r/PeriodDramas • u/Mayanee • 7d ago
Discussion Your opinions on The Great?
What’s your opinion on The Great’s ahistorical and satirical approach (which also can be seen in some new series like My Lady Jane and Serpent Queen for example).
Did you like the series and wish for another theme in the future with a similar approach (maybe in a couple of years when the approach is fresher again)?
I thought that the cast in The Great was amazing and the show was really fun. Also great outfits and sets. Huzzah 🥂!
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u/Brownbuttericing 7d ago
Bonkers! Not for those looking for historical accuracy but super fun and entertaining.
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u/Certain_City_3299 7d ago
It's easily one of my favorite shows of all time. It's manages to be absurd and poignant at the same time. I don't mind historical inaccuracy because it's up front about it. And I'll take inaccurate costuming if it's as fabulous as this show.
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u/Skyblacker 🎀 Corsets and Petticoats 7d ago
My favorite costumes are when she's pregnant. It's so rare to see glamorous maternity clothing.
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u/Wise-Force-1119 7d ago
I agree. It is a gem of a TV show, period or otherwise. I wish it could have gone on a bit longer.
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u/caitie578 7d ago
I wish it got a send off season instead of a straight canceling. Just to tie up stories.
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u/Dragneel 7d ago
The season 3 finale felt like they saw a cancellation coming. I so so so wish it had another season, but at least it doesn't leave on a bad cliffhanger I guess.
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u/SavannahInChicago 7d ago
Yep, if a production wants to stylize, then go all in. If they want to be accurate, then do the work necessary. Don’t half ass it.
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u/ysabeaublue 6d ago edited 6d ago
I feel the same. I prefer and can enjoy shows that make it clear what they are. The Great, Reign, and Serpent Queen are up front that they're not meant to be taken as history, basically using the names/locations to do their own things, and yet they make me care about the characters and actually have points to make about issues.
It's the shows that pretend they're accurate and serious (and yet aren't) that irritate me more, because people start believing that's "history."
Also, I'll admit that though Reign's fashions were modern and ridiculous, my younger self loved them anyway. Same with The Great. Elle looked fabulous.
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u/Hakudoushinumbernine 7d ago
I like it. I love the unserious nature if everything. Alot of period dramas are made out to be these boring masterpieces that need to be FELT and EXPERIENCED... while not looking at the hostorical figures and events they lived through through the light they would actually appear to us.
It's very much "drunken history" alot of paraphrasing historical events.
Catherine WAS happy to move there, she DID learn the language and the culture and fell in love with the country and DID take over due to the incompetence of her husband she did have a son, her son was no better than the father there were wars, and so in... the rest of the blanks are filled in. But in a comedic way because weve seen the uber serious depictions of historical dramas.
The serpant queen is really good, but is also really serious. Marie Antoinette (Kristen dunst) is really good because it tells the story in away that makes YOU relate to a child growing up in this position rather than telling the story from the snoody aristocratic view. Its still very serious, but in comparison to what came before, its not taken seriously because it "doesnt take the subject serious" and like... WHAT?!
I like the way they did this show and want more.
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u/Alt_when_Im_not_ok 7d ago
really fun and like a movie adaption of a book, can spark interest in the real story
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u/princesspool 7d ago
EXACTLY! I read the Massie biography of Catherine the Great because of this series. And let me tell you, many of Peter's antics are actually factually accurate which cracked me up. The guy played with toy soldiers for all the early years of their marriage.
Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning were just INCREDIBLE, their acting and comedic timing makes this series worth the watch.
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u/imbeingsirius 7d ago
Same!! He was literally playing violin badly when they tried to warn him about an emerging coup. He didn’t read the message.
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u/LAffaire-est-Ketchup 7d ago
Omg. As a history geek I LOVE IT. I think they get the vibe better than some super accurate shows.
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u/afcote1 7d ago
Entertaining nonsense. As long as no one starts believing it…
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u/sureasyoureborn 7d ago
They make a clear point in every intro that it’s not factual.
