THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4 WRAP-UP

 

SEASON 4 INDIVIDUAL REVIEWS:

Episode 1: GOLD STICK

Episode 2: THE BALMORAL TEST

Episode 3: FAIRYTALE

Episode 4: FAVOURITES

Episode 5: FAGAN

Episode 6: TERRA NULLIUS

Episode 7: THE HEREDITARY PRINCIPLE

Episode 8: 48:1

Episode 9: AVALANCHE

Episode 10: WAR

I’m pretty impressed at how THE CROWN continues to top itself as each season comes and goes. SEASON 4 so far is the best when it comes to its production, filming and acting. Though I initially had some reservations when we began with this new cast in Season 3, Season 4 completely won me over, and I am so bummed that they are done and we have to get used to a new cast all over again for Seasons 5 & 6. Olivia Colman (ELIZABETH) and Josh O’Connor (CHARLES) in particular did great, and that’s in part because of the newcomers they had to play off of.

Gillian Anderson (THATCHER) and Emma Corrin (DIANA) were exemplary, giving depth, weight and dimension to these two famous/controversial British figures. Regardless of how one feels about them historically, I feel to not give credit to these performances greatly diminishes Season 4. Corrin’s Diana is most definitely a highlight, as we are given a new interpretation of the her we could only have imagined behind the scenes and pomp & circumstance. I’m again bummed that Corrin is only in this season, as the role of Diana will also be passed to another for the remainder of the show.

Diana’s strength & presence however is a double-edged sword, and leads to my only criticism of the season: the writing.  Whatever feelings & leanings creator Peter Morgan has on the Royal Family, I appreciated how a sense of objectivity was maintained throughout the show since it started. If there was any conflict with two parties on issues, the show frames itself to understand both and ultimately leave it to the viewer who to decide with or be in the middle. That objectivity was steadily lost by the end of the season to the point of siding with Diana against the Royal Family, and I wonder if that could be because of the media martyrdom of her built up since 1997. 

Despite that, I still greatly enjoyed this season. My highlights are THE BALMORAL TEST, FAIRYTALE, THE HEREDITARY PRINCIPLE, and 48:1.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 10: WAR

WAR, huh. What is this episode is good for? Absolutely...something. I’m extremely split on this finale to the 4th season, and it boils down to the two new players of PM THATCHER and PRINCESS DIANA.

I really liked the Thatcher story, it ending on a rather high note as the Iron Lady’s era ends, we see her at her lowest emotional moment, and she has her final audience with the ELIZABETH. It was a very effective exit and makes me think about future PM stories in the next two seasons. I also do wonder about its overall accuracy, as I understand that Thatcher is a controversial, usually-vilified figure. Regardless, I really enjoyed this as a closure to Thatcher.

Less enjoyable is Diana’s story. I do not doubt that the massive discomfort of her, CHARLES and CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES could be accurate to history, but Diana being such a major focus while the royals are reviled/seen in a negative light breaks one of my earlier praises of this show. To me, The Crown is at its best challenging its audience to be objective on the subject of the royal family and its events, how to see both sides in the matters and arguments in the episodes. Lately though it seems as if the show is telling, borderline shouting at its audience to side with Diana.

This unfortunately overshadows the moments in the episode I do like, such as the NYC trip and PHILIP’S talk with Diana at the end, a very powerful & effective bookend to this season and era of the show as we bid farewell to this cast. In the end for me, this is a well produced, acted episode & finale that is undermined by its writing. I do like its strong half, but overall am highly critical of it for its other half.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 9: AVALANCHE

 

Penultimate episodes of each season of The Crown tend to be some of the more emotional/dramatic ones as they feature two opposing characters in relation to one key issue:

Season 1 had Elizabeth VS Philip on their damaged marriage.
Season 2 had Philip VS Charles on self-esteem.
Season 3 had The Royal Family VS Charles on his love life.

The story and characters are framed in a way that you can be objective and see both sides & viewpoint. The same however can’t be said for Season 4’s penultimate, AVALANCHE, as we see CHARLES VS DIANA on their own damaged marriage. Regardless of how it frames a suffering Charles after a brush with death & using it as justification to end the marriage and be with CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES, everything about this episode makes you side & sympathize with Diana. The writing, the acting, the soundtrack, it’s all done to show that Diana did her damnedest to keep the marriage going to no avail.

