Summary
It’s a compelling chapter as we start to see that Catherine’s leadership has cracks appearing.
This recap of Hulu’s The Great season 2, episode 3, “Alone At Last,” contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
Episode 3 sees Catherine struggling to keep Peter locked up and handle her grief from a lost loved one. It’s a compelling chapter as we start to see that Catherine’s leadership has cracks appearing.
The Great season 2, episode 3 recap
Episode 3 opens with Orlo telling Catherine about a murdered noble outside. She knows who did it — Peter. Meanwhile, Peter and his conspirators talk about how to overthrow Catherine. However, Peter is distracted by a dog, which irritates Georgina. He’s also excited about truffle season and taking his dog out. He seems to have forgotten that he’s under house arrest.
And then, Catherine angrily confronts Peter about killing a noble, and she reminds him about his needless violence; she asks her guards to beat him up. After getting beaten, Peter says he took her point graciously and asks if she can go truffle hunting with her dog. Catherine asks her guards to lock him in. Georgina tells Grigor that Catherine is fierce and formidable. She sounds impressed and surprised.
Catherine tells Velementov that they should raise the bar for violence; she wants better non-violent solutions. She wants to find common ground with Peter’s royalists. But it’s clear that Catherine is dealing with the grief of Leo dying, and she’s struggling with it. Afterward, Georgina asks Catherine if she can be exiled. She wants out. Georgina tells Grigor that they are fleeing to Paris for a new life. Grigor doesn’t want to leave, but Georgina does not believe he and Peter have a good plan.
Aunt Elizabeth tells Catherine that Peter doesn’t do well locked in on his own, as that’s what his mother used to do with him. Catherine has a guards wheel in his mummified mother to make matters worse for him. Catherine is not playing games in season 2 at all.
Aunt Elizabeth talks to Peter through the door. Peter reveals that he promised Catherine that he’d be less violent, and he broke it immediately. Afterward, Grigor and Georgina pass letters to Peter to tell him they are leaving for Paris. He’s devastated.
Catherine confides with Marial about Leo; she has regrets about what happened to him. Marial tells her that there’s nothing she can do now. He’s gone. She tells her to be sad, but Catherine doesn’t want to dwell. She’s trying to be tough and keep going, but it’s not working as episode 3 shows.
Catherine asks the doctor if he has anything, so she doesn’t sleep. She wants to be wide awake to keep running Russia. She snorts some medicine to stay awake. She immediately asks Velementov for his attention as they have work to do. Catherine then finds Orlo with his male lover, with the same line — “we have work to do.” Velementov and Orlo state how it’s very late, but Catherine is somewhat erratic and wants plans to be implemented immediately. Meanwhile, Peter is going crazy and talking to his dead mother; he reveals he has a plan and confesses that he loves Catherine.
Eventually, Marial tells Catherine that an uncontrollable woman isn’t the way forward. She also asks why she locked up Peter and asks, “what would Leo say?”. Catherine responds, “forgive, live.” Marial tells her to cry.
The next day, Catherine unlocks Peter’s room and lets him go under guard and reunite with his dog. Peter reads out an apology about his violence and that it serves him well, like Leo. Catherine realizes that Peter doesn’t care. In anger, Catherine locks Peter up again. She walks the dog out to look for a truffle so she can burn it in front of Peter. Meanwhile, Peter manages to escape, and he comes across Velementov having sex. Velementov tries to shoot him repeatedly.
The ending
Episode 3 offers hope for Catherine as a leader despite her processing her grief.
Peter’s dog arrives in the forest and finds a truffle which stops the fighting between Peter and Velementov. They find a way to reconnect as Velementov remembers Peter as a child. Catherine sees a vision of Leo in the woods before he died, and she kneels. While she cries, she punches herself, but the tears flow this time. She finally grieves loudly. She needed that.
Peter asks Velementov why he betrayed him. Velementov tells Peter that he’s a terrible leader who routinely mocked him. He tells him that they won the coup because Catherine is fierce, but he doesn’t care for people. Afterward, in a surprise, Grigor returns after changing his mind for exiling. But he returns without Georgina.
As the episode ends, Catherine sees a group of girls getting educated in the forest. She knows she’s making change, even if it’s incremental.
Additional points
- Orlo is caught hooking up with his male lover by a family member. The family member requests that he continues with plans to get financial access to their region.
- Catherine tells Orlo and Velementov that she wants to rescind the law that you can kill someone if offended by them. She’s exhausted with the lack of logic.
What did you think of The Great season 2, episode 3? Comment below.
