Speaker 1: Welcome to the Parenting Roundabout podcast. I'm Terry Morrow and
Speaker 1: I'm Catherine Hileco. As parents and parenting writers, we can't
Speaker 1: help but see everything through a parenting lens. But as
Speaker 1: our kids have become adults, we find ourselves more interested
Speaker 1: in getting caught up on movies and streaming than I'm
Speaker 1: going over the same parenting topics over and over.
Speaker 2: So since we're pretty sure we can find parenting wisdom anywhere,
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about what we're watching, what we
Speaker 2: thought about it, and maybe what we can learn from it,
Speaker 2: if only what not to do. Watch and listen along,
Speaker 2: and let's all make like we're doing something important for
Speaker 2: our families. Each Tuesday we bring you our thoughts on
Speaker 2: a newer entertainment property, and for this week of August fifth,
Speaker 2: we're continuing with A Gentleman in Moscow, a limited series
Speaker 2: on Paramount Plus. So this one was called an Arrival,
Speaker 2: and it focused, as we might have guessed, on the
Speaker 2: arrival of Little so Fia. I don't remember in the
Speaker 2: book it being as much of a whole thing, you know,
Speaker 2: getting her permission to stay. But I could be wrong
Speaker 2: about that. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't do the fun bed thing that you were
Speaker 1: talking about, right, But it.
Speaker 2: Was very cute when the counts or Alexander let's call him,
Speaker 2: set up a bed on the floor for her, and
Speaker 2: she just jumped into the real bed and he was.
Speaker 1: Like, wait to go sweeay, I think we've established pretty
Speaker 1: clever girl.
Speaker 2: Extremely yes.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Also in the book, they did not confirm that Nina
Speaker 2: had died in Sibea. Really that was so sad. They
Speaker 2: just were like, she never came back.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, well we saw that that seemed to
Speaker 1: be a likely outcome.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it was certainly implied in the book.
Speaker 2: But wow, yeah, this one was a.
Speaker 1: The one who has been narrating all along, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: it was like it's called an arrival. But the departures
Speaker 1: were just, oh my gosh, those two boys going off
Speaker 1: to war. Oh yes, I don't foresee a better end
Speaker 1: for them than for Nina. Alas, we'll hope for the best,
Speaker 1: but oh gosh. And they're so excited, right, as was
Speaker 1: Nina when she left originally the first time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and their parents are so like, we know what's
Speaker 2: going on in the room.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, oh man, that's heartbreaking.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's so hard.
Speaker 1: To I mean, even if you don't more or less
Speaker 1: have a certainty about the tragic outcome, it's hard to
Speaker 1: just see kids going off to do dangerous and uncertain things, right.
Speaker 3: When they're so psyched. This is gonna be great, right, look.
Speaker 2: At my cool hat, my awesome uniform.
Speaker 1: And you can't tell them no, absolutely no, I forbid it.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, boy, do you want.
Speaker 3: To Yeah, my mom tried.
Speaker 2: Try to keep you down on the farm.
Speaker 3: Why would you want to go?
Speaker 1: It's so nice here, right, because I am of a
Speaker 1: certain agent shut up. So that was tough. That was
Speaker 1: just really heartbreaking. The boys and then Nina at the
Speaker 1: end just I but so the I wasn't sure, but
Speaker 1: I read a right up of the episode that confirmed
Speaker 1: for me that Weasley Hotel assistant manager is the easily
Speaker 1: waiter with a promotion.
Speaker 2: I thought so too, and I was I was meaning
Speaker 2: to check.
Speaker 1: They did aging up that actor just enough that you like,
Speaker 1: he seems like the same brand of weasel right in fact,
Speaker 1: and indeed according to uh the website I read anyway,
Speaker 1: which I believe was screen rant it is.
Speaker 2: I also suspected that, so, yeah, I believe it.
Speaker 1: Man, can somebody like accuse him of something that will
Speaker 1: get him dragged away. It doesn't have to be true,
Speaker 1: it'll be fine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, not good, not good.
Speaker 1: And I also fear now for the actual hotel manager
Speaker 1: who put his I mean he got coverage, but still
Speaker 1: right bucked this weasel. Yeahls can be vicious, that is true,
Speaker 1: both the human and the animal kind. Ah, but what
Speaker 1: a what a change in his routine. He had a
Speaker 1: routine down that he he liked even in his little
Speaker 1: confinements there, and now he's a dad.
Speaker 3: It's like a miss.
Speaker 1: It's like mister mom, you know, like all of a
Speaker 1: sudden he has to know how to calm hair, he
Speaker 1: has to know how to you know, play a game.
Speaker 2: He has to go and fetch the doll that got
Speaker 2: left somewhere.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's just uh, suddenly there's all this stuff I did.
Speaker 2: I loved, you know, the game. Like he's trying to
Speaker 2: read this book because his oh, Sid the jailer is
Speaker 2: expecting him to read it. And he's like.
