DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Great episode “Animal Instincts” has spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Huzzah! The Great‘s fifth episode, “Animal Instincts,” dissects the age-old human dilemma: Should science prevail over religion, or does God triumph over everything? Naturally, Catherine represents science and reason, while Archie stands for faith.
“Animal Instincts” tosses in the seemingly farcical idea of a crocodile running rampant in the palace and elevates it to the next level.
It’s equal parts campy, cheeky and devilishly charming. Peter’s growing on me, and his affection for Catherine is adorable. Maybe there’s hope for him yet if he stops trying to undermine her.
Ready to delve into “Animal Instincts”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with Catherine (Elle Fanning) waking up to a present from Peter — a butter sculpture of herself. Just a typical day that ends in “y.”
Meanwhile, Peter (Nicholas Hoult), Grigor (Gwilym Lee), Arkady (Bayo Gbadamosi) and Tatyana (Florence Keith-Roach) are out for a pleasant stroll in the woods. Peter gushes about Catherine’s hoo-ha while Grigor sternly chastises him for veering from the mission. Arkady procures an intricately-detailed plan to destroy Catherine.
Tatyana wonders how Peter can roam freely, out of sight of the watchful eyes of Catherine’s guards. He sent his lookalike, Pugachev (also Hoult), who appears to be a carbon copy of Peter save a few dissimilarities, to eat breakfast in his quarters.
Pugachev flirts with Aunt Elizabeth (Belinda Bromilow) until Peter returns from his excursion. Peter reveals he’s winning over Catherine, well, at least on a physical level. Elizabeth encourages him to read and study, to sharpen his intellect for Catherine. She’ll love that.
Meanwhile, the schoolteacher, Katya Velcra (Jane Mahady), and her students encounter a formidable crocodile in their classroom. Crocodiles in Russia, you say?
After listening to a riveting lecture from Voltaire, Catherine feels emboldened to introduce science and enlightenment into the Russian mainstream. Velementov (Douglas Hodge) informs Catherine that Ambassador Sunduk returned home without his head. He believes the Ottoman Empire will throw them under the carriage for it, and they’ll interpret it as a sign of war.
So far, neither of them suspect Peter’s involvement in Sunduk’s assassination.
However, Catherine doesn’t want to facilitate war if it’s not necessary. She wishes to invite the Sultan to dinner so they can resolve this issue amicably.
Velementov balks at her statement — how can a general go this long without fighting? Once Catherine departs, a soldier urges Velementov to follow him.
Then, Catherine visits Peter for breakfast. She informs him that their meeting, a.k.a. the downstairs party after the baby shower, won’t become part of their regularly-scheduled programming. But Peter knows which buttons to press (and which buds to nip), so he paints a vivid picture of what will happen when Catherine succumbs to his charms.
Orlo (Sacha Dhawan) gets a firsthand account of the crocodile sighting from Katya. They were chatting it up at Peter’s party in the previous episode, and Orlo tries on flirting for size. It’s a fit! Katya’s clearly into him, too, and I’m glad to see my Orlo happy.
Someone hands them a drawing of the crocodile, and it looks like a winged dragon.
Velementov questions one of his soldiers regarding the beast, and the lad asserts it looks like a demon from hell. Nobody knows what a crocodile is here.
Marial (Phoebe Fox) reunites with one of the women she used to work with when she was a servant, Shakey (Ninette Finch). Now, Shakey helps Marial mount a horse. We see the wheels turn in Marial’s mind; perhaps she’ll hire Shakey as her servant.
Father Basil (Anthony Welsh) arrives on the scene as whispers of the hell beast circulate through the palace. Everyone, including Basil, speaks of omens, citing the crocodile’s arrival could spell their doom. After Velementov and Orlo regale Catherine with their respective omen stories, Catherine reveals she’ll enlist the aid of scientists to identify the creature and how to subdue it.
Let reason triumph, y’all!
Velementov and his guards search the premises for the crocodile, but we see it crawl into Elizabeth’s quarters. Unfortunately, Elizabeth holds a mouse in her hands, perfect food for a crocodile.
Next, Catherine finally tells Marial about her trip downtown with Peter. Marial scolds her for surrendering to the enemy, even if he’s pretty adept at licking frosting.
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Later, Catherine visits Elizabeth while Doctor Vinodel (Julian Barratt) tends to her leg. Thankfully, the croc only took a chunk out of her leg and consumed her mouse. Elizabeth informs Catherine the beast isn’t some hellspawn but a crocodile. Father Basil opens one of her books and finds an illustration of it, plain as day.
