The Crown: 6 Best Episodes So Far

Queen Elizabeth is known as a very private individual, so we may never find out the whole truth about her personal life, but The Crown makes up for in entertainment value what it lacks in historical accuracy.

As The Crown’s version of Winston Churchill says, “I never let accuracy get in the way of truth if I don’t want it to.” This may be a good summary of the historical accuracy of The Crown as a whole. The series takes place in what can be thought of as a parallel universe that is too elegant for over-the-top melodrama, but also just a touch more glamorous and exciting than the real world.

Fans of The Crown (Crownheads?) are already marking their calendars for the beginning of Season 3. With the premiere a couple of weeks away, let’s look at some of the most spectacular episodes in this show so far, and what we can expect from the upcoming season.

 

1. Scientia Potentia Est (Season 1 Episode 7)

Fun fact: Queen Elizabeth II never attended school. She was educated at home and had some notable teachers at her disposal, but in the tense political climate of the Cold War, she decides to hire a tutor to help fill in the missing gaps in her knowledge.

However, it turns out the queen has something to teach her teacher. Despite her complaining that she has little to contribute to conversation apart from talking about horse and dog breeding, this knowledge comes in handy when she gives her tutor a tip on a winning horse. Perhaps even if she didn’t have a stable source of income, Elizabeth could have easily made a living betting on horse races. It just goes to show that school is a big waste of time.

 

2. Assassins (Season 1 Episode 9)

This is an episode that sneaks up on the unsuspecting viewer and rips their beating heart right out of their chest. Winston Churchill (John Lithgow), the iconic prime minister who led Britain to victory over Hitler in WWII but stayed in power long past his prime, was set up in earlier episodes to be a dinosaur, out of touch with the people, a scheming old man who exploits the country’s misfortunes for political power. Suddenly, we find him vulnerable and distraught as he confronts the reality that yes, he is old.

When a  portrait of Churchill is commissioned for his 80th birthday, he goes through nearly all seven stages of grief before he finally accepts the truth. Churchill is a fighter. He even throws out phrases such as “I moved in for the kill” to talk about his own efforts at painting, but when the battle is waged on the canvass, he loses. At first, he distrusts the artist, then bonds with him, but finally the inevitable verdict is pronounced by the portrait itself, and Churchill is crushed and betrayed. Heavy stuff. It’s not all about jewels and tiaras, you know.

 

3. Marionettes (Season 2 Episode 5)

The queen delivers a condescending speech written by a trenchantly conservative advisor, and as a result, she is harshly criticised by Lord Altrincham, a journalist who claims that the monarchy needs to be reformed. Altrincham attacks everything from the queen’s tone of voice to the monarchy’s high-faluting ways and exclusion of the common people.

This episode shows the royal family losing more and more of their ancient privileges and making concessions in order to survive in the modern age. At the same time, we see how much Elizabeth has progressed as a confident leader, far different from the young woman who had felt uncertain about the burden of the crown: though she is smart enough to realize the need for flexibility, she also fights back against her detractors with calculated displays of power, perfect poise, and dry humour. Lord Altrincham feels the full wrath of the monarch when she ambushes him with her unexpected presence in a secret meeting. “Is my voice all right? Not too strangled?” she asks with a most polite smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLXYfgpqb8A

4. Beryl (Season 2 Episode 4)

The Crown may portray the queen as admirable, wise, and brave at times, but it also likes to cast her as the villain in Princess Margaret’s story. In this episode, which blends changing ideas of marriage, love, and photography, Margaret reaches the peak of despair and angst at being eclipsed by her royal sister, not to mention her personal life having been destroyed by Elizabeth’s decision to adhere to traditional values and not allow a royal to marry a divorcee. The latter is not entirely true but makes for a complicated relationship between the two sisters, so no complaints here.

With Elizabeth and Philip enjoying a blissful period in their marriage and their 10-year anniversary being rubbed in Margaret’s face, it’s no wonder the princess drowns her sorrows in alcohol, cigarettes and cute bohemian photographers. Whether you’re a royal or one of the common folk, it’s never fun to watch a happy couple making goo-goo eyes at each other just when you start to think you might die alone, your body eaten by corgis. When the princess suddenly meets an intriguing love interest, will she once again be hampered by her title?

 

5. Dear Mrs. Kennedy (Season 2 Episode 8)

More proof that you don’t mess with the queen, this episode pits two of the most famous women of the 20th century against each other. Elizabeth is eager to welcome Jackie Kennedy to Buckingham Palace, only to find out later that the first lady called the queen “incurious, unintelligent, unremarkable,” behind her back, and perhaps most cruel of all considering how much Elizabeth tried to contend with the fashion icon in elegance and beauty, “Dreary Queen Thick-Ankles.”

The queen retaliates in true queenly fashion, displaying the full extent of the power at her command, but also finds herself unexpectedly inspired by Mrs. Kennedy to go on an international adventure and show off her place at the head of the Commonwealth. Talk about The Empire Strikes Back.

 

6. Paterfamilias (Season 2 Episode 9)

This can probably be considered one of the best television episodes ever made. Ernest Hemingway said of his short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” that it contained a full novel’s worth of ideas: similarly, this 60-minute episode feels like an epic film in its own right, packing a heavy emotional punch while weaving several substantial themes together flawlessly.

The disconnection between parent and child and of fathers trying to shape their sons to resemble themselves are presented here in tragic complexity. The episode also touches on the Crown’s overarching theme, that of humanity and family loyalty sacrificed for the sake of serving the realm and aspiring to an outdated ideal. Prince Philip tries to make his son more “manly” and fit to be a prince, while flashbacks show Philip despised by his own father for his lack of discipline.

A father who has never really recovered from the wounds inflicted on him by his own parents, Prince Philip sends his son, the shy and sensitive Prince Charles who had his sights set on Eaton to a boarding school in the wilds of Scotland. The young Charles is not only unsuited to the outdoorsy and macho spirit of the school but also bullied for his royal status. In flashbacks, traumatic events in Philip’s life as a student of the same school reveal how its tough conditions became his salvation.

The writers take some liberties with historical events here, implying that Philip indirectly caused his beloved sister’s death in a plane crash, and adding a good dose of guilt to an already grim scenario. Even if they had not included this extra bit of poignancy, the scene where young Philip marches in his sister’s funeral procession surrounded by Nazi uniforms and glared at by his stern father says it all.

Although the queen is the central and unifying character in The Crown, the plot detours into the lives of her family members, her frenemies, and even her critics. Taking snapshots of historical moments as seen through the eyes of these diverse characters, the show succeeds in its epic scope while at the same time zeroing in on each character’s personal struggles.

The Crown might not provide the most accurate likenesses of these historical figures, some of whom are alive today and probably wondering what strange calumny the writers will come up with next, but as historical fiction, these episodes achieve the perfect balance between giving us a sense of both the time period and the individuals living within it. The episodes selected here are the most unpredictable, moving, and thought-provoking when it comes to these intimate portrayals.