The Great - General Discussion

[pasdetrois]

I stopped watching because I was seeing the same thing over and over. It's as if they were given a huge production budget and felt they had to use every cent, even if the scenes are repetitive.

[cardigirl]

Wow, what a season! I really enjoy this show, all of the acting, writing, set design, it's amazing! Huzzah!

I'm not sure why this show is not more popular? Is it the way they drop all of the episodes at once? I mean, I love Only Murders in the Building too, but it's not anywhere near as well-written as The Great is. 

I will hope for a season 4 only because I would hate never seeing these characters again. Plus I would love to see Mariel get her comeuppance at some point. 😠

Spoiler

As for Nicolaus Hoult being gone, that send off was amazing. I wasn't sure how they would "kill" him, and to have him die that way, and then have Catherine have everyone spread different stories about how he died, fit in with history actually.

 

[IntrovertRed]

13 hours ago, cardigirl said:

I'm not sure why this show is not more popular? Is it the way they drop all of the episodes at once? I mean, I love Only Murders in the Building too, but it's not anywhere near as well-written as The Great is. 

 

I’ve told many people about it, but no one seems receptive. I don’t get it.  One of my friends did say what she watched was crude and the swearing was excessive and she couldn’t get into it. I said you don’t even notice the more you watch, and it’s really funny and the actors are simply amazing.  It’s really a shame because Season 3, while it broke my heart, was the best one yet.

Edited June 13, 2023 by IntrovertRed

[MaggieG]

Is it just me or did the dancing in the final moments of the last episode go on a little too long? It was odd. I mean, this show is pretty quirky with a line through comedy and drama. Poor Orlo going out the way he did. 

I don't like Marial or Georgina but if I had to choose for one of them to die, it would be George. I cannot stand her character. This is me being shallow, but the actress has a very annoying face.

[Tuggy]

22 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Poor Orlo going out the way he did. 

You can vote for this in the Primetimer awards!

 

[tennisgurl]

It felt like the last scene was sort of breaking the fourth wall, like Catherine was actually hearing the music being played as she danced. I guess when you crush your enemies and secure your power, you get to do that. Elle Fanning is always great, but she had an especially amazing season. Huzzah! 

I knew that Peter had to die at some point, but I didn't think it would be like that or that it would happen so early into the season. The show isn't the same without Peter, its really weird not having him around. I get why they decided to kill him off, it had to happen for Catherine to really become Catherine The Great and for us to stick to anything even slightly close to history, but its going to be hard going forward without him around. 

Catherine spreading tons of different stories about how Peter died was a fun nod to history and how its unclear how real Peter died, even if I'm pretty sure he didn't die after riding a horse over an icy pond. She also really needed to clean house, she might not like killing but she's got to do something to get her country under control, she cant make all of her progressive reforms if she's dead.

Marial and Georgina competing to be Catherine's bestie as well as over Grigor was pretty funny. Grigor can really do better than both of them.

Poor Orlo got done dirty, what a crappy end for his character.

Edited June 22, 2023 by tennisgurl

[jackjill]

I came here to see if people were feeling the same way I was... I watched "Ice" last night and I'm heartbroken. I will miss Nicholas Hoult on this show immensely. 

[Nightshade]

I love this show as I did the past seasons. Laughed through them all and I was sorry when I finished the last. I was sad when Peter died although the audience knew it was coming, I hoped he would be around a little longer. Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning are magic together but surprisingly there were still lots of laughs. Elizabeth is another favorite of mine.  Archie made me laugh every time he walked into a room, but he was dangerous from the first time we saw his character, so he had to go. Loved Catherine cleaning house too bad about Marial turning on Catherine again and enjoyed Elizabeth telling Catherine to pull herself together but, if Elizabeth ever turns on Catherine, game over. Hope to get another season.

[WildFlower87]

Cancelled

https://deadline.com/2023/08/the-great-canceled-three-seasons-hulu-1235531027/

[Cementhead]

As a huge fan of this show, I can't say I am too surprised because the show felt so done for me by the time the finale hit last season.  Elle Fanning was spectacular but once Peter was gone, he was very much missed.  Although we all knew that was coming, his absence left a giant hole in the show, to the point of distraction for me and I had no idea how they were going to pull off another season without him. 

The final scene of last season was a perfect ending for this peculiar little gem.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Cementhead
clarity

[chaifan]

Noooooo!  I so loved this show.  My guess is that the producers knew it wouldn't get a 3rd season, and that's why they killed off Peter.  It wouldn't be the same show without him, but there are still so many great characters I think they could have pulled it off.  They could have had Peter haunting Catherine (in her head, not make him a real ghost) and kept him around that way.  Or she sees him when she drinks, or does opium or whatever.  But, no.  This show got so many awards and nominations, I'd love to know the reasoning for this. 

Boo.

