She faces opposition from her court, her country, and, at times, Peter, who is given such a blessedly funny and labyrinthine role this year as a man imprisoned by a woman he truly loves and must now figure out a path forward for himself. She's a romantic optimist who can be downright stubborn, and impulsive, with her desire to move the needle - and while her motives are usually pure, her methods might be in need of refining.Įlle Fanning, who terrifically delivers a righteously layered Catherine, has a little more meat to chew on this year as the new head of the table. Of course, none of this comes without stumbles (some painfully dire) but The Great keeps Catherine as a wonderfully complex character who's capable of both victory and defeat. Only her loyalists see the positives in her progressive ideals, while the uninitiated fear change and can't envision any tweaks to tradition garnering positive results, so it all becomes a sly game of almost tricking folks into seeing things her way. Season 2 tracks Catherine's coup, pregnancy with baby Paul, and devilish dealings with not only trying to rule Russia, but change Russia. It's all meant to evoke the brutality of the era and the harshness of existence while also relaying things in a way that makes sense for 2021. It's flat-out funny but with a bold, nonchalant mean streak.
Creator Tony McNamara (The Favourite) purposefully tramples genre conventions with an anti-period piece, anti-stuffiness tone, and biting wit that makes The Great a very hard series to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it.
It can also be unabashedly raunchy, full of unapologetic sexual appetites both honorable and horrific. At times, it's a clever farce, and then in other moments it can floor you with a heavy hand of emotional reckoning and resonance. Similar to the stylings of British Netflix series Sex Education - and not just because Sex Ed star Gillian Anderson guests this season on The Great as Catherine's mother, Johanna - The Great is able to mix together disparate genres and vibes in a way that feels seamless.