My dear readers,
I hope that you are using your time wisely this week, meaning I hope you are securing the perfect Halloween costume for the numberless invitations you’ve undoubtedly received to masked balls. For let’s not forget; Halloween is not just about frights and jump scares. Halloween is about disguise, deception, and the freedoms they grant us. On Halloween you can be anyone or anything you want to be, for just a little while at least. In that spirit this week I am highlighting two shows about people I’d very much like to be, or at least that I’d like to dress like for a night. They’re also both very non-scary shows, for the portion of my readership looking for a bit of a break from the spooky and the surreal.
Miss Scarlet and the Duke (PBS Masterpiece): What is there to say about this delightful show that isn’t already captured by the image above? Who doesn’t love a beautiful woman in a neatly turned dress pointing a revolver at some nameless ne'er-do-well? Miss Scarlet and the Duke is Masterpiece’s lighthearted response to the darker turn many recent detective shows have taken. It is charming and funny, full of bustling bustles and trim corsets, handsome Scottish detectives and brave young ladies. Eliza Scarlet is attempting to make a name for herself as a detective after her father passes and leaves her his agency, but no one is looking for a female detective so she has to work ten times as hard and be twenty times as smart as her male counterparts in order to make a name. It’s an unobnoxious version of the classic girl boss tale, with just enough romance and intrigue to keep you sighing pleasantly into your cup of tea. Season two has just premiered in the U.S., so it’s a perfect time to settle in and get cozy with this tale. Watch if you like fin-de-siècle costuming, Enola Holmes, and handsome men with Scottish accents.
The Empress (Netflix, in German): This one is not quite the delightful romp my first selection is, but it is a richer tale for being a true one. It is the story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, often known as Sisi. The series begins its focus on Sisi at 16 when she first meets Franz Joseph, then Emperor of Austria. In a classic dramatic setup Franz’s mother is trying to marry the young emperor off to solidify his power (the Hapsburg’s aren’t particularly popular at this time). She chooses Helene, Franz Joseph’s cousin, but he isn’t impressed. Instead he focuses instantly on Helene’s sister: the quirky, stunningly beautiful Sisi. He declares he will marry her or no one. What follows is a passionate, complicated, fragmented marriage. Empress Sisi is one of the most fascinating historical women I’ve ever read about and it is long past time that she was given her proper due in fiction. The Netflix series follows her early life, while a film being released later this year picks up the narrative when she’s in her 40s. The series is romantic and often funny, but it is clear-eyed about Sisi as a person. She was one of the most famous women of the 19th century and her death by assassination late in life made her a martyr, pushing the Austro-Hungarian Empire closer to war and eventual destruction. But all this has understandably kept her a larger-than-life figure. These pieces attempt to show her humanity. Watch if you like The Young Victoria, The Crown, or, once again, beautiful gowns.