The Great is back for another season of royal mess, with all 10 episodes available on Hulu starting November 19. Catherine's (Elle Fanning, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) victory over her estranged husband Peter (Nicholas Hoult, Those Who Wish Me Dead) is set to usher in a new age for Russia, but her reign is not met without resistance.
Aside from the nobility at large not being particularly thrilled at the thought of serfs' rights, Peter has some old friends in his particular corner who would love nothing more than to see things return to the status. Grigor (Gwilym Lee, Midsomer Murders) and Arkady (Bayo Gbadamosi, War of the Worlds) in particular fortify his close circle and are ready to help their friend and ex-emperor find his wife's weak spot... if he isn't too busy being weak in the knees for her, that is.
Gbadamosi and Lee spoke to Screen Rant about where their loyalties lie in post-coup Russia, and how their families affect their choices in season 2.
Screen Rant: We are in a whole new world for Russia post-coup. Can each of you talk about where your head is at, being on the losing side?
Bayo Gbadamosi: Where Arkady's head it at... He is firmly in Team Peter. That means he's directly opposed to Catherine being in power. I suppose he's concerned a lot with how to just get Peter back in power, and how to hold on to the privileges and the lifestyle that he holds so dear.
Ultimately, for all his flaws, Peter being in power means we have a great life and a great time, and Arkady certainly isn't overly concerned with this wave of change that Catherine wants to bring in. I think he just wants things to stay the way they are, so there's a lot of that, really: trying to take down Catherine.
Grigor has a more complicated dynamic with Peter, but is he also still firmly Team Peter?
Gwilym Lee: Definitely. His loyalty to Pete was definitely put to the test but, when push comes to shove - when it comes down to it, which it does in this season - he ultimately chooses the loyalty of his best friend.
Because the love runs deep. They go back a long way, and they've been through a lot. Grigor has seen him grow up and seen his upbringing; how hard that was. So, I think there's real care and affection there, and I think they need each other. You see how much Peter relies on Grigor emotionally. When he's going through his hardest times, he needs the levity of Grigor's foolish presence, I suppose.
On the other hand, Peter is kind of a bully to Arkady sometimes. Does he ever have any second thoughts about that, or do his children and Tatyana (Florence Keith-Roach) ever make him question his own loyalty to Peter?
Bayo Gbadamosi: I think that's a really interesting dynamic in Arkady's relationship with Peter, and I suppose with that comes Peter's relationship with Grigor. I think he's quite aware and cognizant of the fact that, as close as they are, he doesn't have the same sort of bonds that these two have.
There's an element of wanting to occupy that space in some way. But at the same time, he isn't blindly loyal to Peter. I think there are limits. And as we touched on, I think those limits really have to do with his family. And you get to see a bit more of that family dynamic this season, and I think that's something that's really important to him. With all this sort of chaos and party-loving, manic lifestyle that these characters have, I think he is firmly loyal, and his family life means so much to him.
That's where, for me, the limits of his own loyalty to Peter may be.
Speaking of family, Grigor's marriage was tested last season, and this season there is a new angle to it. We get to see a dynamic with Grigor that I quite enjoyed. What can you say about where his romantic life leads this year?
Gwilym Lee: I think as you referenced, I don't want to spoil too much because it was a beautiful surprise for all of us reading the scripts and quite unexpected. Hopefully, the audience will see it as equally unexpected.
I don't want to delve too much into it but suffice to say Grigor gets some action and finds some happiness and takes a stand. He finds his voice a little bit more, I think, in this season. Which is great, because the first season was tough for him. He had a hard time being so publicly humiliated. But things are looking a bit better for him this season, I think.
All 10 episodes of The Great's second season are available to stream November 19 on Hulu.