Warning: This article contains spoilers for A Gentleman in Moscow episode 1, "A Master of Circumstance."

Summary

• Alexander Rostov and the Metropol Hotel share a symbolic connection representing the bygone era of Russia's ruling class.
• The fate of A Gentleman in Moscow's characters reflects the dangers and changes brought by the Russian Revolution of 1917.
• The series delves into the last remnants of the aristocracy in post-revolutionary Russia, with Alexander possibly being the sole survivor of his class.

A Gentleman in Moscow's Metropol Hotel is actually a real place in the Russian capital. Alexander finds himself subjected to an unconventional form of house arrest during the Russian Revolution by being confined to the Metropol Hotel. However, there's a clever connection between Ewan McGregor's character in A Gentleman in Moscow and the hotel itself.

McGregor leads the A Gentleman in Moscow cast as a fallen Russian aristocrat whose fate has been dictated by the Russian Revolution. The Revolution began in 1917 and lasted until 1923. Although Alexander was out of the country when the political uprising began, he returned in 1918 and was restricted to the confines of the Metropol Hotel almost immediately. Picking up the story in 1922, A Gentleman in Moscow begins with the count discovering he is to spend the rest of his life within the building due to his former status as a member of the Russian ruling class.

Alexander Rostov & The Metropol Hotel Are Both Relics From Before The Russian Revolution

The count and the hotel in A Gentleman in Moscow share some interesting similarities

The Metropol Hotel's construction was completed by 1915 - two years before the beginning of the Russian Revolution. It quickly set the standard in Moscow for what a luxury hotel should be. While the hotel only marginally predates the beginning of the Revolution, it still represented the capitalist era the Bolsheviks wanted to leave in the wake of their violent uprising. Alexander being sentenced to life imprisonment in the Metropol may seem like a fortunate circumstance, but Towles' original choice to place his main character there was likely due to the hotel's significance also being shared by Alexander Rostov.

Just as the Metropol Hotel remained in Moscow as a lasting symbol of the decadence the Bolsheviks sought to stomp out, Alexander's continued existence within the hotel compounds what the building represents. Ewan McGregor's A Gentleman in Moscow character is a paragon of the imbalance between the ruling and working classes that the Bolsheviks so wholeheartedly opposed. As such, both Alexander and his newfound place of residence are the very embodiment of a bygone era in Russia. They are the ghosts of capitalism that haunt the narrative of A Gentleman in Moscow.

Alexander Could Also Be The Last Of His Kind From Before The Russian Revolution

Many of Alexander's peers have been killed since the Revolution began

The Metropol Hotel doesn't just pre-date the Russian Revolution, but it's also the last existing Moscow hotel that was constructed before 1917. To further the connection between Alexander and the Metropol, it's also very possible that the count is the last surviving member of his social class in 1922 Russia. As evidence to this theory, one of the most gruesome reveals from A Gentleman in Moscow episode 1, "A Master of Circumstance," comes when Alexander reveals to Nikolai that a childhood acquaintance of Alexander's was brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks: "They burned him alive in his house."

The poetic link between Alexander Rostotv and the Metropol Hotel becomes even clearer when the downgrade to his living situation is also considered. Before his trial, Alexander was fortunate enough to reside in suite 317 of the hotel. After Alexander is sentenced, he is evicted from the suite and instead banished to a dank corner of the building that was once used as the servants' quarters. The facilities in the quarters are far from what Alexander is used to, with everything from the bed to the quality of the running water being far inferior to suite 317.

It is Alexander's credit as the writer of "Where is Our Purpose Now?" that arguably stopped him from meeting the same grisly end as his peers.

Alexander's new lodgings hadn't been used since before the Revolution, as they used to be reserved for the servants of the upper-class guests who would frequent the hotel. So, Alexander is possibly the last of the aristocracy in Russia, staying in the last pre-Revolution hotel in Moscow, in a room that's been deserted since 1917. It doesn't get much more symbolic than that.

The Death Of Prince Nikolai In A Gentleman In Moscow Episode 1 Proves How Much Danger Alexander Is In

Nikolai's death came out of almost nowhere

Even if Alexander isn't already the last surviving member of the ruling class in Russia, there's a scene in "A Master of Circumstance" that suggests he could soon be. Alexander's good friend, the former Prince Nikolai, is stripped of his royal title and becomes a regular performer at the Metropol as part of a string ensemble. When the Red Army becomes suspicious of Nikolai's plans to flee the country, they drag him into the street and shoot him dead rather than let him go free. Such a fate could be lying in wait for Alexander.

A Gentleman in Moscow's Prince Nikolai is fictional, but he shares a name with Nikolai II - the last Russian Tsar, who was executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918 after his abdication in 1917.

As such, Alexander's continued survival in Revolution-era Russia is far from guaranteed. He may be the last of a dying breed at present, but the Bolsheviks could seemingly have a change of heart at any time regarding their decision to let the count live at the Metropol Hotel. The sudden change of Nikolai's fate at the hands of the Red Army will be more than enough of a sign that Alexander Rostov needs to tread especially carefully going forward.

Why Alexander Rostov Is Still Alive In A Gentleman In Moscow

Alexander likely didn't write the revolutionary poem with which he's been credited

There is a reason why Alexander wasn't killed when he stepped foot in the country following his return from Paris in 1918. When put on trial in 1922 at the beginning of episode 1, Alexander is asked if he is the author of a 1913 poem called "Where is Our Purpose Now?" The piece is praised by the Leninists as a, "Call to revolutionary action." While Alexander claims the poem was "attributed" to him, this doesn't necessarily confirm that he wrote it. Either way, the Bolsheviks believe Alexander, and allow him to live as the perceived writer of the poem.

During Alexander's trial, he casts a glance into the crowd and locks eyes with a mysterious man, with the pair exchanging a knowing look. The implication is that it was the enigmatic onlooker who wrote the poem, and not Alexander Rostov. However, it is Alexander's credit as the writer of "Where is Our Purpose Now?" that arguably stopped him from meeting the same grisly end as his peers. So, it makes sense that the main character of A Gentleman in Moscow wouldn't outwardly refute the false claims of his penmanship.

A Gentleman in Moscow is released weekly, each Friday on Showtime.