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 on
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 July
Speaker 2: twenty ninth, we're continuing with A Gentleman in Moscow, a
Speaker 2: limited series on Paramount Plus. This one was called Good Times.
Speaker 2: How good were the times?
Speaker 1: Well, there were a lot. It was a long time,
Speaker 1: so some of them were good, right, right.
Speaker 2: We had a romance in the kitchen, Yeah, which was sweet,
Speaker 2: especially with this sun like observing as this went down.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was very sweet and unexpected, and we ever
Speaker 1: had any kints or mentions of that previous to this episode.
Speaker 2: I don't think so.
Speaker 1: It could be so like encompassed like ten.
Speaker 2: Years, right, it was quite a lot of time, yes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so plenty of time. He could have started at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the ten years and he had had
Speaker 1: his nerve up by.
Speaker 2: The end of them, so right, yes, something like that.
Speaker 1: So well, by the end of the ten years they
Speaker 1: had a kid, So it's six years or so. I
Speaker 1: don't know.
Speaker 2: No, they didn't have a kid. That was her son
Speaker 2: from before.
Speaker 1: No, but I think there was. She was holding it oh.
Speaker 2: Right, right right, yes, at the very end. Then there
Speaker 2: was baby, yes, or a toddler.
Speaker 1: Correct, the older her son of her pre existing son
Speaker 1: looked on from the kitchen. Yes, not the only child
Speaker 1: introduced into this stool.
Speaker 2: Yes, I was waiting for oh little so.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, happy to meet you, Sophia, but so
Speaker 1: sad about the circumstances. Yes, yikes. That took a turn. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that could have been anticipated, but still was
Speaker 1: especially heartbreaking.
Speaker 2: I mean I anticipated it because I read the book. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I don't know that. Did you feel like you
Speaker 2: had hints that that was coming?
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, you knew she was going to this
Speaker 1: place that Misha, Yeah, that Misha then said is not
Speaker 1: a good place, and why so you kind of figure
Speaker 1: she's going to get a rude awakening. But I didn't
Speaker 1: think about it that far ahead. She would have married
Speaker 1: and had a child, be you know, basically coming to
Speaker 1: the hotel to say goodbye to the count before she
Speaker 1: went and died. That's what it seems like. So it's yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't know what was gonna come of that, but
Speaker 1: I didn't have I didn't have real good feelings about it,
Speaker 1: even before Mische told his story. When she's just just
Speaker 1: me and my comrade's gonna go right farms, he'll be great. Yes,
Speaker 1: discussed in past I think last week. Oh sweetie, you're
Speaker 1: so young, yes, yes, and so impressionable to really bad ideas.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: You know, who would have thought that if you kick
Speaker 1: all the farmers off the farms, that that might be
Speaker 1: trouble grown food?
Speaker 2: Yeah, these are the good times.
Speaker 1: They made sure to say that in the hotel, right,
Speaker 1: people still had food. Right in the hotel, everything was
Speaker 1: good as long as you didn't cross anybody, right, which
Speaker 1: good luck with that, yes, exactly. You know, even if
Speaker 1: you are an American newspaper person, you know what to
Speaker 1: what information? Not even in an elevator. Yikes, that was
Speaker 1: that was unfortunate. That really was and uh not not
Speaker 1: good times by the end there it's yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: the contrast in terms of his his enjailment, he seems
Speaker 1: to be coping fine. It's become a waiter, yes, which
Speaker 1: is hilarious, right, but that's where all his friends are anyway,
Speaker 1: so why not? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And in the book, I feel like he made
Speaker 2: a lot more use of his secret room. Although in
Speaker 2: this episode we had Misha hiding in there, so yes,
Speaker 2: that was important, but I felt like he was he
Speaker 2: was always there and having parties and you know, just full,
Speaker 2: you know. But also in the book, in the book,
Speaker 2: it did make it seem like his main you know,
Speaker 2: his initial room was very teeny teeny yes, you know,
Speaker 2: far smaller than what they've got here.
Speaker 1: So and he got a fake camera in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And I don't know how they'll do this.
Speaker 2: But in the book, I mean, who knows if this
Speaker 2: is a spoiler for what's coming, but it's it's not important.
Speaker 2: In the book, there was so little room that he
Speaker 2: elevated his bed somehow with you know, books or something
Speaker 2: something to lift it off the ground, and he put
Speaker 2: Sophia in the bed and he's lept on the floor
Speaker 2: under the bed.
