The Crown Review: The Settled Sovereign (Season 3 Episodes 1-3)
The sun has set on Claire Foy’s era of The Crown and risen on Oliva Colman’s. Picking up in 1964, audiences follow Queen Elizabeth II as she faces new challenges as a “settled sovereign” and mother of four.
And with that new image comes some serious business. Less about the fairytale glitz and glamour and more about the world at hand, the new season of The Crown leans into the idea of a queen who has come into her own.
Family drama is still at the center, but there are most definitely some political and economic issues at hand too. In the first three episodes alone, Britain has a new prime minister, there’s a KGB mole in Buckingham Palace, Britain is facing an economic crisis, and a disaster hits a coal town.
Going into The Crown Season 3, I kept thinking about Doctor Who. The idea of aging up the cast has always made sense, due to the amount of time that the series covers, but having a new character settle into a role you’ve gotten used to seeing someone else in in remiscent of the anxiety of a new doctor.
However, there are differences in this scenario. An actor walking into the role of The Doctor, despite playing the same character has some leeway to reinvent the Time Lord. Portraying a Queen or the Royals, not so much. However, with astounding and veteran talent stepping into the spotlight, The Crown clearly had nothing to worry about.
The new cast is expertly introduced on The Crown Season 3 Episode 1, “Olding,” with gorgeous angles and the review of a new postage stamp bearing The Queen’s new visage.
While the cast may have changed there are some subtle moments where the slight mannerisms and speech patterns shine through and serve to remind that audience that these are still the characters that they’ve watched over the years.
“Olding” marks the passage of time in more ways than one. John Lithgow’s Winston Churchill suffers from a stroke and dies in the first episode of the season.
Churchill was a formidable character in The Crown Season 1 who struggled with the changing times and was instrumental in guiding the new queen. His death in the same episode where members of her staff call her settled is appropriate because it shakes Colman’s queen, and she doesn’t flinch.
There’s a convergence of unsettling circumstances on “Olding” and Churchill’s death is just the start.
The Queen has an opposition government, an economic crisis, and the ongoing threat of the Soviets and Russia. While The Queen loses one mentor she’s also had some of her trust shaken with the revelation that there is a spy in Buckingham palace.
The Crown does a great job of humanizing the royals while also confronting the history that the palace was, or isn’t, proud of and the KGB spy in Buckingham Palace is one of those moments. The revelation that they can’t actually do anything for a treasonous offense is tense and well played by all the actors.
One of the things The Crown also does well is display the rock and a hard place that The Queen sometimes finds herself in. Using her knowledge of art to throw a little shade at Anthony Blunt felt like a bittersweet victory for a sovereign who can’t do or say anything.
While the Soviets and Russia are sure to play a role in upcoming episodes, The Crown Season 3 Episode 2, “Margaretology,” goes back the sisterhood between Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
On Season 1, this relationship quite a touchstone given Princess Margaret’s complicated relationship with Peter Townsend. The sisters seemed to drift apart a little bit in Season 2 as Elizabeth settled into her role as Queen and Margaret married Anthony.
Giving the sisters a moment to reconnect is a bright spot in this early episode. While news reports from the dinner don’t give any indication to some of the vents depicted in The Crown, the color the writers have added does lean into their version of Princess Margaret.
In many ways, it also likens back to when Margaret was serving as a deputy in The Crown Season 1 where Margaret put a bit of herself in a speech and it didn’t go over well. Margaret leans on some of her old habits here, and it works to her advantage.
The scenes where Princess Margaret shines and succeeds in her attempt to charm President Johnson are beautifully acting by Helena Bonham Carter. She expertly pulls off the loose and somewhat reckless party facade and the vulnerable woman behind closed doors.
The final scene of “Margaretology,” after the Queen realizes she’s going to have to deny Margaret’s request to be more involved is heartbreaking. Carter lets Princess Margaret’s ability to shine through, and the tight camera frame lets audiences see and experience a bit of the hurt she must be feeling.
The addition of flashback scenes where Elizabeth goes from the heir presumptive to the heir apparent served to further those scenes.
“Margaretology” bookends nicely with the events of The Crown Season 3 Episode 3, “Aberfan.”
The episode is heartbreaking, and hearing everyone’s reactions as they visited or got reports of the disaster creates an emotional wake. The Queen’s visit is displayed with tactful silence that gives reverence to what has happened.
However, the end scene holds the most value in assessing The Queen’s character. The Crown has done a good job of convincing us that Margaret was the one most suited for the role of Queen and Elizabeth agrees.
Her audience with Wilson at the very end, where they discuss how her tempered and even attitude is actually beneficial to the crown should act as reassurance. But Wilson’s words aren’t reassuring, they’re indicative of what the monarchy really is: a symbolic figurehead meant to calm more crises than they create.
When you look at other royals who visited during the week since the disaster, it’s hard not to think that they don’t have the same indoctrination that The Queen underwent as a child. She holds the throne. She’s meant to be a figurehead. Yet, she’s still a person.
Overall, these three episodes are a strong start to The Crown‘s third season. The skilled talent, masterful writing, and reverent directing all serve to make the story being told delightful to watch while still asking some big questions under the surface.
What did you think of these episodes of The Crown? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Crown Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.