Because of the greater ease of access we have when it comes to everything that goes into the making of television shows, there has been a "Cult of the Showrunner" that has developed over the years. Where before shows might have been viewed purely on what was in the text of the work, they're now filtered through the lens of auteur theory. Based on tweets and interviews and previous works, we form an entire worldview around a creator, and anything new they make is an expansion or refutation of that worldview. There have been times in even my reviews where I've wondered whether I'm doing too much extra-textual reading when I'm analyzing episodes of The Romanoffs. But then there are episodes like "Bright and High Circle."
It's tough to watch and review this episode without thinking about how it relates to Matthew Weiner's personal and professional life. So I'll give a rundown for those who would otherwise be lost: Weiner had a writing assistant named Kater Gordon who started on working on Mad Men in season two and eventually became a full staff writer in season three, even winning an Emmy for an episode the two of them co-wrote together. But Gordon left the show shortly after that, and she's never worked in the television industry since then. (Some feel like the dynamic between Don and Peggy in the famous Mad Men episode "The Suitcase" -- particularly their argument about awards -- was Weiner making an indirect commentary on Gordon.) We finally learned the reason for Gordon's mysterious exit from the business last November, when she revealed that she was subject to sexual harassment under Weiner's employ. She says that during a night working alone together, he once told her that she "owed it to him to let him see her naked" as reward for all that he had done for her. Weiner has repeatedly denied the allegations (albeit in pretty cagey language), but it's a situation that has hung over The Romanoffs release cycle.
So one would think that everyone involved with the show would want to stay away from anything involving sexual misconduct. In all of its prior four episodes, The Romanoffs has dealt with matters of sexual impropriety, but it seemed like that's as close to reflecting upon the allegations surrounding Weiner that it would get. Well no, it turns out. "Bright and High Circle" chooses to tackle the matter of sexual misconduct allegations by centering an entire episode on it. The Romanov of the week is Katherine Ford (Diane Lane), who's introduced attending a community piano recital that her sons are performing at. It appears that piano teacher David (Andrew Rannells) is beloved by the parents and children alike, which makes it all the more surprising when a police detective visits Katherine at her office a few scenes later to question her in relation to an accusation made about David having an inappropriate relationship with a minor. Though Katherine isn't given much information, like who even made this accusation, it's enough to throw her entire perspective out of whack. And despite being told by the detective not to share this information with anyone else, she can't help herself, and sets off a whisper network among the community by telling one of the other moms (Nicole Ari Parker) whose kid is being taught by David.
The episode makes an interesting choice of having David not really appear in the present after the initial scene at the recital. Instead, he is only shown in flashbacks -- a new Romanoffs staple -- as the episode flips to prior moments that everyone is relitigating in their minds now that they're equipped with the knowledge of the allegations against him. Things that previously seemed harmless now take on a suspicious atmosphere. And in doing so, "Bright and High Circle" implicates the audience in this fact-finding mission. It makes us hyper-aware of the way our allegiances shift based on information that technically doesn't have anything to do with whether or not David acted inappropriately with children. "Oh, Katherine's middle child gets angry and defensive when she asks him if David has ever made him feel uncomfortable? He must be guilty," we think. "Look at how passionate he is about teaching the piano! Maybe he's not such a bad guy," that other corner of our mind rebuts.
Throughout all of this, you could probably hold on to some naive belief that this is just a thorny story that Weiner and crew were interested in telling with no agenda whatsoever. After all, it's an engaging tale, absorbing enough to make you block all of its meta elements out of your mind. But then it takes the time to have a scene where Katherine's husband Alex (Ron Livingston) recounts a story from his youth, where Alex had a friend with long hair whom everyone in the neighborhood accused of secretly being a girl. One day, Alex's curiosity gets the best of him and he asks the friend if they're a girl. When Alex later recounts this information to his parents at dinner, his dad lays into him for "believing the mob" and hurting his friend's feelings. It's an incredibly didactic moment that feels like Matthew Weiner talking directly at the audience about jumping to conclusions. But what truly tips it over into bonkersville is the capper to this story, which arrives near the end of the episode, when Alex reveals to Katherine that he eventually found out that his childhood friend was a girl. In one quick strike, the episode makes what we're supposed to take away from its message incredibly muddy, as opaque as things are for the characters at the end of this story when they never truly find out what the deal is with David.
"Bright and High Circle" does an effective job of depicting what it's like to be caught in the middle of a sticky situation that has the potential to shake up a community. It's the most traditionally watchable episode, getting lots of mileage out of the excitement involved with attempting to get to the bottom of this mystery. In many ways, it's also the most simple episode from a storytelling standpoint, offering up a compelling conflict and really honing in on it to explore every available avenue of drama. And as an installment of this thematically linked anthology series, it gives us another examination of people struggling with what they owe to themselves and those around them. All around, it's a thought provoking exercise.
The problem is that this is not just a thought experiment. It has real life implications. By telling a story that so closely parallels his actual situation, Matthew Weiner makes it seem like he's the victim of anonymous and vague rumors run amok. But the fact is that the accusations against him come from a real, public place and are told in vivid detail. To stack the deck so forcefully in the other direction in a proxy version feels irresponsible. When all is said and done, "Bright and High Circle" might be remembered as the episode that most encapsulates The Romanoffs as a whole: a strange and prickly work of hubris, but one that's absolutely fascinating nonetheless.
Bonus Points
-This should go without saying but in case it does need saying: I believe Kater Gordon.
-It can't be stressed enough how insane this episode is. I sat through most of it with my jaw on the floor, unable to believe that Weiner and company had the nerve to do something like this. By the time it got to the one-two punch of Alex's childhood story plus the final reveal of that story, I was cackling from how loony it all was.
-"Bright and High Circle" is co-written by Kriss Turner Towner and Matthew Weiner, and it's directed by Matthew Weiner. It's entirely possible that this idea was Towner's or some other person in the writers room, but even if that's the case, it's nuts that Weiner would hear it and think "Yes, we should do that."
-You'll recall that around the time the long-rumored sexual misconduct accusations around Louis C.K. dropped last year, he was also slated to have a movie he wrote and directed called I Love You, Daddy be released. It was about a teenage girl who is seduced by a much older filmmaker. Though it wasn't directly related to the rumors about him, some critics who saw it at film festivals felt like it was a confession. That's how this episode feels. That's how this whole series feels!
-When the credits roll on a new episode, I always think "well how am I supposed to review that?" So you can imagine the particular pain I felt at the end of this one. What a minefield Mr. Weiner has stepped into and has thus made me step into.
-Connections to previous episodes this week: Katherine Ford is a relative of the husband of Amanda Peet's character from "Expectation." Also, Katherine's son is playing the same phone game that Corey Stoll's character is playing while awaiting jury duty in "The Royal We."
-The casting of Andrew Rannells as David is such a wonderful choice. His demeanor can be read as boyish charm or oily plasticity depending on what angle you look at it from. I've always liked him, but this performance is particularly great.
-One argument that gets made in the episode, and one that gets thrown out alot in real life, is that accusations like these can ruin a man's life. But keep in mind that Matthew Weiner's life is doing just fine. He just got a truck full of money to make a series in which he complains that accusations can ruin a man's life.
-I like the symbolism of ants in this episode. Katherine wakes up in the middle of the night to find one ant crawling on her arm, and even though there's no evidence of there being other ants, she can't stop itching hours later. A neat little way to package the nature of the suspicions about David.
-My movie recommendation of the week is Unfaithful, the erotic thriller starring Diane Lane that was very, let's say, "formative" for me as a young boy.
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