Crown 5 is SO BORING!

you mean the 14 year old Markle in 1995?

Meghan could only DREAM of British Royal Family fame.

That's why she's doing all those cringetastic 'podcasts'

they needed to cast someone as Fergie to show her getting her toes sucked on vacation instead of just alluding to those trashy photos

I got sick of the 'Diana' who so clearly missed the whole essence of Diana.

They could have 14 year old Meghan scrubbing toilets at Buckingham Palace, viciously jealous of Diana, scheming and plotting, ultimately following Diana to Paris and loading Henri Paul with booze and tipping off the paps, ramming Di's Mercedes in the tunnel in her white Fiat Uno. Before that they could have had 11 year old Megs lighting the fire at Windsor Castle. Megs also ran the bath for Princess Margaret and trapped her in the bath. IT'S ALL HER FAULT!

no Paul Burrel in The Crown

Just finished the last episode.

An incredibly underwhelming season, indeed. I think the actress playing Diana was terrific, Imelda Staunton does a decent job but QE2 gets very little screen time. The Queen Mum looked nothing like the Queen Mum, and the same can be said for Dominique West as Charles.

Anne: Spot on. Margaret: Great continuation of a tough act to follow (HB Carter). Philip didn't look or act like Philip at ALL. Tobias Menzies did a much, much better job, but he also had better material to work with.

To be fair, with the exception of Charles and Diana, and this season was very much all about them and only them, none of the actors had much to work with. The Fayeds did their very best, and especially the older Mohamed Fayed was a joy to watch. So slick yet so crass.

The one episode that felt like a true "The Crown" story was the one about the aging Margaret and her beau-that-got-away, Peter Townsend. Sublime acting by Lesley Manville and Timothy Dalton, and the way Margaret confronted QE2 was just riveting to watch.

DUTCHIE RATING:

⭐⭐⭐_ _/5

The scrambled eggs scene had me in giggles. At first it was to have been an omelette but devolved into scrambled eggs. Oh my. Eggs as allegory for their marriage. "Why doesn't everyone just have scrambled eggs?" The eggs are Camilla? Oh my goodness.

Lesley Manville is very beautiful. I stan for Princess Margaret in Hades at all times.

An entire episode about the trashy, vulgar Fayeds?

What a waste. Who gives a shit?

The writing this season was so subpar. All the subtext blasted with a megaphone.

I thought so too which is why I have only watched the first 3 episodes.

R10 you've watched the best of Season 5.

The Fayeds are no trashier or more vulgar than the BRF, R9.

R9

I didn't know much about them. If true, it was enlightening to see how a relationship with Diana represented the pinnacle of their desire to be equal with the English.

They didn't want to be "English," per se, they just wanted money, power, and respect. The same applied to the grubby Germans who were installed on the British throne and then changed their name to "Windsor" after WWI. But since the Fayeds are Arabs, their naked social climbing and conspicuous displays of wealth are viewed pejoratively.

My favorite part of the season was Margaret reuniting with Townsend. Swoon, so romantic!

Thought the whole season was lousy: poorly written, way too much totally obviously fictional dialogue, poorly cast and boring.

[quote]My favorite part of the season was Margaret reuniting with Townsend.

Except we already went through that story.

It seems like filler.

I've never been able to get into this. I guess I find modern royals too uninteresting though i do like history. Give me a head chopping Henry any day.

The writers tried to steer an absolutely middle course this season: attack no one, nothing explicit, quite sentimental, a bit frozen. Well acted I thought =even though limited to a teary look and awkward pause understatement.

I agree that this was the worst season as far as writing and casting. And we have a Season 6 to drag through.

The casting mistakes are unforgivable. Charles Dance should be playing Philip. Stephanie Cole should be playing the Queen Mother.

And the writing is so dull.

I mean the last season isn't going to be much more exciting. Its roughly from this season to Charles and Camilla's wedding (2005) I doubt they'll do Diana and the death aftermath in great detail because there's already a pretty well known film about it from the same director. The highlights will be the Golden Jubilee (admittedly something worth seeing) and the Queen Mothers death both in 2002. Plus I'd expect the entire British acting establishment and government demanding this season be historically accurate, and Charles becoming king will also play into them being VERY careful.

Season 6 must have an entire episode devoted to the Good Friday Agreement.

prince charles breakdancing was just too much

It seems as if they are really trying to do some rehab on Charles and Camella.

Why was it necessary to tell the viewers how much money his charity has given out?

The producers say that they took license with Charles lobbying to replace his mother. Not that he didn't do it, but that he did it wish someone other than John Major.

They made it seem as if Diana just accepted the doctor breaking up with her, but didn't she go to payphones and call him hundreds of times?

[quote] but didn't she go to payphones and call him hundreds of times?

I think in the tv series, Diana blamed that on a teenage boy playing a prank.

I watched a bit of season 1 and thought it was nothing but boring, middlebrow schlock. I am watching season 5 because it seems to have the potential for trash tv fabulousness. I hope I am not disappointed!

OP, only boring people are bored.

[quote] I doubt they'll do Diana and the death aftermath in great detail because there's already a pretty well known film about it from the same director.

Actually, they've filmed the last dinner in Paris and Diana's car going into the tunnel chased by the paparazzi. So they'll show some of it at least. They may show it from another perspective than the queen's (such as Charles's, or Mohamed al-Fayed's).

