Cover art by @greydaysgirl on Instagram

By Alena Nguyen

If you loved “The Favourite” starring Emma Stone, you’ll love “The Great”. This 10 episode Hulu original features Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great, as the show follows her claim to fame as Russia’s first female ruler. That position did not go without many tears and bloodshed- this is Russia, of course! 

This “occasionally true story” starts out with Fanning as Catherine the daughter of broke parents who is married off to the immature emperor of Russia, played by Nicholas Hoult. Catherine enters the castle, optimism gleaming from head to toe, but once she meets her husband, that optimism is crushed by the end of the day. She finds a friend in her servant Marial who was once a lady, played by Phoebe Fox. After devising a plan to become empress of Russia, which happily includes murdering her husband, Catherine finds allies in the wise but anxious Orlo (played by Sacha Dhawan) and her hired-turned-actual lover Leo Voronsky (played by Sebastian de Souza). 

Like most classical tales, the hour-long episodes felt much longer than an hour. Maybe it’s because we live in a fast-paced society in the 21st century or just that people in the 1600s or whenever really had nothing to do, but a lot of plot scenes were lengthened out to no end. While the smaller characters’ plot lines are important, it was often distracting from the main plot and felt unnecessary.

The betrayals in the last episode were a bit shocking and disappointing, but looking back, I realized they had to happen. I’m all for the great sidekick, so Marial’s betrayal of Catherine at the end was quite the shocking twist. I thought it was unnecessary at first but the corruption of the church and Marial’s sweet spot for the creepy pastor made sense as to why Marial betrayed her empress in the end. I wanted to see more inner struggle within Marial when deciding where to follow through with her loyalties, however, instead of constantly bedding the man who brought up the beard issue. While that betrayal could’ve been expressed more, I was really invested in Catherine’s decision between Voronsky and Russia and how she decided to kill Voronsky for the good of Russia.

The costuming and set design were immaculate. Every detail on the walls of the castle or on Catherine’s dress were so precise and beautiful, especially her bright pink gown in the end. It really displayed her bright personality and passion for Russia. The dark, earthy tones of the castle were really shown in the tea party scene when the ladies of the court made a fool out of Catherine until she was knocked to the ground and got a bloody nose. The feminine, youthful set design looked as if it came right out of a fairytale. 

Overall, “The Great” definitely lives up to its title, with violent banter and actions that make royal Russian life seem much more exciting than it really was for women. The strong display of feminism throughout the show is refreshing and inspiring. Watch Season 1 now on Hulu!