This four-part historical drama follows the end of Catherine the Great's reign and her affair with Russian military leader Grigory Potemkin that helped shape the future of Russian politics.
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
The Turks declare war and Catherine recalls Alexi Orlov to Council. Zubov is used to spy on her. Grigory is ailing from a virus he caught in Crimea. She tries to keep her grandson Alexander from his parents and grooms him to succeed her. While Grigory is back in Crimea, he dies.
Two years pass and Grigory returns from the Turkish war. He and Catherine start a torrid affair. A madman named Pugachev claims to be the dead Peter III and is gaining support from the peasants. Grigory captures him and brings him back to Catherine to be punished.
Prince Paul's wife and child die in childbirth. Catherine forces him to remarry and it produces a boy. Grigory wants to take Crimea and Catherine does not want a war. Their relationship is becoming strained, so she sends him to the Crimea to negotiate the expansion of Russia.
After throwing her husband off the throne, and having his successor jailed, and eventually murdered, Catherine will stop at nothing to keep her position. Even her own son is a threat to her. She refuses to marry the man who helped her, for fear he will share the crown.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
Connection lost
