'The Crown' Season 6, Part 1 is Sad for All the Wrong Reasons

Netflix’s The Crown is back for its sixth and final season, split into two parts for reasons Netflix refuses to explain. Whether it’s the material or an overly sensitive approach following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the first half of the final season (four episodes in all) lacks the qualities of great dialogue, wit, and intelligence, that made the first five series such a pleasure (albeit a guilty one) to watch. The attempts to jazz up the increasingly recent history with new, fictional insights is a losing proposition, even in the hands of series creator Peter Morgan. The talented cast, including its lead, doesn’t have much to do. Footage of actual events, like the weeping crowd laying flowers outside Buckingham Palace or the funeral cortege, retain their power and sap the impact of the fictional embroidery.

Elizabeth:  “One would almost feel sorry for her if one weren’t so cross with her.”

These four episodes are all about the lead-up and immediate aftermath of Princess Diana’s death and the repercussions on the Royal Family and the country. As has been the plan since the series was conceived a decade ago, the final set of castings from Season 5 return mostly return. As Prince Charles, Dominic West does his best to look homely but fails, and Jonathan Pryce’s impersonation of a much taller man in Prince Philip continues. A cigarette holder is attached permanently to Lesley Manville to represent Princess Margaret, who sadly still has little to say. Claudia Harrison’s Princess Anne still lacks the posh snark of her predecessor, Erin Doherty, or even the lines to express it.