The Romanoffs season 1 finale recap: The One That Holds Everything

The Romanoffs season 1 finale had it all–revenge, betrayal, and some classic family drama.

The Romanoffs is such a stellar series, and if you haven’t checked it out already, you’re totally missing out. Each of the eight episodes from the season has an interesting story to tell, and while it’s not about the Romanoffs directly, it ties them in through their supposed descendants. It’s hard to say if any of the characters were telling the truth or not, or if they actually were relatives of the royal Russian family.

In any case, the episodes aren’t focusing on the connection to the family so much so as the stories of each character. The series is genius and the narratives are so intricate and contain a lot of emotional depth. I am a huge fan, and the season 1 finale solidified the love I was feeling all season long. Despite the critics that would beg to differ, I think there is a lot to take away from the series and the stories it is trying to tell.

In the season 1 finale of The Romanoffs, we are treated to a series of stories within stories that span decades and countries. Each character connects to another but the story goes full circle in the episode’s final moments. I’ll do my best to lay out the events of the episode without it getting too confusing.

The episode begins with a young man boarding a train to Paris who ends up sitting next to a chatty elderly woman. She has lots to say to him and is intrigued by the fact that he has worked on a show in Hollywood. It’s clear that he is very annoyed by her, but he hears her out when she begins to tell a story of murder. This interaction is very important later, so don’t forget it.

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The woman begins telling her story and mentions a young boy named Simon. During the 90-minute episode, we see the struggles Simon faces as a child.

His mother perished in a fire that his nanny/father’s mistress, Ondine, started (or so we can assume anyway). Earlier that night, his mother confronted his father about the affair, and mere hours later, she died.

It isn’t long before Ondine makes herself at home in the aftermath of his mother’s death. She assumes the role of the lady of the house and makes it so he is sent off to school elsewhere.

Of course, this comes not long after Simon tells her he saw her the night of the fire. To eliminate any potential threats to her happily ever after, Ondine gets rid of her problem.

Time goes on and Simon finds success while attending Cambridge, and gets a finance job in Hong Kong. He becomes close to his coworker, Christopher, and the two of them have a romantic relationship. However, Christopher tells Simon he has proposed to his girlfriend and their situation was never meant to be forever.

Despite Simon’s attempts to sabotage their wedding, he fails. Christopher gets married and eventually grows apart from a heartbroken Simon. After such a tragedy, Simon falls deep into the world of drugs and alcohol, straying far away from the path he was once on.

At some point, he goes home to England to visit his dying father who could care less about him. Of course, Ondine is there too and displeased to see him too. It’s as if Simon has no part in their family, especially after Ondine and George had a son together.

It’s actually quite a devasting aspect of this episode of The Romanoffs. During one of the flashbacks, we see Simon showing up for his half brother’s birthday. He is not included in family pictures and is brushed off by his father when he notices that Ondine is wearing his mother’s earrings–a Romanov heirloom.

Credit: Amazon Prime Video

After all the heartbreak, addiction, and family drama, Simon eventually tries to kill himself and the episode moves forward in time once again. Simon is at a support group sharing his life story and all that has happened to him. While one assumes he’s at some sort of therapy session or NA/AA meeting, it’s actually a support group for trans men and women.

Throughout his childhood, we see glimpses of Simon struggling to identify with a gender. This scene helps us understand that he is finally trying to figure it out. In fact, after speaking with one of the support group attendants, we see Simon completely transform into who she wants to be.

She visits Ondine and much to our surprise, Ondine recognizes Simon. All she wants is to get her mother’s earrings back but Ondine refuses to do so and says they are kept away in a vault in Geneva. As they bicker back and forth, Ondine and George’s son, Jack, comes home. Guess who it is? The man from the beginning of the episode! Say what?!

Credit: Amazon Prime Video

He is the very same man that is seated next to the talkative old lady. And just like that, the entire episode comes full circle. Remember the story the old lady was telling him about a Romanov heir? Well, that Romanov heir was her aka Simon, now called Candace.

Candace had been following Jack’s accomplishments and recently the news of his engagement closely. She intercepted him for one reason only, and it becomes obvious what as Jack puts the story together and realizes Candace is Simon. As he sits there in disbelief, he begins to choke and run out of air.

Candace poisoned his drink earlier and is exacting revenge in the most unexpected way possible. After Jack takes his final breath, Candace casually shuts his eyes, goes into his bag, pulls out a box, and goes to the bathroom. What was inside that box? The Romanov heirloom earrings that once belonged to her mother.

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As the train pulled into Paris, Candace gathered her belongings and strutted off right past Ondine and Jack’s fiance who are eagerly awaiting his arrival. Oh, and you better believe she was wearing the earrings. Holy revenge.

Catch all episode of The Romanoffs on Amazon Prime Video!

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