The Great

The first episode tried to set the stage as an over the top quirky dark comedy. Unfortunately I never really felt the humor was lol funny. It's certainly comical, but more due to the ridiculous nature of the show than for actual jokes/humor. It also gets pretty serious at times and comes across more like a drama especially by the end of the first season. It's inconsistent in that respect.

The cast, characters, set design, are all engrossing and make the show well worth the watch though. Elle Fanning is amazing as usual, but Nicholas Hoult is the stand out here. He plays an incredibly stupid, arrogant emperor and his performance often comes very close to the Joaquin Phoenix level sense of evil. You never know what he's going to do next.

While not a perfect show, and very odd, I am looking forward to the next season. Just don't go in expecting a brilliant comedy, or a historically accurate drama and you'll probably enjoy it as well.

The Great was so much better than I expected it to be. I went into it not expecting much but after a few episodes I couldn't stop watching it. I binged all three seasons as fast as I could. I promise you that you'll laugh out loud at least a few times every episode. While the entire cast is good in this is, Nicholas Hoult is the best part of this show. Every time he talks he made made me laugh. He also has the best character arc on the show. You go from not liking his character to rooting for him. Hoult is already a star from other stuff he's done but this takes him to another level. If you're looking for a new show to just have good time then this is it.

Underneath the silliness, it is quite smart. Great acting as well. Check it out for a fun time. :)

So just to get this out of the way: this show is anything but historically accurate. If you want one more like that, Russia-1's Ekaterina is like that.

But anyways, if you really want to find this show incredibly funny, read up on the history of Catherine the Great.

Also, to the person who did the editing for Season 1 Episode 8, why would you use "The Sacred War"?! I know historical accuracy wasn't on the table, but for gods sake don't intentionally mix up the eras (The Sacred War was written in 1941).

Quirky humour, great acting, certainly not trying to be historically accurate! Possibly the humour isn't slapstick enough for the initial reviewers. It's definitely worth the watch.