eddie gets it.

The salon asked Marina, Sveta and Renata to judge the girls. Oh brother! Diana says she doesn’t feel well, I think it’s about adding drama and fails. Diana and Anstasia take a shot of vodka before doing the runway. Most of the contestants have very weird hairstyles. The names of the winners are called. Diana gets picked right away. How fair is it to have three cast members judge the contest? Of course they are going to be partial to Diana and Anastasia. There is a conflict of interest here. And of course to create more drama, there is one rose left and Anastasia’s name has not yet been called. And to my surprise, Anastasia did not get chosen! Wow! Anastasia says she is angry inside and can’t get over not being picked. All her friends are disappointed and show it. Diana was beyond shocked and says it was a bitter sweet moment. Renata tells them why she wasn’t picked. It wasn’t because she wasn’t beautiful enough it was all about the incident in the hair salon. Anastasia thinks it’s a stupid reason. She is filled with rage. Anastasia feels it’s because of Brighton Beach gossip that she didn’t win. She feels like a victim. She cries and complains to her boyfriend who just wants to get her home and ply her with wine so….she says he is the only one who makes her happy.

As usual, Anastasia lives up to her reputation. Once again she thinks the world owes her everything. If she doesn’t treat her own mother with love and respect, why would she treat anyone else with respect. She is 25 years old and already at several disadvantages. She hasn’t completed college and she has issues getting along with anyone. She needs to learn that to get respect you have to give respect and in life there will be disappointments. She needs to learn how to handle disappointment, because by her parents giving her everything, she has never learned how.

I want to know who paid for the $800 hair extensions and why. Good luck Anastasia, because at 25 you are socially behind most everyone your age.

Picture credit: Lifetime

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