"he looked at my ears" i cracked. elle fanning was such a badass this season but i'd like to say that belinda bromilow as aunt elizabeth was catherine's MVP supporting character this time around. hell yeah!
it's not hard to be a "badass" when you're written as a Mary Sue and all your opponents are the most cartoonish of cartoon bad guys. But then again, noone accused the fans of this show and its characters of being literature-literate.
Yeah credit were its due she ignores his superficial manner and clocks he's a complete nutter. I mean this would never happen irl. Killing someone at a diplomatic meeting is political suicide, so you'd never make it to sultan if you were that nuts.
The funny thing is that Peter has such a natural talent for killing and murder, he may have been a good general if things were different. Peter has all these odd little talents that round out his natural sillyness.
Interesting idea, though his strategies for the war were consistently bad in the first season. It's like his strategic genius was better on a small scale.
@@malindarayallen that's called tactics. Peter is a gifted small units commander, very gifted to be able to match his fat general- sadly, you DON'T want your Emperor commanding troops at that level, too dangerous
Funny things: an afroamerican as "Count" Orlov? And another black in the inner circle of the Russian Czar? A gaggle of black court children in 18th century Russia? Some kind of hyperbole, a very bad joke or artistic license, or an attempt to put into children's heads, through a kind of satire, the gibberish that blacks have always been quite naturally present in the highest social strata all over the world? An activist theory based on their usual "argument" "Prove to me it wasn't so?" WTF? Historical fabrications galore, which admittedly there is a disclaimer with the opening headline, but there are so many that unfortunately all the wit and satire gets lost in the would-be original nonsense.
This scene is genius for the entirely silent interactions happening underneath their negotiations. At 1:49 Catherine notices his necklace of human ears (proving he lied, killing and betrayal for him aren't a "necessary evil", they're a precious memory he wants a trophy from so he can relive it over and over just like he admitted he did that very morning and then did again during their meeting. He wasn't overcome with grief when reliving the look on his brothers face as he killed him, he was getting high off of it). From that moment on she never takes her eyes off of his for more than an instant to keep track of where his hands are. Catherine is watching **specifically** for him to look at her ears because if he does it means he's already decided to kill her and take another trophy. As the conversation continues you watch him get fidgety and impatient because he's a serial killer that **needs** another fix and it's so close. At 2:41 you see the moment come as his eyes flicker to her right ear for the briefest of seconds and from then on he never again looks her in the eyes, his attention is entirely on either her left or right ear and he can't stand still or hide his tension ramping up, ready to snap.
@@recruitmentch Friend, there's value in breaking down a scene to appreciate it and just enjoying noticing how well it was constructed and all the hard work the writers and actors put into it. I could have kept my appreciation to myself, true, but you could have have chosen not to be condescending to someone because they dare show genuine excitement on the internet (the horror!) How about you just keep on walking, instead? 🙄
Aunt Elizabeth has been doing God's work this season with her outfits, her sage advice, her literally saving Catherine & Peter's lives!! then we find out she has her own tragedies and such but she still has so much love... AGH! i love her. also I was literally so confused watching this scene for the first time UNTIL Catherine said "he looked at my ears"... then I had to go back to be like "did heeee thooo???"
@@uwu-xl8mm earlier in the show I believe Orlo mentions how the Sultan cuts off the ears of his victims. I think him looking at Catherine's ears was a sign that he would kill her (as everyone feared) so she yelled for Alex to do it first
Yup, he did. He was done and he made it clear he was not going to work with her by sizing up her ears. He made his intentions very clear in that moment. Whether he intended to give himself away so easily is another matter, but it is likely he did.
@@YTistooannoying idk I feel like he would've wanted to catch her by surprise and probably thought she wasn't that perceptive & figured he was admiring her
@@uwu-xl8mm What everyone else said, but also He's also wearing the ears around his neck! If you look at him when the camera is zoomed out, you can see the chains with what looks to be dried ears on them
"He looked at my ears"... what a great line. Funny, but it shows she read exactly the kind of person he was, got a peek at the monster beneath, when it was nearly too late.
