The Great (2020–2023)

An occasionally true story of power, pleasure, and peril in powdered wigs.

In the crowded landscape of historical dramas, few series have managed to redefine the genre with as much irreverent brilliance as Hulu’s The Great. Created by Tony McNamara (The Favourite), the series ran for three devilishly sharp seasons from 2020 to 2023 — and what it lacked in strict historical accuracy, it more than made up for in razor-edged satire, compelling performances, and a fearless reimagining of Russian imperial court life.

Billed with wry honesty as “an occasionally true story,” The Great is less a lesson in history than an exercise in decadence, violence, and absurdity — all in the service of exploring ambition, gender politics, and the chaos of ruling an empire with your husband’s blood still drying on the floor.

👑 The Plot: A Crown, a Coup, and a Crisis of Love

The show begins with a young Catherine (Elle Fanning) arriving in Russia, bright-eyed and idealistic, only to discover her new husband, Emperor Peter III (Nicholas Hoult), is a sadistic, narcissistic man-child. Far from the Enlightenment values she hoped to bring to the Russian people, Catherine finds herself surrounded by bear-baiting, courtly backstabbing, and a society that treats progress like a joke.

But what begins as disillusionment quickly transforms into rebellion, and the series charts Catherine’s slow, delicious evolution from naïve outsider to calculating monarch — a journey filled with political machinations, sexual power plays, shifting loyalties, and emotionally devastating consequences.

While Season 1 focuses on Catherine’s efforts to overthrow Peter, Season 2 dares to ask: What happens when the revolution is over and the crown is yours? And by Season 3, we find Catherine not just surviving in power, but struggling with its moral cost — while Peter, no longer emperor but still deeply entwined in her life, becomes both her greatest ally and most painful contradiction.

🎭 Performances: Royalty at Their Peak

At the heart of The Great lies a pair of performances that are nothing short of spectacular:

• Elle Fanning as Catherine brings nuance, intellect, and a wonderfully layered blend of vulnerability and steel. Her transformation from idealist to ruler is entirely believable, and Fanning navigates Catherine’s contradictions — mercy and cruelty, logic and passion — with remarkable grace.

• Nicholas Hoult, meanwhile, delivers one of the most darkly comic performances in recent television history. His Peter is grotesque, hilarious, dangerous, and strangely likable — often in the same scene. In Season 3, his arc takes on surprising depth, moving beyond satire into real tragedy.

Supporting players like Phoebe Fox as Marial, Sacha Dhawan as Orlo, and Gwilym Lee as Grigor offer rich counterpoints and help flesh out a world where loyalty is fluid, and morality is optional.

✍️ Tone and Writing: Satire with Teeth

McNamara’s writing is the show’s crown jewel. The dialogue crackles with anachronistic wit, balancing absurdist humor with genuine emotional stakes. One moment, characters are debating philosophy with punchlines; the next, they’re ordering executions with tears in their eyes. It’s a tonal high-wire act that never falters.

The show’s use of modern language in a period setting is bold — but never cheap. Instead of breaking immersion, it deepens our connection to the characters, making their struggles feel weirdly contemporary. Politics, power, toxic masculinity, gender dynamics — it’s all here, dressed in corsets and delivered with a wink.

🏰 Production: Elegance Meets Excess

Visually, The Great is a feast. The sets are lavish, the costumes decadent, and the cinematography balances grandeur with intimacy. Whether it’s a candlelit dinner turned psychological warfare or a snow-covered duel in the woods, the show knows how to stage excess without losing focus.

The production design reinforces the absurdity of the world Catherine is trying to reform — a world where opulence masks rot, and civilization hangs by a silk thread.

🎬 Conclusion: A Reign Worth Remembering

The Great is not just a clever show. It’s a brilliantly crafted character study, a satire that slices through time to reflect our present, and a rare series that improves with each season. Balancing historical drama with biting modern humor, it leaves a lasting impression — not just of Catherine the Great, but of the brutal beauty of transformation.

Though its reign ended in 2023, The Great remains one of the most bold, stylish, and emotionally rich shows of the past decade.

⭐ Final Verdict: ★★★★★ (9.5/10)

A masterpiece of satire, heartbreak, and high-stakes history — long may it reign.

Created by: Tony McNamara
Starring: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Sacha Dhawan, Gwilym Lee
Seasons: 3 (2020–2023)
Genre: Historical Comedy-Drama / Satire
Streaming on: Hulu (U.S.), Disney+ (Intl.)

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