[quote] The highlights will be the Golden Jubilee (admittedly something worth seeing) and the Queen Mothers death both in 2002.

They will also cover Princess Margaret's death, and her horrible accident a few years beforehand when she was accidentally scalded in a too-hot bathtub. They also are reported to show Prince William attending St. Andrew's University (and perhaps meeting Catherine), and they will also likely show the wedding of Prince Edward to Sophie Rhys-Jones.

Based on what the first two seasons showed us, and what Foy and Coleman we're doing, it seems like in this season the Queen has dropped about 50 IQ points. Maybe that's too literal and the characters should be seen as a canvas for interpretations, but she still seems dumber this season.

The late Queen was a nice lady, but she was no rocket scientist, r29.

R30 on the contrary, she was extremely smart and extremely well-read. 70 years of dealing with Prime Ministers. Tony Blair pointed out she often knew more about an issue than he did.

R14

There's a scene in which the older Fayed makes it very clear that he wants to be the perfect Englishman. He wants to out-English the English.

[quote] Actually, they've filmed the last dinner in Paris and Diana's car going into the tunnel chased by the paparazzi. So they'll show some of it at least

They will probably crosscut the crash with another scene. They seem to like using crosscuts.

Are they going to make another series? This last one was lousy.

R31 I always thought that was a polite thing to say about the Queen. She probably understood the big picture of things going on, as she read the reports and letters in that red box every day.

Watched the episode with the cardiologist, dang Diana straight up stalked him. Didn’t she have royal duties to perform?

Since they were imagining things they could have spiced it up with a scene of then cute Prince Edward getting a blow job from a man.

There are no sexy men this season.

I avidly watched seasons 1 and 2. Then, with some interest, watched season 3 and 4.

But I have no interest in this season. Especially if they're just going to concoct things about women who are no longer here to refute such stories.

The casting of the Queen Mother was a travesty as were her wardrobe selections. A layperson would have done a better job. What were the producers thinking?

R14

[quote]Did Mohamed Al-Fayed desperately want to be accepted by the royals? It seems clear from Al-Fayed’s actions throughout his life that he had a deep desire to be accepted in social circles he perceived as established, and establishment. In the “Crown” podcast, Morgan says “it’s worth seeing him as a character in the light of his own background, contextualizing: where did he come from? What is his relationship to Britain?”

[quote]Al-Fayed grew up with British institutions, the British army and class system occupying positions of power all around him, Morgan points out: “For him, the idea of being accepted in any shape or form within those circles would have been such recognition of where he got to, more than money in the bank.”

[quote]The Al-Fayeds were usually cast as outsiders and social climbers by the British press, said Arianne Chernock, a professor of modern British history and a specialist in the monarchy at Boston University, although “the show portrayed them more sympathetically, suggesting how proximity to the monarchy meant acceptance for them.”

From the New York Times. This site won't let me post the URL.

I'm halfway through and I'm not loving it so far. The first two seasons were brilliant, but none of the later ones have recaptured the spark.

The episode on the Al-Fayeds was just filler and hijacked the story about the main characters.

And all that time spent on Margaret and Peter Townsend was filler, too. It was a rehash of earlier episodes.

I struggled through this new season. It was a 'chore' to finish it, but I was determined to finish it. It was so poorly cast with just about every character - and especially the Queen Mum. Thank heavens QE2 croaked before this aired.

Is it doing well on Netflix? The only place I've seen anybody discussing it is on here.

The Bashir character in the Crown reminds me of Will from the Inbetweeners.

I don't think it ever made it to #1 on Netflix like it's predecessors did. I think it peaked at #3 for the past few weeks.

I ran out of interest in the middle of Season 4, and these reviews aren't giving me any motivation to try again.

I agree that Charles Dance was wasted in his tiny part as the older Mountbatten--they should have saved him for older Philip.

Hadn't they originally planned to end after five season? Sounds like they should have stuck with that.

R43

This season was my least favorite but I enjoyed learning something about the Al-Fayeds.

I don't think we learned much about the Al-Fayeds, as much of it has been proven as 'fabricated' to keep the drama spinning in the series.

I had forgotten that the Al-Fayeds helped finance Chariots of Fire.

[quote] There are no sexy men this season.

Dominic West is very sexy.

Unfortunately, he's playing the least sexy historical character in the entire cast (which also includes the nonagenarian Queen Mother).

[quote] The Bashir character in the Crown reminds me of Will from the Inbetweeners.

Same! I thought it was the same actor because he still works regularly, but I googled the cast and it wasn't him. That would be have been a great casting.

I though the Al-Fayed episode was the best, followed by Margaret & Peter. Both quasi filler episodes. You know something is off when you can make prime Charles, Diana, and Windsors boring.

They should have cross cut Meghan in the 90's LA valley eagerly waiting to buy a copy of Diana's book as a freshman in high school with the money she earned working at the yogurt shop.

QUEEN: "We may have sunk, but we will NEVER have a common prostitute as part of this family!"

CUT TO:

We see Meghan Markle boarding a yacht. A pale, unattractive, overweight man leers at her from his chair. She approaches him with a look of dread that quickly morphs into an enthusiastic smile.

MEGHAN:

"I'm so glad you opted for the whole weekend, Elon. This is lovely."