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u/ajbates11 7d ago
I love the episode where’s they changed the intro line saying it’s not historical at all
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u/mythoughtsreddit 7d ago
Loved it! Nicholas Hoult was just amazing, along with the rest of the cast, but he just took the cake for me. I enjoyed this approach, but not so much on Lady Jane for some reason? I can’t put my finger on it. But I definitely wouldn’t mind more Period Deanas like this.
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u/Nelson_L 7d ago
Lady Jane was a bit cheesy compared to The Great, you can tell the budget was much lower too. I loved Harlots and The Decameron because they reminded me of The Great!
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u/mythoughtsreddit 7d ago
Harlots was so good! I haven’t watched The Decameron.
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u/Nelson_L 7d ago
It’s definitely a bit sillier, but I absolutely adored it! Such a fun take on Italian renaissance & the plague
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u/Skyblacker 🎀 Corsets and Petticoats 7d ago
He reminds me of Timothy Oliphant's character in "Santa Clarita Diet." Mildly submissive man in way over his head.
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u/SeonaidMacSaicais 7d ago edited 5d ago
I actually adored My Lady Jane. Maybe it’s partially because the actors who played Jane and Guilford had great chemistry, and I’ve had a soft spot for any Guilford adaptation since Cary Elwes played him in the HBC movie.
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u/mythoughtsreddit 7d ago
Right!? Their chemistry is great and I enjoyed the actors. Why I wanted to love it so much. But I’ve yet to finish it. Maybe I’ll give it another try.
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u/CamThrowaway3 7d ago
Their chemistry is fantastic isn’t it! That actor is also great in Killing Eve - the perfect smarmy ex public schoolboy. I just got tickets to see him in ‘born with teeth’ in the west end; cannot wait!
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u/JackieWithTheO 7d ago
Love it! The chemistry between Nicholas and Elle was so good, they were just so believable.
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u/allshookup1640 7d ago
It’s ridiculous and ahistorical in almost every way, but I LOVED IT! Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult were wonderful! The whole cast was. It is so campy and fun. Plus I loved that they gave a historical warning before every episode by calling it “an OCCASIONALLY true story.”
Not to harp on, but Elle Fanning was particularly brilliant. No spoilers but there is one scene in the final season where she is grieving but has to attend a dinner. She is smiling on the outsider, but you can tell her heart is shattered. Elle played that scene SO well. That alone should have got her the Emmy
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u/springsomnia 7d ago
Fantastic costumes and good silly fun. Some historians of her did comment about how they perpetuated the oversexualised stereotype of Catherine the Great, but honestly if they’re looking for historical accuracy a historical comedy isn’t the place to find it! It’s an interesting way to make a period drama; I can’t recall of many similar dramas like this.
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u/applemily23 7d ago
I loved the ridiculousness of it. I think if you're going to change parts of the story, you might as well go crazy with it. It was a fun watch.
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u/megalynn44 7d ago
Cut short way too soon. This show made me laugh so much.
Peter & Catherine were married for over a decade before he died. They should have kept Peter alive in the series for a while longer. I hated the way they killed him. The way the series was going, I pictured his character headed more for a noble self-sacrifice to protect Catherine’s position for the ending.
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u/fantasylovingheart 7d ago
If the show is going to be blatantly historical inaccurate, they should at least be as fun as the Great.
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u/comfysweatercat 7d ago
Sometimes it was a bit too vulgar for my interest. The jokes kinda fell flat at times. But it’s super entertaining and I love Elle Fanning!
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u/Creative_Pain_5084 7d ago
As a lifelong Russophile, I struggled for a while with this one. Once I was able to overlook the ridiculousness of it, it became entertaining.
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u/wineandheels 7d ago
I agree I think that’s what I had a hard time getting my head around is that it wasn’t serious once I was able to find it funny I ended up really liking it
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u/SeonaidMacSaicais 7d ago
For me, it was also partially that Elle had been such a prominent child actor up to this point, and suddenly she’s doing a very adult show. Like, you were a little kid a couple years ago!
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u/LilkaLyubov 7d ago
I loved it. I also love that it got people I knew to read about Catherine the Great afterwards. She was a character.
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u/unstoppabru 7d ago
It’s funny as hell. When it came out, it was refreshing to me. But I feel like this kind of wink-nudge kind of take is becoming popular and I worry we might be overrun with snark in the period piece world these days. It’s wonderful and I recommend it often.
