Amazon’s The Romanoffs chronicles the stories of people who believe they are descendants of the Romanovs. Each episode follows a new story in a different part of the world. The Romanoffs season 1 episode 8 took place on a train from France to England. A woman named Candace told Jack Edgar a layered story through the characters within it about a Romanov descendant whom she once knew.
Independent
Simon Burrows had a difficult relationship with his father, George, who had an affair with Simon’s nanny, Ondine. Simon had seen them kissing in his driveway. His mother, Natalie, found out and confronted George, who naturally denied it. Soon after, their house caught fire while George was out. Simon escaped, but his mother died. He had seen Ondine outside of their house the night of the fire. Simon asked Ondine if she had anything to do with the fire, and she threatened him.
It didn’t take long for George and Ondine to marry and send Simon off to boarding school. Before he left, Simon found his mother’s earrings in a storage room. They were supposedly a Romanov family heirloom, and Ondine had admired them.
Eternal Flame
Simon had gone on to Cambridge to seek approval from his father. But at his half-brother’s birthday, he realized that his father had started over with his family. His mother’s earrings had gone to Ondine. Simon moved on to work in finance in Hong Kong. He had an affair and fell in love with Christopher Ming, who was engaged to Kiera. After Christopher’s bachelor party, Simon told Kiera that Christopher received oral sex from a woman there. Christopher told Kiera that Simon lied and cited his complicated family and childhood as reasons he felt sorry for him.
Not a Victim
After losing his friendship with Christopher, Simon spiraled out of control. He abused drugs and alcohol. When he discovered George was dying, he moved back to England. George and Simon were estranged, and they hadn’t healed their relationship. Simon tried to kill himself and joined a trans group. He was transitioning and got some valuable advice from a fellow transgender woman.
Years went by, and she visited Ondine to retrieve her mother’s earrings. They argued, and Ondine eventually told her they were in a safe in Geneva. Ondine’s son Jack came home to take her out to eat. Simon left without the earrings.
Signature Cocktail
Jack Edgar was on a train. He was the screenwriter who wrote the Romanov mini-series from episode 3, and he had “family business” in Geneva. An older woman, Candace, asked to trade seats with him and bothered him with conversation during the trip. Jack left for the bar car, and when he got back, she had gotten them cocktails. She told him Simon’s story after he told her he wrote the Romanov miniseries. Candace was Simon, and Jack Edgar was her half-brother. She had poisoned his drink and killed him to hurt Ondine. Candace went through Jack’s bag and found her mother’s earrings. While walking on the station platform, she walked past Ondine, who hadn’t recognized her.
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