DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Great Season 3 Episode 5, “Sweden,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Huzzah! “Sweden” unearths the disaster that is the loss of Sweden under Peter’s reign. It haunts Velementov and Peter (and Hugo, but in a different way). Catherine relieves an ailing Velementov of his duties while contending with Pugachev’s antics (fueled by Archie) and Peter’s desire to serve. And, of course, the ghost of Peter the Great visits our Peter for some good old-fashioned taunting from beyond the grave. It’s Peter’s trauma resurfacing in the form of his father, who he tried desperately to gain approval from, resulting in his fear of failure. We also see Peter attempting to work out who he is apart from Catherine and his family. What will his legacy be?
That’s a prevailing theme in “Sweden” — legacy. Everyone endeavors to leave an indelible mark. Written by Tony McNamara and Ava Pickett and directed by Jaffar Mahmood, this outing also sets the back half of the season in motion, with Peter leaving on a “hunting trip” to reclaim Sweden. I can’t imagine that’ll go over well with Catherine when she uncovers his lie. I think this might break their marriage or at least deliver a sizeable dent.
Ready to delve into “Sweden”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with Pugachev (Nicholas Hoult) dressed as Peter and impersonating him while speaking to the peasants in church. He’s spewing vitriol against Catherine, claiming she’s not fit to rule because God didn’t ordain her. The peasants are getting fired up. Pugachev urges them to wreak havoc on Russia until Catherine’s overthrown. Huzzah? As the peasants file out of the church, Archie (Adam Godley) compliments Pugy on a job well done and pays him for his services. Ah, this is what Archie had in mind when he wanted to screw with Catherine.
Later, Catherine (Elle Fanning), Velementov (Douglas Hodge) and Archie sit before an effigy of the empress collected in a nearby village. Archie believes the peasants have done unseemly things to it and on it. Catherine detests it, thinking it looks nothing like her. Archie reveals an imposter posing as Peter and stirring bedlam among the villages, convincing them to burn down said villages in protest of Catherine’s rule. Catherine asks Velementov to concoct a game plan to take down this fake sh*t-stirrer. He’s not entirely sober, but he’ll give it a stab.
Meanwhile, Maxim (Henry Meredith) is burning a hole in his and Marial’s (Phoebe Fox) checkbook. She urges him to cool it with the spending. But look at Maxim’s bejeweled shoes! He’ll be the belle of the ball with those on his feet. Peter (Hoult) sucks on the breasts of three wet nurses to determine if one of them gave Paul colic. The ghost of Peter’s father, Peter the Great (Jason Isaacs), watches with contempt while sipping wine. He’s back. Catherine informs Peter about the imposter pretending to be him whose burning villages in protest of her. Naturally, his only takeaway is that the peasants love him, not that his wife might be in danger.
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Marial storms into Archie’s office, accusing him of hiring Pugachev to impersonate Peter and sow the seeds of discord. Archie’s quite proud of his work; it’s his best yet. His plan? Ultimately, plant fear in Catherine’s heart and get her to see how vital the church is for a stable Russia. She’ll backtrack on her decision to cancel Paul’s ordination and be more conservative in her ruling. She’ll be eating out of the palm of Archie’s hand. Marial doesn’t want to be complicit, but technically, now she is. Hugo (Freddie Fox) stares forlornly at his boxed-up crown when Agnes (Grace Molony) enters their quarters. She reveals it’s time to set their plan into motion.
Aunt Elizabeth (Belinda Bromilow) agrees to assist Catherine in weeding out whoever’s controlling the Peter imposter despite her “intermittent rage” regarding the empress. She’s still mad about the ordaining. Catherine knows it’s Pugachev, especially after learning about the five stab marks on fake Peter’s back. Well, Pugy is showing it to everyone who will humor him. Meanwhile, Peter meets with Dr. Vinodel (Julian Barratt), who checks out poor Paul. He prescribes some medicine that might give the child gout, so Peter forgoes that and decides to go the more herbal route. Peter would be a pothead today.
Suddenly, Peter the Great reappears to taunt his son. He belittles our poor Peter and demands the latter punch himself since, as a ghost, he cannot do that. Elder Peter doesn’t like that Catherine stole the throne from his son, nor does Younger Peter seem keen on continuing the family line. Peter orders his dad to make like a tree and leaf. Hugo enters Peter’s quarters with a gun. He threatens to shoot himself. His servants continue putting moose meat in his meatballs even though he loathes the texture. Oh, and he’s a king without a country or a throne. Peter dissuades Hugo from shooting himself and casts the gun aside. After Hugo taunts Peter, of course. It’s Taunt Peter Day.
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Agnes persuades Velementov to meet her in the woods. If he can find her, he can fork her. He howls while chasing her, and she responds in kind. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Vinodel sit together post-coitus. Vinodel wants them to go steady and even prepares a lovely speech as a means of persuasion. However, Elizabeth evades answering by pushing him out in favor of getting work done. By “getting work done,” I mean “starting a fire so the palace has to evacuate.”
We see Arkady (Bayo Gbadamosi), Tatyana (Florence Keith-Roach) and Georgina (Charity Wakefield) among those standing outside while the fire’s put out. Archie sidles up next to Arkady. The pair find common ground because they both dream about having sex with Catherine. Well, I suspect Archie wants to screw our empress in other ways. Side note: I love that Tatyana only wanted to save her wig from the flames. Inside the palace, Catherine and Elizabeth inform Marial of their plan to search certain folks’ chambers, i.e., Archie and Georgina, to see if they sent Pugachev on his burning spree. Marial runs to Archie’s office hastily and conceals the documents on Pugachev under her skirts.
