A Gentleman and a Scholar

Once in awhile, a TV series comes along that captivates me -- Detectorists, W1A, Daisy Jones and the Six, The New Look. (After just one episode, I'm kind of hooked by Maryland.) Most of these TV shows are British -- because they're less predictable, less violent and more character-driven than U.S. shows, which are drenched with incident.

I've only seen six of eight episodes, but I look forward each week to Apple TV's A Gentleman in Moscow. Yes, it's a fairytale. Yes, the life depicted in the hotel is make-believe. But Count Rostow, the displaced and surveilled Russian aristocrat played so beautifully by Ewan McGregor, is such a wonderful soul -- so decent and courtly and empathetic -- that he makes me want to believe. (He and the exquisitely conflicted Stalinist secret policeman played by Johnny Harris.)

Each week, I believe.

Isn't the real world nasty and brutish?

We all need to escape.