The Great has actually *GREAT* costumes (S1 + S2) 

I was just about to complain, because Peter II actually died at the age of 14😅

e22e2e ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0rxtL3uTl7s.html

@@choicethetaurus I just clicked the link... DAMN LOVING THE SONG

Luckily the show was only inspired by history and is not meant to be used as a learning resource. People who complain about the historical accuracy of fiction shows and movies that are supposed to be entertaining are ridiculous.

PALEASE COVER MRS MAISEL THE COSTUMES ARE BEAUTIFUL

Indeed, it's not easy to make a horrible character likable, but Nicholas definitely succeeds! 😍

It all started with Tony stonem

@Erwin Lii I don’t know because I haven’t thought about it?

@@bellecs324 Haha omg yess!

@@trinaq it’s cause of how he was raised his mom was horrible to him and he had a lot to live up to when it came to his dad.but I love his love for Paul 😍

Its also a modern trend for fashionable men to wear pearl necklaces a la Harry Styles, Sean Mendes, etc.

Also due to the fact that in the show, he basically embraces being a stay-at-home Dad in season 2. He keeps referring to the baby as Paul from the very beginning he discovered she was pregnant while Catherine just calls it "the baby" during the early stages of her pregnancy. And to add-on, he's carrying Paul in the baby body strap attached to his chest after Paul is born. It's pretty obvious he parents and cares for Paul (note that I didn't say babysit), when Catherine is handling businesses of state.

He wears a skirt in the first season, and he wears the pearls when he thinks of his mother

it’s a pearl rosary actually

@@dovalayn its a multistrand pearl necklace...

An AU fanfiction is the best way to describe this show.

Dude you gotta watch "The Favorite". Hoult is in it too, in case that's why you're into watching "The Great".

I know! I love this show sm

Because it suvks

@@hikuz9590 miss

@A M aa yeah that makes more sense 😭 why watch a show abt russian history thats targeted to westerners when you could watch one made by russians, for russians.

It is sadly not getting the love it deserves on YT. Especially when compared to .. that other "historical drama" show which came out last year. But what's the average Jane's consensus on films like "The Favorite"? Especially when compared to any Bronte or Austin novel adaptation? The favorite does things in a completely fresh and nuanced manner; it's clever and funny, and actually made me "think" while watching it. Characters are very complex and not "one note" (Except for the ones intentionally written to be that way), it's very feminist too. This show definitely felt like that, I enjoyed it precisely for being that way. And although there's ... I guess we can call it a romance? It's hella weird and doesn't have the "happily ever after feel". It deconstructs the characters, deconstructs history (Which I didn't even think was possible lol 🤣), makes a statement, and somehow manages to makes me laugh too.. It might be "too smart" and "too good" for its own good. Maybe that's why it's underrated.

thats very cool, did you get the chance to meet any of the main cast?

@@Colinop Elle was walking by me a few times, but haven't talked to them no.

now on parr with the man who carried the hunger games eh?

​@@KawaiiStars Take that back! No one could ever beat Charlie's character portrayal in The Hunger Games!

The Great also featured POC as nobility and aristocracy before Bridgerton first came out. I think people accepted that in The Great due to the premise of the period drama admitting to the audience that it's openly not meant to be historically accurate and extremely, darkly cynical and satirical. I watched the first season of The Great first, and I was looking forward to season 2. Not to trash Bridgerton though. I had a lot of fun watching Bridgerton a couple months after the initial hype died down. I see its flaws but I enjoy it for the romantic and dramatic cheesiness that it is.

lol why's there a bot train

@@permanentstateofawe6544 actually Russian court had POC in it in reality. For example, Peter The Great (Father of Peter in the tv show and his grandfather in reality) had a minister and a general who was from West Africa.

@@alexandratrifilova4369 Oh yea, I totally see your point. I also mean that the POC were overtly in Peter's inner circle as aristocracy as if their race had no dictation on their rank as nobility and racism isn't a "thing" in that world, yet classism, sexism and religious hierarchy is.

