It’s always something. Either divorce is on your mind or your subjects may rise up against you. Welcome to the world of ambitious Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) in the dark comedy The Great’s third season, which depicts (with some creative liberties) her 18th-century rule after dethroning defiant and often infantile husband Peter III of Russia (Nicholas Hoult).
“We always try to have a couple of things that are a base for story, even if we tell it a little differently to how it happened,” says show creator Tony McNamara.
Christopher Raphael/Hulu
Of course, as a way to deal with a spouse she blames for her mother’s death, divorce may be an unsatisfying second choice. In the Season 2 finale, we saw Catherine murder “Peter”…only to find she had viciously stabbed his doppelgänger, Yemelyan Puga-chev (also played by Hoult).
Which side of this extreme love-hate relationship will prevail? “They want to find a way forward as a couple and leave the baggage of the past behind,” says McNamara. “But the past has a way of clinging on and dragging at them.”
That past presents additional problems for Peter, who continues having visions of his critical late father (Jason Isaacs) that don’t help him to accept his role as first husband in the present. “The father-son relationship from beyond the grave does trigger some issues around success and masculinity,” McNamara notes.
And then there’s the fact that Catherine imprisoned Peter’s disloyal pals at the end of last season. “Peter won’t abandon his friends,” McNamara adds. “His big problem is how to free them before Catherine executes them and without ruining his marriage. It’s hard to be an ex-emperor.” Indeed!
The Great, Season 3 Premiere, Friday, May 12, Hulu
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
