Love and Other Hapsburgs: The Empress, Season 1
Period dramas have quickly become the not-so-guilty pleasure for romance lovers, with the rise of streaming services. It arguably started with “Downton Abbey,” creating a spark of drama behind the typically mundane. Furniture polish mishaps are scandalous. Etiquette faux pas are reason for quiet outrage. It brought the previously dull events into the drama space, paving the way for British TV style to be viewed at the same stakes as contemporary US shows like “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Now, with period dramas such as “The Crown,” “Outlander,” “The Gilded Age,” and “Bridgerton,” it was only a matter of time before the infamous Hapsburg Empire got its own series. Spanning 1526 to 1918, the empire controlled much of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, including Austria-Hungarty, Romania, Czechoslovakia, parts of Italy, and more. It was the largest outside of Russia at the time. German Netflix series “The Empress” follows Hapsburg monarch Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in his early years of marriage to Empress Elizabeth “Sisi” of Bavaria. The short foreign drama quickly became one of my favorite recent releases from the streaming giant, and I’m not the only one. After only a month on the platform, the show became the largest German original since “Barbarians,” already renewed for Season 2.
To start, the direction and cinematography of the series was far more intimate than any period drama I’ve been until now. Viewers get a true view of each character, their motivations, their thoughts. I loved the humanity brought to Franz; laying on the floor with Elizabeth, embracing his inner child, clenching a cross until his hands bleed at the hanging of his attempted assassins, struggling to hold strong and emotionless despite their execution.
We start the series with Elizabeth hiding from her mother and an expected engagement to a Duke, telling her younger sister “I want to marry my true soul mate.” She escapes on horseback, seen as rebellious and unladylike in those days. When the horse breaks its leg, her father mercy kills it and she is absolutely heartbroken. We see a child-like innocence and rebellion in Elizabeth. She does not agree with the expectations set by her family like her older sister Helene does.
Helene is the “perfect” daughter, trained and bred for royalty. Emperor Franz is technically their cousin (ew, I know), their mother sisters with The Queen Mother. But when Elizabeth is invited to Helene’s courtship weekend with Emperor Franz, he falls for Elizabeth and her 19th-century manic pixie dream girl antics instead. She walks around with no shoes, nurses a wounded bird, and lays on the floor for hours in her full ballgown to cool off. She reminds him of the joys of life, protesting Helene’s unwavering obedience and lack of personality. And yet, throughout the series, we see Elizabeth outgrow her “quirkiness” to Franz, becoming the true lead of this show, fighting for her own interest and becoming a full-fledged character that not only challenges the man who assigns her the troupe but topples the system entirely. We see her hopes, dreams, desires, fears, and solutions for the future and it’s truly amazing to watch.
Elizabeth’s marriage with Franz is uniquely not one of convenience, but love. He breaks off his relationship with his mistress Louise when he realizes his affection. The couple is hot and heavy from the start, reminiscent of Daphne and Simon from Bridgerton, even making out in closets while only engaged. But his brother, Archduke Maximilian, has also fallen for Elizabeth’s spontaneous tongue, flirting with her even while on the arm of other women around the castle.
The only real problem for Elizabeth at court is The Queen Mother. She had requested Helene as Franz’s bride because of her conformity and formality. She not only dictates politics within the crown but inspires cruelty and incarceration within Elizabeth’s marriage with Franz, purposefully driving her away. After an attempt to help the poor ends in violent pushback from royal guards, adding fuel to fire of potential rebellion against the crown, The Queen Mother gives Elizabeth two options: leave and have the marriage annulled or live locked away in the castle to produce babies and die. She lies about Franz’s agreement but he isn’t exactly heartbroken by the idea either after incorrectly suspecting her of cheating with his brother. When Franz’s brother, the army, the church, and the rebels fail at a coup, Elizabeth is forced to leave on foot and reveals she’s pregnant to the adoring crowd, taking back her power against the royal family and stepping into her own.
Episode by episode, the drama gets deeper and deeper, the conspiracies get more complicated and convoluted, and the love triangles become addictive and muddy. And yet, in the middle of it all, Elizabeth’s character thrives, finding her own strength through persecution. She is no one’s “quirky” manic pixie dream girl, only there for the benefit of men around her, to use as a chess piece for political destruction. She is a firey heart of gold unafraid to fight for herself or for love. I can’t wait to see where the next season will take us. With a cliffhanger like that, only time (or history) will tell.
5 stars
