The Crown (2016-): Season 1

Title: The Crown

Year: 2016

Genre:  Drama | History |

Season: 1| 2 | 3|

Runtime: 58 min/Episode

Directed by: Peter Morgan

Starring: Claire Foy, Matt Smith,  John Lithgow

8,7/10

STRONG, EMOTIONAL AND SOLID

When Netflix goes all in for production, they go all in. There is no bullshit nor reluctant approach to the story they want to tell. House of Cards, their first flagship marked their potential in how to conduct a good, exciting series that hooked a large audience. At the recent time, at it debuts, it was mesmerizing. Then Kevin Spacey F-upped and we got a horrible final season which was rushed, and everyone wanted to get that storyline behind us but at its peak, HOC was a top-notch series. There is no denial. It grew. The Crown has made the same impression on people with this craving. Maybe not for a broader audience but it captures storytelling in an engaging way and has success with it further along.

The Crown is a biographical drama-series produced by Netflix. It covers Queen Elizabeth II’s early years as a sovereign and gives an insight into family problems, distractions, and a heritage duty that the young queen was not quite ready for.  Spanning over ten episodes in season one, the audience will meet a dysfunctional royal family that struggles to fit in a new reality once King Georg has passed in sickness. The dysfunctional part extracts an honest exploration of the family. It gives you an insight into how the British monarch works and how exhausted it might be to take on a heavy as a queen. It does it properly, it does not rush, and it reflects deep in the character’s emotional development.

Claire Foy, who in this first season and the next, plays the young queen show an organic process to migrate from a princess to queen. At first, she brilliantly proves herself how heavy it is to the point when it affects her marriage and her family. Her antagonist is her husband Philip, played by Matt Smith, who constantly and frequently question her ability as a sovereign and wife. Foy always must prove herself capable to give him knowledge of it – that she can handle both the Crown and their marriage.  It is personal and even if it is a royal drama, no other series share so much family conflict as this series does. It balances adequately between on how Queen Elizabeth II are handling the new task and front of the Crown as everybody is criticizing in one way or the other.

The Queen often meets Winston Churchill in her work. John Lithgow gives a harsh, sarcastic approach to the former Prime Minister in a convincing way. His relationship and manner are entertaining. He gives his party a face that is worth remembering. Vanessa Kirby, who plays Foy’s controversial sister Margaret in a decent performance. She ain’t convincing but it a solid addition to the high-paid cast this series offers. The British dialogue scenes are superbly written, and everyone has their own way to communicate even if it can take all too long. There is a lot of small scenes that might not be necessary, yet it is for the bigger picture.

The music is thrilling and plays to the scenes as well as the series progress. The costume and sets work as well to the story and give a persuasive detail in the story. Even if there are three series out there, this is probably the most straightforward one. You follow the Queen’s family and colleagues from her first days to a new changed Elizabethan era. This is a binge-watching series about true events and about a monarch that still exist and facing difficult decision every day both private and publicly. It is ambitious and pedagogic in its way to tell a magnificent story. It might not be for everyone to see but it still worth a watch even if everything is not all accurate.