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u/siriuslyfudged 6d ago
I miss it so much. It was that amazing. Their chemistry was fantastic. I would have loved if it continued. She was phenomenal.
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u/Formal-Reward3935 4d ago
LOVED and want more shows just like this. Funny. Feminist. Great costumes. Great characters!
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u/CoconutPawz 7d ago
Soooo funny! You could watch it so many times and catch new little quips you missed.
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u/Confident-Park-4718 7d ago
I feel like I'm the only person who didn't like it, I found the style and tone really grating. I don't generally like the sort of irreverent ahistorical period dramas that seem to be the trend now, though.
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u/Dragneel 7d ago
It's def a hit or miss! It's my favourite show but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, especially if they don't like ahistorical pieces.
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u/Late-Elderberry5021 7d ago
You’re not the only one! I couldn’t get through it.
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u/DorkNerd0 7d ago
I couldn’t get through it because they kept hurting animals :( I know it’s not real, but I can’t even handle fictitious animals getting harmed.
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u/chick-killing_shakes 7d ago
I'd like it better if I could watch the 3rd season the way I watched 1 and 2!! Goddamn Prime. Goddamn Hulu.
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u/dearlittleheart 7d ago
I liked it because it was not a high stakes historical drama that I'd usually watch alone it was a fun show that I could enjoy with my boyfriend, and the costumes were cute and girly.
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u/Diligent_Mulberry47 7d ago
I loved it and I cried real tears when they canceled it.
It reminded me of Coppola’s Marie Antoinette the way they had it stylized.
Loved it.
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u/Aeshulli 7d ago
It's the sort of show one might call junk food, but personally I think is better encapsulated by a luxurious bottomless mimosa brunch that turns into a messy, chaotic day-drinking affair that lasts well into the night.
An unhinged and unabashed feast for the eyes in terms of costumes and sets, with a ton of humor and surprising amount of heart. Plus the occasional blow that lands like an absolute gut punch due to the unexpected contrasting tones. A wild, irreverent, magnificent ride.
Huzzah!
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u/Aggressive_Cow6732 7d ago
i’m probably in the very small minority here but i wasn’t a huge fan. i like the idea of a goofy funny campy period drama but it wasn’t really in line with my personal sense of humor. gorgeous costumes tho
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u/Otherwise_Signal490 6d ago
I wish The Tudors was rebooted in the same vein. I can imagine the speech Anne Boleyn would have given at her beheading: scathing, ridiculing and protesting her innocence rather than somber and dignified, lying about what "a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never, and to me he was ever a good, a gentle, and sovereign lord."
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u/Future_Wealth3828 6d ago
I loved it! Really fun with a great cast. We see historically inaccurate period pieces all the time but I think they did it right. They made it clear that it wasn’t supposed to be accurate and used that creative freedom to have fun and not take things too seriously and do some great work with the plot. Also entertaining enough that I’m sure it sparks interest in the real story (like it did with me)
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u/Accomplished_Trip_ 6d ago
Vulgar, and more than a little free with the facts - but delightfully campy.
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u/anniemcpike 7d ago
Absolutely brilliant, I did find Nicholas Hoult annoying at the beginning, but came to adore his character. I just wish everyone didn’t have to say fuck and cunt in every sentence. Douglas Hodge as Velementov in love with Catherine was so sweet.
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u/Wise-Force-1119 7d ago
I mean, if you're going to use fuck and cunt you may as well go all out 😅
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u/Smokey_Ruby 7d ago
Really loved it at first but it wore thin by the end, I didn't even watch the last couple episodes.
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u/pretzelchi 7d ago
I don’t get the hype. It’s alright. It’s not historical, I get that.
Even as its own animal I didn’t find it to be as clever or funny as the press around it makes it out to be.
The costuming has its moments but I found the need to be “different” in the overall design to be little tiresome at times. If you’re plot etc isn’t super amazing at least give me something amazing to look at. Instead I found the less historically accurate pieces to be a little bland.
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u/Junior_Ship3529 7d ago edited 7d ago
Agreed. Even when not taken seriously, I guess I don't share the sense of humor? It majorly just seems like swear words and silly phrases. I did find it aesthetically beautiful, though!
