We begin here with the duel, slowly blurring in and then dollying in on Pierre as he stands in the snow, looking off in the distance before Denisov calls to his attention. Nikolai, since his friendship with Dolokhov is not set up and we didn't see his defense of him and attack of Pierre at the dinner at the end of episode two, while appearing on his side, seems a little more neutral here. Nesvitsky is labelled as the officiator, but I only know that from the subtitles since his character is undeveloped and he hasn't been in other scenes (in the novel, his participation here is random anyway).
The duel has some odd background music that really works. I like the way the scene is shot from the most part, especially the wide shot, the mid close up on Dano as he shoots and the way it cuts to snow and the blood as Dolokhov walks forward after he gets shot. The mid-close up on him as he shoots at Pierre while being on the ground is not quite as strong. Surprisingly we get Dolokhov saying he must live for his mother and sister and get a shot in the carriage of Nikolai holding him before cutting to Pierre, who sees the hints of Anatole (I think he should, again, judging people's looks when I have no right, be a little more attractive because he looks really goofy) and Helene's incest. This scene, the post-duel argument, is the first time that Helene really appears evil or amoral in this show, which makes me a little confused as to what the development of her character they are going for, since she continues in this vein, which is much closer to Tolstoy's portrayal of her, for the rest of the episode, as we will see.
We go straight from that argument to Pierre going and waiting for the horses and meeting Osip, who is a little stouter than I usually picture him (perhaps because his health deteriorates pretty quickly after we meet him, I picture him as sickly and skinny. I'd have to go back to the description, which is not something I always remember very well, to see what he looks like in Tolstoy's eyes. In most adaptations, just as with the abridged versions, he is cut.)
Andrei's reappearance (his disappearance not quite built up since he almost immediately appears in this episode when we cut to the Bolkonskys) is much less surreal and not drawn out enough to be melodramatic. The way that the screaming of Lise is played while Andrei waits outside is played much better than their meeting, but again, rather than confusion, things are played rather straight. The sight of Lise with blood all over here after her death, and the way he kisses her, is played in a really haunting way. Early in this episode, the music has really taken over the scenes and plays up the drama. The baby's cries really punctuate the scene and there is a fantastic pullback shot of Andrei hugging his father. This segues into the baptism scene shown briefly before we go out to the snow and Andrei and his father.
Something needs to be said about Count Rostov's hats, which are pretty ridiculous. He continues to be cut down a bit, but he is much more prevalent in this episode. His wife has almost been cut entirely. We develop Dolokhov and Sonya, as well as the Rostovs' money problems and Nikolai's promise to his father. There is a strange scene, that is supposed to show Dolokhov's menace where he fights swords with Nikolai while Denisov watches. I'm surprised there is such a long scene of Denisov and Natasha dancing, but they do develop that relationship and his awkward proposal. Here, Natasha doesn't run to her mother and instead turns him down kindly and awkwardly (this scene comes pretty quickly after Sonya and Natasha have a conversation about knowing which one is the right one, with Natasha being uncertain that she will ever know who is right while Sonya is much more certain) while Dolokhov sings. I think this continues the theme we have seen in this show, which is a much more independent, and due to the necessities of casting and age, and mature Natasha than we see in the novel, especially in these sections, who is childish and frivolous. The loss here is that we don't really get the abruptness and inappropriateness of the proposal and the awkwardness comes mainly from Natasha just being uncertain and uninterested (almost like she isn't quite ready to "settle down", but this is quite a different motivation than just being too young).
The Mason scene is accompanied by ominous chanting and none of the comedy is played. I'm interested in how this Mason plot-line is developed throughout the rest of the show since the necessity of it is to have Pierre make his post-duel turn, while, on the other hand, much of the Mason stuff in the novel is frivolous and intentionally put there to show the emptiness of it.
We are introduced to Bilibin in a Pavlovna party and he serves to introduce Helene to Boris and even utters a line from one of his letters in the book, one of the best lines in the book, the one about Prussia being one of Russia's allies, betraying them only three or four times. There is a brief scene where Pierre is trying to set up a school and grain stores for what appears to be the peasants. This appears to take the place of the absurdist scene where none of his reforms come to fruition because he is tricked by the steward. This is a much more positive portrayal and completely changes the content of the scene, which I get, because, just as with the Speransky plot-line, this scene displays one of his uncomfortable for liberals political beliefs. This is followed by Helene and Boris meeting in which Boris realizes why Helene has called to him all alone. He appears much more innocent from how he appears in the novel, and though we aren't treated to a sex scene or anything, what is going on is a little more explicit, especially since it is followed immediately by Pierre forlornly stacking wood, which sounds strange to describe, but works to get the point across.
The gambling scene where Rostov loses (43,000 exactly here) is rather brief and followed by a character (whose identity I'm uncertain of) giving Dolokhov a sheepish glare. The episode ends with, after Nikolai has had to ask his father for the money, Nikolai and Denisov returning to the battlefield, only for, immediately, the announcement of the peace between the Russian and the French, leaving Nikolai angry. This works by showing that the point that is brought out explicitly in the book, which is that Nikolai and Denisov make mistakes while in civilian life, decide that they are only suited for the life of a soldier, and then the peace robs that from them, so while the political element is intentionally ridiculous, they play an unrelated negative role in the lives of the characters as well.
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