“Don’t Yet Rejoice”

• Creator: Will Tracy
• Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Guillame Gallienne, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant

Grade: B-

Warning: Reviews of The Regime will contain spoilers.

Just as I predicted at the end of last week’s episode, Elena has to choose in the season finale of The Regime between her love of Herbert Zubak and her love of power. Of course, it gets much more complicated than and dangerous than a simple binary choice, and episode 6 puts them both through the ringer repeatedly. I didn’t know exactly how this show would end, or what kind of statement it would be making by the end of it, but for every expected beat, there was an added surprise or two.

“All Ye Faithful”

• Creator: Will Tracy
• Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Guillame Gallienne, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant

Grade: B+

Warning: Reviews of The Regime will contain spoilers.

Six months have passed since “Midnight Feast”, and episode 5 quickly and frequently shows how much things have gone off the rails for Elena (Kate Winslet) and her country. What started out as unruly protests in episode 4 has evolved into a full-scale civil war. The episode even chimes in by occasionally showing the increasingly small distance between the rebels and the palace. I remain impressed with how The Regime has fully embraced its silly side, from this week’s opening moments to the end. But, as always, it manages to balance sharp character drama (and action, in the final moments) in-between.

“Midnight Feast”

• Creator: Will Tracy
• Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Guillame Gallienne, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant

Grade: B

Warning: Reviews of The Regime will contain spoilers.

Minute for minute, episode 4 provides the most explicitly comedic material of The Regime so far. But it still manages to add in plenty of darkness, as Elena (Kate Winslet) tightens her dictatorial grip on her people, and Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts) descends further into madness. One piece of humor comes in the uniquely bizarre way that Elena tortures Zubak as he rots in his prison cell, pumping in a loud, endless stream of news updates and public addresses with Elena’s voice.

“The Heroes’ Banquet”

• Creator: Will Tracy
• Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Guillame Gallienne, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant

Grade: A-

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 Foundling”

• Creator: Will Tracy
• Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Guillame Gallienne, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant

Grade: B+

Warning: Reviews of The Regime will contain spoilers.

You know you’re in the hands of a talented creative team when what you’re not being shown is just as impactful as what you are being shown. In episode 2, The Regime still feels hampered by its self-imposed limitations, but manages to mine a great deal of comedy and drama out of so little. I admire a project that takes place almost entirely in a single location, as is the case so far with the show, but I wonder if we’d get a better sense of the problems that plague Elena’s (Kate Winslet) still-unnamed country.

“Victory Day”

• Creator: Will Tracy
• Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Guillame Gallienne, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant

Grade: B

Warning: Reviews of The Regime will contain spoilers.

It’s been five years since Veep went off the air, and we’ve been starved for great political satire entertainment. Part of this is because real-life global politics have simply been too bizarre to spoof with subtlety. Now comes HBO/Max’s newest limited series The Regime, which marries a heightened comedy and a sharp political insight with uniquely rendered characters. In this episode 1, “Victory Day”, not all of its elements work perfectly, but it sets the groundwork for a great deal of entertainment.