Round Two: The Romanoffs

The Romanoffs: Season 1, Episode 2 “The Royal We” (C+)

Three hours in and I’m not seeing the value of this show. Sure, we have a handful of popular actors here, namely Kerry Bishé, from “Scrubs” and “Virtuality,” Corey Stoll from “House of Cards” and “The Strain,” and Janet Montgomery from “Human Target” and “New Amsterdam,” but the content needs some serious work. Noah Wyle also appeared in a pointless supporting role that hardly felt like it needed someone like him to be in it, and John Slattery, a Matthew Weiner favorite from “Mad Men,” also barely had a part. What was clear here is that Stoll’s Michael Romanoff is a terrible person, so uninterested in improving his marriage that he was willing to extend jury deliberations of a murder trial by days just so that he could try to seduce a woman whose legs got him excited. Montgomery’s Michelle, for her part, was much less emotional and more matter-of-fact in her reading of their affair, telling Michael what he should to cover up their dalliance rather than entertain the possibility of a lasting relationship. Shelly going on a cruise by herself didn’t do much, and she had to wait until Michael somewhat predictably tried and failed to push her off a cliff to realize that their marriage was indeed over. More importantly, I don’t see what useful connective thread this had to the show’s title since Michael only mentioned his heritage once and Shelly just seemed turned off by it. I know that Christina Hendricks stars in the third installment of this show, but I just don’t think it merits another hour and a half of my time after these first two disappointing installments.