Netflix The Crown Season 4

[Crimson]

There are a few discussions about THE CROWN, but none seem to go beyond S4. Did anyone finish the show? I had quit after S4, but recently went back to rewatch the first four years and finish it out. For anyone who did stop after S4, you didn't miss much to be honest. Questionable historicity aside, the first four seasons of THE CROWN might be the best melodrama put on television. I didn't care much for the final two, although there were some stellar episodes; mostly centered on Margaret or Elizabeth herself.

The re-cast every two seasons was an interesting experiment, but often jarring. I think this would have worked better if there was a greater time jump in between recasts. In between S4 and S5, only a year had passed yet Philip looked like he aged 60 years.

I suspect this kind of drama works best when it's "the past". The scandals of the Duke of Windsor or Princess Margaret seemed glamorous and tragic, but everything involving the modern royals seemed grubby and tedious. I had originally skipped these seasons because I didn't feel like living through the slog of Charles and Diana again, and I did grit my teeth through most of it.

I can't say I am happy about this. I mean Prince Philip who was born into a royal family was not King. He was Prince Philip. So I think it would have been better to let Camilla be Princess instead of Queen. Or better yet why not keep her as Duchess of Cornwall.

I'm not sure it's worth responding to something nearly three years later, but here we go. British royal titles are determined by birth or marriage. The wife of a King is a Queen (Consort), regardless of whether she's loved or hated. If the British want their heads of state to be determined based on popularity rather than birth or marriage, then they should probably eliminate the monarchy and start holding elections.

 

[James from London]

Did anyone finish the show?

Yes, I just loved it.

 

[Crimson]

Yes, I just loved it.

Should you ever feel so inclined, I'd be interested in your thoughts.

As an American, I never understood why the British would want a royal family. I ended the series wondering why this family would want the British. It all seems mutually toxic.

 

[James from London]

Should you ever feel so inclined, I'd be interested in your thoughts.

I've always felt quite detached from the royal family in real life, but as dramatic characters I found them utterly compelling and surprisingly sympathetic. At the very least, The Crown was brilliant soap opera. I've said this before, but nearly all the central characters are Sue Ellen in Dallas Season 2 -- trapped in predestined marriages and roles and lives and fates that they simply cannot escape from, no matter how much they want to. But instead of a backdrop of oil and land, you've got the church and the state and all that crazy history.

In fictionalising these public figures so completely, The Crown made them more three-dimensionally real to me than they ever had been before. It's a deliciously fascinating paradox.

 

[Karin]

There are a few discussions about THE CROWN, but none seem to go beyond S4. Did anyone finish the show?

I just got the final season on DVD for Christmas. So I am about to finish it this year. I just watched the first episode of the last season tonight. I will only watch one episode/week to make them last a bit longer though. Will return with more comments when I have finished watching it.

 

[Angela Channing]

There are a few discussions about THE CROWN, but none seem to go beyond S4. Did anyone finish the show?

Yes, I watched all 6 seasons and also Scoop (Netflix) and A Very Royal Scandal (Amazon Prime) which were almost like a season 7 of The Crown.

I found the later seasons less compelling because they covered events which were well known, relatively recent and extensively covered in the news so didn't seem as interesting.

 

[Crimson]

trapped in predestined marriages and roles and lives and fates that they simply cannot escape from, no matter how much they want to

An interesting observation, and not far off from me wondering why this family wants to maintain their royal positions. More than once, I wanted to yell at the screen "Just abdicate!" Sympathy for royals isn't high on a list of my concerns, but it seems like they're all trapped in a self-destructive loop; spending their lives propping up an institution that I'm not sure has any purpose beyond propping itself up.

I will only watch one episode/week to make them last a bit longer though. Will return with more comments when I have finished watching it.

What did you think of S5?

I found the later seasons less compelling because they covered events which were well known, relatively recent and extensively covered in the news so didn't seem as interesting.

Yes, I think that was ultimately my reaction. I lived through this s*** and I didn't particularly enjoy being dragged through it again. I did somewhat appreciate that the seasons took what seemed like a contrarian position, making Charles more sympathetic than Diana. There was one episode that I just totally skipped, as it appeared centered on William and Kate; I simply do not care about them.

My only other real complaint about the last batch is that I thought some of the casting was iffy; surprising since I thought the cast choices in the first two batches was great. I didn't think Dominic West looked or sounded much like Charles, which was distracting after how good Josh O'Connor had been. And the third Queen Mother had no continuity with her two predecessors. I kept wondering who this dotty old woman was who kept wandering on screen.

 

[Willie Oleson]

An interesting observation, and not far off from me wondering why this family wants to maintain their royal positions. More than once, I wanted to yell at the screen "Just abdicate!" Sympathy for royals isn't high on a list of my concerns, but it seems like they're all trapped in a self-destructive loop; spending their lives propping up an institution that I'm not sure has any purpose beyond propping itself up.

Just think of it as the European answer to the Super Bowl.
It's very difficult to cancel it.

 

[James from London]

An interesting observation, and not far off from me wondering why this family wants to maintain their royal positions. More than once, I wanted to yell at the screen "Just abdicate!" Sympathy for royals isn't high on a list of my concerns, but it seems like they're all trapped in a self-destructive loop; spending their lives propping up an institution that I'm not sure has any purpose beyond propping itself up.

Viewing The Crown strictly as a drama, it's the same as asking, "Why do all these rich feuding Ewings all insist on living in the same not-very-big house when they could go anywhere and do anything?" Cos of family, tradition, legacy, duty, etc. (That's where the church and state stuff comes in.) You either buy into that soapy premise or you don't, but without it there's no story. As I say, I'm primarily interested in the royals as fictionalised characters so it works for me. Beyond that, I don't really have any answers!

 

[Crimson]

Just think of it as the European answer to the Super Bowl.
It's very difficult to cancel it.

The French seem pretty good at cancelling their royals.

Viewing The Crown strictly as a drama, it's the same as asking, "Why do all these rich feuding Ewings all insist on living in the same not-very-big house when they could go anywhere and do anything?" Cos of family, tradition, legacy, duty, etc

Well I was known to occasionally yell at DALLAS, "Just move off Southfork and most of your problems are solved!"

Although I never entirely overlooked that this was based on real people and events, I too mostly viewed THE CROWN as a soap. One notable lesson: melodrama and emotional honesty go together better than expected, something the classic soaps seldom even attempted. Perhaps my favorite scene in the entire series was the death of Princess Alice. An elderly lady wryly facing her own death-by-old-age was more poignant and dramatic than any flamboyant soap opera death. (Although flamboyant death-by-IRA-assassin we pretty effective too.)

 

[Willie Oleson]

One notable lesson: melodrama and emotional honesty go together better than expected, something the classic soaps seldom even attempted.

At the risk of stating the obvious, that depends on what soaps you have watched (and then perhaps also, what period of those soaps you have watched).

 

[Karin]

What did you think of S5?

It's been a while since I watched it. But what I remember is that one episode about Princess Margaret and the man she never married when she was young stood out in my mind. It was a really good episode and I don't think most people are even aware of that she ever met him again.

I also liked the episode about the Russian connection with new details about their relatives that were killed in the revolution but could have been saved if King George had made a different decision.

But over all I think there was too much focus on Charles and Diana. Yes we found out some new details. The way Martin Bashir tricked Diana into doing that interview was really not nice. But over all it's a story that's been told over and over already.

I had hoped season four and five would have included Prince Andrew and Fergie a bit more and they are completely ignored.