Victory Day – As the opening episode of The Regime begins, Agnes watches as a vehicle arrives outside the palace. Agnes (Andrea Riseborough) goes outside to greet Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts) who has been given something to calm him down. Agnes urges him to come in because she is about to do her speech. She tells him not to worry about the ammonia smell because they’re just sanitizing for the third time in as many months. Herbert is told the tall, scary woman is Susan Goin who is the Minister of Finance. The short man is Dr. Kershaw who is the Chancellor’s personal physician. Susan Goin (Pippa Haywood) checks on Herbert. She is opposed to his selection because his trigger finger will create a problem for them.

Susan asks how much he knows. Herbert only knows he is being reassigned there. Susan and Dr. Kershaw (Kenneth Collard) explain that their primary problem is spores or mycotoxins. They’re working on containing the problem. They want Herbert to have a chat with the Chancellor about it. Before long, he is meeting Chancellor Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet). Herbert confirms he is from Westgate and his parents are dead. Elena explains she picked him because she wanted a Site Five boy. She says the protesters behaved like animals and the soldiers just reacted. Although people are calling them the butchers of Site Five, Elena knows the truth. Elena believes there’s a good man in there who deserves love.

She feels like they’ve met in a dream. Elena thinks it’s good he hasn’t been told anything. She suspects the so-called experts know less than the common craps like them. She shows him a hygrometer and explains it measures humidity in the air. He’ll follow her everywhere and take measurements. Elena urges him to strive to have a graceful mind. Moments later, Susan tells Herbert that he must dissuade anyone from having hand contact with the Chancellor. Agnes takes Herbert to his room and tells him to memorize the floor plan and the schedule. Once Herbert is alone, he listens to the Chancellor’s speech on television. She talks about defeating Chancellor Edward Keplinger in a free, fair election.

In the morning, Herbert gets a call telling him to get up since it is Victory Day. Agnes comes for him a short time later. She insists it is simple. Herbert just needs to walk with the Chancellor and measure the humidity. Once Elena joins him, she says they’ll go to Glasshouse first with Mr. Laskin who is the head of security. She tells him to prepare himself to meet the bureaucracy. Mr. Laskin (Danny Webb) explains to Elena that Finance Minister Goin’s patience is running thin waiting for her to finalize the cobalt partnership with the United States. The Americans may require additional reassurances due to the Site Five unseemliness. Elena is reminded her husband is sitting with Vogue today. Once they go back inside, Herbert confirms his mind is more graceful today.

Elena asks about meeting in a dream. Herbert says the sugar beets. Susan receives word she is on her way up. Mr. Schiff (David Bamber), Mr. Singer (Henry Goodman), and the others wait for her. Once Elena arrives, they begin talking about the BioCon and how CEO Richard Kaiser will be at her table with his wife. Susan says they want to move towards closing the cobalt deal. Elena asks if she thinks she is dragging her heels. She complains it looks weak to grant cobalt mining rights to a foreign power. Singer agrees. Susan says the people want growth. Elena asks if she can hear the people grunting from her country house. Susan argues they can focus on making the palace safe after they close the deal. Once they leave, Elena tells Herbert to make sure he keeps his paws to himself.

They visit the body of Joseph Peter Vernham. Elena talks to her dad about the victory day celebration and why she won the Chancellorship. Then, Elena gets a checkup with Dr. Kershaw. After that, she listens to her husband’s interview with Vogue. He is asked about the reports of unrest in the mines. Elena’s husband insists that was an isolated incident. Elena turns it off before she checks the entrée for the victory dinner. She asks the boy to go with his mother and to take his epilepsy pills. Once they’re alone, Elena tells Herbert how she really feels. He agrees to be there with her tonight. A man asks Agnes about getting a house call later. Agnes tells Herbert what to do when Elena arrives. Richard Kaiser complains about the mine incident. Mr. Laskin asks Herbert why he did it.

