Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet Duke It Out on ‘The Regime’

IN DREAMS, I F*CK WITH YOU

Only a politically exiled Hugh Grant can go toe-to-toe with an overheated, bleeding, extremely horny Elena.

A photo illustration showing Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant in Episode 4 of The Regime.
Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/HBO

The Regime speeds ahead in Episode 4, which opens four months into the future. Elena Vernham’s (Kate Winslet) nation has continued to spiral into total disarray, and the country’s media is spinning lies to protect the chancellor. Rumors about the cobalt mines stalling have startled the commoners, but Emil Bartos (Stanley Townsend) has shut down those “false” (read: true) reports. In a radio announcement, Elena tells everyone that the reunification of the Faban Corridor has resulted in no guerrilla warfare, “only love.”

Being forced to listen to all of these “Don’t believe the lies!” messages from prison has left Herbert (Matthias Schoenaerts) on the verge of a psychotic break. He thrashes around his room, hearing Elena’s voice everywhere he goes—even when she’s not on the state-mandated radio, he hears her in his dreams, insisting that he “dreams about fucking [her],” and not the other way around. When he’s awake, Herbert sees traces of Elena around the palace prison yards. There’s no escaping the sound of her voice or the presence of her body.

Meanwhile, at the palace, Elena is having intense hot flashes, subjecting the rest of the palace to the cool blasts of the A/C dialed down to its lowest setting. “It’s like lying awake in a camel’s asshole. Can’t you feel it?” Elena asks Nicky (Guillaume Gallienne), who is bundled from head-to-toe. No, no one can feel the heat. Everyone is sporting parkas and sweaters around Elena’s back, forced to shiver in their usual clothes when she’s around so as to not make her feel like she’s going crazy.

Palace staffers murmur their fears to one another in quiet hallways, nervous about the entire economy circling the drain, the dangers over at the Faban Corridor, and rising tensions in the cobalt mines. At a Cabinet meeting before Elena’s arrival, one staffer proclaims, “I’d murder my entire family for a scarf,” wrapping his arms around his nearly blue body. “One scarf, and I’d slit their throats.” Seconds later, a screen showing Elena on a video call from an ice bath appears in the conference room. She’s still sweating. Dear lord.

Elena requests that her Cabinet all tries a little harder at “being normal.” Because they’re all acting odd, she feels like she’s weird, and that makes her distrustful of everyone. With that, the meeting moves forward onto discussions of the Faban Corridor. Foreign adversaries are now freezing assets, deferring travel, and doing pretty much everything short of sending armies over to fight Elena to express their distaste for the reunifications. And, one of the staffers says, there’s also been a major incident with a horse.

The horse dilemma is explained to Elena in staccato sentences that describe a truly disturbing moment: Over in Westgate, one of the towns with a huge sugar beet factory, workers at the plant were protesting over their lack of a union. A police horse kicked a protester in the lower abdomen area. That protester was a woman. That woman was with child. This incident forced her to miscarry. A tragedy.

Elena couldn’t care less.

But her Cabinet encourages her to fix this before the protests get even more violent, so Elena begrudgingly agrees to have a public dialogue with the people of Westgate. Since this involved a child—kind of?—Elena will invite a couple dozen kids over to the palace to assuage their fears of nationwide unrest. She’s too anxious about getting sick to ever actually leave the palace and visit neighboring towns.

A still from Episode 4 of The Regime showing Hugh Grant.
HBO

Over in prison, Herbert finds a book written by former Chancellor Ed Keplinger in his cell. He gives it a once-over, but, still loyal to Elena, he sets it aside. Later, the palace guards come to remove Herbert from his enclosure. He’s dragged over to meet the prison’s biggest guest: Ed (Hugh Grant) himself. Herbert is confused. The whole country has seen videos of Ed living in a nice little mountain in the hills. That’s all movie magic, Ed says; these guards drag him out to make fake videos every so often, in an effort to maintain Elena’s power. Ed tries to form an alliance with Herbert, but Herbert is hesitant to work with Elena’s nemesis.

Agnes (Andrea Riseborough) has lost her son to Elena’s harsh dictatorship. Oskar (Louie Mynett) now lives in the palace under Elena’s watch at all times. He’s now her dutiful mold tester, taking the role from Herbert. But Agnes has been receiving texts from random American phone numbers begging her for intel on the palace. When one promises the safety and health of her son in America if she spills on the day-to-day habits of Elena, Agnes thinks about life in America. Ultimately, she upholds her vow to Elena.

