Warning: Reviews of The Regime will contain spoilers.

To the surprise of absolutely no one outside the palace walls, last week’s revelation that Herbert Zubak (Matthis Schoenaerts) is the heir to the country’s foundling leads to hilariously disastrous results in episode 3. The Regime continues to remain within its singular location – with the exception of some generic countryside stock footage for a palace infomercial and a montage of news reports after the country’s “reunification” operation – but we get an even better look at what’s going on around this fictional country, and Elena’s deteriorating psyche.

The latter comes during a confessional scene between Elena (Kate Winslet) and her father’s corpse, as she imagines a two-sided conversation, her father scolding her and worrying about Zubak’s influence. Episode 3 revolves around his birthday celebration, as the palace gets ready for the banquet that gives the episode its title. Aside from a brief moment in the series premiere, we haven’t really understood much of the influence that Elena’s father has over her, even in death. But “The Heroes’ Banquet” shows, for the first time in the series, a look inside her head as he warns her of the consequences of her sharing control.

We know even less about his reign or what kind of upbringing Elena had, but it does reveal a great deal about Elena with how much she seeks his approval. It’s a fascinating character detail for The Regime to depict Elena as someone who pays no mind to the advice of her cabinet or husband Nicki (Guillame Gallienne), but seeks out the counsel of men who she grants power to – namely Zubak and her father. The show has made it interesting to debate who Elena’s real-life counterparts could be, but this week’s episode gives a real insight into how those men and women could make their decisions.

Speaking of real-life counterparts, episode 3 makes it abundantly clear how much of Elena is inspired by Vladimir Putin – specifically in his proxy war with Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. The bulk of the episode deals with Herbert’s proposal to seize all the country’s land that’s owned by the elites and give it back to the people, which understandably rankles the inner circle. But Elena sharply pivots to invade the neighboring region, without firing a single bullet, as Elena notes at a later press conference.

It seems that Nicki and the cabinet’s plan last week to divide Elena and Zubak bears fruit in short order in episode 3, but at what cost? They’ve enabled Elena to make more rash decisions that will endanger them (and their pocketbooks) and everyone within the country, going from bizarre homeopathic regiments to threats of global economic sanctions. And in the process, she’s shown them what kind of leader she’s capable of being when her power goes unchecked. Now, with a dangerous man like Zubak kicked outside of the inner circle, the target on Elena’s back has likely grown beyond anyone’s comprehension.