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Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The fourth season of “The Crown,” which premiered on November 15 on Netflix, was perhaps the series’ most anticipated so far. While the previous season focused on introducing us to the little-known stories surrounding royal family growing pains and midlife crises, this most recent installment focused on a narrative that audiences around the world already is intimately familiar: the courtship and marriage of Prince Charles. and Lady Diana Spencer.
The addition of Diana (Emma Corrin) breathes new life into the show; the episodes that focus on her metamorphosis into the People’s Princess are some of the best in the series. Although the episodes that deflect Diana’s focus are comparatively mediocre at times, Corrin’s performance and arc construction are strong enough to elevate the season to the same level of brilliance achieved by her predecessors.
The season, which runs from 1979 to 1990, covers Margaret Thatcher’s (Gillian Anderson) entire tenure as prime minister, as well as most of Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Diana’s relationship. Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman) mostly takes a backseat to these stories, occasionally entering the scene as an opposition force against Thatcher’s harsh political calculation or as the voice of reason in Charles’s romantic tribulations.
Colman is exceptional this season, despite having less to do. Her silent displays of seething and melancholy populate the margins with emotional gravity that is absent in Anderson’s unflappable Thatcher. Each of their scenes together is a veritable battlefield of passive aggression and subtext, as each character tries to communicate the disgust that custom forbids them to express out loud.
Although the two actors provide excellent performances, their plots are not that compelling. One of the greatest strengths of “The Crown” has always been its unique and self-contained episodes that tell little stories about the characters and their deepest hopes, fears and insecurities. The fourth season tries several episodes in this style, but they mostly pale in comparison to previous hits like “Aberfan” from the third season or “Paterfamilias” from the second season.
One exception is “Fagan,” which tells the story of working-class Londoner Michael Fagan (Tom Brooke), who breaks into Buckingham Palace to inform the Queen of the damaging impacts Thatcher’s austerity has had on the British people. . Brooke is terrific on paper; His manic despair, though comprehensive, is itself a more scathing critique of the Thatcher administration than any of the verbal condemnations offered by the central characters.
However, you can’t blame the season too much for these weaker episodes; part of the reason they seem tedious is that they are juxtaposed with the sheer majesty of the Diana episodes. To put it mildly, Corrin is a revelation like Diana. Perfectly captures the princess’s gestures without becoming a caricature; Every subtle movement of the eyes and the tiny tilt of the head practically lights up the screen. His performance is so comfortable, so vivid, that each new scene feels fresh, yet consistent with the ones that precede it.
“The Crown” has never shied away from criticizing the royal family, but the arrival of Diana invites them to do so with more intensity than in previous seasons. The program places the viewer in Diana’s place, communicating the anxiety and helplessness she experiences in a family that ignores or rejects her.
This dynamic is fascinating, but it has negative consequences. By painting royals as utterly cruel when Diana is around, they gut much of the sympathy that they have spent three seasons garnering from the audience. When the plot revolves around the struggles faced by the Queen or Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter), they tend to feel petty and insignificant compared to the pain that royalty inflicts on Diana.
However, despite some setbacks, this season is a triumph that far exceeds expectations. Its most unfortunate aspect is that it is the last we will see of Corrin, O’Connor, Colman and the rest. This company might be saying goodbye, but they leave the palace a little more intriguing than they found it. The cast of season five has several pairs of large shoes to fill.
Matthew DuMont covers television. Contact him at [email protected].
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