Diana and Anastasia call Anna. They are upset because their apartment is haunted (all of a sudden, it was fine for the first 10 episodes). They tell her all the things that go on at night and that they are freaking out. The bathroom door is opening and closing, scratching on the wall, the fire alarm goes off by itself. What drama! If you watch the episode you can see that they even want to laugh at this storyline. But on with the show!
At Renata’s house she is rehearsing for the play “Demon” which is a classical Russian poem about love and sinful love that had been banned in Russia for many years. Renata wants all her friends there to support her, but Sveta and Marina have not spoken since the jewelry party at Rasputin. Renata thinks she can make peace between her two dear friends.
Diana and Anastasia visit Eva for some advice on how to get rid of their ghost. They figure she is a fortune teller and she should know. They tell her the television goes on by itself, there are footsteps on the stairs and all kinds of noises. Thank God Eva is well aware of what she calls the “Domoval” and knows exactly how to get rid of one! She tells them it’s a spirit and they way to get rid of it is to bang a broom against each wall of the apartment. Another remedy is to cook for it and then put your shoes out the door. They go home and try Eva’s suggestions. However, they do not cook so the order sushi for the ghost and then put the shoes outside. The rituals don’t work, big surprise! This is so ridiculous that I refuse to waste any more of my time writing about it and the writers should have been as smart as me too!
Renata is stressed about Sveta and Marina fighting at the play so she invites them over, but she doesn’t tell either one that the other is coming. Big mistake, she should know better. The doorbell rings and Sveta arrives first. Then it rings again and Marina walks in talking at the top of her lungs, so Sveta immediately knows who it is. Sveta does not like surprises and who can blame her…who wants to be surprised with Marina? Renata begins by sweetly talking to them both and trying to get them past their differences. She wants them both at her play. This is a huge deal for her being on Broadway. Marina says she cannot ignore what happened at Rasputin the evening of the jewelry show. Sveta says she has to leave, telling Renata “who does she think she is?”
Boris is very upset that Michael and Marina did not show up for the play He says he will talk to them later about it. Boris and Renata host a party after the play and everyone is asking where Michael and Marina are. This was a big deal and they missed it. Marina gets to the after party late, with flowers, for Renata. Sveta mentions that it was disrespectful for her to miss the play and come late to the party. Renata doesn’t want any fighting, this is her night and Boris is hoping for an apology…good luck with that. Boris tells Michael off.
Eva approaches Sveta and says something to egg her on. When Sveta responds, Michael is upset that she is saying hurtful things to Eva. Then Marina comes over and the fight breaks out with lots of screaming. Marina claims that Sveta brings out the worst in her, but this socialite clearly does not know how to behave in public. The fight goes on as the two women curse each other out. When Renata comes out to see what is going on she sees Marina screaming and Sveta calm and collected. Boris becomes upset about Marina’s behavior and tells them to stop it out of respect for his wife. Marina, of course, keeps going. Boris throws out Marina, Michael and Eva. It was Renata’s day and they should not have ruined her party. Michael and Marina are pissed. I think this was pretty inevitable considering the people (Marina) involved.
The only episode where there is a connection to a past episode. I.e. Marina and Sveta do not start the episode as friends (and don't finish as friends either:-). At least there is a logical connection to their fight several episodes ago. Unlike other characters, who are worst enemies in one episode and friends in the next.
ReplyDeleteVery true and they milked it for more drama. But do we know if the premise of the fight was true or made up. I am not even sure the jewelry show was not just made up for the show. Too many contrived scenes for me to believe much of anything. Last recap will be up soon.
ReplyDeleteNina, in one of your postings you noted Marina's graceful socialite eating habits. She is even worse in this episode! I was really having fun with this one, wonder if the camera was especially focusing on that.
ReplyDeleteThe fight I think is real, and I am totally on the side of Sveta. Sveta has grace and charm. And a real job. If you google Svetlana Rakhman, you will see that she has a good education and a senior level job at Citi. Marina is an uneducated mafia wannabe lowlife.
Thanks for your comments on Sveta, it is hard to know what to believe, however Marina's behavior is always inappropriate and even at the after party Renata said Marina was screaming and Sveta was calm and collected.
ReplyDeleteI missed Marina's eating I was so busy writing and I will have to try to catch that scene when lifetime posts the video. maybe I can blog that too!
The eating part is when she comes to the party after the play where Renata starred.
