Alexander

Episode 3 delivers one of the most insidious narrative tricks in TV: it wraps judgment in empathy, then hands it to a central character framed like a saint - a moral authority whose every word is treated as gospel.

At the center is a woman erased in her own home, treated as a servant, denied affection or agency. When she seeks love outside her marriage, it's not recklessness - it's survival. But the show doesn't explore her hunger. Instead, the saintly lead delivers a polished, condescending comparison to Madame Bovary - not to deepen understanding, but to dismiss her pain as vanity and childish disillusionment.

It's a betrayal on two fronts: both of the woman, and of Flaubert. Emma Bovary wasn't selfish - she was suffocating. So is this woman. But instead of compassion, the show offers moral correction, quietly steering the audience to blame her too.

This isn't nuance. It's cowardice, dressed in prestige.