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.