Oof, this is late. A thirty episode series might seem a little slight for one of these lists, but when you have a show as consistently good as this one, it's not hard to come up with good entries.
The episodes below are unranked and ordered by airdate. Spoilers ahead.
"The Great" - Our premiere episode sees the arrival of Catherine at the Russian court, which is a madhouse overseen by a hedonist, immature Peter III. Several other major characters and relationships are quickly established, along with the show's total disregard of historical fact. This episode packs in the sex and violence and outrageous behavior, setting expectations and further cementing that this will only be an *occasionally* true story.
"Meatballs at the Dacha" - Peter and Catherine meet the Swedish royals, Hugo and Agnes. I'm mainly including this one for presenting such a nice change of scenery, and for Nicholas Hoult's really fantastic rant about how Russian warfare works. It's no wonder that Hugo and Agnes were brought back in the second season, and wound up main characters by the third. They technically aren't real historical figures, but it feels like they should be.
"The Beaver's Nose" - The coup ensues at last, Catherine is finally pregnant, and violence is nigh. The situation feels like it's changing every minute, and Catherine has to choose between Leo and the crown. Fanning and Hoult are great in the confrontation scenes, while the palace becoming a literal battleground presents plenty of interesting things to look at. The crew's ability to orchestrate such drastic changes to the sets from episode to episode never fails to impress.
"Heads It's Me" - I prefer the second season of "The Great" to the first, because Catherine's fumbles with power are way more fun, and I prefer Peter on the road to redemption. But first, Catherine's got to get him back under her control. This involves escapes, standoffs, setting things on fire, and a great scene where Cathering taunts a hungry Peter with a roasted pig. The real Peter III should be dead by this point, but Hoult is too entertaining to exit the show just yet.
"Stapler" - Catherine's perpetually unimpressed mother comes to visit, played by Gillian Anderson, and she's immediately a formidable enemy for most of the court. To impress her, a science fair is held, resulting in a lot of fun sight gags and a lot of misuse of science. Catherine's relationship with her mother is a whole new source of anxiety, and wonderfully compounds all the ongoing problems. And the incredibly anachronistic roller coaster as the final surprise is just a delight.
"Seven Days" - Catherine is going to have her baby and Peter spends most of the episode digging graves just in case. Jason Isaacs also shows up to play the hallucinated Peter the Great, but Gillian Anderson steals the spotlight as Joanna again, manipulating Catherine and seducing Peter. I don't think anybody saw the ending coming, really one of the most twisted things that this show has come up with, but it's terribly fitting for the character and for "The Great."
"Walnut Season" - I haven't said anything yet about Elizabeth, who is one of my favorite characters and such a wonderful presence throughout. This episode is perhaps Belinda Bromilow's finest hour, where she abducts newborn Paul. Meanwhile, this is also where Marial decides to marry Maxim, Georgina returns with a new plot, and everyone gets ready for the upcoming season finale. Also, Peter takes to fatherhood incredibly well, which never gets old.
"The Bullet or the Bear" - Here's where I talk about Orlo, because the character didn't deserve this ending after all he's been through, but what a way for the writers to signal that nobody in the cast was safe anymore. It comes at the end of a typical scenario where Peter and Catherine fail to kill each other again, and several of our regulars are threatened with a grisly death, only to come through fine. Orlo dying in the most random way possible is a genuine, ironic surprise.
"Fun" - "The Great" isn't the same show in its third season as it was earlier, because the irreverence is quickly disintegrating and giving way to much darker material. All the happy chaos that Catherine instigates is to cover up her grief, and the very real possibility that she's having a break with reality. And it's not funny this time, but downright chilling. The ending, where Catherine's house of cards falls apart, is one of the most quietly devastating moments of the whole show.
"Once Upon a Time" - The finale finds good endings for everyone, but especially for Catherine as she demonstrates some of the boldness and cruelty that she's learned from Archie and Elizabeth. I wish we could have had more time for some of the minor characters, but then again I wouldn't give up that final dance sequence for any of them. Huzzah!
Honorable mentions: "The Beard," "Alone at Last," and "The Duel"
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