The Crown (Season 5)

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⭐ 7.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

I have loved The Crown up to this point, but this season was a huge disappointment. Most of all I just found it boring. The queen feels old and irrelevant in a changing world? Been there. Phillip feels useless and searches for meaning in his hobbies? Been there. Charles is unhappy? Been there. Thematically it felt like the show was treading water, and only the episodes that focused on the drama of the divorce were interesting because they felt fresh.

I have always hated when the show opens with historical figures doing things, and then later connecting it to the royal family, and there was a bit of that here. Just never lands for me, and the setup feels forced. All the stuff with the Egyptian guys felt like boilerplate setup for the next season, and I hate that. See my forthcoming review of The Lost Metal for more.

The show still looks great, but the writing was a step down for me. I also struggled to connect with the new cast, something that wasn't an issue the last time it changed. I am having a hard time thinking of things I liked about this season, so the 7/10 feels too high, but the quality of the show is hard to deny even when I don't love what it is giving me.

As a final note, Debicki is a great Diana, but she is so so distractingly tall! I kind of like that it adds to her "larger than life" persona in the tabloids, but it's all I could think about. Shout out to her scene near the end with Charles making eggs, felt realistic and raw. Anti-shoutout to the boat that symbolizes Elizabeth. Boring.

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