ReplyDeleteOk thank you I'll be sure to look for it. The fact she is so far off from what a socialite is and doesn't know it is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteThe animosity between Marina and Sveta is real. Actually, Marina is the one who keeps fanning the flames, Sveta is calm and has been totally ignoring Marina. She has better things to do with her life, I am sure. But the actual fight at Demon afterparty seems to be staged for the camera. First of all, older characters in the show not speaking Russian to each other - that in itself is unnatural. So, if there was a real fight, they would have switched to verbal abuse in their native language that they both speak. Seems more natural:-) The whole thing appears to be an act.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I didn't take notice of that, but I know from my own background that native speakers do revert to their first language especially during an argument, so they can express themselves a lot better. So many things were staged or invented for the camera it's not funny. If I had a choice of being stuck on an island with Marina or Sveta, it's no contest, I pick Sveta. We would have a lot to talk about (Marina) LOL
ReplyDeleteSveta did make an underhanded comment which would've been perfectly appropriate had Eva not been there. She said "The service here sucks, like Rasputin." But had that been fully analyzed, she's also insulting Renata's choice in place.
ReplyDeleteI hate the whole Marina/Sveta thing because the damn episode had a good 10 minutes of Marina's painfully high pitched voice screaming.
Sveta's English is actually really great, so I think she did just fine arguing in English. Marina... again, I just don't want to hear her voice... EVER. She's utterly disrespectful, full of shit, and unfortunately blind to how amazing Renata is.
I could not agree more about Marina's voice that why, when, she said she was considering a talk show, it was not credible. You are right about her disrespecting Renata, but maybe that was just for the show. We were being played/manipulated into thinking this is reality.
ReplyDeleteThe show also makes them all chums. None of them were ever friends, not before they were picked for the show (except maybe Renata and Sveta were friends before the show). There is very little in common between them.
ReplyDeletenina you have to do your famous screen caputer of marina with food in her mouth and review that, please..its always funny and your blog gets a bost of hits from that...please consider it..god himself hates marina.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous I am going to give it a try just for you and I will post it here as soon as I can. Check back later today! :)
ReplyDeleteIt’s funny, Nina. In the first few episodes, you complained that the habbits of the women in the show were too common and not unique to Russians. But when something special came up that no American had ever heard of (domovoi,) you complain that it is unbelievable and ridiculous. It is Slavic folklore and common knowledge to anyone who lived in Russia (not just Eva). Plus, you’re right. I am sure that the girls complained about the domovoi before, but Lifetime edited it into a self-contained episode.
ReplyDeleteSue, yes I said that wanting the best for your children is not unique to Russian mothers. Russian mothers are not the only demanding mothers who want their children to strive to reach their full potential and be successful.
ReplyDeleteThe storyline of the spirits haunting the apartment is unbelievable to me and ridiculous. I don't know how you are sure the girls complained of it before and all their compalining was saved up into one spisode unless you have some "tie in" with the show. I also heard that Lifetime rented to apartment for Diana and Anastasia for purposes of filming the show and that they were not roommates prior to that. Other cultures have "spirits" they just do not call them domovoi. As you say it's folklore so why should it be credible?
I see the structure of the show (self contained episodes, by the way, are not a good idea). Even if they complained before and it did not thematically fit in previous episodes, it would not be included there. I feel like they do not have enough time to open up (another problem with the show: the episodes are too short) and I feel that they rush to show most important points. Domovoi is not just folklore, it is also a belief that every home has its spirit. And the occupants of the house should be nice to the house and its spirit. You do not need to live long in the house to notice a moody spirit of it.
ReplyDeleteYes, wanting the best for your children is not unique to Russian mothers. The difference is that Russian mothers would never say “I am proud of you”. Instead, no matter what you achieved, they will always find something to criticize and ways for improvements. It was not a problem in Russia. Kids could fill they are being loved without words said. For some reason our Americanized children need to HEAR that they are being loved and that we are proud of them. Clash of cultures?
If one is getting a freebee luxury apartment paid for by the network, who cares about domovoi:-) And they should have cooked Borsch for him instead of feeding him sushi:-) I bet you they miss this "haunted" apartment with rooftop jacuzzi now:-)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I don't know much about the Russian culture, but my Italian mother never said she was proud of me either and her advice always sounded like criticism or not good enough. But I always knew she loved me. As for spirits, I never noticed any moods in the houses I have lived in, maybe the spirits moved out when I moved in, I had some bad episodes of PMS and maybe they couldn't stand it. LOL
ReplyDelete