After four and a half years of imprisonment at the Metropol, has Count Alexander Rostov (Ewan McGregor) finally been pushed to the edge? The opening images of A Gentleman in Moscow episode 3 would indicate yes, as the count stands on the hotel roof ready to plunge to his death. But why?
To find out, we go back about a month. It's a beautiful morning on the hotel roof when Rostov hears an explosion far off in the city. Abram (Dermot Crowley), the caretaker of the hotel, appears, telling Rostov the party is demolishing old buildings. Abram invites Rostov to share his honey, produced by the colony of bees Abram keeps on the roof. It makes Rostov remember the honey on his family estate, which had a taste of apple.
So how does Rostov go from sampling homegrown honey to preparing to jump from the roof? Read our full recap of A Gentleman in Moscow episode 3, "The Last Rostov."
A final goodbye
The narrator reveals Lenin has died in the years between episodes. Now Stalin and Trotsky are in a power struggle. However, life inside the hotel has remained relatively unchanged, with Rostov having settled into his own routine.
This includes catch-ups with an older Nina (Leah Balmforth). But her and Rostov's conversations have changed from talk of princesses to communism's standings on the negatives of capitalism.
Another of Rostov's regular activities is trying to get the attention of Anna Urbanov (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who has ignored him since their night together four years ago. As Anna returns yet again, Rostov sends her a bottle of champagne (a move he has tried many times before) with a note asking for a "third chance at a first impression." Before Rostov can find out if his latest attempt is successful, Mishka (Fehinti Balogun) arrives with sad news.
Rostov's grandmother, the countess (Penny Downie), has died. Rostov asks if she had a ceremony befitting her standing, but apparently just a small service at a crematorium. Rostov refuses to accept this, wanting to throw a celebration to honor her. He plans a feast for 20 guests, despite objections from Mishka and the hotel staff that the party frowns upon such activities. But Rostov plows ahead with his plans.
The moths of Manchester
Despite the narrator's earlier claims, change is now coming to the Metropol. Rostov is appalled when workers begin to paint over an old mural. But he has little time to worry about that, as he is summoned to speak with Glebnikov (Johnny Harris). Glebnikov wants Rostov to teach him how to better understand the privileged class that remains in Russia, saying educated families and individuals are dividing the party against Stalin.
Rostov and Nina observe more changes being made to the hotel, which reminds Rostov of the moths of Manchester. He explains the moths once had predominantly white wings with black speckles, blending them perfectly with the area's silver birch trees. However, as the industrial revolution occurred, they were exposed as soot covered everything. As a result, moths with black wings and white spots, once the minority, became the majority. He laments that such a change is happening now in Russia. Nina brings up Darwin's principle of adapt or die.
Later, Rostov overhears Anna ordering champagne to be delivered to her room, so he bribes the bartender to let him take it up to her. She lets him in and sends her assistant Olga (Anastasia Hille) away so the two of them can be alone. Rostov says he worried he offended her during their previous encounter, believing it's why it took so long for them to speak again. Anna denies that, saying she was satisfied with their encounter, revealing they could have reunited before if Rostov had sent himself rather than champagne, though whether she received him or not would've depended on her mood. Tonight she is in the mood.
After their tryst, Rostov comments she lied about her father and her upbringing when they last met, as she recently said something different in an interview. Anna changes her life story to best fit what people want to hear, even creating another story of her father being a famous matador on the spot for Rostov. He compares her to the moths of Manchester. When Rostov leaves, he asks "until the next time?" Anna only says perhaps, but with a smile on her face.
Rostov's party flops
Rostov meets with Abram again on the roof. The caretaker is upset as the queen bee of his colony has died, believing the hive turned on her because the construction in the city has destroyed the trees and gardens they used for pollination. Rostov offers hope they may still return.
That is not the only thing that has disappeared from the hotel. While having dinner with Nina, Rostov gets into an argument with the waiter he dislikes, Leplevsky (John Heffernan). Rostov tries to order a specific bottle of wine, but Leplevsky explains they now only offer two choices for wine: white or red.
Rostov goes down to the cellar with Andrey (Lyes Salem) to discover that all the wine labels have been removed, with the Soviet Food Commission declaring wine varieties counter the ideas of the revolution. Rostov calls it cultural vandalism, wanting to know who complained. It was Leplevsky, after an earlier instance where Rostov corrected his wine recommendation to other guests. As Andrey points out, Leplevsky has friends in influential positions in the party.
This is the first bad omen for Rostov's celebration for his grandmother. The second is that the lobby is being redecorated with communist paraphernalia, as Stalin is expected to attend a reception for Anna's latest movie at the hotel. Rostov spots Nina among the people helping to set up the banners.
At the celebration, only Mishka and, eventually, Nina attend. Mishka tells Rostov the other guests would have been nervous even before Stalin was rumored to be coming to the hotel, but Rostov remains steadfast that people will show up to honor his grandmother. This leads to him exploding at Andrey when he asks what to do with the food, with Rostov demanding that they wait.
Rostov laments once again about the wine bottles, to which Nina says it's only wine. Rostov argues wine captures a moment in history, telling a story of place and time. But Nina agrees with the party that wine is a "monument to privilege" and getting rid of these old ways is good for Russia to progress. Rostov is shocked, asking what has happened to her? Before he can apologize, Nina leaves.
Realizing the night is a failure, Rostov asks Mishka to go as well, as he wants to be alone. He then throws the food and dishes on the ground in anger, only stopping when Glebnikov comes in. Glebnikov reveals all of Rostov's guests are now living in squalor and dreaming of the old ways, hinting they are still monitored, proving Mishka's point of the danger that could have come from them attending. Glebnikov also reminds Rostov he is still a prisoner in the hotel.
Hope renewed
All of this leads to Rostov preparing to take his own life. He leaves a note for Nina and then heads to the roof. As he inches toward the edge, Abram appears, telling him the bees have returned and asks him to come see. He hands Rostov a piece of bread with the new batch of honey; it has the taste of apple, like the honey from Rostov's family estate. Abram says the bees must have come back from Rostov's home, calling it a sign they want Rostov to look after them. Abram tells Rostov he has much more to give, begging him not to waste it.
Rostov returns to the hotel bar, where Anna is also commiserating after Stalin opted not to attend the reception after apparently not liking the movie, signaling that Anna's career may be over. Rostov makes a toast to them, a confederacy of the humbled. Together they head up to Anna's room, with her lovingly holding his hand when they are in the elevator.
New episodes of A Gentleman in Moscow premiere on Paramount Plus on Fridays, also airing on Showtime in the US on Sundays.
