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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Overall Review

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Overall Review

With the third season of The Crown we jumped the cast forward, with the excellent original cast being replaced by older actors, this was always going to be a difficult task to achieve with such a stunning set of performers. Olivia Colman will get praise and deserves is all, but this season has such a brilliant cast with the big known names like Helena Bonham Carter and Charles Dance showing their experience, the stars like Tobias Menzies and Jason Watkins that have been through the television scene for years and this shows why they are always excellent choices. Add in the newcomers in Josh O’Connor and Erin Doherty we have a complete mix of experience that all performer to the highest levels.

When it comes to the episodes we do start very well with the first three being excellent with the Aberfan one becoming one of the most difficult to watch, one that is emotionally draining, following one from this, everything does seem to goes downhill with a couple of slower episodes, with most of the focus being away from the Queen, instead focusing on the people around her, giving Margaret, Philip and Charles episodes where they are centre stage. The episodes do have a wonderful ability to reflect the situations the family is going through with the incident going on within the world.

If you have watched the first two seasons, you will enjoy this one because with a new cast, we get a fresh approach to the characters at an older stage of their lives, we get to learn history along the way, though certain government problems don’t get discussed enough for my liking. We do also fall into the feeling that each episode is just focused on an incident that they had to get through rather than being a connected by the events that have previously happened between the royal family, which was a flaw I noticed in the second season over the first.

Overall this is just as captivating as the previous seasons, we get a chance to learn about big event mostly in British history, while showing us just how difficult the years in this season were for the Queen after losing some of her most trusted allies.

Rating 9/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 10 Cri de Coeur

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 10 Cri de Coeur

This episode starts by as Margaret is seeing her marriage fall apart seeing her slip into a depression despite the Queen trying to cheer her up, while the government is turning into a complete mess with neither side managing to get a majority vote off the latest election.

Margaret hosts a birthday party where she declares that she wants her husband banned from all royal functions, turning to social friends to find her own affair on the side with a younger man, one that the tabloids are quick to make front page news of.

The Royal Family has seen its reputation dragged through the papers once again, now Margaret is going to get caught up in the middle messy divorce, as her life spirals out of control. Harold Wilson regains the power of Downing Street, but will need to look to step down, finding his latest replacement and finally showing the respect for each other that the two have often clashed over before, being offered the honour only Winston Churchill had received before.

The Queen is preparing for the next chapter of her career in the palace, with a new prime minster, her sister being the first royal to have a divorce in memory and now a change in the world once again, for the next season.

This episode if a Margaret one which has been long awaited for because she is a delight to watch, Helena Bonham Carter gives us a wonderful performance that finally gets the laughs we were expecting. The troubles could reshape her reign and learning more about who she can trust around her, while seeing the country starting to fall apart, in ways that were completely out of her control.

Rating 9/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 9 Imbroglio

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 9 Imbroglio

This episode starts with the funeral of Edward the Eighth back in England, as Prince Charles sees his closest Uncle put to rest and starts to see his family looking at him the same way they once looked at his Uncle and his relationship with Camilla isn’t going to make his life any easier.

Queen Elizabeth is working with the Prime Minister Edward Heath to help deal with the miners strike who want the equal pay for their work, one that she sees as one that could end easily, while Edward just wants to stay in control of the situation.

Charles’ relationship becomes the centre conversation between his parents with his mother wanting him to be happy, while Philip doesn’t believe Camilla is the type of woman that you can just marry seeing her as a girl you turn to after time at sea. Lord Mountbatten plays to send Charles on a long-term posting in the Navy, one where he can’t spend any time with Camilla, finally putting a wedge between the lovers.

The Queen however is seeing the Prime Minister losing his battle against the miners, which sees the loss of electricity around the country forcing even the Queen to greet guest in candlelight, as she is also involved in trying to break up the Charles and Anne relationship, planning to push both families away from her own children.