I’ve always praised the show for its good balance of character investment VS bias & objectivity, how the show can challenge you to think or consider on these real life figures despite how things played out in history. But when you see Diana give this grand gestures of love, be the first to speak to ELIZABETH & PHILIP when confronted, deliberately sever ties to her secret lovers, and be a good mother to WILLIAM & HARRY, you can’t help but pity her when all this is not reciprocated. You can’t blame her for falling back into temptation after all that. Charles on the other hand does absolutely nothing to gain audience sympathy, to the point that I just don’t care anymore when he rants to ANNE about a lack of kindness in the great family of Windsor.

But with all that said, this doesn’t make it a bad episode. There’s a lot more to say on the subject but I’ll save that for my Season 4 wrap-up. Objectively there’s nothing outright wrong with this one, but subjectively I don’t see myself eagerly re-watching it like most of the episodes. I’ll split the difference and put this one as middle of the road.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 8: 48:1

 

When watching 48:1, it really felt like I was watching a multi-level political thriller, what with the next battle of wills between QUEEN ELIZABETH & PM THATCHER, the UK’s role in the Commonwealth of Nations, the growing Apartheid in South Africa, and the crucial role a lower-decks Buckingham Palace employee would play in this. All in all I really enjoyed this story on multiple levels.

On the political and worldwide level, it was interesting to see the UK’s role in the international stage given what the UK used to be as an empire, and serves as a reminder of how the show started from post WW2. On the leadership level, it’s again both entertaining and fascinating to see the Queen and PM at odds again, as their both strong characters of presence handled well by Olivia Colman and Gillian Anderson respectively.

Going further down, we reach my only nitpick of the episode as we follow Michael Shea, palace press secretary. His story and role was good, but it was hard for me to get invested given his both his importance and lack of prior tales. We even get to see the royal siblings get some time as we get our first real scene of CHARLES, ANNE, ANDREW & EDWARD together reacting to political events. Probably my favorite scene in the episode, given how Charles is during this moment.

Add some other good scenes via excellent editing & camera work, plus a very strong prologue that has the surprise return of a previous actor, and this is one I’m definitely going to enjoy rewatching in the future.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 7: THE HEREDITARY PRINCIPLE

 

At first, I was not looking forward to THE HEREDITARY PRINCIPLE because it was going to feature the character I’m mixed on the most: PRINCESS MARGARET. She is acted and performed well in the earlier seasons, and this continues with her current actor Helena Bonham Carter. Oftentimes though I found her stories unpleasant or not worth seeing again because of her character. Sympathetic though she may be because of tragic circumstance throughout her life, this is only some of her episodes while other episodes have her misfortune be self-afflicted due to bad attitudes or poor decisions. This is nothing towards the show itself or the writing, her stories are just the part of the show I like the least.

Now with that said, I was extremely engaged with this tale because of how it came like it was the culmination/totality of Margaret’s story, as she struggles with mental issues, brushes with death, and some nasty skeletons in the royal closet. I have never sympathized so much with Margaret until this episode, especially by the end as she completely accepted her situation.

Bonham Carter did well of course, though  I will admit part of the difficulty of liking the character was how much of Margaret in this show was the actual person, or Helena being Helena. She is so known for her varied characters, it’s difficult to separate the actor from the role. Regardless though, I liked this episode a lot more than I expected, and probably is one of my favorites of Season 4.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 6: TERRA NULLIUS

 

Talk about history repeating itself. If the previous show was a reimagining of a Season 2 story, this one, TERRA NULLIUS, has its similarities go even further back, this time to Season 1’s Pride and Joy. In both tales, a royal couple travels to Australia to strengthen the British Commonwealth, has the significant other be miserable, and end up in a huge martial spat to the seeming point of no return.

The situation though seems even more volatile in this story because the two major players, CHARLES & DIANA, gain and then utterly lose audience sympathy due to their attitudes. Oh sure things seem fine when the two kiss and make up after admitting their shared insecurities of being overlooked, unappreciated and unwanted, but it steadily is shattered when, as history played out, Diana became the darling of everybody, consuming all the attention and unintentionally making Charles look bad.

Emma Corrin’s performance is taken to the next level as we see more of the complete Diana, where motherhood and the limelight causes the character to become more confident and outspoken, yet all the while showing her doubts and insecurities in private. I believe this is key because of how the episode frames the Wales Couple as sympathetic yet unsympathetic. You can understand why Charles feels undervalued, yet shake your head at his tantrum & continuing pining towards CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES. You can understand why Diana wants the glamor and splendor, yet question her judgement as she is unable or unwilling to mediate or compromise with the Royal Family.

