We start the episode with Andrei not coming back, sending a letter to Natasha that he has to stay while his wound heals, with the Rostov parents comforting a crying Natasha. The two Andrei letters serve somewhat as a bookends for the episode, especially since the entire episodes hinges on the Andrei/Natasha plot line, without any "War" distractions.
We get perhaps the most negative portrayal of Nikolai Bolkonsky yet, with him yelling at his daughter and then playing up to Bourienne, with Marya's confrontation of her happening here. This is followed by Boris and his mother going to a party thrown by Nikolai and his introducing himself to her and that conversation. Rostopchin is introduced, but does nothing, even less than at this point in the novel, and we get the dinner conversation of Nikolai Bolkonsky arguing that they should focus on securing their border and not meddle in French affairs, which leads into Pierre and Marya talking about Boris and then Natasha. I like the way Paul Dano plays that scene.
Boris and his mother have a conversation about Marya and how she is "mentally deficient". Boris is the one who talks about the tragic life and Julie rather than Pierre, which allows Dano to play it a little more sincere. We then get the cynical scene of the Boris and Julie. I don't think Julie has been introduced, and I think it is a strange choice to have this scene here and that the focus on Boris is so prevalent. The Julie is rather sincere and unhappy and she only has a couple more scenes in the book, so it will be interesting to see what they do with not only her character, but Boris as well, since he drops off as the novel revs up to its climax.
The following scene is handheld for some reason, the conversation about Boris and Julie, with Natasha and the Rostovs learning the news. It is thrown away by Natasha pretty easily, but the scene sets up the Rostov meeting at the Bolkonskys. Ilya explicitly says that he is frightened by Nikolai Bolkonsky. He gets a lot of time on the screen in this episode and we start to really see how they build his character in the show.
The following scene, which is a conversation between Natasha and Sonya, with Ilya coming in and saying everyone loves Natasha, has a lingering shot on Sonya. Her whole purpose in the episode is really to just listen to Natasha, but she gets a moment later on by saying she knows what it is like to be torn apart by love, and since she is the one that has to stop Natasha, there is a significance to this shot that we feel later on.
They overhear Nikolai Bolkonsky saying he doesn't want to see them. Bourienne appears very chipper and false, while Marya is extremely awkward and silent. Before Ilya leaves, Nikolai Bolkonsky comes in his pajamas and speaks very loudly and claims he didn't know anything, giving the scene a very different tone than it has in the book, as Marya is much kinder, and the embarrassment is much less based on gender and more about Nikolai's obvious contempt for the Rostovs (he is less strange and hard to understand than he is in the book), and Marya trying to speak to Natasha before she leaves is played very weirdly. Natasha seems a little like the aggressor here, but the next scene is of her crying to Sonya about how the family treated her and how cold Marya was, but again, it doesn't seem that Marya played it that way.
The next scene is Boris wanting to be a Freemason and Helene supporting him against a skeptical Pierre. Pierre drinks alone as Bazdeev gives him narration about whether he is doing the right thing and if he is content with himself, this is interspliced with Boris being initiated, as well as a shot of him sleeping with Helene. Boris's false freemasonry is really only mentioned in passing in the book and continues the theme of the beefing up of Boris's character in the show.
Natasha's mom, sick but present, is the one that encourages Natasha to go to the opera. Again, there is a focus on Boris in a couple of shots. We get the reintroduction of Dolokhov and Anatole, as well as Bilibin and Helene. During the opera, which is basically played in the background and without any real satire, Helene and Natasha have a conversation (their first I believe in this adaptation) about being friends and "trying things on together". Anatole comes in the box and has a conversation with her as well and invites her to a party the following day. The opera fades out and we get score music to show us how serious it is. Anatole speaks French, there is an emphasis on Natasha's breath and has some serious close ups of her.
The next real scene is the invitation by Helene to the Mademoiselle Georges (I'm surprised that this reference, as well as the Duport one, is retained) party. During the Georges recital (it seems more like a spoken French poem than a song), there is a long tracking shot into Natasha's face as Anatole attempts to hold her hand. Natasha at first rejects Anatole and then Helene brings him in a closet with her, and in this adaptation, there is a focus on the "wooing" and its creepy/forceful vibes, and the two kiss and Anatole says they have to be together and tries to force her to say yes.
The conversation between Anatole and Dolokhov about his previous marriage is a little forced and contains the information about Pierre knowing about the marriage as well. I like the acting and (I think this plays a lot into it) the dialogue of Sonya better than Natasha in the scene where the two confront each other over Anatole. This is immediately followed by, with no transition, putting the two scenes together, Marya coming, in which Natasha tells her she is rejecting Andrei.
Anatole actually enters the house before realizing he is betrayed and confronted and the episode plays out much more like an action scene, with a follow shot in a hall like Anatole is about to enter a boxing ring. Here, Countess Rostova plays the role of Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova in the novel. The mention of Pierre cuts to Pierre finding Anatole and threatening to kill him. Dano doesn't, most likely because of his lack of size, play the intimidation of the character quite the way it needs to be, making the lingering on the frightened Anatole much less believable. Pierre's revealing to Natasha about Anatole's wife in Poland is much more forceful here than accidental and awkward like it is in the novel. He only really softens when Natasha breaks down and cries.
Andrei comes back happy and the show plays up the dramatic irony of his situation and allows Marya to prepare to break the news to him (we cut away before it happens). Notably, the show skips the suicide attempt and the episode ends with Pierre telling Natasha that if he was a free man he would go down on his knees at this moment (he is sort of his knees in the shot).
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