He heard that some of the miners weren’t rioting at all and the army boys just panicked. He asks if they panicked or enjoyed it. Emil Bartos (Stanley Townsend) speaks to his victorious friends. He mentions the former Chancellor, Edward Keplinger, and accuses him of breaking the people. They share a toast to the Chancellor who sings with her husband Nicholas. When she speaks to Kaiser, Herbert tries to stop them from touching. Elena changes her mind and touches Kaiser and his wife, Mrs. Kaiser. Deborah Kaiser asks Nicholas where they met. He says they met in medical school in Paris. He has a wife and baby at the time, but Elena is very persuasive. Elena steps away to speak to Herbert in private. Once she corners him, he hits him across the face.

She complains he has made her look like a lunatic now. Elena tells him to shoot himself next time before she returns to the party. Elena tells Richard Kaiser (Donald Sage Mackay) they’re ready to grow with him. She tells him he can pay for the pits and refineries or the Chinese will. Richard wants to get to 51% because that’s how it’s always done. He promises they’ll be more than fair. Herbert takes Elena back to her room and she keeps him outside. Susan returns and tells him he is the night moisture sentry for the residence floor. As a result, he’ll wave the gizmo around the halls from midnight to 6 a.m. and he never sees the Chancellor’s face again. Herbert insists he was trying to help. Later that night, Herbert does the job and bashes himself in the chest repeatedly.

Later that night, a man sits down on Elena’s bed. Herbert hears her talking to him. He ends up beating the guy up before carrying Elena to the clinic. Elena holds Herbert’s hand while she receives treatment. Later, Agnes is told they needed more scrubby hands for the great microbe hunt. Peter tells her what they’re saying outside the palace. Agnes admits no one has seen Elena except for Herbert. Seconds later, Herbert takes Elena sunflower which will help her body fight. Nick comes to visit, but Herbert is hesitant to let him come inside. He eventually comes in and says Minister Goin and Dr. Kershaw wanted to share a plan for the short term. Elena tells him about her dad’s spots. Nick wonders if it is time to let him go. She tells him to stop that.

Elena agrees to meet them at noon. Later, they take her to meet Dr. Kershaw and Goin. They promise every measure is being taken to ensure nothing like this happens again. They argue that the renovation has to be put on hold. The toxicity she detected in the walls would remain so she’d be trapped in a petri dish. Susan recommends relocating to the countryside. Susan and a select staff would remain to keep the government functional while she recovers. Once they’re alone, Elena asks Herbert to sit next to her. She explains he is nobody so that means she can trust him. He is the only one who can tell her what nobodies want. Elena makes him say he loves her before asking what he wants to happen next.

Herbert says she was in his dreams and she told him to crush anyone who makes her weak. He claims they’re laughing at them because she dances for foreign cash. America treats them as a colony and rains urine on them all day. Herbert thinks the Americans, Susan, and Kershaw want her to fail. He goes on to say she isn’t sick although something in this building is killing her. They want her crippled because she has a dream and they don’t. Herbert admits he’d love to smash their faces. Elena reminds him to have a graceful mind. He watches her play thumb war later. Then, she tells the public that one of her top ministers and key members of her household retinue conspired with a foreign-backed fifth column to try to assassinate her while she slept.

Susan and Kershaw are taken into custody. Elena says she has issued an executive order to repay their debts, turn away American investors, and rid the country of its dependence on NATO. She says they’ve suffered so America could build the global order in their image. She says they provided material aid to corrupt regimes abroad, committed mass murder, and waged their crony capitalist war. Elena argues it is time to show the world what they’re worth.

 

The Regime Review

The opening episode of The Regime probably didn’t do enough to get viewers excited about the rest of the season. It’s hard to know exactly what they were going for here, but this has to be some type of parody because it’s so dumb. If this was meant to be funny, it’s already clearly failed in that area. Truthfully, it’s a little pretentious with the writers probably believing this was a clever masterpiece that the simpletons would love.

Despite having a spectacular cast from top to bottom, this really doesn’t work at times. The lead is sometimes difficult to watch with the odd speaking from the corner of her mouth. Matthias Schoenaerts’s Herbert Zubak is far more interesting although neither character is easy to root for. This certainly doesn’t match the quality of television that HBO used to be known for, but it doesn’t even beat Netflix’s run-of-the-mill stinkers.

There’s probably some important message here from the elites, but it gets lost in the utter stupidity of the series. This episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of The Regime can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.