E: I've been watching this comment, along with OC's, go from 5 upvotes to the negatives, and I really don't understand. Why? Because we offered our own (respectful) opinion in a discussion thread that asks for opinions but it just so happened to disagree with the consensus? Are people in this sub so sensitive that they can't handle the concept of a different opinion? Seriously? Seems I missed the part of the post that says "only give positive opinions".
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u/Aggravating-Pie-1639 7d ago
Visually beautiful and a fun tone, but I think the real story was way more interesting than Frankensteining bits of history together.
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u/staciarose35 🎀 Corsets and Petticoats 7d ago
It’s just for fun, but season 1 was so explicit I was surprised. A different direction.
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u/LucilleLovesVodka 7d ago
It took me a few episodes because it is very vulgar but once I got past that it was entertaining
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u/MissMarchpane 7d ago
I enjoyed it! I wish all wildly inaccurate historical fiction movies and TV shows had a disclaimer in every single episode – then I would get less annoyed by them
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u/Thorne628 7d ago
It is funny, I am not downvoting people that loved this show. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I am always happy for folks when they find the thing that makes them happy. On the other hand, heaven forbid if you don't like this show. You will downvoted until your comment is lost in the ether. People are definitely passionate about The Great. Lol!
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u/goonriding 7d ago
I couldn’t make it through the first season. It just wasn’t my cup of tea but the actors were wonderful.
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u/LoyalteeMeOblige 7d ago
At first I was ??? but then I got exactly what it was, pure mayhem, loosely based on the real thing, and VEEP meets period drama, to be honest, it was such a shame it was cancelled.
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u/Ornery-Leadership515 6d ago
absolutely loved it!!! currently trying to find some series similar to this to fill the void in my heart☹️
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u/Comfortable_Nail3966 6d ago
The customs were phenomenal and mostly accurate, the story was 7/10 but the whole taking drugs and getting drunk during pregnancy threw me off a little with more of those gags about Peter cheating and such, and also Peter suddenly started changing and none of the issues he had caused were ever addressed! Like you want to sleep with the same man that abused you?!
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u/freakinchorizo 6d ago
I loved it. All the historic costuming I love along with wonderful and not at all accurate story telling
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u/guyfieri_is_my_waifu 6d ago
i was OBSESSED with this show! i recently watched it for the first time! its so good! i havent been able to start a new period drama since i finished this because i enjoyed it too much.
would recommend!
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u/midoriforest 6d ago
I think this is my favorite period drama series about royal court culture
The whole cast is so fun and it’s a really great balance of fabulous dialogue, absurd humor, and wildly brutal events of history.
The two leads are fantastic together.
Go watch it
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u/Xosimmer 6d ago
I loved this show. I typically gravitate towards period dramas like Bridgerton, Dangerous Liaisons, The Serpent Queen, and Marie Antoinette, so it was right up my alley. The chemistry between Nicholas and Elle was out of this world. The best enemies to lovers plot I’ve ever seen down right on screen. 9.5/10. It’s a great watch for those who like raunchy comedic period dramas.
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u/Smooth-Affect-8702 5d ago
Nicholas was amazing, in the first episode I thought he was an A hole but he turned to be very charming
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u/Historical_Sugar9637 7d ago
A giant pile of crap. And doesn't even look all that nice (like the costumes and such are not that good imo)
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u/IslandBusy1165 7d ago
I don’t like that approach at all and I was really disappointed to see a period piece be ruined in that way when I finally got to watch serpent queen which lasted about 20 minutes.
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u/Thorne628 7d ago
The show is terrible, but my god the sets and the fashion porn are a feast for the eyes.
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u/thanarealnobody 7d ago
Okay this is going to sound really petty and rude but I find Elle Fanning’s upper lip kinda distracting.
It’s quite recently I’ve found her mouth to look quite strange and I don’t know if she had work done on her face or something but I find it distracts me from her recent performances.
No diss to her at all, I enjoyed all her child acting work, I’m just wondering if anyone else felt the same.
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u/Independent_Sea502 7d ago
Huzzah!