@@permanentstateofawe6544 TBH it's a different beast from Bridgerton in that regard because Bridgerton openly creates an AU that's akin to the modern world in which race is a factor but not as big of a one as it would have been historically. The POC in Bridgerton still feel the need to be "model minorities" in order to be respected, even those with high social status and hereditary wealth, as shown by hot dude's father (I can't for the life of me remember the characters' names). The Great is produced in the vein of a theatre play with pretty much blind casting.

Yes! Exactly.

Lifegoals...

Best character

@@sarahwatts7152 Aunt Elizabeth is the only character who was always charming and loveable; Catherine was briefly at times narcissistic in the second season (getting mad at Elizabeth for not believing in her when Catherine had no plans as to how to address the ramifications of freeing the serfs and people were literally being slaughtered in the halls) but this was somewhat explained as Catherine projecting her issues with her own mother not believing in her onto Elizabeth. I adore Elizabeth.

Ikrr...i thought so too.. Aunt Elizabeth is in my opinion the sane one in there and knows what she's doing.

The irony I think with The Great is that Catherine was really far more of a girlboss than the show portrays. Like she learned russian, converted to russian orthodoxy, and managed to pull off a bloodless (ish) coup. The show portrays her as far less smart and strategic and Russian than she was (esp compared to Peter III who was also Prussian, not Russian, and obsessed with Prussia and hated Russia).

@@anomalily It would be interesting if the show covered those parts. But I also think the choice to make Catherine less strategic and more naive also makes more sense given they made her much younger at the time of the coup.

A period drama about the era from Hatshepsut to Nefertiti comes to mind. Or a Drama about Eleonora of Aquitania fighting her Husband and her own sons Prince John and Richard Lionheart. Isabella of France, fighting a civil war with the gay lover of her husband. The gay Prussian king Fredrick the great, Katrin the greats distant cousin called empress Elizabeth of Russia, Empress Maria Theresia of Austria and Madam Pompadour "The three arch whores of Europe", probably an amazing girl boss story too. The story of Alva Vanderbilt as told by Malocome Gladwell would be awesome too. history is full of crazy girl boss stories but feminist history always tries to downplay female characters in history to claim female suppression. Just read about Olga of Kiev, empress Irene of Byzantium or empress Wu Zetian. One could write a 500 years spanning transgender and women empowering story about empress widows and eunuchs running the most powerful country in the world, but that would be against the prevailing narrative.

​@@motionpictures6629 It's not about claiming female suppression, it's about the fact that most media has historically belonged to straight white old rich dudes and so for years, most of mainstream media that was produced was produced for and about dudes like them. As soon as e.g. women or people of color, or LGBTQ+ people started having some power and money in studios, the different kinds of stories started being shown, finally. PS: I would 100% watch a show about Maria Theresia ruling an empire while having 16 children.

@@cogitorium1089 Mary Pickford started "United Artists" in 1919. Half of the film studios are owned by rich widows for a century now. The German media landscape for example is controlled my Fride Springer and Liz Mohn, two billionaire windows, The richest person in history of Germany is Bertha Krupp, the weapons manufacturer, she was the main force behind the German will to fight WW1 and had film studios and newspapers showing her views. History is full of powerful women having influence on media. Most reading and writing was taught by females' trough out history. The whole thing isn't a gender question, it's a class question. When the Baron left for war, the boranes ruled, not the knight and men spent half their lives in war.

Likewise, it's always a Brilliant day when Mina does a fashion analysis, especially if it's for a show/movie that you adore!

🐄

Fav RU-vidr supporting my other fav RU-vidr yayyyyy

OMG HI TARA

Aaaah two of my favorite youtubers!!

Absolutely. Bad wigs are my biggest pet peeve in tv and film. There are so many good shows out there where the wigs look like they cost 2 bucks and came from a garage sale lmao

Castlehusband 🤣🤣🤣 Why does that sound so funny?

You know she's going to overthrow and execute him right?

@@MegaPokemon1997 an execution is an official event. Peter III was killed while imprisoned, or assassinated, but definitely not executed.