Speaker 3: Let's play the quiet game.
Speaker 2: That doesn't work.
Speaker 3: And then count to two hundred. That is a very
Speaker 3: familiar strategy.
Speaker 2: Man, Yes, good try. It did not work because Sophia
Speaker 2: is way too smart for that, but.
Speaker 3: See what you need, what you need to do.
Speaker 1: Their account is you take her down to the toys
Speaker 1: r us and you set her in front of a
Speaker 1: back of cars and you sit and read your book,
Speaker 1: which is what I used to do with my son.
Speaker 3: Doesn't have that for very many reasons.
Speaker 1: You don't say that, not that that's what you find
Speaker 1: something she's interested in. Pretend like you're doing it for her, right,
Speaker 1: and read the book. Yeah, yeah, how fun. The thing
Speaker 1: I was reading was mentioning that he had a similar
Speaker 1: fun relationship with Nina, but he wasn't responsible for her
Speaker 1: twenty four to seven. They went, they had their fun,
Speaker 1: and then she was somebody else's responsibility. But Sophia is
Speaker 1: with him, right, it has to be responsible for her
Speaker 1: twenty four to seven.
Speaker 3: And it's a burden.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's it's like with Nina, he was
Speaker 2: the absentee dad or the grandparent or the uncle, but with.
Speaker 3: The fun, but with exactly.
Speaker 2: But with Sophia it's like, yeah, she's yours.
Speaker 3: Yes, he's a parent now.
Speaker 2: And it didn't take long for her to, you know,
Speaker 2: for him to be like, no, she cannot, I'm not
Speaker 2: giving her up.
Speaker 1: No, I'm so glad they were able to orchestrate that,
Speaker 1: because boy, did the other solution not sound promising.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: It's like anytime a young person leaves this hotel, we're
Speaker 1: going to go on huh right, even that young actress.
Speaker 1: I'm very glad that that Anna thought better of it
Speaker 1: and taught her some tricks. Yeah, right, before she goes
Speaker 1: off with whatever Skidy.
Speaker 3: Fellas she goes off with.
Speaker 2: But yes, Anna taking on the motherly role in a
Speaker 2: couple of ways that she didn't she didn't want to do,
Speaker 2: but she did.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 1: You identify the time of life and you're you're in
Speaker 1: whether you want to be in that time or not,
Speaker 1: and you.
Speaker 3: Just go with it. It's so much easier.
Speaker 1: Many of us have had that time where it's like wait, no,
Speaker 1: I'm here, No right?
Speaker 2: What? Yes? And we had Olga too, you know, like
Speaker 2: when's the last time you washed that child? Puts her
Speaker 2: in the bathtub right away.
Speaker 1: That was very sweet because she's she's been so sort
Speaker 1: of disapproving of him, Yes, but has a soft heart
Speaker 1: for lost little girls, apparently because it seems like she
Speaker 1: possibly saved Anna at some point right from a less
Speaker 1: promising fate.
Speaker 3: So she turns out to be good?
Speaker 2: And who was it? Was it? The It wasn't the manager.
Speaker 2: Was it the manager of the hotel that she was
Speaker 2: with in the bathtub? Oh? Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3: I couldn't tell. You knew it was somebody. We probably
Speaker 3: should know who that was, but I couldn't. I don't
Speaker 3: think recognize him.
Speaker 2: I don't think it was. Yeah, I don't remember who.
Speaker 1: I thought it was maybe some official of some sort,
Speaker 1: but it surely was supposed to be somebody that we recognized.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it was a hotel person. Okay, it might
Speaker 2: have been the manager, just because that scene where the
Speaker 2: you know, the orphanage lady came to pick up Sophia
Speaker 2: and there was just that wonderful series of looks, you know,
Speaker 2: from Alexander to Anna to the manager, to the Minister
Speaker 2: of Culture guy to like everybody. It was just beautiful.
Speaker 3: That's true.
Speaker 1: So let's let's assume that the manager is getting a
Speaker 1: little oohsome right exactly doesn't get them, doesn't get them
Speaker 1: the sweet they want. But still, you know, there's only
Speaker 1: so much a man can do.
Speaker 3: All right, He's surrounded by weasels.
Speaker 2: And you know, like I feel like the second floor
Speaker 2: suite is probably just as nice as the.
Speaker 1: Thirtieth it's better than the twentieth floor suite to the
Speaker 1: count is in. Yeah, but kudos to that actor who
Speaker 1: plays the waiters slash assistant manager, because man, you don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of lines, but he just oozes yes,
Speaker 1: loathsomeness right, quiet, officious loathsomeness.
Speaker 2: And flustered fire at the end. Wait a minute, you
Speaker 2: got played, sir? Still there?
Speaker 1: Yeah, but he's going to be trouble.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, we got it.
