Every good story needs a bad guy and this series' bad guy is named Corruption. It is Ukraine's biggest problem. It corrodes everything and everybody, from the oligarchs who are never sated to the common people who are seldom presented with the "opportunity" but know that "everybody does it" (Pause. Generation Next, when someone says to you "everybody does it", interpret as "I just put cyanide in your water bottle." Unpause), to the institutions of the state and of private enterprise. Corruption is particularly corrosive of the coin of the realm of democracies, trust (every good story needs a good guy). The oligarchs' Great Corrupter is handsome, suave, and patient. In S-1 E-9 the Great Corrupter approached each of Vasya's appointees with bribe offers. All of them turned him down with extreme prejudice. The fat old oli's discuss as each is getting a massage (old men are disgusting in the nude) and one says, it's typical, I turned down my first offer of $1k too but weakened; have patience. E-9 ended with each of Vasya's friends pensive with second thoughts.
E-10 opens with Vasya presenting his ex- (current central bank head) with a bouquet of her favorite flowers on occasion of her birthday I think. Immediately after going their separate ways Olya's cell phone rings. It's G.C. "Have you had a chance to think it over, Olya Yurievna?" "Yes. It's a deal."