@@MegaPokemon1997 it’s not a historical accurate show so it’s possible they won’t go that route

If we’re being honest catherine is far from perfect either. She’s got good ideas but she doesn’t know how to execute them that well at times and doesn’t listen to peoples advice which was like Peter s1

Leo wore similar clothes for his jogs around the palace! I thought of them as medieval hoodies. I'm so surprised she didn't mention them, it was such a cheeky touch

I love Horrible History! But it’s quite adorable whereas The Great is pretty graphic. Cool comparison.

Watched it while visiting relatives. Can definitely confirm that it was enjoyable.

Norsemen is like that too

oh i love horrible histories! that henry viii song is simply iconic!

@@DezMarivette I agree. It’s like a more adult version of it 😂

Afaik it was custom (at least in some places (iirc Queen Elizabeth I did this)) for women to have their hair loose and uncovered for their coronation.

@@scouttyra not the thing for Russian Court, there's always an updo.

he definitely wasn't a himbo in skins tho

@@t.mutabilis2497 He had a brief himbo period while he was recovering from having been ran over by a bus.

@@halloweenallyearround4889 the casual way you stated he got hit by a fucking bus

@@calcifiedweatherfrog4945 that's just how it is in the uk

Lol I peeped that too😂

Thank you for explaining! That's super interesting!

Thank you for this!

So many Peters

Also Catherine II was only 15 yo when she married Peter, not an old lady.

@@simplykathrynrebeca and they are literally a reason why there were almost no Peters in Romanov family anymore. This name was considered unlucky because Peters were too chaotic

noooooo I was so mad when they undid him being asexual cus there are like, three asexual characters in anything ever

@@Kelly_C lol they could've made peter asexual! historical accuracy

piggybacking to ask if anyone knows where the bodice came from, it is SO cute and I must have one

@Erwin Lii, maybe because it was filmed in the UK for an English speaking audience.....?? I mean, Russia and its neighbours are more than welcome to make their own series about Catherine the Great (or any part of UK/American history), in their native language and with cultural inaccuracies, just like this show. This isn't a documentary, it even makes a point of saying its 'occasionally true' i.e. It's not historically accurate. I mean, they're all speaking in a very posh English accent....would you rather the show was 100% authentic and the whole thing was spoken in Russian...? It's made for an English audience, so the actors are speaking English. (*Specifically, they're speaking with a posh accent, to show their aristocratic status. Most everyday British people's accent is not like that.) In Russia, if they want to make a series about Queen Elizabeth 1 (for example), and cast it with all Russian actors, spoken in Russian for a Russian audience... with historical inaccuracies, filmed in France instead of UK....etc....of course they can do that!! It's storytelling. Stories should be shared. It's good to learn about other cultures. 😌💕☮🌸💕 How many more people have looked into Catherine the Great *because of this show*, who would otherwise never have heard of her....? And some of those people will have watched the show because they already know some of the actors in it (that's why films use famous actors, so people will watch them....) I assume your point is that people should tell their own stories - which I agree with. Everyone should be able to tell their own stories, from their history/culture. But I don't think that should stop other people from telling the stories too. *We should be aiming for both, not either/or. More representation, not limited* Tell me if I've missed something? *Do you think the cast should have all been Russian, apart from the main character - Catherine - who was GERMAN wasn't she...??* Also *** I've seen you posted this question elsewhere in these comments, so I assume you're trying to make a point, rather than asking a genuine question? Maybe you should put that question to the casting director of the series, instead of YT comment section - if you wanted an actual answer, ask the people who made the decision, no...? 😌

