DISCLAIMER: (1) This show was made by The Weinstein Company. I hate it and it haunts me every day that someone so purely evil could be behind something I love so much. But, also, when you read further about some of the details of the show, it is unfortunately a very fitting passion project for Harvey Weinstein. (2) It’s impossible to give this show justice in an article without spoilers. This series came out 7 years ago and is one of the most famous books of all time. It’s a great book, and this show can serve as a bit of a reader’s guide for anyone looking to get into some classic Russian literature.

If you’re a fan of tea, gossip, drama, bean-spilling, eavesdropping, cats getting out of bags, or any other form of tittle tattle, the best thing you can do for yourself right now is watch BBC’s 2016 adaptation of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Not only will it make you seem like the smartest person in the room when you can recount the Russian involvement in the Napoleonic Wars and Pierre Bezukhov’s progressive relationship with masculinity, fatherhood, and fraternity, but you’ll also be sneakily engaging in one of the messiest most scandalous stories the classic literature world has to offer. 

It’s got elements of every great show and appeals to all watchers. It has warfront scenes, romances both sweet and savory, and a star studded cast. If you’re a fan of HBO’s Succession, you’ll be able to spot Brian Cox as the general Mikhail Kutuzov in the first few episodes. If you’re like me and you’ll consume any media that stars or involves Paul Dano, you’ve struck gold. If you’re a fan of beautiful women who are incredibly talented, Lily James is there to fill that role. It’s got fast paced battles and diplomatic discussions. It even has adulterous incest, if that’s what you’re into.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I first watched this show after seeing a Pierre Bezukhov edit to “Willow” by Taylor Swift. I know in my heart that Leo Tolstoy would have been a Swiftie. Pierre, specifically, is the original soft boy we see so deeply romanticized today. While all the other men are causally portrayed with prostitutes and random women despite their marital commitments, Pierre has nightmares about intimacy and falls in love hard, even when it’s assigned to him in the most clinical and unromantic way possible. His emotional outbursts are vindicating and visceral, and the softness with which he treats everyone he comes across is beautiful. In short, he’s babygirl. The only character that rivals Pierre’s level of sweetness is his best friend Andrei. Andrei is the angel on Pierre’s shoulder, who leaves to fight in the war when he simply can’t stand the life of being a Russian aristocrat anymore. He’s a loving husband despite immense emotional constipation, and through no fault of his own has been unfortunately shaped by the men around him. He does the unimaginable, and shows remorse for his actions after reflecting on his behavior and respecting the emotional intelligence of the women around him. Even on death’s doorstep, he’s introspective and poetic and incredibly handsome. Realistically, he’s by far the best husband a Russian aristocrat from the early 1800s can be. 

When I mention men shaping Andrei for the worse, I specifically am referring to Prince Bolkonsky, his father. Prince Bolkonsky is a textbook misogynist who has berated and beaten both of his children into emotionally defunct human beings. They both attempt (mostly in vain) to be mentally healthy and maintain regular lives despite his tempestuous nature and frequent senile outbursts, but it’s simply too difficult for Princess Maria living at home with him and Prince Andrei constantly choosing the battlefield to avoid time with his father. The best thing Prince Bolkonsky does in the whole eight episode series is fall off a horse and die. He’s even rude to those outside his family, screaming at and shooing away the Rostovs and claiming Pierre speaks only of elderly women’s nonsense. Even in his dying words, he calls his daughter Maria crazy for mourning him. Of course, after his final breath, she rejoices (more on her later). 

In short: Apart from Andrei and Pierre, the most relevant men in the story are quite foul. In long: Anatole, the brother of Pierre’s first wife, is obsessed with his sister to an incestuous degree. Seriously, he cannot keep his hands off her despite being the one that suggests and nearly forces her to get married in the first place. I think in general he and his sister both struggle with remaining faithful to people apart from each other. Countess Bezukhov isn’t exactly a girl’s girl herself. If Andrei is the angel, Anatole is one of the two devils on Pierre’s shoulder. The other devil being Dolokhov, another one of Pierre’s friends (shortly) and an absolutely revolting character. He comes to live at the Bezukhov estate in the beginning of the series, corrupts Pierre with his alcoholism and debauchery, and then proceeds to sleep with Countess Bezukhov rather unsubtly. My favorite thing Dolokhov did in this story was lose a duel. Even the women in the story have multiple conversations about how disgusting and brutish he is. Mind you, this does not pass The Bechdel Test, but is still significant because women gossiping about how they hate men is unfortunately frowned upon in 19th century Russia. Finally, Boris, Pierre’s god brother and cousin of the Rostovs, has never had an honest emotion or thought in his entire life. I can’t really provide an accurate characterization of him because he is constantly lying and putting up a front. He lies to men, women, his mother, his superiors in the army, the man does not discriminate when it comes to telling a tall tale. He reminds me a lot of Andrew Liu from Love is Blind season three when he uses fake eye drops during his confessional and pretends to cry. 

Moving on from the men of the story, one of the most severely underrated characters of the War and Peace story is Princess Maria Bolkonska. Daughter of Prince Bolkonsky and sister to Andrei, I would do unspeakable things to time travel and give her access to Pinterest and Ethel Cain or Fiona Apple. She constantly receives the brunt of her father’s anger and sexist ideas, raises her brother’s son on her own, and has one female acquaintance who constantly sucks up to her father and pushes Maria down to look better. Finally, when her father dies and she is able to exist in peace and free of judgment, Maria allows herself to command attention and act like the royal she is. Unfortunately, it’s at the turning point of the Russian Napoleonic war, and she’s constantly on the run from the receding battlefront. Her life is wrecked by abuse and loss, and yet she continues to live and find joy in little moments. Her budding friendship with Natasha Rostov, for example, is something that brings her true joy despite it later being ruined for her by a combination of Prince Bolkonsky, Anatole, and Andrei. Because God forbid women have hobbies. 

I could very easily continue to go on about Natasha Rostov’s self-sabotage, Pierre’s ill-advised stint in the Russian Army, the impact of the Freemasons on Pierre’s development, Nikolai Rostov’s marriage to his cousin, the actual fall of the Russian aristocracy, or the dozens of other fascinating plot points in Tolstoy’s War and Peace, but my end goal is to make more people watch the show and read the book, and if I were to go into all of that I would be defeating the purpose. Reader, you must draw your own conclusions on the drama and details of this timeless tale. Please, get back to me when you do.