BookBoundPodcast337
patreon
We Were the Lucky Ones 1X1: Radom
🕑 Added 2025-02-05 17:00:13 +0000 UTCOkay, so this is our TBD that's replacing Tell Me Lies. And holy hell is it a total 180 from that. I had no idea what it was, but I thought the thumbnail looked nice when I was looking up what platform it was on to stream. You guys might know, I really like to go into things blind, and I 100% got that. I mean I was warned by Melissa, our sponsor, that it was dark, and they did not lie. Also, if you guys watched any of my Outlander or Peaky Blinders reactions, you'll know I suck at history, so just keep that in mind. 😳 Oh, and you also know I suck at names and telling white guys apart. However, this isn't really the kind of show that I can make jokes about it, so I'm actually going to look them up (desperately trying not to spoil myself) for the description here.
We start in Poland in 1938. We're following one family (I think we'll be following them the whole season, I'm pretty sure the beginning said something like, 'this is one family's story') just before the start of WWII. We've got a Jewish family who is set to celebrate Passover and one of the sons, Addy, who lives in Paris is coming home and everyone is excited. There are five (I think) siblings who seem to enjoy each other's company and tease each other a bit. They are starting to get concerned about some of the antisemitism that is currently happening, but they don't seem to think it's overly bad.
Then we fast forward a year. Genek has married his girlfriend that he was busy having sex with the park, Mila and her husband Selim have had a baby, Halina (our main character) is dating the man who boards in their house, but has zero interest in marrying him- she refuses to be tied down. But the biggest problem, is that Addy can't get home for Passover (that sounded sarcastic in print, I assure you, it was not). His train would have to travel through Germany and because he's Jewish, it's a no go. He spends a bunch of days at the Polish Embassy in Paris trying to get home, but he can't. One day, after he comes home from the Embassy, he turns on the radio and hears that Poland has fallen to Germany. And WWII finally begins.
All the men are called to army duty in Lvov. So, it's just the women and dad, Sol, who are left in Radom.
Shortly thereafter, the German army invades. They take the businesses, and force the people into labor camps. Halina spends her first day, (in a beautiful dress) on her knees digging up turnips (?). She watches a woman get beaten for taking a piece of food, as her children needed to eat. It's rough for her.
Later, when her mother produces a potato soup for dinner, Halina is outraged. There is no way they should have this, as all they have are scraps from the rations left. But, it turns out her dad is working in a kitchen and stole some potato peels. Halina is petrified that her dad is going to get killed because of it, and totally breaks down. She starts screaming about how they kill for less than that, and they should have gotten out when there was still a chance, and how they want to kill children. It's hard to watch.
Right after her outburst, there's a knock at the door and they are afraid it's soldiers, but thankfully, it's just Bella (Jakob's girlfriend) with news that Selim is missing. All the other men are fine, but no one knows where Selim is. Mom assures Mila it's fine as he has a profession that's useful, so he could be sent anywhere.
That night, Bella stays over and she and Halina decide to leave and head to Lvov. They've heard that even thought there is fighting there, it's much more peaceful than Radom. They can have jobs that actually pay. Plus, most of the men are there. And, if they don't get out now, they fear it will not be possible again later. They don't really have any idea how to actually do it, but it seems like they are going to try.
Good, lord. You totally warned me, Melissa. This is all on me, but I was so not thinking this dark. I was thinking, like some beatings or mistreatment of people. Not the deaths and torture of 50+ million people. But Dan is gonna LOVE this show. He's such a history buff, this is right up his alley. Also please don't think this paragraph means I'm unhappy watching this show. I have a feeling this show is going to be incredible, just hard to watch. Sort of like Chernobyl, if you guys have seen that.
Comments
Melissa
It's a tough watch sometimes but totally worth it in my opinion. I don't want to say too much really, but I think you did pretty good with the names for the first episode and I have to be honest, I struggled to tell the guys apart at first too. White guys in TV/film seem to blend together for me a lot of the time. A couple fun facts, it is based on a book inspired by the author's family's history. Also all of the actors in the family are Jewish, minus one (who has a Jewish husband and son) which I appreciate from a casting point of view.