This episode provides yet another powerful epilogue, as a desperate Diana tries and fails to appeal to ELIZABETH. Diana’s hug towards the Queen that is met with confusion from her & disgust from the rest of the family is telling at how they are out of touch with the people and country they look over. You frankly can’t blame the people for latching onto Diana as “their” princess.

All in all I’m inclined to put this one in the win pile for this season, filled with great performances and is again another challenge for the audience in their feelings towards the monarchy. Regardless of how one feels about Diana because of media martyrdom, I do hope that other viewers are equally challenged like how I myself am feeling.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 5: FAGAN

 

If you remember the Season 2 episode Marionettes, then this Season 4 outing is familiar territory. Both episodes have the Queen/upper echelons of government seen from viewpoint of those at lower classes, and in both instances the Queen meets with specific people from these classes as representations of political/monarchal dissatisfaction. These encounters would then result in a fundamental change in the system.

What makes FAGAN different is the execution. Marionettes focused on a middle class lower lord & politician, while this one has us further below at the lower class and average schmucks. One schmuck, a Mr. Michael Fagan, lives in a rundown flat alone with the wife & kids gone, unemployed and at the edge despair. Throughout the episode we see Mr. Fagan’s struggle appealing to government and trying to live, until in desperation he breaks into Buckingham, meets the Queen and warns her about the declining state of the nation & the political wiles of the Prime Minister.

This is all well & good, and the ending of the episode with ELIZABETH & THATCHER continues their great character dynamic. It’s good when The Crown can shift its focus to how the monarchy is seen from the other side, but part of that comes from whether or not you can engage in that other side. So for me I couldn’t really enjoy this episode too much because Mr. Fagan is a rather unpleasant individual. You can sympathize with him, sure, but he is far from likable, really giving this episode an uncomfortable vibe.

Now to be fair, maybe that’s intentional. Mr. Fagan’s circumstances, griefs, and inability to cope can be real. As Elizabeth said to Thatcher, not everyone can handle or rise up to the occasion. It’s completely understandable why Mr. Fagan does what he did. I just feel that as far as this show goes, this is one of those episodes that can be seen once and never again. Overall it’s not bad, I just wouldn’t count it as one of my favorites of the season and is probably my lowest ranked so far as we pass the halfway point of The Crown Season 4.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 4: FAVOURITES

 

FAVOURITES is a smaller scale story after the whirlwind of the previous episode, as we delve into how QUEEN ELIZABETH and MARGARET THATCHER view their respective children amidst the backdrop of the growing conflict in the Falkland Islands. It was pretty good, if a bit uneven.

I felt the latter story of Thatcher’s son being lost & found along with her daughter’s resentment was the lesser of the two because it’s purely just for Margaret herself. It was a look into the PM’s upbringing, attitude and insight into how she balances her political & family life. That aspect was good, but likely for story purposes we didn’t get much into the Thatcher children beyond the son being an outgoing slacker and the daughter being shy & introverted. No, this was an examination of Thatcher, and a counterpoint to the other family of this story.

The plot of the Royal Family, conversely, I loved. Not only do we see Elizabeth’s relationship with CHARLES and ANNE, but also the younger siblings ANDREW and EDWARD. All four get good equal moments in this episode with development going both ways between the siblings and the mother. Charles especially is notable as we briefly see DIANA and the bad signs of their marriage.

This plot is even stronger when you consider how much this connects to seasons past, if you can recall the tumultuous relationship of Elizabeth and PHILLIP, Princess MARGARET, and her own mother. The episode ending with a heartwarming moment between Elizabeth and Philip was great, and is a reminder of how far they have come since the start of the show. It’s amazing how this show can make you dislike the royal family, then quickly make you like and sympathize with them again.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 3: FAIRYTALE

When the episode begins with a disclaimer on sensitive imagery of the subject of Bulimia, you know you’re in for something. What that something is is an episode that is well written, directed and acted. Emma Corrin rises to the occasion and brings us closer to the DIANA we all remember, the youth swept up in the FAIRYTALE marriage and splendor of Buckingham Palace, only to see a crushing, restricting, gilded cage, and being wed to someone who is unwilling/unable to return affection. For the most part I’m now won over by Corrin’s performance, and am eager to see the completion of the complex puzzle that is Diana Spencer and her time as Princess of Wales. 