Elizabeth and Catherine find nothing incriminating in Georgina’s rooms. Marial heads outside and tells Archie how she made herself more complicit by hiding his paperwork. Velementov finally finds Agnes in the woods, reclining against a tree while reading a book. He wants to make love. However, she persuades him to meet her by the river. So, the chase begins again. Later, Catherine plops in bed beside her husband. Peter proposes she could return the throne to him as a remedy to the Pugachev situation. Catherine balks at the idea. She orders him to go down on her so she can clear her head. Peter finds the ghost of his father is right there with him. Awkward.
Agnes finds Velementov asleep the following morning after he tripped and smacked his head while running. We see blood caked against the side of his head. She wakes him and reminds him of his meeting with Catherine. He needs to present his plan of attack against Pugachev. Before Velementov hurriedly departs, he plants a kiss on Agnes’ lips. Meanwhile, Peter asks Archie if ghosts exist, and if so, how do you banish them? When Peter reveals he’s seeing his dad’s ghost, Archie urges the latter to do whatever Peter the Great says. Peter finds Elizabeth in her apartment and asks her a favor: Can she talk to Elder Peter? Peter gives her a list of talking points beyond “f*ck off.”
Before heading into his meeting with Catherine, Petrov (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), who works under Velementov, encourages Velementov to get his head screwed on straight. Sober up and tend to his head wound. However, Velementov is stubborn as all get-out. He refuses to listen to an underling. Despite arriving early, Velementov somehow manages to be late for the meeting. Petrov has already mapped out where Pugachev and his peasant followers burned down villages. Oh, and Velementov doesn’t have his game plan ready because he spent the night chasing Agnes in the woods. Catherine relieves Velementov of duty and urges him to rest.
However, Velementov, still drunk, takes this dismissal hard. He digs in his heels, becoming immovable. That is, until he vomits blood. Uh-oh. Catherine reiterates her decision to remove him for his good and the good of her position. Velementov storms out. Douglas Hodge knocks this scene out of the park. He delivers a raw, visceral, gut-punch of a performance. My heart broke for Velementov. This job is all he knows. After he leaves, Catherine runs into issues with Petrov, whose middle name seems to be “insolence.”
Meanwhile, Elizabeth talks to Peter the Great’s ghost, even though we don’t see him. She tries to draw him out. She talks about the pain she felt when he passed. Here’s another sublime performance. Beautifully understated. It’s lovely watching Elizabeth work through her grief for Elder Peter this season.
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Next, Peter creates a poultice and applies it to Paul’s feet, hoping it’ll cure his colic and chest infection. Peter wanders out of the room to find his father’s ghost playing badminton with an older version of Paul (Bruce Langley). Older Paul reveals he chose to be more like his late grandfather because his dad is such a “pussy.” Interesting how that was Paul’s supposed first word in the previous episode. Older Paul mocks Peter along with Peter the Great. Oh, good, there are two of them.
Catherine tells Peter she relieved Velementov, but now she wonders if he was behind the Pugachev thing. Peter offers himself as the new leader of their army. What if he led the army to victory against Pugachev? Catherine rejects his proposal. Why? Because of Sweden. Peter lost them Sweden during his reign.
Later that night, Peter sits with Grigor (Gwilym Lee), Hugo and Velementov as they drink and chat. Grigor really wants to play badminton. Hugo starts prattling about Peter bungling the Sweden thing, while Velementov is still convinced he would’ve succeeded on that front had Peter not intervened. Hugo has a fun idea: What if they retook Sweden? Hugo could have his country back and Peter and Velementov their dignity. Plus, Velementov is dying (which Peter now knows about). Grigor reminds Peter about removing the poultice from Paul’s feet, so the latter departs in haste. Grigor proceeds to pummel Hugo for planting an outrageous idea in Peter’s head.
Peter successfully cured his son of his colic and chest infection. Huzzah! He tells Paul how much he loves him and how he would inject the plague into his veins. However, Peter starts to wonder if Paul doesn’t know who his father truly is. Then, Archie vows to Catherine that the church will keep its eyes open and ears to the ground re: Pugachev. Peter storms into Hugo’s and Agnes’s room and reveals they’re retaking Sweden. He also delivers the news to Velementov, who jumps at the chance. Peter informs Catherine he’s departing for a week-long hunting trip. Don’t wait up! Lastly, we see Peter, Velementov and Hugo model walk down the corridor to, aptly, “Stray Cat Strut.”
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“Sweden” brims with sensational performances across the board, but my MVPs are Douglas Hodge, Belinda Bromilow, Nicholas Hoult and Jason Isaacs. Beautiful work all around. We dig deep into Velementov, Elizabeth and Peter in this episode, and these performers crack them wide open to reveal their innermost vulnerabilities. Plus, Jason Isaacs is always an onscreen delight, even as an unrepentant asshole.
Nicholas Hoult, in particular, injects a ton of layers and complexity into a character that could be a one-note villain. Instead, Peter’s a fully fleshed-out, deeply flawed human we’ve come to love and root for. I really hope he survives his secret Sweden campaign. I also hope Velementov lives until at least the end of the season.
Do you think the boys will successfully take back Sweden? Will Catherine discover Archie’s behind the Pugachev nonsense? Only time (and more episodes) will tell.
The Great Season 3 is now streaming on Hulu.
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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.
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