With only one episode of The New Look remaining, I can’t help but think that the show doesn’t do justice to Dior’s legacy. As I keep reiterating, the show simply doesn’t focus on Christian as it does on Chanel, almost making it seem like she had much more going on than he did. It’s a shame because there was so much to do with this subject matter. Especially with the way the show parallels Dior and Chanel’s lives at the most difficult time. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but it’s a show called The New Look, and yet, the show barely steps into the sartorial. Anyway, as it goes, before I continue to rant on, let’s recap the penultimate episode of The New Look. Episode 8 ended with Dior learning that his father had passed away. We know that Dior’s always been a family man. He was willing to quit everything to look after Catherine, so, when he’s meant to be making the greatest decisions of his life, how will he deal with such a tragedy? Let’s find out in the recap of The New Look episode 9.
Spoiler Alert
What Is Dior Missing in His Atelier?
The New Look Episode 9 begins with a flashback of Coco and Elsa from when they were young and different. Now Elsa’s adulation for Chanel suddenly makes much more sense. Back then, the girls were tight, and when Coco proclaimed she was going to become a hatmaker and then eventually a designer in Paris, Elsa asked her to take her along, and Coco promised she would (don’t make promises you can’t keep kids). On the other hand, amidst funeral procedures, Dior is struggling to fill his atelier with seamstresses because he’s adamant not to steal from his fellow designers and best friends. Dior’s deadline is in two months, and if he goes on like this much longer, there’s no way he’s going to make it. In the meantime, in Switzerland, Chanel wants Elsa out because she got arrested for assaulting a man to steal drugs. She also introduces Spatz to her nephew, and that goes terribly well.
Dior’s masterful skills are visible in the suit he makes for his brother Bernard. However, it seems the family finds it a little hard to be in the presence of Raymond, the oldest sibling of the lot. Specifically, Christian, because Raymond doesn’t seem to be acquainted with Jacques. Christian gives a beautiful eulogy about his father, and Raymond remarks that it was too nice for their father, implying that it wasn’t deserved. Mr. Friedman shows up with flowers that Christian’s father loved and says he wants to plant them in their garden. Catherine seems to tense up every time he’s around because she knows what happened to his daughter Tania (though this was dragged on too long). Catherine tells Friedman that she can’t help him in front of the whole family. Later, during dinner, Raymond tries to bring down the family’s morale by complaining about everybody and blaming Christian for not looking after his siblings, though I want to know what Raymond was doing at the time. Then he brings up their father’s failed business and how it messed things up for all of them, and how if Christian goes on with his atelier, the same fate awaits him. Though, in front of everybody, Christian seems to be strong and self-reliant, Raymond’s words immediately catch on.
- How Does Chanel’s Big Meeting Go?
In Switzerland, Chanel has dinner with Elsa, Andre, and Spatz, a deadly combination, seeing as Andre is immediately on the fence about Spatz. Andre knows the man is German, and he starts to interrogate him, making Chanel panic. She wants to give Spatz his money and be on her way, forgetting everything she’s done thus far. At the end of the night, Chanel can’t handle the chaos and steps out of the hotel. Elsa joins her and tells her it’s time. She tells Andre the truth about her time with Spatz during the war. Chanel had been talking about how she’s been abandoned all her life by the people she loves. Starting from childhood, dropped off at an orphanage. She doesn’t want to leave Andre either, and this would, of course, break them for good. Elsa, on the other hand, doesn’t believe so. She’s been with Chanel the longest, through her ups and downs. At least one person knew to keep their promises. At the end of their conversation, when Elsa persists that they need forgiveness and Andre will give it, Chanel pushes her away physically and tells her never to talk to her again. Elsa’s hurt, and she rushes back to the room in tears, leaving Andre confused. The next day, Chanel has a meeting with the Wertheimers’ lawyer and her own to discuss the future of the perfumes. She leaves Elsa with what seems like a final goodbye. Elsa claims she’s going to be with her sister Lottie now that she can’t stay with Chanel. She doesn’t hide her pain and speaks about how Chanel is keeping Spatz in her life but not her.
The interview is a hit for Chanel, and it seems the Wertheimers are finally on the edge, giving in to Chanel’s demands. They’re willing to come to a settlement, but considering it’s Chanel, she will not leave until she has it all. Back in France, Christian tries to convince Catherine to move back to Paris with him. When they see Mr.Friedman, Christian tells her to open up about what she went through and tell somebody what is on her mind. Ultimately, Catherine takes Christian to Mr. Friedman and tells the man that she watched his daughter get tortured and killed in front of her own eyes. Catherine was guilty because, in the camp, she stole some bread for Tania because she was terribly weak. The soldiers found Tania with the bread, assumed she stole it, and burned her alive. Mr. Friedman forgives Catherine, saying they were only children and she did the right thing. He gives her a tight hug as Christian watches on in horror after hearing Catherine’s words. He could never fathom what she’d been through.
Does Dior break?
A drunk Elsa calls her sister in the middle of the night, hoping for a welcome home; however, it seems her sister’s disdain for her is still the same. She is, after all, an illegitimate child. While Chanel gets stuck in a storm trying to get back to the hotel, Spatz visits Elsa in the hotel. Chanel stops at a church to take shelter. She speaks to the priest there, and I’m not sure if we’re meant to believe this is her consolation for everything she’s done. Anyway, the priest tells her to get back to her family and friends—the people who care for her—almost like a premonition for what’s going to happen next. In the hotel, Spatz hands Elsa the drug she’s been dying for, but she says she doesn’t want anything from him. She calls him a Nazi and says she’s a royal, while his mother was probably a lowlife. Spatz scares Elsa and then leaves her with the dose, all by her lonesome. As we can predict, Chanel returns home to make amends with Elsa, but it’s too late as Elsa lies there cold with a syringe in her arm. Another person, Chanel, cared for her by leaving her behind, cold and lonely.
At the end of The New Look episode 9, at a party, Dior discusses with his friends his situation. He tells them how he needs 30 seamstresses, an impossible task. Balmain suggests he cut down his collection by half or delay the launch of his collection, but Dior refuses to change anything. It seems his brother’s words are weighing down on him, so eventually he returns to his atelier at night, and Zehnacker joins him there. Of course, they’re stressed about their new business and can’t sleep. Now, Dior finally tells her to do whatever it takes to get the seamstresses he needs, even if it means stealing from his friends. The thought of his father’s failures finally has Dior taking on the role of businessman rather than designer in order to succeed, and succeed he does.
