18 thoughts on “SNARK WEEK RECAP: The Empress (2022), Ep. 4

  1. Every time I think this show can’t get more out there, a new episode recap comes out and it just gets weirder

  2. To clarify which Alexander: At this time it would have to be Alexander II of Russia since he reigned until 1880. His wife was Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.

    1. Yes, I remember there was a bit where he refers to a Hessen estate, so that makes sense.

      1. That is Marie of hesse not dagmar of Denmark, dag mar was married to alexander the 3 this is Alexander the 2 dagmar’s father in law

    1. Those sunglasses are hilarious. Would love an article about period-accurate tinted glasses, or glasses more generally; they rarely pop up in period drama except in a very ahistorical/steampunk way

      1. I did LOL when I saw those specs – Maximillian’s ones seem a bit more period-accurate to me, but it looks like the actress just came back from a break and forgot she was wearing her modern ones!

      2. I believe that sunglasses weren’t really a thing before the 1920’s/30’s (being basically the first time in Western fashion that hat brims couldn’t be counted on to shade the eyes). Before that tinted glasses were only worn by invalids or people suffering from eye strain.

      3. I can’t help wondering: were those glasses actually part of the costume, or is that just a behind-the-scenes shot, with the actress wearing her own? Anybody know?

  3. Love the mop hat! And the picture captioned “The back of her dress is similarly pleated” even shows the handle they got it from.

  4. Is there any explanation of how a totally random woman – presumably of low birth – got a post as a lady-in-waiting? The Austrian court was highly regulated, bureaucratic and conservative. Ladies-in-waiting to the Empress would have been carefully selected, and of impeccable lineage, with proper education and excellent manners. It’s not like they just put job adverts in the press.
    Even if she was a daughter of an aristocratic family who run off and became a revolutionary, she would not get the job.

  5. I get that shows try to make things sexy but the real Elizabeth was seemingly pretty disinterested in sex, and even disliked it. It bothers me a bit to see that interesting aspect of the historical figure removed in favor of sexing things up, but I suppose that’s to be expected with shows like this

  6. I think the only thing I don’t loathe is Alexander’s weird hair style. Those weird rolls are actually almost 1850s-ish; CDVs show some really interesting things on un-hatted men. The rest of it is so bad I can’t even find it funny! I actually really like this period and know a lot about it.

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