Spoilers below for the premiere episode of The Regime, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched on HBO or with a Max subscription.
On the distant heels of the critically lauded miniseries Mare of Easttown (which could feasibly still get a second season), Kate Winslet has made her return to HBO to portray a completely different and rather unhinged authority figure: an unidentified nation’s Chancellor Elena Vernham. The Regime, first announced in 2022 under a different title, is the satirical creation of Succession writer and The Menu co-screenwriter Will Tracy, so it’s no wonder why Winslet and her co-stars get to deliver the kind of cutting dialogue that critics are already adoring.
The series premiere, “Victory Day,” introduced Elena’s fraught situation as a leader caught between potentially machiavellian upheaval on one side and a complicated relationship with the U.S. and other countries on the other side. And Winslet knocked it out of the park from the first second, embodying the character with specific quirks — such as the corner of her mouth drooping when speaking only to trusted company — while jumping from one pitch-perfect line to the next. So let’s run down the Oscar-winning star’s best lines from The Regime’s opening.
1. "I’d say we’re just about meant for each other, wouldn’t you? Let’s have you leave now."
While there are certainly moments when it truly seems like Elena means well, and isn't attemping to be a permafrosted ice queen, her attempts at friendliness and generosity fall very flat when they're presented as the above. She's essentially saying, "Congratulations for not being so far below me. Now be gone." But I guess Matthias Schoenaerts' soldier Herbert Zubak is used to hearing worse.
2. "I bless you all, and I bless our love, always."
This line comes up twice during The Regime's debut episode, and appears to be the chancellor's go-to closing line for public addresses, televised or otherwise. It's not wildly different from anything that might come up in the real world, but there's definitely a performative element to it, and the specific use of "bless" there will no doubt come into question at some point.
3. "Today you’ll encounter a soup tureen of worms known as the bureaucracy. Prepare yourself."
You just know Elena wasn't talking about a hand-crafted table-set tureen perfect for a two-diner experience. She likely meant a big ol' steaming pot that threatens to crack the concrete its set upon due to all the creepy crawlies therein.
4. "These need to be briefer, these…briefings."
If The Regime had any lines that would be sent to the front lines to take on Dr. Strangelove's "There's no fighting in the War Room," it would be the above observation about briefing durations. I love the quizzical flash across Winslet's face as she says it, as well.
5. "And you know what the people want, do you, Susan? You can hear them grunting from your country house?"
Elena's not-so-pleasant approach to leadership and communicating with others is on display throughout the episode, and it's capsuled most enjoyably for yours truly during exchanges with Martha Plimpton's U.S. Senator Judith Holt. Nevertheless, other characters such as France's minister Susan Goin — portrayed by Pippa Haywood, whose work in Green Wing still makes me chuckle — are just as liable to fall into Elena's conversational crosshairs, as it went with her somewhat hypocritical comment above.
6. "Be careful in here. Make sure he keeps his paws to himself."
Make a list of 1,000 places where one might say the above before entering, and I'd be willing to bet all the big money that "a room housing the glass-coffined corpse of one's father" would not be on anyone's list but Elena's. How much are we supposed to read into that, also? Is it just a joke because he's dead and obviously can't use his "paws" on anyone, or is she referring to what he was like when he was still alive? Either way, I'm pretty sure Zubak would rather steer clear of any anecdotes about that part of her past.
7. "You’ve got spots. That’s new. Leopard changing its spots. Get it? Very funny. Hilarious. Right. Is that it? Are we done? Yes? Good. Happy, happy."
Even when she was at her weakest physically, believing herself to be falling prey to mold and moisture, Elena still wasn't quite as unhinged as she got when standing before her father's speckled corpse, with words falling out of her mouth as opposed to her saying anything with clear confidence. It's obvious that former relationship is frayed, and I'm both nervous and eager to explore what went on there.
8. "You’re making them fight, sweetheart? Good."
I'm not sure if there's a specific reason why Elena seems to have a special affection for Oskar, the son of her Palace Manager Agnes (Andrea Riseborough), but I do love that her reaction to him playing loudly isn't to shush him, but rather to endorse his pugnacious inspirations. Of course, she also tells him to leave the room less than a minute later, but it was still a informative snapshot into Elena's brain.
9. "I am not ridiculous. I am very much not ridiculous, you stupid cunt. Next time, turn your gun on yourself. Stick it in your mouth, you graceless fucking cow."
There's no doubt Zubak revealed himself to be something of a rage-filled maniac as the episode went on, but even him beating the shit out of the miner who broke into the palace wasn't quite as vitriolic as the chancellor's exceedingly harsh dress-down after he unwittingly shamed her in front of other leaders of import. Granted, nobody told him not to do it, I guess in the same way nobody specifically told him not to jump the gun and kill a handful of miners. He may need a lesson in common sense, if not a lesson in destroying someone's face.
10. "It is time to show America and the world precisely what we are worth."
Though The Regime's first episode ends with the aforementioned blessings, the final shot of Kate Winslet herself is an extreme close-up on her face as she utters the above line, which makes it feel like something of a thesis statement. Or perhaps the opposite of one, since it's already in the cards that the next five episodes are going to completely upend Elena Vernham's life, land, and liberty. Maybe they should just show the world some of what they're worth, and just lie about the rest.
The Regime airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 9:00, with episodes hitting Max at the same time. While waiting to meet Hugh Grant's character, head to our 2024 TV premiere schedule for all the other new and returning shows on the way.
