Back at the start of the year I was really excited to learn about The Great, a new show that was coming to Hulu penned by one of the writers of The Favourite. And starring Nicholas Hoult alongside Elle Fanning! I didn’t watch it straight away and then the Emmy shows took some precedence, so I’ve only just now gotten around to watching this comedy-drama, and slightly true telling of the early days of Catherine the Great of Russia.
Since this was created by Tony McNamara who was involved with The Favourite, I was expecting this to be a little bit ridiculous, but in an entertaining way. And it was! Russia’s current ruler Peter III was doing the most outrageous things and then just yelling “huzzah!” all the time. He would just break glasses whenever he felt like it, slept with his best friend’s wife, and had his mummified mother on display. Peter was also making a war with Switzerland happen for no apparent reason. Catherine comes into the picture because Peter needs an heir. It’s clear from the start that the innocent and kind Catherine is put off by the barbaric ways of Peter and Peter just finds her irritating and boring.
Fairly quickly into the series, Catherine makes friends with her lady maid, Marial, and a member of the court, Orlo. Together they start to devise a plan to kill Peter, as Catherine would be the one to inherit the thrown if an heir is not produced. They all want a better Russia and it’s clear that Peter isn’t going to give it to them. Most of the season is spent waiting for the plan to take shape, although plenty of hijinks take place in between. There is even a point in time where it seems like Peter is willing to be persuaded to make changes for the people. Although his motivations are just for the people to love him, not for actual progress or happiness. The plan eventually takes shape and gets put into motion in an unexpected way, so by season’s end it appears there will more likely be a war within the palace than anywhere else!
Honestly, this show was a bit of a letdown. While it was weird in its own way, it was by no means close to what director Yorgos Lanthimos created with The Favourite. Also, there just seems to be so much Catherine the Great content in this world that I felt like it was an unoriginal idea, even if it does focus more on her beginnings than her actual rule. Even though this season was only ten episodes, it felt like it took a lifetime to finish. I recall pausing during each episode and groaning that I still had more than half the hour left to watch. It was really just boring. Not much happened in those first seven episodes, and even then I felt like the last three could have been condensed, too. I’m really bummed I didn’t like this series because it had all the ingredients to be something really entertaining, but it just didn’t deliver. You won’t catch me watching the second season, and I can’t recommend you watch the first.