The Big Picture

The final episodes of The Crown lack the original luster of the earlier seasons, losing focus on the evolution of Queen Elizabeth after the overshadowing of Princess Diana’s story. The show spends too much time on the relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton, which isn’t interesting enough to sustain this half of the season. Part 2’s standout episode centers around Princess Margaret’s health struggles, with glimpses of Elizabeth’s careful facade beginning to dissolve.

It’s difficult to pinpoint with precision where The Crown has gone so awry in its final stretch of episodes. With the premiere of Part 1 last month, even what could be said positively about Elizabeth Debicki’s final performance as Princess Diana was overshadowed by some of the series’ biggest missteps. As Peter Morgan’s drama series treads even more definitively into the contemporary events of our cultural recollection, it seems to be lacking the original luster that once made it a verifiable awards darling as well as a must-watch on streaming. When The Crown was at its most memorable, it not only served as an observation of the British monarchy’s stance within some of history’s greatest events but also as an examination of a queen who evolved throughout the decades — from an unwitting young woman (Claire Foy) catapulted into the highest seat in the country to an emotionally removed ruler (Imelda Staunton) who was ultimately beloved despite antiquated views on sovereignty in a modern world.

In The Crown’s final six episodes, the show not only makes efforts to address the conclusion of Elizabeth II’s reign, but it also tries to reincorporate her into the narrative after relegating her to the rear of the story. Diana’s presence in the show was no doubt intended to emphasize how much the real-life princess eclipsed everyone else around her, and how her death created an absence within the Royal Family that could never be repaired, but it came at the expense of the woman who the series has largely revolved around from the beginning (to say nothing of that dreadful Ghost Diana device). When Part 2 of The Crown’s concluding season attempts to bring Elizabeth back to the forefront, it only feels like a brief glimmer of what could have been a stronger return to form at the very end.

The Crown Follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Release Date November 4, 2016 Main Genre Biography Genres Biography , Drama Rating TV-MA Seasons 6 Studio Netflix

‘The Crown’s Final Part Spends Too Much Focus on the Wrong Things

Perhaps it was only inevitable that, by virtue of The Crown’s aim to depict a particular sequence of events before the end, it would have to tackle the next generation of royal romance and the circumstances, fictionalized or otherwise, that lead to the fateful meeting between Prince William (Ed McVey) and Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy). While the specifics around their initial collision might test the suspension of disbelief, the truth is that their meet-cute and subsequent build-up to a longer romance simply isn’t interesting enough to sustain a season — or, in this case, half of one — on its own. There are the expected headlines that are recreated in the show, like Kate’s notorious donning of a see-through dress for a charity fashion show that reportedly drew William’s eye, but the question of whether they’ll be together doesn’t feel that fraught within the scope of the overall series. More than that, the person ultimately responsible for engineering their relationship draws a frustrating parallel to Mohamed Al-Fayed’s (Salim Daw) seemingly fictionalized manipulations in the first half of the season, as Carole Middleton (House of the Dragon’s Eve Best) seems strangely driven to ensure that her daughter ends up with a prince regardless of whether it’s what she really wants herself.

Before any of that occurs, however, the most intriguing components of William’s story play out in the years following his mother’s death and his attempts to return to some semblance of normalcy thereafter. McVey, who takes over the role from Rufus Kampa — thereby establishing a subtle time-jump in the mid-season break — is much more captivating to watch when he’s navigating the intricacies of grief or trying to deal with the pressures of newfound fame (and the resulting “Willsmania”), rather than sulking over a girl. His relationship with his father, Prince Charles (Dominic West), has also never been more charged, with the two portrayed as walking on eggshells around each other before the slightest word causes an instantaneous blow-up. Before the situation can reach an irreparable point, Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce) finally has a crisis of conscience about his own fatherly neglect over the years and decides to intervene with his grandson, somehow becoming the voice of reason needed to mend bridges between William and Charles and return their relationship to stronger standing.