I think the Sultan in this is Mustafa III. He was the ruler of the Ottoman Empire during Catherine's reign. He presided over the Russo-Turkish War, which ended up in disaster for the Ottomans and lost them a lot of territory, key among them Crimea.
Funnily Crimea wasn’t a part of the territories ceded to the Russian Empire in the peace Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji. The Crimean Khanate was supposed to be left alone, politically independent. But then Russia went and sneakily annexed it couple of years later. History has a tendency to repeat itself hasn’t it? )
Fun fact this was not a remotely accurate depiction of Catherine the Great, in regards to her "progressiveness" she actually was more repressive to the surfs of Russia, ending with her brutally putting down numerous revolts. Basically even though she was a female monarch, she was just as repressive as the men.
Well, many of the czars were actually initially quite progressive, but like clockwork the serfs would revolt, leading to them having to have to beat them back down again, and start at square one. In a lot of ways, the serfs, being as out of touch with the people who made the laws as they were, kept inadvertently reinforcing their own suppression. Even modern Russia is little better.
@@queerlibtardhippie9357 obviously it's not a documentary, however if someone was watching this with no prior knowledge of Catherine the Great they would be left with an incorrect impression about who she was.
I do love the barebones language they use in this series. "I mean... fuck." Like that line hits harder because it's not diplomatic or artsy at all. We can relate to that line because we all have been in situations that have led us to uttering that in hindsight. Brilliant writing
@@Eternauta1957 Yeah 100% - some of these clips popped up due to the algorithm so I gave them a look and I won't be watching the series. It looks fun and pulpy but has no feeling for the period at all. It's like a Masterpiece Theatre version of a Beverley Hills soap. Catherine the Great wasn't a teenage girlboss
@@dzonbrodi514 agree...making historical dramas modern sounding could work, if done in a clever way. Game of thrones for example. The dialogue in that worked. This type doesn't work for me. It jars with the sets and costumes. I'm half expecting her to pull out her phone.
Ironically, when the Ottoman Empire stopped the practice of fraticide, the quality of subsequent the rulers declined rapidly and there was much mor internal chaos. While it is questionable whether the system allowed the "best" to rule, iIt seemed that the Darwinian environment eliminated the truly incompetent.
it was indeed a terrible thing, but the few times sultans refused to do it, the whole empire was almost coming down, they did try to finish it couple times but it never worked...
@@seringul5179 Ottoman Empire is called Ottoman Empire since 20th century. Before that, it was already called ''Land of The Turks'' something like Turcia by Europeans. And ottomans gave their nation no name, they just called it ''Devlet-i Aliyye Osmaniyye - Government of the Osmans" Considering French Kingdom, French Republic and French Empire and how they are considered one nation just reformed, we can just say that the Turkish Empire was reformed into Turkish Republic.
For anyone interested in the Ottoman Sultans there's a Turkish series called Magnificent Century, episodes with English subtitles are on RU-vid. Absolutely amazing and fun to watch, based on real people too!! Hurrem Sultan is pretty badass, on par with Catherine.
Of course like any other historical TV show, especially one that has over 130 episodes that are movie length long, is going to have some stuff added to it just for the drama of it all. To keep the show going. Just like this show here. But Magnificent Century got me interested in the Ottoman empire and since watching it, it has got me to look up more about the true history of it all. It's fascinating and I probably wouldn't have learned any of it if i hadn't stumbled upon that show.
