Big fan of the lion statues.

Celebrations of princess' return are cut short by an attempted sige, foiled by sausages and a mill.

because I felt like some historical costume drama. Went in not knowing anything in advance about the show. Here's a trailer.

Content Warning:

• The show features scenes involving sexual assault, or coercion. Nothing graphic is shown, but in emotional terms, there are some grim moments that work within the narrative, and are also frightening and disturbing to watch. I would probably proceed carefully with this one if these kinds of topics are triggering for you.

Likes:

• The musical numbers are great. Emotional singing and dancing, on lavish and beautiful sets. The high production values are especially evident in those moments.
• The drama tends towards melodrama, but also there are tough women characters plotting revenge on each other, and some of the sparring dialogues between these enemies is often deeply enjoyable. If there's depth and nuance allowed to the characters, it's often in these steely matriach figures facing off against each other as they also navigate the constraints of the world they're living in.
• The British are the biggest, most evil villains (AS THEY SHOULD BE!)
• There's a plotline about overthrowing the British. I appreciate that the story goes there (AS IT SHOULD DO BECAUSE FUCK THE COLONISERS!)

Dislikes:

• Many of the villains are either openly queer, or queer coded. My instinct would usually be: "fine, if you want to make the bad guys queer than I will just root for the evil queers! " But some of their actions are genuinely cruel. It's not one of those times when it's easy for me to subvert the narrative for myself. Even though some of these characters are also eventually allowed a measure of complexity, I'm underwhelmed by the lazy stereotyping implied in "oh, and the bad guys = queer".
• I find it difficult to like the main male love interest. He's initially scornful towards the tawaifs. He gets out of a number of bad situations because of his status and wealth, often leaving other characters in the lurch in the process. Most of the men in this show are pretty awful, TBH. He's probably supposed to be one of the more sympathetic ones, but... I still don't like him. That made it hard for me to root for the main romantic couple, when I'm clearly supposed to cheer for them throughout the series - they're ostensibly the most "innocent" characters in the story. But I spent most of the time hoping she would kick him to the curb and build a better life for herself instead. 😂

Ultimately, I was surprised by the direction this series went in. As events accelerated towards rebellion against the British, all the characters' lives took unexpected and sometimes moving turns. Normally I wince when narratives engage in tub-thumping around patriotism, given my experience of how uncritical nationalistic sentiments can be used to compell mindless loyalty, or turned towards fostering a hatred of the Other. But in this instance that's about wanting indepedence from the British, wanting freedom from British colonial rule. That's understandable. Wanting self-determination is understandable.

A theme of longing for "freedom" runs throughout this show, and not just freedom from the British colonisers, but from the often cruel constraints of the stratified society that the tawaifs find themselves in. Again, the show tends towards melodrama, but also it is trying to say something about what it's like to navigate a world in which you are an oppressed commodity - no matter your actual skills, your humanity, your own dreams and desires. Maybe the broad brushstrokes the story uses feel at times too simplistic and even disappointingly so - as when it tilts towards stereotyping queer characters. I wish it had done better that way, because I would generally want to root for its anti-colonial message, even if I also tend to shy away from filmic representations of patriotism. Call it a mixed bag then, and again, do approach it with some caution if themes related to sexual assault and coercion are triggering for you.

In this episode we learn that when disco is too good, it can destroy houses.