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
Speaker 2: He made like bunk beds for them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought maybe he would put her in the
Speaker 1: little hidden room since I don't know is she's supposed
Speaker 1: to be there. Well, we'll see, yes, yes we will.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, we'll see how how they handle that in this.
Speaker 1: But that's you know, after all the tragic things you
Speaker 1: saw coming, like you know, Misha wasn't gonna be long
Speaker 1: for the show that I didn't see that quite coming,
Speaker 1: in that detail of there being a new little child
Speaker 1: there for him too, well grandparents at this point, I guess, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: she looks like she's wtf is going on here?
Speaker 3: Yeah, she's pretty yeah, pretty shocked or pretty yeah, pretty
Speaker 3: just you know, traumatized, Yes, exactly, because I imagine things
Speaker 3: haven't been so great for her either.
Speaker 1: No, dad got arrested, and yeah it is it is
Speaker 1: a real I mean, even though good times, but there
Speaker 1: is a certain amount of shelter and remove in the hotel. Right,
Speaker 1: you're not seeing this stuff firsthand, you know, it's happened
Speaker 1: and you're being told about it, but your little world,
Speaker 1: you know, when somebody's not threatening your friends with death,
Speaker 1: if you don't spy on other people and all that,
Speaker 1: but still comparatively good times.
Speaker 2: Right, And then there's the whole you know, camaraderie among
Speaker 2: the yes, I use the word comrade among the staff,
Speaker 2: and yes, you know they're not so far you know,
Speaker 2: riding each other out and turning on each other in
Speaker 2: the way that.
Speaker 1: The one guy got pulled out in a way that
Speaker 1: did not suggest he was going to be coming back
Speaker 1: to work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I worry about them.
Speaker 1: They have it too good. Yeah, yeah, this is true,
Speaker 1: so to speak. But it was I I am glad
Speaker 1: that after that original scene of Nina coming back with
Speaker 1: her friends and being you know, the Nina, same Nina
Speaker 1: as at the end of the previous Yeah, humorless and
Speaker 1: not lovable, right, that she came back and was so
Speaker 1: sweet and so much showing signs of her old self. Right,
Speaker 1: And that lovely little time with.
Speaker 2: Him that's seen when they were up on the roof
Speaker 2: and yes, she just lays her head on his shoulder
Speaker 2: and then he Yeah, very very sweet.
Speaker 1: That was lovely and it was such a such a
Speaker 1: father daughter moment between them. And you know, he says
Speaker 1: to her, the importance of good posture and manners is timeless.
Speaker 1: He must also refrain from rolling our eyes. All those
Speaker 1: who have said that to children of a certain age
Speaker 1: is your hand. Yes, and she says, we must respect
Speaker 1: our gray haired elders. Yes, dang right and sweet and
Speaker 1: don't you forget it. Oh, And then he says the
Speaker 1: heart must always be a priority, which maybe not such
Speaker 1: good advice as it turns out, but still, I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's hard in a situation where you know things are
Speaker 1: perilous and probably never going to be right to still,
Speaker 1: you know, buck up a young person, and you know
Speaker 1: you want them to remember the things that are important.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, remembering the things that are
Speaker 1: important can be costly, as they turned out to be
Speaker 1: for Misha. And yet you can't really just let them go.
Speaker 1: It's difficult. It's difficult shepherding, shepherding kids or even oneself
Speaker 1: through that sort of time, which to some degree has
Speaker 1: resonance today. Yes, that's probably any time.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: I was amused that at some point his jailor what
Speaker 1: oh sip right said the classic line which Brian Grubb,
Speaker 1: who's a writer we both enjoy, often makes jokes about,
Speaker 1: is the line we're not so different to you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we's got to see him with his family and his
Speaker 1: own surly teen that's right, popp It, and his disapproving
Speaker 1: wife like you know, how dare you bring work to
Speaker 1: the table here, even though you know work his life
Speaker 1: right at this particular period in history. Yeah, so we
Speaker 1: are meant clearly to have a little sympathy for that dude,
Speaker 1: even though he is sometimes quite unsympathetic. Even the bad
Speaker 1: guys have children who don't listen to.
Speaker 2: Who don't appreciate getting a birthday cake in a hotel.
Speaker 1: And wives who disapproved. Yes, oh my goodness, she was
Speaker 1: a little icy. So it's interesting where it will go
Speaker 1: from here. Probably nowhere good, but perhaps with little, uh,
Speaker 1: little bits of happiness in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, now we have another little.
Speaker 1: Kid, that's right. I bet she would enjoy bread with
Speaker 1: honey up on the roof.