@@Valkyrie0801 I understand what you mean, but the thing about that series is I knew about ottoman empire before that series, I read a lot of books, and some stuff in the series made me so mad, cus they're showing good people as bad bad people as good ading up some terrible stuff saying they did, which mostly they definitely didn't... and a lot of people immediately think it is mostly true.. It makes me kinda mad and sad, I'm Turkish, and the way some people I respect a lot beeing represented that way, kinda bothers me... But I'm glad you liked it, hope more people will actually search it up just like you did😊
For those who are interested in a little story about how Catherine 2 affected my little known by nobody city. In 1775-1776, the Pugachev uprising reached a small fair settlement in Siberia. Irbeevskaya Sloboda held the second largest fair in the entire Russian Empire and was a trade center that united the Siberian and European parts of Russia. The fair could not last all the time, so the merchants left the goods in the warehouses of the city to sell next year... The participants of the Pugachev uprising came for these goods, but Irbitchans did not want to give the goods. As a result... The head of the Pugachev uprising at that time was executed and people hung pieces of his torso on a fence around the city. For the loyalty of Irbitchans, Catherine 2 awarded Irbit with the status of a city and a coat of arms, which we keep to this day. In honor of Catherine 2, we have a statue of her on the square (next to the statue of Lenin, which is ironic)
this could have easily been a high fantasy movie then, what is the point of this? Why even ascribe names of actual historical figures to characters who are not related to them in literally any way? So dumb.
Ok now that was impressive from where she was in the first episode and totally badass yanks the dagger right out of her own hand and jams it in his neck in mere seconds
Survival instincts I suppose. 2 options. Pull the knife out your hand and make the person who put it there eat it. The other is to piss your pants, scream your head off and die with a stupid look on your face.
The only inaccurate part that truly bothered me was ignoring Elizabeth's reign. Peter was her successor. The show could've made her abdicate, but it's so hellbent on making Catherine the first female regent. She was the third, after Catherine I and Elizabeth.
well she *is* the main character and they blatantly tell us at the beginning of every episode not to expect historical accuracy. It's more like an alternate universe if that makes you feel better
They accuse the Sultan of killing his brother, and yet, the kings of Europe killed their own family members and people for the throne. Please, give me a break.
So actually at the time it was kind of the rule that when a new sultan came to the throne, to prevent civil war or prolonged fighting for the throne, he is by law allowed to kill his brothers and their sons.
Well at this point, the Ottomans still rule a good chunks of Eastern Europe, so I would consider the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire amongst “the Kings of Europe.”
One of the best scenes of the show. The dark humor, the terror, the shivering, the cruelty, all is blended perfectly together with Elle Fanning's multi-layer performance. Love this scene, love the show.
This scene is idiotic and so far-fetched it's ridiculous. Total "historical" fiction, it almost looks like a scene from Avengers or some other shitty Marvel movie.
I felt like the remark about them dangling on a single chain was unnecessary exposition. We saw the chain we saw him look. No further expansion was necessary.
He caught the look on her face when she realized he was eyeing her ears and wanted to drive the point home (pardon the pun). Didn't feel like exposition for the audience, just an intentional cruel taunt for her.
He was paying her a (very fucked) compliments. The chain he wore had multiple ears. He was saying she was pretty enough to have her own solitary chain. Like making a diamond into a pendant rather than just sticking it onto a necklace that already has a bunch.
Is this the Sultan that the Zaporozhian Cossacks achieved fame for replying to? - That Sultan sent them a missive starting out with a full paragraph consisting entirely of his illustrious ancestry and titles, and finishing with a blunt demand that they surrender. - The Cossacks responded with an even longer string of appalling insults and obscenities, and finished it by telling him to go p!ss up a rope. This is a legend in Russia, and there's a painting of the Cossacks drafting their letter - it shows a dozen very tough guys gathered around a table laughing their heads off.
@@corruptgunslinger and this would be one of them if they bothered to actually look There were a few and there were an entire family of African officers who were also nobles literally during this time.
@@FrenzyFreak05 You know why it matters to people like that. Who see a show that openly talks about it's inaccuracies and skips past dozens of them to focus on one specific thing.