That said, I feel how much you may like, love or even be comfortable with this one may depend on how you view Diana, CHARLES, and CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES. In the decades since THAT royal drama, media has been all over the place when it came to these three. You may or may not have sympathy towards any of these characters if you have any strong feelings towards the royals, most especially the Queen and immediate royal family. Regardless of how the writing wants to make you feel or side with, in my opinion it’s important to not take it at face value and you form your own opinion on the episode.

Regardless, this episode is still great. I personally would still put Episode 2 as my favorite of the season so far, but that’s just a testament to the quality of The Crown as a whole.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 2: THE BALMORAL TEST

After the introduction to the newcomers and reacquaintance to the veterans last time, Episode 2 ups the ante with the often seen & visited Balmoral Castle in THE BALMORAL TEST. This royal retreat of rest & relaxation becomes a mental battleground as PM Thatcher and Lady Diana ingratiate themselves into the royal family.

I said previously that I wasn’t quite feeling Gillian Anderson (Thatcher). I’m confident to say that this has been realized, that I watch Anderson’s performance and I no longer see an elder Agent Scully. We clearly see how Thatcher is such an outlier, humoring the royals with their protocol & procedures and disapproving every step. Her final conversation with Elizabeth is particularly chilling, how she aims to fundamentally change the institution from top to bottom, even if that means earning the enmity of the Queen herself. I’m not too familiar with the real Thatcher beyond the basics, but it makes for some great political drama that was not there with previous PMs in the show, not even Churchill.

Emma Corrin (Diana) was similarly given time to shine at Balmoral, and in stark contrast to Thatcher, shatters expectations & becomes a darling to them. With this episode we got to know her more and see her interplay with Charles, undoubtedly a taste of what will happen down the line. The final scene as the paparazzi's begins to hound her is well done and disheartening as a harbinger of things to come. I felt much more invested in Corrin’s performance, but also hope to see more improvement as history will unfold and Diana will be thrust into the limelight.

What I especially love about this episode is how Thatcher and Diana serve as audience surrogates when it comes to the Windsors, from their attitude to their bright clothes amidst a sea of muted colors. This episode challenges your opinion and perception on them, if you side with Thatcher and see them as boorish & backwards, or if you are like Diana and fit with them like you knew them your whole life? While the show has had this gray area before, in my opinion it has never been as gray as this. Do you get swept up in the pomp and history of the Windsors as unfillable deities, always see their feet of clay, or are in the middle? It’s up to the viewer to decide. 

Add in some good small moments from Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles) & Helena Bonham Carter (Princess Margaret), and some absolutely gorgeous shots of what I assume are the Scottish highlands, and you got quite an episode. The only real nitpick I would give is how this seeming “test” was never brought up before. Otherwise, I loved this one more than the first, and I await to see what Episode 3 will bring.

THE CROWN Reviews: Season 4, Episode 1: GOLD STICK

 

I felt that the first episode of the fourth season of the acclaimed Netflix series was a very effective start. It saw the end of one of the show’s most important characters, and set up the two new players at this point of the British Royal Saga: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Lady Diana Spencer. I will admit at the moment I’m not quite feeling the performance and emotion of Gillian Anderson and Emma Corrin in their roles as Thatcher & Diana respectively, but I can see where they’re going for things to come, with Thatcher’s role defined as the iron woman that’ll clash with Queen Elizabeth, and Diana as the sweet-hearted, quirky girl that catches the heart of Prince Charles. Exciting stuff that’s sure to win the audience over, especially those who are familiar with history.

Props also to Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles, who gives the role and character more dimension than previous season. Given what’s to come this season I hope to see this continue. I also appreciate how Erin Doherty’s role as Princess Anne is expanded here with her own stories & troubles, allowing a previously neglected character to shine. If I had to give any negatives, it’s more in the technical with tons of in-your-face, uncomfortable close up camera shots of characters. But one could say it’s a deliberate artistic choice because the characters themselves are uncomfortable, especially in regards to the end of that aforementioned major character.

All in all, I feel it’s good start to the season, with lots to anticipate, speculate and be excited for. It’s sure to be a draw for the Netflix audience, history buffs, and everything in-between.