Speaker 2: She probably is gonna have to.
Speaker 1: If she wants to eat. Yep, I'm gonna get probably
Speaker 1: can't go to the dining room. We'll see. So you said,
Speaker 1: this encompasses forty years in.
Speaker 2: All that's kind of just a stab. That's a guess.
Speaker 1: I think we've gotten ten at this point, maybe more.
Speaker 2: Probably more, because maybe more like fifteen.
Speaker 1: I think it was six thousand some days at the end,
Speaker 1: so it must have been ten at the beginning, and
Speaker 1: then it went up by that. Anyway, right time, it'd
Speaker 1: be moving along.
Speaker 2: It'd be moving along. Yeah. I mean we've seen Emil
Speaker 2: and Marine, the chef and Maria that, you know, have
Speaker 2: a whole relationship a kid, and that kid was like
Speaker 2: arms right, that kid was like two or three. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I'd say maybe it was around ten at the beginning
Speaker 2: of the episode, and yes, fifteen by the end or
Speaker 2: something like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was a six year jump at
Speaker 1: the end, so well, good for them, happy to be
Speaker 1: spared all the individual indignities of those six years. Just
Speaker 1: get them as a lump, right. But hmm, yeah, there's a.
Speaker 2: Lot of more to go.
Speaker 1: I mean, yes, I know. That's something I was at
Speaker 1: the end of this after they took that big leap.
Speaker 1: I said, there's still four more episodes really only half done.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well there's yeah, there's some big, big stories still
Speaker 2: to come.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, huh, so doesn't sound like the actress's career
Speaker 1: is going to be going anywhere good, so going to
Speaker 1: have been going so I wonderful. We'll see her again,
Speaker 1: probably in less posh circumstances. Well, Sie, she seems like
Speaker 1: kind of a survivor.
Speaker 2: Yes she does, so good for you, Mary Elizabeth Twinston.
Speaker 1: I like the like the brown hair instead of the blonde.
Speaker 1: I think it suits her. We got a little bit
Speaker 1: more backstory on what happened with the Count's sister. That's right.
Speaker 1: There was a whole guy killed in a duel. So
Speaker 1: it wasn't just that he sent Michael away and then
Speaker 1: she killed herself. It was she then got involved with
Speaker 1: a bad dude who the Count had to kill, is
Speaker 1: what it seems. Yes, there were two appeared to be
Speaker 1: two actors there, one shooting the other, and they both
Speaker 1: looked identical to me, so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they they were extremely blurry and yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: made it very difficult for you to believe, you.
Speaker 1: Know, sure one of those dudes is the Count and
Speaker 1: the rather what is the boyfriend.
Speaker 2: Right, who abused her in some way, you know, I
Speaker 2: mean like, yeah, she was like beaten up, so.
Speaker 1: Right, so more to come on that, I mean, yes,
Speaker 1: but not from conversations with Misha, I suspect could be wrong.
Speaker 1: I didn't think he'd be coming back from being taken outside,
Speaker 1: but you never know, right, And I also enjoyed at
Speaker 1: one point Misha said, where does it end? If everyone
Speaker 1: accepts the lies and only thinks of themselves? What kind
Speaker 1: of world are we left with lies upon lies until
Speaker 1: the truth ceases to exist? And that is something you
Speaker 1: need to teach to your children. Is very difficult, especially
Speaker 1: in a time when everybody is accepting the lies and
Speaker 1: only thinking of themselves. How do you you teach them
Speaker 1: good values? And you know if it's gonna harm them?
Speaker 1: So yikes. Right, Fortunately it was only that time when
Speaker 1: this happened, and never never wrustle with that particular issue. Sure,
Speaker 1: So what is the title of the next one? Can
Speaker 1: we anticipate from it whether the times will be good
Speaker 1: or bad or indifferent?
Speaker 2: So next Tuesday we'll talk about episode five and it
Speaker 2: is called an Arrival. So I don't know if that's
Speaker 2: more referring to the arrival of Sophia the little girl
Speaker 2: that that really happened at the end of this episode
Speaker 2: that we just watched, or if there's some other other
Speaker 2: stuff happening. We'll see and we'll see you back here
Speaker 2: tomorrow for a discussion of the two thousand and four
Speaker 2: series Lost Lost, speaking of time moving in irregular ways.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you for listening. You can find all all
Speaker 1: are episodes on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. You can find recaps, links, and
Speaker 1: an opportunity to comment on our website at parentingroundabout dot com.
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Speaker 2: links to a lot of the things we've talked about
Speaker 2: over the years.