Forget “The Empress” on Netflix: This Historical Series Is Much More Fun

The makers of the Netflix series “The Empress” have every reason to be happy: in two weeks 59.43 million hours of German production were streamed worldwide, breaking records. I think: absolutely understandable! I watched the six episodes in no time and would be happy with a second season.

Nevertheless, I think it could be even better and there is a series that you can compare “The Empress” to, but somehow no one close to me has seen it. She is so good and that is why she more than deserves this article. Who are we talking about here? From another empress…

To put it right here, although I’ve studied history, I don’t have a particularly good idea of ​​aristocratic homes or royal power struggles. But there is a lot of passion for the stuff that (night) dreams are made of. Most of the time, though, I’m on the historical figures when the credits are flickering on the screen and I’m having just as much fun with them.

Why is this important? Because this is by no means a matter of whether “The Empress” is historically correct or not. I also don’t care if the show’s fantastic (!) costumes are real or not. I just want to be entertained for a few hours. And Netflix has done a great job of that. But it gets even better!

I would definitely recommend “The Great” to anyone who likes Sisi from “The Empress”.. The Great has everything the Netflix series has, plus a huge dose of very clever humor, fun sex scenes (Female Pleasure is usually capitalized here), a brilliant cast and Gillian Anderson (“Sex Education”)!

In The Empress, young Elizabeth (Devrim Lingnau), Duchess of Bavaria, marries the Emperor of Austria (Philip Froissant) and must come to terms not only with her new role as wife and empress, but also with the conservative rule of the Habsburgs. The problems of that time and the mother of the emperor do not make her life any easier.

In “The Great”, Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) is full of anticipation as she marries the heir to the Russian throne and later Emperor Peter III and soon realizes that her husband is a real monster. As she slowly finds her way at court, making friends and trying to modernize her daily life and society, she decides that Peter must leave and hatches a plot. You can watch both seasons of The Great on Lionsgate+ (a trial subscription to the channel is available on Amazon Prime Video.

*

Of course, I can’t judge who really was the better empress, and the two women didn’t even live in the same century. However, as far as “Die Kaiserin” and “The Great” go, I have a clear favorite.

While “The Empress” mainly tells the – more or less – romantic love life of Sisi and Franz Joseph and the personalities at court are interesting but rather pale, “The Great” is a real firework of ideas, colors, characters and satirical jokes.

And maybe the comparison goes a bit wrong, because “The Empress” obviously doesn’t want to be really funny, “The Great” all the more. And yet I like the American series with Elle Fanning as the Empress of Russia so much better.

Because the now two seasons (a third has already been ordered!) are not just any comedy. On the contrary. This is a rousing, unconventional love story that made me cry as much as it made me laugh. The Russian court is full of bizarre characters with great subplots and Katharina’s unstoppable urge to change society politically is truly gripping.

And yes, the costumes, sets and cast are absolutely perfect too and you’ll want to screenshot every scene, print it out and hang it on the wall. To turn on!