[aussieinsydney]

I'm so pissed off that this has been cancelled!! Fuuuuuuuck!!

[iMonrey]

I haven't finished it yet but it seems more or less like a natural stopping point for the story. Much as I love the cast as a whole, Peter was such an important part of the story it's hard to imagine the show going on for too long without him. I'm willing to bet he was the biggest draw too because he was so funny and provided most of the comedy.

On 6/12/2023 at 8:26 AM, cardigirl said:

I'm not sure why this show is not more popular? Is it the way they drop all of the episodes at once? I mean, I love Only Murders in the Building too, but it's not anywhere near as well-written as The Great is. 

I think because it's hard to pigeonhole. I was surprised to find it in the "other dramas" category. I personally think it's more comedy than drama. That's the problem with these so-called "dark comedies" or "dramedies." They can't seem to land on a consistent tone because the writers want the freedom to do whatever. And it tends to confuse the audience.

[magdalene]

I am not surprised, everybody kept telling me you gotta watch this show, Nick Hoult is fantastic in it. So I was finally going to get around to it and they kill his character off in the middle of last season. What a dumb move.  Yes, I am aware of history but this wasn't a documentary now, was it? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

[chaifan]

19 hours ago, magdalene said:

I am not surprised, everybody kept telling me you gotta watch this show, Nick Hoult is fantastic in it. So I was finally going to get around to it and they kill his character off in the middle of last season. What a dumb move.  Yes, I am aware of history but this wasn't a documentary now, was it? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

As I commented above, I think there were ways to keep Peter around even after death if the show was going to continue.   Maybe that was the plan, or maybe they knew this would be the last season and killed him off.   But even if there was no plan to have Peter stick around after death, I think the rest of the cast is strong enough to carry the show without Peter.  It really is about Catherine after all. 

[iMonrey]

Now that I've finished Season 3, it did end pretty weirdly. I wonder if there was some last minute editing and shooting when they realized they weren't getting another season. That dance to AC/DC at the end was just bizarre and there was no reference to why Catherine suddenly had short hair.

Also, anyone else catch that they didn't in fact cut off Archie's head as Catherine directed, but instead buried him alive like she said prior to that? And then Marial dug him up. Seems like there was some unfinished business there or some other wonky editing.

[magdalene]

On 9/17/2023 at 5:17 PM, chaifan said:

It really is about Catherine after all. 

Well, whoever decided to cancel the show obviously didn't think that way.

[lasu]

While I love this show, I don't think it's for everyone.  Yes, it's a comedy, but it's darrrrrrrrrrk as hell, lol.  I've only recommended it to a few friends, because not everyone is going to see the humor in someone having sex with Peter's dead mother.  

I'm bummed it's over, but I wasn't looking forward to it as much with Peter's death, tbh.

[AntFTW]

I'm only just finding out this show was cancelled.

[lavenderblue]

Bumping up this thread because I know no one who's watched this show.

I just finished The Great after watching most of it over the course of about two weeks (it took me a couple months to get through the first three or four eps—the gruesomeness and vulgarity was a lot to adjust to). I have to add my voice to the chorus of those who think it lost something essential in killing off Peter. From mid-S1, Peter, and especially the Catherine/Peter dynamic, had developed into such a core element of the show’s spirit that the last few episodes felt completely off in energy, and not only because the first couple eps after his death were so sad. The various political intrigues were already beginning to feel tiresome and repetitive without something else to break them up tonally. The family angle had helped with that, as well as one of my favorite running elements throughout the show—the bizarre imperial/noble “traditions” like the pre-childbirth grave-digging and the stag shoot.

And Nicholas Hoult can take much of the credit for why Peter worked; he was obviously very funny in the role, but also brought a lot of emotional depth to character developments and storylines that on paper shouldn’t have worked that well. The absence was really brought home for me in that short scene in the finale between Catherine and Pugachev. Pugachev never felt remotely like Peter, even when he was mimicking Peter, but the spark between Elle and Nicholas was still there, and it highlighted what a waste it was to have disposed of that.

Also, Georgina sucked, but I think I hated Mariel more. Look, despise Peter all you want, and there are extremely valid criticisms to make of the man, but stop complaining about how he stripped you of your status when the way you regained that status was by selling out your supposed best friend to him. And if you actually cared about Grigor and Catherine, you would perhaps recognize that when they’re deeply grieving someone they loved, you don’t immediately say to them “but actually, you’re better off, I wish you’d killed him sooner lol” unless you are a sociopath. Grigor, for what it’s worth, had become one of my favorite characters by S3 and I do sort of wish he’d gotten a definitive “I choose me” moment if they weren’t going to give him a better option than either of those two.

Also, I found Hugo funny for maaaaaaybe two episodes max and that’s being generous.

Edited Tuesday at 10:17 PM by lavenderblue