The Great is a 2020 period drama series that follows the early years of real-life Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great in 18th century Russia. All 10 episodes of The Great are currently streaming on Hulu.
Oh, The Great. If there’s any show out there to combat the mass pandemic panic, social media firestorms, and information overload raging on all of our screens simultaneously, The Great is the show to do it. The Great gives us a welcome reprieve from our modern-day hell and like a warm bath full of foamy, fragrant bubbles, lets us sink into bliss. In this case the bliss of the delightfully absurd, lavishly designed, and utterly indelible world of The Great and Catherine and Emperor Peter III’s court in 18th century Russia.
The Great may take a page out of the past, but it’s no history textbook. And thank goodness for that.
This frothy historical dramedy sets itself apart from more solemn, straight-faced historical fiction fare (like Helen Mirren’s Catherine the Great miniseries) in favor of a more brazen approach. With its female-driven narrative, sly wit, and loose adherence to actual history, The Great is a whole lot like 2018’s The Favourite…but without lesbian romance, copious rabbits, and a Rachel Weisz. BUT, we do get Nicholas Hoult seemingly reprising his role as a cutthroat, wig-wearing, total arse, as Emperor Peter III.
However, the real story here belongs to The Great’s spunky and ambitious heroine, Catherine. The ever effervescent Elle Fanning brings elegance, pluck, and aspiration to the young empress. With rosy-cheeked naivete, formidable intelligence, and radiant positivity Catherine arrives at court ready to roll up her sleeves and reform the poverty-stricken, war-torn, and undereducated Russia. Passionate about Enlightenment ideas and full of grand hopes for building a better Russia Catherine is instead met with a less than enthusiastic court, and an emperor who instantly voices his dissatisfaction with her.
Peter, the boorish and moronic monarch reigns over Russia with a decidedly hands-off approach. Part petulant child, part arrogant frat boy, Hoult’s Peter III is an impulsive, foul-mouthed, perpetually horny, excuse for a ruler.
He calls his esteemed war general Velementov (Douglas Hodge) “Fatso”, constantly fires off “Fuck Off!” whenever he’s displeased (aka all the time), and he keeps his mother’s mummified body, all gussied up in her Sunday best, on display in a great glass cabinet in his palace.
In other words, Peter’s so inexcusably horrible, that with Hoult’s campy swagger and gleeful awfulness, he’s one of the most hilarious (and memorable) characters in The Great. There’s not a shadow of a doubt that Hoult is having the time of his life in this role, and it makes it all the more side-splittingly comical and endlessly entertaining for us. As Peter himself would say, HUZZAH!
Conversely, Fanning’s Catherine is a veritable modern-day heroine. She refuses to be passively complicit in Peter’s court or anyone’s pawn… and she has to use all her wits to make the world she envisions a reality.
Because, as fate would have it, Catherine is surrounded by uneducated noblewomen who only want to gossip and squeal over the latest fashion, roll colored balls across lawns for “sport”, and titter about scandals and affairs. The arrogant and insipid Lady Antonia Svenska (Danusia Samal) is one of the greatest offenders and a kind of queen bee of the group. Her snootiness is undermined by her sheer ignorance though, and one especially tongue-in-cheek incident finds Lady Antonia wearing elaborate French wigs as a “hat” atop her own hair, inspiring a hilariously cringey trend amongst all of the noblewomen at court.
Unflinching in her beliefs about gender equality, the need for education, and universal respect, much of what Catherine stands for speaks to our modern-day values, wants, and needs. With her droll quips that Peter’s title ought to be “Peter the not so adequate”, her odd-couple relationship with her fiery and audacious handmaid Marial (Phoebe Fox), and her Jane Austen-esque witty banter prowess, Catherine is a force to be reckoned with.
She’s aware of her womanhood and how others see her…and how she can use her femaleness to her advantage. The soft, romantically-minded and naive young woman she is in the first episode is quickly broken and reshaped into a savvier, but no less optimistic leader. To get there, she quickly learns how to paste a smile onto her face and play the role of the placated and simpering “little” Empress all while quietly strategizing with her trusted allies, Marial, and bookish court advisor Grigory Orlov (Sacha Dhawan). Catherine’s end game? To overthrow the insufferably smug, entitled, and uncaring Peter and seize control of the country to make Russia an enlightened, wealthy, and educated country.
Although at times The Great toes the line between a more anachronistic dram-com, it always manages to acrobatically pivot back to a period drama full of court intrigue, political commentary, and sly jabs at social divides and the air-headed nobility calling the shots, and, in Peter’s case throwing spectacular tantrums left and right.
The Great’s first season is 10 briskly-paced episodes filled with raucous parties, heart-stopping betrayals, backstabbing, and hijinks. Murky pasts are made clear, bonds are forged and broken, and desserts are sometimes served with the heads of unfortunate Swedes slain by a tantrum-throwing man-child emperor cough Peter cough.
The cast of multilayered characters, cleverly written dialogue, and the balance of slapstick humor with insightful commentary, alone, make The Great a must-add to any queue. Add to that the sumptuous costuming, extravagant set design, and no-holds-barred performances from the talented, racially-diverse cast, and one thing is overwhelming clear– The Great lives up to its name, and then some.