By contrast, Prince Harry (a somewhat miscast Luther Ford) is striding confidently into his era as the largely ignored spare, with all the partying and misguided revelry that entails — those of us who recall headlines from around this period are helplessly reminded of the infamous scandal regarding a certain Halloween costume. While William and Harry are most often each other’s greatest confidants at this point in the series, the show also seems oddly intent on signaling their particular fracture that will occur years from now. It’s a strange foreshadowing element that permeates through more than one storyline in the remainder of these episodes, to The Crown’s own detriment.

Lesley Manville Is the Standout of ‘The Crown’s Final Episodes
Image via Netflix

While a majority of The Crown’s final installment is rendered less compelling by the subjects at its center, inarguably the season’s best episode centers around Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret (Lesley Manville). The emotional tether throughout the story jumps back and forth between a teenaged Elizabeth (Viola Prettejohn) and Margaret (Beau Gadsdon) sneaking out of the palace to celebrate the end of the war and the much older version of these two sisters reckoning with certain health struggles. Margaret has barely abandoned her penchant for effervescent living, as well as the vices that accompany so many parties — like smoking and drinking — and now, decades of indulgence have finally caught up with her. But rather than be cowed or intimidated by the clear signs of her own aging, Margaret decides to keep living life to the fullest, even if that means being painfully confronted by the toll it inevitably takes on her body.

Previous seasons have featured Elizabeth at a remove in terms of visible feeling, but Margaret’s waning health is the first time in a long time that we see the Queen’s carefully constructed facade begin to dissolve. For so many decades, these sisters have leaned on each other, been at odds with each other, fought bitterly, made up in only the taciturn way they know how — but never before have they openly faced the prospect of losing each other, and which memories rise to the surface when one sister might be forced to say goodbye to the other. Manville delivers some of the strongest acting within her tenure on the series, as she portrays Margaret’s physical debilitation with heartbreaking sensitivity. Alongside her, Staunton, who often has the more daunting task of bringing dimension to such an internalized figure, also provides more of a window into Elizabeth’s inner feelings of distress and doubt. The resulting moments between them are even more keenly felt in contrast to the season’s weaker points.

Related ‘The Crown’ Season 6 Part 1 Review: A Bleak Look at Diana’s Final Days Part 1 of ‘The Crown’ Season 6 premieres November 16 on Netflix.

‘The Crown’ Season 6 Spends Too Much Time Foreshadowing the End
Image via Netflix

Understandably, The Crown did find itself in a somewhat curious position in terms of deciding how far to go in portraying Elizabeth’s reign. This season just so happens to be the first one airing in the wake of the real monarch’s passing. That scythe of knowledge also seems to hang over the series’ dramatization of events that happened decades earlier, but how The Crown wields it is much too heavy-handed for the narrative.

Elizabeth’s storyline, this time around, does involve some dwelling on her own archaic position within the government and what, if any, value she still serves to the country, as well as the world. There are also internal efforts made to change the public’s perception of the monarchy itself with the assistance of Prime Minister Tony Blair (Bertie Carvel) and his staff — even if the Queen barely takes his recommendations to heart, and the season starts to herald Blair’s eventual fall from public favor. That said, every time The Crown tries to address the fact that the real Elizabeth is no longer living, as the Queen begins to take steps regarding the planning of her own state funeral, it comes off as clumsy, inelegant storytelling. A scene where Elizabeth just so happens to land on her selection of the bagpipe lament that will be performed at her funeral — the exact song that was played for the real service — serves as an elbow in the side that strips the moment of any effective poignancy.

There are other, more successful scenes too good to risk spoiling, which paint a striking picture of the range of performances that have always been essential to the long-term endurance of this series — but they’re effectively more of a whimper than a bang when examined in the context of the show’s legacy. The Crown has always been at its best when devoting its primary focus to Elizabeth above all others. Unfortunately, this sixth and final season realizes that fact much too late.

Rating: 3/10

Part 1 of The Crown Season 6, consisting of four episodes, is already available to stream on Netflix in the U.S., while Part 2, which includes the remaining six, premieres December 14.

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