Speaker 1: We gotta frame him for something and get him shipped
Speaker 1: off someplace. As it is, he's just gonna be coming
Speaker 1: back up like a bad penny.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But I did appreciate the way we were talking last
Speaker 1: week about Osip having his own surly teen and disapproving wife,
Speaker 1: and that certainly informed his appearance in this episode. You know, okay,
Speaker 1: you didn't read because of the kid, I too have
Speaker 1: perhaps had that.
Speaker 3: Right, I get it, man, but do better, but just
Speaker 3: for now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's kind of a father to father moment, right. Well,
Speaker 1: we have to, we have to be charitable with one
Speaker 1: another in such situations. There's definitely a time in your
Speaker 1: life when getting from one end of a book to
Speaker 1: another is a monumental challenge.
Speaker 2: Exactly, especially especially when it's Anna Karenina or whatever it was,
Speaker 2: because he started trying to read it so like, no,
Speaker 2: not appropriate for like a five year old.
Speaker 1: I read Anna Karenino when we were in Russia to
Speaker 1: adopt our kids and we were like stuck in an
Speaker 1: apartment and the adoption wasn't going through, but we weren't
Speaker 1: going to leave without them, right, and so we just
Speaker 1: had this dead period sort of like you know, the
Speaker 1: counts passed. Sure, we were just sort of stuck in
Speaker 1: this apartment because we had no transport, independent transportation. We
Speaker 1: just and so I thought, oh, this is what I'll do,
Speaker 1: is I'll read this Russian book, this great Russian book,
Speaker 1: and man.
Speaker 3: Is it depressing longing to.
Speaker 1: Get me out of this country now.
Speaker 3: I think I also.
Speaker 1: Read Smellless Sense of Snow on that trip, which is
Speaker 1: also I don't know if you ever read that.
Speaker 3: I did not fun vacation reading.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been a long time, but from what I recall, Hi,
Speaker 2: I get that.
Speaker 1: I needed to have brought myself like a suitcase full
Speaker 1: of romances, mystery novels and no Anakar in it right.
Speaker 1: Things that are yeah, resolved. I, well, that's what happened
Speaker 1: to be in the apartment.
Speaker 3: So I guess the lady we were staying with and
Speaker 3: read it too.
Speaker 2: And this is what in English?
Speaker 1: Yes, it was in English, I did sadly, I did
Speaker 1: not speak any Russian. Had I been better informed ahead
Speaker 1: of time, I would have learned some. But it was Oh, no,
Speaker 1: you don't need to. We have people there who speak English,
Speaker 1: and your kids don't speak, don't talk yet, so it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter, right, it mattered.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it would have been good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Alexander kind of being an adoptive parent here.
Speaker 2: So that's right.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, with no no home steady because he never would
Speaker 1: have passed one.
Speaker 2: No, he doesn't even have a running water.
Speaker 3: No, I guess he has.
Speaker 2: I guess he has water, but he doesn't have a
Speaker 2: bathtub of any kind.
Speaker 1: Fortunately, though, he's got a better choice of babysitters than
Speaker 1: Michael did on the island. Yes, he's got that going
Speaker 1: for him.
Speaker 2: Yes, he's basically got the whole hotel staff working for
Speaker 2: him and mixed up for the weasel. Everybody else is
Speaker 2: on his side, and and Olga and Anna. Yes, he's
Speaker 2: assembling the quite the family for Sophia.
Speaker 1: So he is, which is lovely and sort of what
Speaker 1: the book slash show I imagine is about. You know, you
Speaker 1: make the worst of situations good people helping good people
Speaker 1: and forming bonds and family. Yeah, good luck with that
Speaker 1: until until the weasel comes for you, in which case
Speaker 1: when your kids go off to be killed, right at
Speaker 1: least at the moment until next week, that's right.
Speaker 2: Well, next week, speaking of, we will discuss episode six
Speaker 2: of A Gentleman in Moscow. It's titled the Fall.
Speaker 1: Oh yikes, well, we wonder does that mean possibly the
Speaker 1: fall of the weasel for grace that I would enjoy?
Speaker 1: Does it mean the fall of somebody off the roof?
Speaker 1: That would not be good? It'll probably be something much
Speaker 1: more tragic and heartbreaking than that.
Speaker 2: We will find out.
Speaker 1: Well, falling off the roof would be pretty much tragic, now, Yes,
Speaker 1: the weasel take in a fall would not be heartbreaking
Speaker 1: at all. Non fact yay, Maybe the elevator goes out
Speaker 1: and somebody doesn't realize it.
Speaker 2: Now, well, we'll see. So we'll do that next Tuesday,
Speaker 2: and tomorrow we'll be back here for a discussion of Lost.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. You can find all our episodes
Speaker 1: on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. You can find recaps, links and an opportunity
Speaker 1: to comment on our website at parentingroundabout dot com.
Speaker 2: You can also talk to us on our Facebook page,
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Speaker 2: dot com, slash Shop slash Mamitude, but you can find
Speaker 2: links to a lot of the things we've talked about
Speaker 2: over the years.