Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Empress’ On Netflix, A Sexy Period Drama That Might Remind You Of ‘Bridgerton’

Unless you’re a European history buff, you probably don’t know much about Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria, who ruled from 1854-1898. She was an unconventional monarch, to say the least, and a new Netflix series that examines her life establishes that almost from its first scene.

THE EMPRESS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: As people wait outside an Austrian royal castle, a woman in a wedding dress kneels alone in a room.

The Gist: Flashing back to the previous summer, Princess Ludovika of Bavaria (Jördis Triebel) is looking for her younger daughter Elisabeth (Devrim Lingnau), whom she affectionately calls Sisi. A duke is coming to meet her with the intention that the two of them will eventually marry. But Sisi (a nickname she hates, by the way) wants nothing to do with the fop that her mother is trying to get her to marry. She has always been independent, riding her horse outside the confines of her family’s compound, for instance. And she doesn’t like being told what to do.

Her mother wishes that Elisabeth were more like her older sister Helene (Elisa Schlott), a reserved, dutiful woman who is set to marry Franz Joseph (Philip Froissan), the Emperor of Austria. Emperor Franz has his own pressures: The Hapsburg Empire is being threatened on its borders, and the people in Austria are starving and ready to start a revolution. He’s also under pressure from his mother, Sophia (Philip Froissan) to act like an emperor and show his authority, especially when it comes to executing revolutionaries.

She also wants him to get married to Helene, who’s his cousin. He’s chafing against all that, wishing for the freer life he had before becoming emperor. When Princess Ludovika and her daughters arrive to connect Franz with Helene, Franz becomes enchanted with Elisabeth instead. They happen to meet on the grounds, both in a casual and vulnerable moment, and they connect over their resistance to what their families want them to do. She also happens to catch the eye of Franz’s brother, Archduke Maximillian (Johannes Nussbaum); Maxi is the actual black sheep of his family, who is disregarded by their mother, but it seems that Franz trusts him implicitly.

At Franz’s birthday party the next day, he declares that he is asking for the hand of one of Princess Ludovika’s daughters, but not the one everyone expects.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The tone of The Empress brings to mind Becoming Elizabeth, despite the fact that the two stories take place about 300 years apart.

Our Take: Created by Katharina Eyssen and Lena Stahl, The Empress tries to fill the sexy costume drama hole that Bridgerton has left between seasons. One of the problems it has, though, is that it’s telling a story about a woman who is likely better known to people in Europe than here in the states. The story isn’t the problem in this case, but a bit of narrative setup might have been necessary — even in the form of the ubiquitous graphic at the start of the show — to get everyone up to speed.

The first episode moves slowly, like many costume dramas that have romance at its center, and the sexy parts feel a bit clinical despite the fact that they’re supposed to show Franz having passionate and forbidden sex with a commoner he is seeing secretly. As the series goes on, Elisabeth asserts herself as a newly-minted empress, the chemistry she has with Franz, as well as both of their desire to buck against the norm, should make the series more interesting.

Devrim Lingnau puts in a standout performance as Elisabeth; you can feel that she’s a duchess who’d rather ride her horse and help the staff than follow any of the protocol associated with her standing. Philip Froissant is a little harder to read as Franz, but the scenes where the two of them are together show the potential for a good chemistry combination for the rest of the series.

Sex and Skin: There is definitely some of both in the first episode, and we suspect there will be a lot more as the series goes on.

Parting Shot: A townsperson (Almila Bagriacik) is shown the paper touting the marriage of Franz to Elisabeth. Now is her chance to execute their plans. “For the people”, she says.

Sleeper Star: It takes effort to play someone as bland as Helene, and Elisa Schlott executes that thankless role well. And when Franz makes his pick, her anger is palpable.

Most Pilot-y Line: Has anyone stopped to think that Elisabeth and Franz — as well as Helene and Franz — were first cousins? Sophia is Elisabeth’s aunt as well as her mother-in-law, and Sophia greets Elisabeth’s mother by saying “sister”. Um… ewww?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Like most costume dramas, The Empress takes its first episode to ramp up the story, when all the ceremony and politeness can give way to rivalries, acrimony and lots of sexy times. The first episode definitely crawls but sets up a story with a lot of intriguing possibilities.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.