Hello again 😌 I'm really sorry if my comment sounded patronising or rude to you, honestly it wasn't intended to be. I wrote it how I thought it in my mind, but I guess it doesn't always translate the same way via text. If we'd been speaking face to face, and you could hear the tone of my voice, you would 100% know that I wasn't being unkind or rude, but I'm sorry it seemed that way. That's why I used emojis, like 😌☮🌸💕 to show what I was saying was meant with kindness. Maybe I didn't get it right? To answer your question: no, the show isn't particularly special to me or anything. I enjoyed it, I think it's brilliant and funny - but that's not the reason I gave a long reply to you. Its literally just how my brain works, once I start writing, my thoughts spill out...and before I know it, I've written lots of little paragraphs explaining what I think (evidence: it's happening again already😌) Apologies if it sounded like a rant, it wasn't meant to be, I always write long messages without realising. I also wasn't trying to undermine you, I was just explaining why I disagree. And yes, there's nothing wrong with expecting some authenticity, but I don't think Russian actors would be more authentic in this particular situation, because nobody alive now was *also* alive at the time this series is set (unless they're vampires - but I don't think many vamps go into showbiz...?!😛) All of our knowledge from that time will be from records/history books, etc....so it's not like a Russian actor would have an advantage over someone from another country - it's all historical. A Russian actor wouldn't be acting with 'authenticity' unless they also happen to be part of the Russian royal family. I do think there should be way more representation of all cultures though, but like I said, not either/or - both. I love history/mythology/folklore, and while I think it's important people can tell stories from their own culture, I don't think think it should be limited to that. When we share stories from other cultures, we understand eachother better. Which is why I don't have a problem with UK/American actors telling this Russian history story, because it's sharing the story with a wider audience. Anyway, I hope I explained myself better, and again, I'm sorry if my first message sounded rude, it really wasn't meant that way. 😌 Hope you have a good day 🌸💜

@@tigs6639 but it's silly to say Russian actors wouldn't know Russian culture better than Western ones. Russian culture is portrayed horribly in the series. And who would you trust to write a historical Russian setting, somebody who can access Russian historical documents or not? Show could put more effort into being more authentic. It's borderline offensive to Russians sometimes, you know? That's just respect to try to avoid that

@kinda Anastasia, hello 😌 Yeah I agree, it would be silly to say Russian actors wouldn't know *Russian culture* better than western ones - and that's not what I said. I said, Russian actors who are alive now, don't live the same life as when this show is set. So by default, anyone acting in this show has not lived the authentic life of the characters it depicts. (They're all acting. Even if they were Russian, they'd still be acting) By the same logic, would you say someone from the uk would be inherently better at playing Queen Elizabeth the first? My answer - not necessarily. Because the people living now, don't live in Tudor times. They would be acting, based on knowledge of the past - same as this show. You asked who I'd trust to write a historical Russian setting - my answer is: anyone with access to history books. Whether they're Russian or not is not the most important thing, anyone can access history, lots of people in the uk are very interested in Russian history, and worldwide history. Likewise, I'm sure there are Russians who aren't that interested in history, who would know less than someone from outside Russia who studied the history in depth. Also, I'm interested in which bits are offensive to Russians, could you give me examples please? I've read other people comment about it showing the population not being able to read, or women dressing uncomfortably for the sake of men - are they the things you mean? Because in the uk, I think that would be seen as a joke about 'the past' rather than specifically commenting on Russia? We make jokes like that about our own history too. We have shows like Horrible Histories that uses humour like this to teach kids history. It's not being mean, it's just showing differences, with a good intention. I personally don't think this show was trying to be offensive about Russian history, but I'm also not entirely sure what the offensive things are meant to be, so do tell me please. (P.S. I have said, but I'll repeat it, I'm absolutely in favour of more, more, moreeee diversity and representation. There should be more oppurtunities for different types of stories to be told, by different people.) peace&love🌸

@@tigs6639 I am not going to go into this too deep, but yeah, what you said and much more. Culture of the past impacts culture of the present. Even an average, not history-knowing Russian will probably know culture of the past Russia better than a foreigner because of the media we are exposed to. Even most uneducated on matters of history Russians in Russian community mention cringing immediately at the whole setup. We *know* how this is wrong, because our culture raised us to know the right way. It's not just about details, the whole image is crooked to those who know Russian culture in more detail. Foreign slavicists mention this too, so it's not just Russians. Show made the awfulest research they could. And about offensiveness - the whole premise is "how different Russia is from Europe". Of course Russians feel it's directed at Russians, the whole show tells the joke like it is. And there are a lot of stereotypes already anyways, and the fact that American service is making it doesn't help, because they are more prejudiced. Imagine this being a show about a period of Japan or Kingdom of Zimbabwe. How'd you feel?

