The Great: Season 2 arrives Friday, November 19 on Hulu.
The miraculous tonal twistings of Hulu's The Great return triumphantly, with 10 new episodes of historical hilarity, jarring lewdness, and surprising sentiment. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult once again dazzle in this "occasionally true story" of Russian Empress Catherine the Great and conquered husband Peter III in a season that draws in more complexity and nuance to their tumultuous, but ultimately loving, relationship.
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. 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.
It can also be unabashedly raunchy, full of unapologetic sexual appetites both honorable and horrific. 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's flat-out funny but with a bold, nonchalant mean streak. 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.
Season 2 tracks Catherine's coup, pregnancy with baby Paul, and devilish dealings with not only trying to rule Russia, but change Russia. 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.
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. 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.
Elle 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. 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. Does he actually want to secretly undermine her in an attempt to see her fail? Does he even want to rule Russia? Or does he actually care the most about winning her heart and being a kind, doting dad to their child? Together, Fanning and Hoult craft a crazy, tender cycle of love and betrayal. Their post-coup "love story" here not only rambunctiously rips up the pages of history, but provides a spectacular spine for Season 2.
There are so many glorious (and harrowing) things in Season 2, from science expos to servant uprisings to crocodiles on the loose to a visit from Catherine's domineering, disapproving mother (Gillian Anderson in a fun role that allows Catherine to act the backpedaling fool). Meanwhile, Catherine's supporters -- Sacha Dhawan's Orlo, Douglas Hodge's Velementov, and Belinda Bromilow's Elizabeth - struggle finding a full voice among the new regime as their understanding of practical methods often get pushed aside by their Empress' action-oriented eagerness.
At the same time, Adam Godley's Archie and Phoebe Fox's Marial race to find favor with Catherine, having seemingly been on the wrong side of the takeover. It all boils down to bawdy, hilarious politics, where those on the direct outskirts of Catherine and Peter must always straddle a certain line, as the winds of change are capable of blowing in any direction, at any moment. The Great never fails to provide characters who you simultaneously resent and admire and who, even in their worst moments, are understandable.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/30FWYKa
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