Watching 'The Crown' to Prepare for the Megan Markle Season

So the Queen’s cousin, Prince Philip died recently, and there was all that drama about Megan Markle a little while ago, which got me thinking; It feels like we’re in the final season of Netflix’s The Crown right now. And that made me curious to catch up on the series. I was also really curious to see season 4, because I knew from the trailers that’s when they introduced both Margret Thatcher, and Princess Diana, both important historical figures that I know of, but don’t know a whole lot about. So I thought I’d give the show a try and watch the first couple episodes and see what I thought. Turns out, I liked it. So I watched the whole thing.

First of all, the show is very well produced. The acting is all top notch, Claire Foy does a great job as Elizabeth. The production design and costuming is all expertly done as expected, and the cinematography is mostly really cool as well. I think the first season is the strongest as well. You really feel for Elizabeth who was only 25 when her dad died and she suddenly became in charge of a whole country. There’s this great moment where she’s trying on the titular crown, and she asks if she can borrow it, to practice, and they’re like, “Borrow it? From who?” The first season also has John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, and he is excellent.

The show gets more interesting in season 3 when they change cast and jump forward in time. Really smart season opener too, where Elizabeth is getting her picture taken to update the money, and she can see how much older she looks. It justifies the new cast by putting you right in her headspace. From Elizabeth’s perspective, she sees herself as so much older that she barely recognizes herself. Smart filmmaking. Olivia Coleman also does a really good job of blending Claire Foy’s portrayal, with her own, while still feeling and sounding like the real Elizabeth.

The rest of the new cast does a good job as well. I think Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margret feels the most different. Vanessa Kirby, who I know from Hobbs and Shaw and Mission Impossible, played her in the first 2 seasons, and not only do Kirby and Carter not really look alike, but I feel like Carter does more to make the role her own. It could be that I’m also just more familiar with Carter, and so I have a harder time seeing her as this specific character. Also Carter played her own mother in The King’s Speech, which I think is interesting. On top of that, Olivia Coleman also played Queen Anne in The Favourite.

I think one of the things that kept me invested in the show is its approach to death. Characters die unremarkably, and unceremoniously left and right. The only reason Elizabeth is even queen is completely circumstantial. Her father died relatively young of lung cancer, and he was only king because his older brother, Edward, gave up the throne. Later on, Edward dies too, and yet time goes on. Tywin Lannister fucking explodes and the show just moves on. In a lot of these big scenes with major change, one of the show’s main musical themes kicks in, and the main theme of the show becomes clear; people die, prime ministers come and go, empires fall and rise, but one thing remains: The Crown.

Season 4 is pretty interesting. You have both Princess Diana and Margret Thatcher introduced. Diana gets a lot of screen time. They go into her eating disorder a little bit, which is... not super fun to watch. But the only thing I really know about Princess Di is that she died tragically really young. So I was pretty hyped for that story. But surprisingly she survived the season, so I guess they're saving that for next year. Thatcher was also pretty interesting but I wanted way more out of her story. The main thing I know about her is that people say she was a fascist, and that England was in a recession during her administration. We get a little bit about that. There's this one episode about this guy who broke into Buckingham Palace that is really good. But not a whole lot about Thatcher's administration as a whole. I guess because her politics really don't effect the royal family all that much, but I would've still liked a little more out of her. Oh well, guess I'll have to watch The Iron Lady or something.

I think the reason I’ve decided to watch this show now is simply that I’m still stuck in quarantine and I crave new experiences. I’ve been sorta burned out on a lot of superhero type content recently, and so this show is very different from what I usually watch. To me, it feels totally fresh and unique. I've had enough WandaVision, give me that middle-aged British lady talking show. I guess I’ve also been sort of interested in history recently. The pandemic has made me think about how much the world has changed in the last century, and I guess I find it fascinating to see all these major historical events through the point of view of someone who has actually lived them. We're living history right now. As cliched as that sounds, it's true. So I think looking into the backstory of the current state of the world is pretty interesting. And as crazy as the world is right now, life will continue to move on. I don't know, it gives me a sense of perspective I guess.

That's it. Good show, check out. Can't wait for the Megan Markle season.