Have you read Open Hearts by Eve Dangerfield. It's a romance novel that's my go-to example for himbo x girl boss

@@kajamiletic3223 THANK YOU FOR THE RECOMMENDATION. So blessed.

@@astrokits I hope you enjoy it! It's very well-written and starts off in the same vein of the heroine being disdainful of the himbo hero but using him for sex. However the hero is way kinder than Peter :)

@@kajamiletic3223 thank you! Gotta read it too

Yess agree with all of that. I never thought I’d like Archie but they managed to make it happen

Yes! Dude, Archie is disgusting, yet Season 2 made me super glad they did not kill him because he is turning into a really interesting grey character. I'm sure in future seasons I will once again loathe him, then like him over and over, which is fun. And yeah, the kid is adorable.

In many ironic comedy shows the kids are always acting like adult for the shock factor and haha funny kid said adult words. But I'm glad they didn't treat Maxim like that bad just let him be a kid, while still being funny.

I agree Aunt Elizabeth really grew on me as did Archie. I hated Archie the first season but it just proves how good the writers are that they made me actually enjoy his subplots. Marial didn’t grow on me as it seemed that she hadn’t really changed since the season 1 finale (telling Catherine what Peter had done in a rather harsh way that was definitely for her sake rather than Catherine’s) but the writers made up for it by giving both her and Grigor some great scenes during the last few episodes where they could really show their acting skills. I’ll admit they did a great job of turning characters who had previously been Catherine and Peter’s sidekicks/enablers into compelling characters by demonstrating how they themselves view their positions. They got great actors, the guy who played the Sultan was brilliant for the one scene he was in; they did a great analysis of how the system punished even those who seemingly had benefited the most from it. I think the writers are brilliant and am very excited for the next season.

They’ve been really obvious that it isn’t historically accurate, even more so than Reign. My favorite departure is how they keep mentioning Catherine’s many sisters, and it affects her character a lot. Real Catherine only had one sibling, a boy, so they’ve really made this character unique.

I watched the first episode or two and I kind of hated it (and I usually have pretty low standards for costume movies and don't expect complete faithfulness). I think I approached it from a bad angle: I was expecting a more typical historical drama and maybe didn't quite get that the ridiculousness was intended. So I should give it another go and I might end up loving it after all! That said, my annoyance was of the kind I feel when I see yet another scene with corsets worn over naked body and characters complaining that they can't breathe in them but they have to wear them because men won't like them otherwise - the point of those scenes seems to be that "oh my god, look how bad women had it in the past, people were so stupid, WE"RE NOT LIKE THAT ANYMORE!". Basically making ourselves feel better at the expense of the past (in this case it doesn't help that it's an American series about Russia). "The Great" gave me the same vibe with scenes like Russian ladies supposedly not being allowed to read - like... what?! While absurd, it's also conceivable that some audiences will actually take it at face value. So it could be regarded as a case study in the "Past people stooopid. The past baaaad" school of moviemaking. Except this time it's even worse: "Past Russian people even stoopider. The Russian past even baaaaader"! "The Favourite" was very different because, while also satirical, it didn't actually look down at its own characters and their historical context. So, I'll give "The Great" another go and see if I can see it in a different light this time, but I'm not quite holding my breath.

Definitely do! It’s approached in such a non-serious way that it’s easy to enjoy. It’s clear that it’s not trying to be historically accurate (the title card to each episode even says “an occasionally true story”) so you don’t end up spending the whole time being annoyed at historical inaccuracies, you can just get into the plot of the show.

i mean, they do say that it's historically inaccurate in the beginning of every.single.episode

@@AW-uv3cb if you watch it in the lens that its an alternate universe (AU), fanfiction or just a fictional story that so happen to have main characters with the names peter and Catherine. So *Basically disregard all history.* The only thing you need to focus on are the characters and how they interact with eachother. I am not Russian or a historian, but I still dont take the scenes as accurate at all nor do I think this is what Russia was like. *I only focus on the characters* & that is essentially what makes the show very entertaining. Light hearted, satirical comedy with characters wearing clothes from a different time period. I also think if you know too much of how it really was like, it would be hard to watch ( I know doctors who cant take greys anatomy seriously because its known for how inaccurate it is )

Indeed, Mina always looks so effortlessly gorgeous! 😍💄

Yeah, I think treating it as a fanfic is probably a good way to approach it... I tried watching a couple of episodes and I also thought it was a bit offensive to the past in general and to the Russian culture specifically (I'm Polish, btw). Not because you can't satirise the past, but because the way they satirised it (in the bits I saw) was like something that some ignorant people might actually think (like Russian court ladies not being allowed to read and bears in the ballroom and whatnot!). Satire should challenge our preconception, but this seemed like it meant to reinforce them!

