Too Rich for Her Blood
Episode 8 of Inventing Anna begins with Vivian in hospital after giving birth. Only, she’s not exactly happy about being a mum. Instead, she’s more preoccupied with her article. So naturally, right after giving birth Vivian heads over to Rikers to see Anna. After reading Vivian’s article, Anna isn’t impressed. She shrugs and calls her a bad journalist. “Hundreds of hours and you still don’t know a thing about me” She says, as their allotted time is up and Anna heads back to her cell. Two months pass and Vivian is still moping about the house. Despite setting the internet on fire, Vivian believes she’s missed the real point of the article. So naturally she ends up diving back into the story again. In fact, she leaves and goes to Germany, laving her two month old at home without her mother. She’s even done all of this under the pretense of her “responsibility as a journalist.” But hey, maybe a real journalist would have actually dived into the history and upbringing of their subject BEFORE launching a big article? Anyway, Anna packs up her things and prepares to leave. During our flashbacks, we cut to LA with Anna on the run. She heads to the Chateau Mormont and continues to ignore messages from Rachel, Neff and everyone else she owes money to. Instead, she gets blind drunk and takes Xanax pills. After blacking out, she awakens to find herself in hospital. Meanwhile, Vivian heads to Germany and she meets her translator, Mira. She fangirls over Vivian for a while before the two get down to brass tacks. Vadim is Anna’s father and he apparently runs a Trucking and Cooling House. She believes this stems from the end of the Soviet Union where gangsters managed to make a lucrative amount of money and stash it in these little businesses. Flashbacks to Anna’s childhood see Vadim and young Anna speaking English which, honestly, is a bit disappointing. It would have been more effective in Russian. Anyway, Vivian deduces that Anna was working for her father smuggling money. According to locals, Anna soon became the bonafide “fashion police” and began belittling the other students for what they’re wearing. Rumours were abound about her father being a gangster… but what’s the real story? According to Anna, her father lost everything and when he started drinking, he changed from strong and confident to angry and small. So naturally, Anna started reading magazines and learning about American culture, wanting to get away from everything – including her father. Amma eventually ends up in rehab, with Rachel deciding to bury the hatchet, ringing and asking to meet. When Anna shows up… she’s promptly arrested as officers happen to be waiting for her. she’s taken back to New York and arrested; a sweet big of revenge for Rachel who can hardly hide her smirks while she’s talking to KAcy and Neff about this. In Germany, Vivian interviews Vadim who corroborates some of Anna’s earlier story. However, the real truth here is that there’s nothing really to the story or history. Anna has just always been this way and her ambition has been underpinned with a tinge of icy cold anger and resentment. Off the back of this, Vivian decides to go back home again. When she shows up, Vivian is sent records from her time in hospital in LA. With this, Vivian realizes that Anna was just buying time but Vivian promises she’s still rooting for her. She tells her to stop the con and to ask for a plea deal so she can go back to Germany. Anna refuses though and heads back into her cell again.
The Episode Review
So Vivian, this hotshot journalist, writes her whole article about Anna Delvey and not once does she even consider going to Anna’s hometown and looking into her upbringing and past? I mean, I’m no journalist but surely that’s just good etiquette and due diligence to actually do this? And at least do it before your baby is due. I do know you can’t fly while pregnant but she could have sent someone else to do it or at least made some calls to Germany prior to the penultimate episode of the season! This episode does show us a little more about Anna’s past and essentially the whole 70 minutes is one big goose chase. It seems like we’re onto a breakthrough… and then we find out Anna is just an ordinary girl and she’s always had a mean spirit to her. I’m not saying this episode is pointless, as it does include some interesting tidbits but it’s drawn out and feels unnecessary, given we don’t actually learn anything here beyond a few snippets that could have easily been added into the earlier episodes. Hopefully the 85 minute finale will wrap up the story with a bang.
