The Great: Season 1

The Great: Season 1

Poster for The Great: Season 1

Elle Fanning is Catherine the Great, Russia's longest-reigning female ruler, in this anti-historical satire series from the Oscar-nominated co-writer of The Favourite. Nicholas Hoult co-stars as the maniacal and somewhat idiotic Emperor Peter, whose arranged marriage to Catherine changes the sunny girl into an edgier woman fighting for change.

88 ^%Rotten
tomatoes®
9 reviews

2020Australia, UKHulu

ComedyHistorical

Creator:: Tony McNamara
Cast:: Elle FanningNicholas HoultPhoebe FoxAdam GodleyGwilym LeeCharity WakefieldDouglas HodgeSacha Dhawan

The Great: Season 2

Streaming (1 Provider)

STREAM NOW

Episodes

The Great

In 1761, Catherine travels to Russia and becomes the Empress... More by marrying the Emperor of Russia, Peter.

The Beard

Catherine takes her first steps toward a coup. Taking advice... More from Marial, she attempts to seduce and recruit palace intellectual Count Orlo. It’s a disaster.

And you Sir, are no Peter the Great

Catherine, Orlo and Marial continue their coup planning. They try... More to recruit an unhappy military general, Velementov, for their cause during palace celebrations honoring Peter’s late father, Peter the Great.

Moscow Mule

Catherine tries to manage her reputation at court and her... More relationship with Leo, both of which distract her from the coup.

War and Vomit

As the war with Sweden continues to rage, Catherine and... More Aunt Elizabeth visit the military at the Russian front. Seeing the soldiers reminds Catherine of her goal to rule Russia differently.

Parachute

Peter has a new lease on life after his near-death... More experience. He is open to Catherine’s progressive ideas of introducing art and science to court and wants to focus on an heir.

A Pox on Hope

Catherine feels optimistic about peaceful coexistence with Peter and ... More their increasing chemistry. When smallpox breaks out in the servant’s quarters, however, Peter reverts to his old ways.

Meatballs at the Dacha

Catherine’s political abilities are tested when she’s given an ... More opportunity to travel abroad with Peter and Velementov to discuss ending the war with Swedish king.

Love Hurts

Tensions mount as Catherine, Orlo, Velementov, Leo, and Marial try... More to get regional counts on board with the coup.

The Beaver’s Nose

Catherine’s decides to move forward with the coup on her... More birthday. Peter isn’t so easily overcome and holds Leo hostage as collateral. In exchange for a return to her status, Marial betrays Catherine to Peter and tells him that she is pregnant. Catherine realizes that the only chance for a greater Russia is to fight, without Leo. The battle begins.

Reckon we have something wrong? Let us know.

The Great: Season 1 | Reviews

88%84 reviews

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Chicago Sun-Times

If only “The Great” were as great as “The Great” seems to think “The Great” is, it’d be pretty great. But this 10-part limited series from Hulu is more tiresome then clever, more sadistically off-putting than wickedly funny, more overwrought than impactful.

Time Magazine

My favorite portrayals of groundbreaking women are, like The Favourite, Marie Antoinette and now The Great, at least partially humorous.

Boston Globe

Reality is rarely as funny as this sparkling period satire. ... Throughout, I sensed Fanning — along with the rest of the cast — savoring McNamara’s brilliant script, with its carefully arranged layers of intention and its divine insults.

Hollywood Reporter

Despite stellar performances by Fanning and Hoult, The Great, by sticking a pure-hearted heroine in a world where heroism seems impossible, never quite adds up to a coherent whole. As an acidic confection, it's a lemon tart topped with moose lips.

Rolling Stone

The Great is instead concerned with showing what drove the German-born Catherine to fall so in love with her new homeland that she felt the need to rescue it from her sadistic frat-bro husband (played by Nicholas Hoult). And on that level, both the series and its leading lady live up to the title.

Variety

For as good as the cast and production is, the series’ backbone is Fanning’s increasingly confident empress.

RogerEbert.com

Even when making pit stops for absurdity (the odd dance number, say) it feels purposeful and lively, and even when the violence spikes, the writing and Fanning’s performance ensure that “The Great” never fixates on the darkness. There’s simply too much to do.

The Guardian

At its best, The Great plays like the slickest of TikTok historical summaries, distilling the story of a young woman radicalized by cruelty into a snappy, vibrant female protagonist for the modern reader.

Time Magazine

It isn’t quite the perfectly paced masterpiece that [The Favourite] was; some episodes drag, including a smallpox romp that’s more tiresome than timely. Still, its witty dialogue and lively performances yield a sharp, fun dramedy.

The Great: Season 1 | Release Details

The Great: Season 1 is available to stream in New Zealand now on Neon.