The first thing you need to know about A Gentleman in Moscow is that its titular Moscow-based gentleman, played by Ewan McGregor, goes by several names. His full title is officially “Count Alexander Rostov.” Occasionally, he’s called “the Count.” Sometimes, he’s just called “Alexander.” And, in the premiere of the Showtime adaptation based on Amor Towles’ novel of the same name, you’ll also hear friends call him “Sasha,” a nickname for the name Alexander in Russia.
In fact, Alexander is about the only one who refers to himself as a “gentleman” like the title. In the first episode, we watch Alexander ostracized and outcast by the current party controlling Russia in 1921, who call him a “noble” as if the word was the dirtiest, nastiest title, a classification one would hope to never be placed into. Following the 1917 revolution and execution of Russia’s royal family, the country is now sorting through the wealthiest of the land and finding different ways to torture them.
Alexander is one of those lucky-turned-unlucky folks. He left for Paris in 1914 ahead of the revolution, returning in 1918, a year after it had ended. Current party leaders interrogate Alexander, who mocks them with endless wit and a cheery sense of humor in dire circumstances. It doesn’t go over well. Alexander, who is currently staying at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow, is sentenced to spend the rest of his days locked up at the grand locale. If Eloise could do it, why can’t Alexander? Unfortunately, Sasha isn’t allowed to live in the same room he’s been living in since he checked in a few years ago. He’ll now have to reside in the old servants’ quarters, which are about as appealing as a dorm room without modern technology.
At the hotel, Sasha has kinder nicknames. “Your excellency” is frequently used by the staff, who are happy to see his face again. Although Alexander is in a grim holding position, he seems pretty happy with his life. He teases the guards who watch over his room. He smiles and laughs and has a grand old time while the Russia he knows collapses around him. This is kind of irritating, this tone Alexander has—shouldn’t he read the room a bit more? He’s surrounded by people who are in worse conditions than he is.
Sasha finds his old pal Nikolai (Paul Ready), a former prince who now plays violin in the hotel’s nightly orchestra, who blasts him for this giddy temperament. Nikolai is worried sick about his mother and sister, who are hiding out in Switzerland, but here’s Alexander, all smiles and jokes. Alexander’s excuse? The depression would be too much for him to handle. Well, Nikolai’s not having any of that—they ought not pretend like this is a life worth living, Nikolai says, offering Alexander the opportunity to flee their imprisonment at the hotel. Alexander rejects him.
Alexander’s jubilancy continues: When he goes for his daily appointment to get his massive mustache trimmed at the hotel’s barber, a man confronts Sasha, threatening him with trimming scissors. The man cuts off a few of Alexander’s mustache hairs, then bolts out, leaving the barber in quite a shock. But Alexander doesn’t mind all that much. He’s more concerned about the state of his bushy stash than he is his actual life.
Another nuisance of A Gentleman in Moscow: The series is littered with confusing flashbacks, which will probably all amount to something over the course of the season, but now, make no sense at all. We see a woman and a girl, one who wants to play, one who seems mournful. These appear to be moments from Alexander’s past, perhaps he’s remembering them through dreams. But for now, they’re just vague pieces of a puzzle which, hopefully, will all come together soon enough.
Alexander finally meets his match in Nina (Alexa Goodall), a motor-mouthed young girl of about nine or 10 who questions the Count about what noble life used to be like. Nina, like Nikolai, comes to Alexander with the promise of escaping—but it’s actually little Nina who has a more promising plan, somewhat shockingly. Nina has a master key to open up all the doors in the hotel, including ones that lead to side passages, which she uses to spy on all the hotel guards. Although Nina and Alexander don’t escape this time around, the Count does use this opportunity to eavesdrop on some guards talking about killing off hotel guests.
Alexander runs to Nikolai. They need to flee the hotel, stat. After dinner service, Nikolai promises he’ll be ready to leave the hotel. But it’s too late—not one song in, the guards at the hotel rip Nikolai’s violin from his hands, smash it against his chair, drag Nikolai out of the building, and shoot him. Afterwards, the guards confront a bereft Alexander, wanting to know why Nikolai had two sets of travel documents instead of one. Sasha has no answer, although the guards clear his name, just this once.
Sasha feels bad—and he should! If he’d plotted this escape a little earlier, perhaps he and Nikolai would both be alive today. A narrator informs us that, no, any escape would’ve been met with death—still, too little, too late. Sasha and Nina are going to have to find some other way out of this nightmare hotel.
