Kate Winslet Gives ‘The Regime’ the Best Sexy Christmas Routine Since ‘Mean Girls’

The Regime is taking a page out of the Succession book in the penultimate episode of the season. Herbert (Matthias Schoenaerts) wants to play bitey with Elena (Kate Winslet). He’s been chomping on her fingers super hard, “almost chewing them off,” in his dreams. The new couple sit with a dream therapist to discuss these odd visions on Christmas day in the palace.

“Biting doesn’t necessarily signify aggression,” the therapist suggests. He’s wired to equate love with pain, and his dreams are a safe space to explore that. To practice a healthier mindset, Herbert should try placing Elena’s hand in his mouth but not bite it, which could create a nonviolent feedback loop in his dreams. Later, as Herbert and Elena have some intimate time—it’s a nightmare to watch these cringey scenes; get me to that dream therapist—Herbert sucks on her fingers, but doesn’t clamp down on them with his teeth. Elena applauds him, as if he were a rescue dog learning not to munch on humans. They’re “two little lunatics who fit like a glove,” Elena says, an apt title for their oddball relationship.

Christmas at the palace is full of chipper music, holly jolly decorations, and the distant sound of bombs coming from a rebellion just a dozen miles away from the palace. Luckily, the explosions are light rumblings, not loud enough to completely distract from the murmurs of “Jingle Bells” on a nearby boombox at the palace. Elena calls for a family photo in front of the tree with young Oskar (Louie Mynett)—whose mother is actually Agnes (Andrea Riseborough)—and Herbert, her bodyguard-turned-live-in boyfriend.

Read more at The Daily Beast.