Yea I agree I wish it focused on just mocking the royals but instead it also makes fun of Russians and Russian culture being "backwards"

It's a pity there're not many historically accurate shows to watch, all I know of are really old, now all we get is modrn propaganda but centuries ago. So, everyone can visit palaces and other places from the period, seeing where royals slept, but having little idea on how they actually behaved as real human beings.

I love the show a lot, it's hilarious, wish more people were open to watching it. Costumes - amazing! No one tries to pretend they are doing it historically (ehem The Reign and Bridgerton)

@@melodi996 Eкатерина is a much more accurate show specifically about ekaterina, ive watched all three seasons and i truly loved them, its also in russian and was made in 2013 or so i think so its not too old (also subbed in english for the non russian speakers)

I think its just about the fact that they have great chemistry and the actors play well of each other. But yeah i dont like it either lol

People ship them because they have amazing chemistry. We all know they’re super toxic for each other, but Elle Fanning herself has said she ships it, so if the actress playing Catherine herself does it, why shouldn’t we??? lol 😂

i think any attempt to apply irl standards of morality to that show is destined to fail lol

@@cgm530 yeah i agree and disagree with that. Because it is beyond morality. The writers make him unredeemable. They pushed it too far.I still enjoy their chemistry , but I just don’t buy that Catherine would have any love for him. But also, I don’t want to take it too seriously, I understand why people like it, it is pretty good fan fiction.

@@solangemorell2048 yeah they do have amazing chemistry! people seems to enjoy it and they should, it is a great show!

Thank you 😭 she mispronounced a lot in this one 🥺

I think it will be out in UK in December, on channel 4 (like series 1 was)? Really looking forward to it.....it's gonna be GREATTTTT 😊👏🏼👏🏼

@@jackie9397 Agreed, but I didn't want to seem catty and point everything out. I don't think people should feel shame for it. I think this happens a lot when people are well read, but don't have a lot of conversations involving the vocabulary.

It's because of the title also Russians been talking about being fed up with caricature Russians through the years so this felt like mocking their feelings and I understand. Even though I love the favorite and this kind of humor too.

@@robotdowney i mean americans are annoyed by how the world portrays us but people still make caricatures of us and we can still laugh about it especially if it’s so over the top it’s obvious it’s not serious

У тебя прекрасный английский!

@@Barsookmik спасибо💌

speaking as an american, this is very true. once you realize it, you see it everywhere.

also the bizarre sentimentality that a lot of americans have for russian royals in their media is so gross, they were horrible and cruel people that don’t deserve romanticism. i like that this show confronts the darker aspects of royals head on to be less sympathetic to their status and their absurdities.

Yup! I already said it under someone else's comment, but I'll say it again: it's not that we can't satirise the past. It's that good satire should challenge our preconceptions, but "The Great" seems designed to reinforce it, especially since it's an American series telling American/Western audiences about a culture they likely don't know much about, so it's quite likely that a lot of people will take the intended satire somewhat at face value. "The Favourite" is a brilliant example of how to do it right, because it doesn't look down on its characters or the period they live in and it subverts our notions about gender/power dynamics rather than reinforce them.

This wasn’t made by Americans lol

@@actuallyclaudia The commissioning network Hulu is an American company and a lot of the series' executive producers and production companies are also American, so it's kind of fair to say it's an American series. But okay, even it it's British or Australian or whatever, it's still an English-speaking-country production and clearly USA, UK, Australia, Canada and whatnot have culturally a lot more in common with each other than with Russia, so I think the point still stands.