Five Days
Catherine inaugurates a salon that boasts Shakey’s paintings on the walls in Episode 8 of The Great Season 2. ..
When Joanna starts insulting Marial and Elizabeth, Catherine distracts with peanuts newly imported from the Americas. Joanna tries some, and quickly suffers an allergic reaction. ..
Catherine ends up okay, but she should kill two people on her list: Marial and Elizabeth. The two start to fear how Joanna’s presence changes Catherine.
Catherine’s worries about giving birth in seven days shift when she learns that a frog died on her stomach during a checkup. According to tradition, this means she will give birth in that time frame.
The court places bets on the lives of Catherine and her baby as Joanna continues to seduce Peter while Elizabeth instructs him to resist. Meanwhile, the court bets on the outcome of the battle between Catherine and her baby.
According to a third tradition, Peter has to preemptively dig their graves. Everyone reminds him that they might die and that he must prepare himself to grieve. But he hates the practice and would rather celebrate the birth. ..
When Arkady’s unruly child insults Peter during this practice, Peter goes after him with his shovel. Arkady levels a gun at him, forcing him to stop.
Peter has everyone leave, but Velementov stays to help him dig, going against tradition. Peter confesses to him that maybe he’s not as prepared to be a father as he thought, considering he was ready to beat a kid with a shovel.
In a show of personal growth, Peter apologizes to the child. He vents to Grigor and Arkady about how he cannot lose Catherine and the child. They disparage Catherine’s importance and tell him he can always start over with someone else. Peter lashes out at them for this. ..
Catherine is restless and insists that Joanna rest. She brings in ladies to entertain her. Their gossip reveals to Catherine how many women are stuck in unhappy marriages.
Catherine plots ways to change the laws that prevent women from divorcing men. Oh, and to nix the whole “women as property” thing too. Elizabeth isn’t happy. She later reveals to Catherine that she believes men will crush Catherine if she takes their power.
The Ottomans have sent a candle to the empress, with a note explaining that they would love to discuss a way forward with her. Everyone considers it a diplomatic victory.
The Russian general Velementov is the only one truly upset. Believing his fate has been wrested from him, he burns his war plans.
Peter tries to avoid the temptation to sleep with Joanna by drinking a concoction that decreases libido. He hallucinates his father. Peter the Great urges his son to tap into the greatness in his blood and embrace the ruler that he is. Peter rushes forward to stab him before realizing he’s not really there.
The next morning, Catherine finds a maid dead after she spends the night working by the Ottomans’ candle.
Catherine agrees to go to war. Although he regrets burning his plans, Velementov is ready for the challenge. ..
Elizabeth has found Joanna’s actions toward Catherine curious. She accuses her of trying to get Catherine out of power and Peter back in. All in an attempt to keep Catherine safe, but mostly so that her other daughter would have a chance at marrying King Louis of France.
Joanna admits this much to Catherine. She asks her to transition out of power and into motherhood. Catherine insists that Russia is her child. Finally recognizing who her mother is, the empress asks Joanna to leave.
She visits Peter in his chambers, where he decides to give in to her advances. They embrace by a window.
Elizabeth sees what’s going on from the courtyard and rushes to help when the window bursts open and Joanna falls to her death. Elizabeth takes care of the body, and Marial helps clean her room to make it look as if Joanna suddenly departed. ..
Catherine and Peter meet at the freshly dug graves. The two share a touching scene where she tells him they will be good parents. ..
When she notices a third fresh, but filled, grave, he lies and says he finally buried his mother’s body. He claims he doesn’t need her any more. Speaking of her own mother, Catherine agrees.
Just then, the woman’s water broke over one of the empty graves. ..
The Episode Review
In this episode, Peter tells Catherine he puts her happiness before his own. He’s finally able to let insults to his own person roll off his back. But insult his wife? —You’re a dead man. That’s the kind of character growth I like to see.
This episode has a lot of symmetry to it. Both Catherine and Peter have to go through the excruciating process of putting behind what’s expected of them and embracing who they truly want to be. They’re changed people when they sit by the graves and hold hands.
Now, I struggle to accept Catherine embracing a relationship with someone who has wronged her in the ways Peter has. However, I’m intrigued by this changing dynamic. If Peter is not the main antagonist, who will The Great grant that role to? ..
The Ottomans are interesting because no one seems to suspect that they might be involved in the candle. But it’s exciting to see the simultaneous births of a war and a child. I expect a lot of chaos next episode!