Then, it’s time for the children of Westgate to make their grand visit to the palace. Elena is nervous to talk about the horse, but her entire Cabinet insists: Do not talk about the horse. It’s that simple. Do not even mention the horse. And for the first five minutes, Elena succeeds. One of the kids introduces himself, a child with parents who work at the Westgate sugar beet factory. “Yes, I thought I smelled something,” Elena jokes, winning no laughter from the audience.

But only three questions in, Elena loses it, cursing up a storm and complaining about how ridiculous the horse incident was. No one should attend a protest if they’re pregnant, Elena says. She’s upset because she believes America is forcing this fear on her nation. Elena yells and shouts and scares the children, only stopping when she realizes she has a bloody nose after all the commotion.

Her face still bloodied, Elena visits Ed underneath the palace in jail. There’s no real rhyme or reason, but Ed accuses her of stopping by because she’s secretly petrified about the turbulent state of the nation. Elena leaves shortly after that, telling the palace guards to torture Ed in the “face and torso, but save some for later.” A nearby prison radio chatters with news that Elena was struck by a brain frequency attack made by the CIA, which is what caused her to act out of order and have a nosebleed. Herbert listens, then spots Elena moving up toward the palace like a god.

Herbert meets back up with Ed, upset that Elena didn’t pause to notice him on her visit down to Ed’s cell. Herbert asks Ed if she mentioned him; no, she didn’t. Ed urges Herbert to let Elena go. He’s fixated on her. In a conversation a few days later, Herbert finally agrees to ally with Ed in a partnership that could take Elena down. The pair of them will run for chancellor; with Ed’s experience and Herbert’s connection to the commoners, they’ll have a good shot at winning.

At a fondue photo shoot, Elena expresses her fears to Nicholas about losing the people to protests. Nicholas says she’s got to stop keeping at a distance, pretending they’re not real—instead, she should go visit them. Finally, Elena agrees. With a face mask, gallons of fresh air, and a (somewhat) brave face, Elena treks into the outside world, the first time we’ve seen her leave this palace in The Regime’s entire four episodes.

The president of the sugar beet union greets Elena as she rolls into Westgate, ready to give her a tour of the factory. The workers are nervous that they’ll lose their jobs to the factories in China, who produce sugar for half the cost as Elena’s nation. Elena vows to complete “listening tours” across the country to ensure there is no further bloodshed, and that reforms will be put in place to see that sugar beet workers remain employed. Everyone is overjoyed. The president hands Elena a gift—a sugar beet plant—which she later throws out the window of the car, irate over its “turd” smell.

Elena does not come through on any of her promises, asking her Cabinet to send armed officers to the union office at Westgate’s factory. The protests are growing more and more violent—which is actually good, Elena says. If she stops peaceful protests, she looks like a fascist dictator. But if she uses law enforcement to put an end to armed insurgents, it looks like she’s the protector. Later, when large stockpiles of guns are reportedly found in the union offices, news outlets accuse the Westgate factory of being in cahoots with the United States. Is that true? Or did Elena plant those weapons to further her nation’s distrust for thy neighbor?

A still from Episode 4 of The Regime showing Kate Winslett.
HBO

Herbert can’t stop having weird, faceless dreams of Elena’s voice—especially since she’s now telling him that she actually does, in fact, “dream about fucking [him].” He confronts Ed, accusing him of stripping the image of Elena from his dreams. Since they’ve been working together, Herbert has been dreaming of nothing, losing his otherworldly connection to Elena. Ed slams Herbert for his constant kowtowing to Elena, which results in another bloody brawl between Herbert and a member of high society.

The palace guards don’t punish Herbert. In fact, they do the exact opposite: They free Herbert, bringing him back up to the palace. There, he’s greeted by a horny Elena. “I want to fuck you,” Herbert shouts like an animal from across the room. They do exactly that—in front of everyone, including Elena’s husband. Nicky tries to stop them, but it’s too late; Elena and Herbert are on the floor, making out, ripping clothes off each other’s backs. Nothing like a little civil war to get you in the mood, huh?

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