Fairytales are largely written in books and don’t play out in real life. But if you have been around a bit, you may think that Princess Diana, Duchess Kate, and Duchess Meghan all lived and/or live a fairytale.
But we’ve realized that what we think of as fairytales are sometimes nightmares, and The Crown gives us an inside look at that.
Season 4 of The Crown was just that – a look at the craziness of The House of Windsor. It’ll make you reconsider your lifelong dream to become a princess.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
There is no show that captivates like The Crown does. The obsession with the House of Windsor has existed for long, and finding a way to learn about their world is always something that we are into.
That being said, our love affair with The Crown is not only because of history, it’s because of where it’s shot. The settings are beautiful, the attention to detail is remarkable, and the way that everything is lit keeps you staring at the screen.
The acting in The Crown is – as always – flawless. The chemistry between the actors is as if they are meant to play these parts.
Lets break down our overall review of this Season.
WHAT WE LOVED
- OLIVIA COLMAN – I can’t even start to put into words the performance that Olivia Colman gives. She is flawless, and has such great range. She’s an actress that embodies the roles that she takes on and gives it everything. Her performance is AMAZING. We’re lucky that she’s been the Queen for the past two seasons, and we will be sorry to see her go.
- CHARLES AND DIANA – Now, let me say this – I hate Charles. Like this dude is a self entitled narcissist with no heart. He’s obsessed with himself and Camilla. He’s obsessed with duty. He’s not obsessed with his wife, as he should be. Charles didn’t know how to show love and barely knew how to show care. But there were moments that you saw him and you liked him. But the entire time – you can’t help but LOVE Diana. She’s a QUEEN! She’s perfection and she just wants to be loved. You can see that these two aren’t meant to be together, but that’s part of why you hate him. Because you see that he had no regard for anyone’s feelings but his own.
- THE EXAMINATION OF FAMILY – I think that one of the most important things about this season was that we got to see the examination of family. We got to see what was important to the Queen and how she didn’t know her family. I think that seeing the separation of the family was good to watch, because it made you have empathy for the way they all are. It made you understand personalities.
- THE FASHION – They recreated the iconic fashion that we all know and love.
WHAT WE DID NOT LOVE
- ANDREW AND SARAH – I think that it would have been great to learn/see more about Andrew and Sarah. The wedding of Andrew and Sarah was important in history, but also I would have loved to have seen the evolution of Diana and Sarah’s relationship. Did they have one? I know that Diana and Charles are more famous and we’ve been leading up to everything about them, but I have always wanted to know more about the other royals also.
- CAMILLA PARKER BOWLES – I know, I know, she’s a part of Charles’ life. But I don’t like her a bit. I didn’t like that we saw more of her than we did Diana, and I found that to be an issue.
- NO WEDDING – Sure, I am fully aware of the fact that I can google the wedding, but it just seemed like such a waste. They’d made that dress and I would have loved to even see her walk down the aisle. Something more than the little we got.
- THATCHER – Again, nothing against Gillian Anderson, but this choice on how to present Thatcher – I feel like it was a brief view of history rather than the importance of Thatcher and who she truly was, plus all of the wrong she did.
WHO STOLE THE SHOW
Emma Corrin as Diana Spencer. There are not enough words to describe just how beautiful of a portrayal this was. Emma was raw, uncensored, vulnerable and strong. She stole every moment she was on screen. Diana is such an important part of history and I can’t even imagine what it took to bring her to the screen. But Emma tossed her entire being into this role, and you saw it with every movement.
Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles. Look, I don’t like Charles, and this season of The Crown made me hate him even more. But that’s a powerful performance that evokes such extreme emotion out of the person – and Josh delivered one hell of a performance.
FAVORITE QUEEN MOMENT
In Episode 10, when Charles talks to his Mom about wanting to separate and she lays into him – I yelled back at the screen and said: it’s about time. Charles is a dick, a spoiled rotten dick and he needed to be told the fuck off. And I am thankful that we got to see it.
WHO FELL SHORT
Gillian Anderson is an unbelievably talented actress. I will acknowledge that, but if I had to watch one more second of her in The Crown, I would have quit the show. Granted, Margaret Thatcher was not a good person, and I don’t like her, but the sound of her voice in The Crown made me want to tear my eardrums out.
I don’t blame Gillian though, because she was dealing with playing someone who was a gross person, but defined a bit of history. Just someone I would rather forget and I can’t stand it.
But as I feel that this character fell short, it doesn’t make Gillian a bad actress. I just feel that they could have rounded out the character more, showed more about what her time as Prime Minister really did, and just how shitty of a person she was.
WHAT WE NEEDED MORE OF
I am thankful for all of the moments that we got of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. I wanted to see the complexities of their relationship, because we didn’t get enough. I wanted to see more of the good and the bad. But I also wanted to see their relationship.
BEST EPISODE
Episode 10, War – Amid a growing challenge to her power, Thatcher fights for her position. Charles grows more determined to separate from Diana as their marriage unravels.
Why was this the best episode of the season? I’d like to tell you that it’s because it was everything I wanted – but it wasn’t. It was because of the performances.
One thing throughout this season Olivia Coleman and Erin Doherty shined. They were flawless. But in episode 10, you are really reminded of just how this entire cast commands a screen. They all become their characters. The way that you see a different side to the characters and it’s absolutely beautiful to see their range.
WORST EPISODE
Episode 5, Fagan – As Thatcher’s policies create rising unemployment, a desperate man breaks into the palace, where he finds Elizabeth’s bedroom and awakens her for a talk.
I do understand that Fagan is a part of history, but I didn’t feel the need for an entire episode. I do understand that we’re seeing the way that this affected the Queen and changed her perception of what is going on in Britain.
But I felt as though it was all over the place, somewhat confusing, and not what I tune into the show for. And with all the history in the world – I didn’t see the need to focus completely on that.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- Everyone being jealous of Diana makes me feel bad for the Royal Family. They are all so used to all the praise, and no matter how many times they say that they hate the lack of privacy, someone explain to me why they’re so pissed when they get it.
- Charles is an egomaniac and I am not sure why.
- Camilla and Charles are a scary kind of love. Like, these two are addicted to each other and they need help.
- Charles’ need for approval from everyone is sad. Like really sad.
- Did I mention that I hate Charles?
- Anne doesn’t get enough credit, but she’s one strong, fierce Princess.
- Edward was a little shit.
- Andrew seemed okay, but the truth is, knowing who he is today made me want to barf, and I couldn’t like his character.
- Edward seems to be the only person that likes being a royal.
- I really wish that they would have dove in more to the interpersonal relationships between the family members.
- Anne would make a great Queen.
- I wish we would have gotten to meet Anne’s family.
- Philip is fabulous. I like this version of him!
- If someone ever asks me to go stalking, that’s a hard no.
- This family does a lot of hunting.
INDIVIDUAL EPISODE REVIEWS
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON SEASON 4 OF THE CROWN?
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