This episode does get to reflect how the Queen herself was almost pushed into marrying somebody other people wanted instead of letting her follow her own heart, she might not make the big decision, but she is left to deal with Charles after the family got involved in his life. This part of the episode is sad to see making you only feel sorry for Charles, while the mining strike side of the episode just doesn’t get enough attention for what is happening in the country.

Rating 7/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 8 Dangling Man

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 8 Dangling Man

In this episode we pick up with the Duke of Windsor still leaving in exile in Paris, while facing health problems, not giving him much time left. Charles is the one that has visited him seeing how sick he is, keeping in contact with the disgraced uncle.

Princess Anne has her first romance, which the fallout sees Charles meeting his first love Camilla Shand (Emerald Fennell) and the Queen must open up her palace to the latest Prime Minister Edward Heath who suggests making up with her Uncle.

With Charles and Anne both in love with an old couple they need to remain in power of the relationship, while the anniversary of the end of World War II is being remembered in France to reflect on not learning from mistakes of the past, with how the Queen is treating her own Uncle.

This is one of the busiest episodes of the series, we get to see Charles and Anne involved in their first relationships, the Queen facing her own past with her Uncle and former King facing death, as we see how Charles is waiting to step up and be the King he believed his Uncle would have been one day.

This is one where the whole cast get to shine and we give the smaller characters a chance to shine, with Erin Doherty coming into her own here and Princess Anne, and Josh O’Connor once again showing he could be one of the best performers in the series.

Rating 8/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 7 Moondust

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 7 Moondust

In the episode we moon landing is about to happen which has captured the attention of Prince Philip like most of the world, he has started to become bored with his everyday routine, wishing he could have done more outside of his royal responsibilities leading him to have a mid-life crisis.

With the landing on the moon changing what man could achieve, Philip goes in search for his new challenges including trying to get to the stars himself, risking his own life to try and push the boundaries of what a plane could handle. While a priest wants to open a building that is previous unoccupied on the grounds to help other people reaching middle aged and losing enthusiasm for life.

When a chance to meet the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins presents itself, Prince Philip sees it as a chance to meet three men he would have inspired to be, asking for time alone to talk shop with them.

This episode is a Philip heavy one which ones against highlights how Prince Philip gave up a lot of his ambition to be part of the royal family, Tobias Menzies steals this episode with his acting and shows us just how content his life has become living this life of opening brick factories over having his own adventures. This episode is big on focus on a major event in history and how the Royal Family was watching over them from a far, without being a big part of it.

Rating 8/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 6 Tywysog Cymru

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 6 Tywysog Cymru

In this episode the government puts forward the idea of sending Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) to a Welsh school for a term in Aberystwyth, to learn Welsh so he could fulfil his duties of the Prince of Wales in the future, being able to address the people in their own native language.

Prince Charles finds himself learning from a Welsh Nationalist one of many who don’t see the point of his future role, while not being against Charles himself, but being against the Crown’s vision of Wales.

As Prince Charles spends his time in the school he shows the position he is facing with no experience or no knowledge of Wales, while the teacher learns that he is just a young man that is being thrown into this position. After Charles learns more about what the problems are between the Welsh and the Royals, he starts to adapt his speech to make a difference to show he will be there to support and represent the people correctly.

This is the first Prince Charles episode of the series, we barely get a look at the rest of the characters, with Josh O’Connor doing an excellent job as the royal, this does show that the royal family can learn to adapt and that they will do anything to learn about a culture they believe they have distant from. It might not be as slow as the previous episodes, but it shows the import royal duties the family has.

Rating 7/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 5 Coup

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 5 Coup

In this episode Harold Wilson is facing pressure from the media about how he has been running the economy, which sees him turning to the defence sectary Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance) to be relieved of his duties, only the highly-respected man is only seen as a sacrifice in the media.

The Queen is seeing her horses not perform to the levels they once would and is encouraged to travel to learn more about the evolution of the horse racing industry, while the pound is struggling to compete on the worldwide market needing to be devalued, with great embarrassment to Harold Wilson.

