Season 4 came out today and I’ve been binge-watching all day. I can see why Prince William loathes this show. Charles comes off as a spoiled asshole (in contrast to last season) and Diana is a basket case surrounded by enablers. The Queen worrying about what kind of trouble Prince Andrew could get himself into was darkly hilarious.
They do put the fun in disfuntional.
There’s no love for Thatcher either; they down shy away from the racism, misogyny, and arrogance. And Peter Morgan just can’t help himself from recycling dialogue from The Audience.
Ooh, I’ll have to finish the 3rd season so I can watch this. The others have all felt like ancient history. I enjoyed that, but it may be even more fun when they hit periods I remember.
Damn my lack of self-control. I just read this series had been released yesterday, and I just finished ep 7. Likely I’ll finish it off before going to bed tonight!
Is time moving slower in the series now? I think they made a point of how just three years had passed between an event in the first episode and one that happened in the fourth or so episode. Seems to be that much longer stretches of time were covered in the earlier seasons.
I find it strange that there’s been so little discussion of The Crown here. Everyone I know is into it. I have a number of things to say about it, but I certainly want to gauge the potential interest in an ongoing thread about it here before I bother to write it all down.
Yeah, it’s always awkward with this dump-it-all-at-once shows, isn’t it? You don’t want to spoil things for those who have the self control to do one ep a week…but, it’s basically real life, right? So is there anyone who would be upset if they ‘found out’ too early who won the Falkland War? Or that Andrew marries Fergie?
Ooh - revealed spoilers, huh?
Watched the 1st 3 eps yesterday - expect to make short work of the rest.
Yeah, Phillip and Charles are shown as quite the assholes. Not sure which - if any - are the sympathetic characters.
I never liked Thatcher, but was in my 20s at the time. Was she as personally irritating as portrayed?
So, was Di just really naive and not too bright? Even if stuck in the palace, she couldn’t find anything to do other than watch kids’ TV and rollerskate? She couldn’t have friends over?
I’m 3 eps in and am enjoying it as much as ever and I too am wondering if Thatcher was that obnoxious. It almost seems like Gillian Anderson is playing it for laughs. And I agree, they’re not making Diana look too good. I hope the actress can portray the Diana that finally came into her own.
And was Thatcher just that clueless - focussed on her work - that she wouldn’t have asked ANYONE what sort of thing goes on at a Balmoral vacation?
I think Anne comes off as the only member of the family who has any understanding of how people think/feel/act.
Add a tinge of narcissistic personality to that, too, I think. Wait’ll you see what she thinks Charles will appreciate as a Birthday present. And an anniversary gift.
Not that he comes across as any better in ‘give things the OTHER person wants’ ability.
Yeah. And what the hell was with her personally cooking dinner for all her subordinates when she called evening meetings???
Yeah - that was so weird as to be entirely unbelievable.
I’ve actually heard that’s true - I’d heard about it before the Crown. She was a woman who prided herself on doing it all, including being a great wife and mother, and she was no feminist.
Anne has her own faults IRL, but I think she’s been the most sensible, loyal and steadfast of this motley crew. Kudos to her that she didn’t want her kids saddled with the baggage of a royal title. Shame she isn’t going to be Queen really.
Probably true, but meagre praise. Akin to complimenting me for being downright ethical for a lawyer! 
That was rough when the queen was trying to figure our which of her kids was her favorite, and they ALL were obviously damaged.
Until I read this I thought he must have married Koo Stark! Thanks for ruining it for me.
Watched up to Ep6 (Australia ep). It is interesting to see how all the previous season themes are coming to light - over the series it has been shown that Elizabeth really doesn’t care about raising her children, and has an almost complete inability to show warmth. It has created broken children and it is most clearly shown in Charles and Diana’s marriage.
I figured they would make comparisons with Margaret, but I didn’t expect them to do so that explicitly (it was hammed over the head for Margaret to say how many times must we make this mistake). Of course what do they expect when you tell someone, no they can’t marry someone they are completely in love with. And pushing a wedding with someone else and acknowledging, well you may not love them, but maybe over time you can respect them. Not shocked it ended up so bad. The Australia ep does have an interesting comparison with Charles and Camilla being able to share the center of attention and Charles and Diana not being able to.
Thatcher is deliciously terrible. And Elizabeth is not a fan of Thatcher’s individualist ethos one bit - new conservatism vs. the old conservatism at work there.
Looking forward to it. Here’s the trailer.
You are aware it’s been out for a few days? You don’t have to look forward anymore 
I just want to say that this show is absolutely, positively, the very last place on God’s earth I would have ever expected to hear the “you don’t come here for the hunting, do you?” joke.