Catherine and Father Basil tell the masses about their findings — that it’s merely a crocodile, and Velementov and his guards are on the hunt for it. However, Basil reasserts his belief it’s an omen from God. Archie (Adam Godley), his timing as pitch-perfect as ever, sides with Basil, assigning this croc sighting as an ominous sign from on high.
Now, there are murmurs that the croc represents terrifying things to come for Catherine’s reign. Catherine, enraged and embarrassed that two men of God contradicted her, pulls Archie aside.
She discovers he was the one who brought the crocodile into the palace in the first place to undermine her.
So, Archie presents an ultimatum: either Catherine gets rid of Basil, refrains from killing Archie and goes with him to meet God, or Archie destroys her in front of the court. Wily bastard, isn’t he?
Next, Catherine asks Elizabeth if the latter could teach someone else Peter’s “tongue trick” so that she won’t have to resort to using him any longer. But Elizabeth urges Catherine to “use” Peter, citing her heart and mind are impregnable. It’s called compartmentalizing, girl!
Later, Catherine finds Peter creating a model of the universe, with planets and everything, and Catherine asks him to do that thing again.
Meanwhile, Marial reunites with Grigor, and she heavily flirts with him while brandishing a knife. After Grigor leaves, we see one man sit on a couch, but the crocodile hides underneath, and it lashes out, presumably taking a hefty chunk out of the poor man.
Peter and Catherine finish their juicy fun, and Catherine seizes the opportunity to ask her narcissistic husband to kill the crocodile.
While roaming the darkened corridors, Peter inquires if Catherine will hold his hand. He claims he wants to know where she and Paul are should he locate the crocodile. It’s a surprisingly sweet moment, and as much of an ass**** as he is, I can’t help but root for these two.
Father Basil asks Archie if he upset Catherine by tossing her under the carriage in front of everyone. Archie, as usual, tries to shoo the young priest away condescendingly.
Unfortunately, Peter and Catherine wander past the room wherein the croc hides, and an intoxicated Velementov spies the duo holding hands. Catherine looks to Peter for advice regarding what to do about the crocodile, the omen, all of it. He casually says he’d burn the palace down with the croc in it as a “f*** you” to the naysayers.
The drunk-as-a-skunk Velementov passes out in Peter’s room, but not before voicing his frustration about the Ottoman situation. He’s upset that Catherine refuses to budge on the war thing.
The next day, Marial catches Shakey extracting bread from her hoo-ha and eating it. Crotch bread! Marial follows her and takes her in.
Catherine agrees to meet God with Archie in tow. The pair wander into the woods, and Archie regales Catherine with a tale about his dearly departed mother. Then, he gives Catherine a plant to consume before “meeting” Him.
Later, we see them lying on the forest floor, describing the vibrant, incredible things they see. It’s apparent they took mushrooms, and that’s Archie’s way of communing with God. This bit is a hilariously unexpected twist.
Meanwhile, Catherine agrees to put aside their differences and team up with Archie. She understands him now, so here’s to the start of a drug-fueled friendship. He’s still creepy as hell, though.
Our crew feeds the palace mice opium, rendering them incapacitated. We see a line of mice on the floor, and Catherine and Velementov wait for the croc to appear. Thankfully, it does, and, after feasting on one too many opium-riddled mice, it passes out.
Next, Catherine and Archie wheel out the unconscious crocodile for the masses to see. They agree that science and religion can coexist on this one. The crocodile was a bad omen not because of Catherine’s rule but represented what they needed to change about Russia.
Suddenly, one of the croc’s eyes flies open. A horde of people quickly flock to it and begin stabbing it mercilessly, over and over again. Then, someone shoots it in the head. Huzzah? Admittedly, this scene traumatized me. That poor croc!
Marial’s new servant, Shakey, delivers her tea, and Marial’s other maid wonders whether this arrangement will pay off.
Later, Catherine returns to Peter’s quarters. Even though she refuses to lick his lollipop, they share a sweet dance, and he resumes his post in the downstairs region.
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Will Catherine continue taking the drug that is Peter’s magical tongue? Will she do more mushrooms with Archie so that they can meet God? How many more heads will Arkady and Tatyana chop off this season?
Keep watching The Great on Hulu, my Greaties, and stick around for more recapping fun, only on Geek Girl Authority.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
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