Tenderness

During a spur-of-the-moment trip to St. Petersburg, chief financial officer Elena unexpectedly meets the man of her dreams – and then, equally unexpectedly, loses him again. She has nothing to go on, so she breaks out everything she's got to hunt him down: logical deduction, supernatural forces, her friends' help, a new guy she's met, a retreat, and much more. Since she was a little girl, Elena has always "taken life at a march," climbing the career ladder with frankly alarming determination, never letting herself get waylaid by romance or relationships. She's always been like that – right up until this weird, accidental, incredibly lucky meeting. In the new episodes, Elena gets back to hunting down the one that got away, using every aboveground (or underhand) method available to her. She rushes headlong into it, makes mistakes, falls down, but keeps going, making the difficult journey toward love and affection, and, most importantly, finding herself.

Directed by Anna Melikyan, Tenderness leans on a strong ensemble — Viktoriya Isakova, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Evgeny Tsyganov — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The series landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2020.