Aidonian's blog

 I just watched season 1 of the Russian tv show Ekaterina: Rise of Catharine The Great. The tv show chronicles the life of Catherine in her rise to power. In 10 episodes we see her evolve from young naive 15 year old girl transported to Saint-Petersburg to be wed to Peter III. 

The first season shows what happened to her during the reign of empress Elizaveta Petrovna, daughter of Peter The Great, founder of the beautiful city of Saint-Petersburg. 

I have to say that all the actors were perfectly cast and did a amazing job to bring these historical figures to life.The writers did a excellent job to portray them as human beings. 

The actress who plays Elizaveta Petrovna, damn. The moment she shows up, she steals the spotlight. This actress was perfectly cast to portray an authoritarian figure. She exudes power, authority. You really see it in her performance. The actor who plays Peter III is also excellent.Peter III is portrayed as childish, immature, dominated by his aunt. He is next in line for the throne. But his love for Prussia makes things harder for him. The actor who plays Peter III also plays a part in the Russian netflix show “To The Lake”.

Ekaterina grows from naive young girl to a powerful woman who knows how to handle herself on court. When she is married to Peter III, she tries her best to be a good wife. But Peter III doesn\”t want anything to do with her. He knows that any child will be taken away by his aunt and raised by her, which she does when Ekaterina gives birth to a boy. Ironically Elizaveta is not opposed to Ekaterina having affairs and a child out of wedlock. She even forces her nephew to accept Pavel as his son, even though he knows its not his son. 

I saw the first epise of the HBO miniseries of Catharina the Great where the empress is played by Helen Mirren. Its completly different. The tone is completly different. 

Anyway, the first season of Ekaterina was excellent. I will try to find the other two seasons. If you are interested in historical drama\”s, this show might be your thing. I cna highly recommend it. Given that its a tv show, there will be times when its not historical correct. Considering it tells a compelling story, I can forgive it. The dynamic between Elizaveta, Ekaterina and Peter III is interesting te watch. The court itnrigues are also fasciting to watch. The first time Ekaterina shows her power is when a officer is charged and brough to the dungeon to be tortured. She uses her power to set him free. For Elizaveta it doesn’t really matter if this officer becomes her lover. 

Peter III is dispised at court, for his immature behavior but also his love for Prussia and its king Frederick. This is why Elizaveta does not want him on the throne. She knows what damage he will do to Russia and that his actions might bring down the Romanov dynasty. In her will, he appoints her lover and husband (they wed in secret because the church wont allow it) as her successor and regent of Pavel until he comes of age. an action her husband was not fond of and he actually hid her will from her nephew wen she died. He didn’t want the power.