Diksha Sundriyal
A small Central European country becomes the center of the story in HBO’s ‘The Regime.’ It is ruled by Elena Vernham, played by the brilliant Kate Winslet, who has been in power for seven years after winning a landslide support from the public. Now, however, she has started to become more volatile, making her even more unpredictable than before. This nature affects her decision-making skills, and even when her ministers try to steer her on the right path, she goes astray.
One of the things that her ministers try to do is to get her to sign a deal with an American company named BioCons. Talking to its CEO, Richard Kaiser, is important, but things take a very unexpected turn. With a very real portrayal of the characters in the show, the question also arises about the nature of characters like Kaiser. Are he and his company real? SPOILERS AHEAD
Richard Kaiser and BioCons are Fictional Elements in The Regime
All of the characters and events in ‘The Regime,’ created by Will Tracy, are completely made up. The character of Richard Kaiser is introduced in the first episode. A palpable urgency is felt in the cabinet, which tries to convince Elena to finalize a deal with Kaiser and Biocons. The deal is regarding the abundant cobalt mines that Elena’s country has. For someone like Kaiser, who runs a tech company, cobalt is an essential element used in the creation of many technological devices.
While the cabinet is clear that making this deal will help stabilize the country’s faltering economy, Elena keeps delaying the thing. When she eventually sits down to have a talk with Kaiser, she immediately knows that signing the deal would mean signing off her cobalt mines as well. Kaiser asks for a raise of 51% shares in the trade deal, essentially making the cobalt mines his. So, in the future, if Elena’s country tries to do something else with the mine or sell it to someone else, they will have to ask for permission from Kaiser. This is a truly humiliating deal, and as expected, Elena doesn’t take it.
The loss of this deal puts a lot of pressure on Elena’s country’s economy, but it also makes things more complicated with the country’s relationship with the US, which Elena decides to keep a distance from because she is done being exploited by big names like America. This deal is also one of the reasons why Elena suddenly makes such a significant shift in her governance.
Kaiser and his company are fictional elements in the show, but they are structured around real companies that are completely invested in making a profit, no matter where it comes from. Kaiser knew about the political unrest, especially the protests against the mines. He knew that innocent protestors had been killed, but he didn’t bring it up because he didn’t really care what happened to the people. In the same vein, he doesn’t care about Elena’s country at all. What he has his eyes on is cobalt, and he is ready to do whatever it takes to get it. He is ready to lie, cheat, and manipulate, quite like a real businessman.
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