With The Queen away, Lord Mountbatten has been offered a chance to lead a coup against Harold Wilson, one he isn’t 100% but he would like to see a change, performing his research we see just how much he will support this big idea.

With the idea in place Queen Elizabeth II is the only person that could make the coup happen and being cousin to Lord Mountbatten makes it a difficult personal decision, she must decide on whether she wants to back a plan which could change England forever or continue to support Harold Wilson.

This is another episode which isn’t as interesting as the first couple, it is more about what is happening with the government, rather than focusing on the Crown, there is a small side story that shows the Queen and her passion for horse racing which is the highlight of the episode. We do get the reflection of a life that Queen Elizabeth II would have like to do and one where she is left to make the hard decisions, which is always compelling to see.

Charles Dance is the welcome addition to the new cast and you know he will give excellent speech moments, which he does save from being just another scheming scene too, but the lack of Helena Bonham Carter and Tobias Menzies is noticeable in this episode.

Rating 5/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 4 Bubbikins

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 4 Bubbikins

In this episode we start in Athens in 1967 with the closure of an Order, Prince Philip is touring America being interviewed on the finically side of the royal family running, while an ambitious Scotish reporter is planning an article which states the problem with royal family, which the Labour Party wants to jump on.

Harold Wilson must confront the Queen about the alarming misworded quote about the pay rise the royal family has never asked for, while already living a life of luxury compared to the rest of the country, which sees Philip wanting to increase the funds available to the royal family.

Prince Philip’s plan is to invite the BBC to shot a documentary following the Royal Family around to show the hard work they are doing behind the doors of Buckingham Palace, while Princess Alice of Greece (Jane Lapotaire) is the in the middle of the coup happening in Greece, she gets an open invitation to stay with the Royal Family.

While the documentary gets to show the behind the doors look at the Royal Family, it becomes one of the most watched shows on television and the same journalist John Armstrong rips the show to shreds continuing his branding of the royal family a waste of taxpayer’s money.

This is one slow episode, it is focused on the divide between the people and the royal family and how they will do something outside the normal in a documentary, which doesn’t help their case, with only Harold Wilson being honest enough to the Queen. The performances are again flawless without dropping in any case, it just isn’t the most interesting chapter of the royal life.

Rating 6/10

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Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 3 Aberfan

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 3 Aberfan

In this latest episode we start in October 20th 1966 in a small Welsh town of Aberfan in what is a quiet school day in the pouring rain with the echoing song of ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ being sung by the school kids around the town as the coal workers return home to help learn the words.

The next day with school starting, the workers returning to work and the sun shining, Aberfan is going about a normal day, only the mining area is collapsing unlike anything seen before. This leads to disaster in this small mining town, when a landslide buries the town killing 144 people including 116 school children who were right in the path of the disaster.

Harold Wilson heads to the site to visit learning about all the safety risks that had been broken, demanding people of authority visit the location to address why the disaster happened, demanding changes an investigation into what happened and dealing with the parents who have been calling for help for years.

While Harold Wilson reports the tragedy to Queen Elizabeth II suggesting she visits the site to comfort people, to show how she a mother would have been affected by the tragic loss of life of over 100 children, in a community that would be broken.

Harold is facing his biggest problem, with the problem being a Conservative mistake, which the Labour are facing the consequences needing to push the Queen to do the unthinkable for her to face a tragedy head on, only she has been waiting too long to face the tragedy, even after her husband Prince Philp’s visit attending the memorial service.

The whole episode is focused on whether the Queen is doing the right thing by not visiting the disaster, reflecting her public image, almost needing to be forced to visit the tragedy, rather than showing her human side, by just doing the right thing an attending, however difficult it will be for her to break the traditions of the crown, to try and save face in the public light.

This is one of the hardest episodes of television you will ever watch, it is reflected in how the positive song the true tragedy that finally bought around change for the mining community that the law hadn’t ever considered. It showed one of the biggest changes in the Queen’s mentality and somehow it became a political problem. This will leave you emotionally broken when watching any of the disaster side of the episode.

Rating 10/10