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The Crown‘s polarizing final season is back for Part 2 on Netflix, and now that we’ve edged past the often unsettling Diana of it all, it’s time to get with the ’90s and see what Prince William’s story is. It’s definitely a palate cleanser after the emotional torment the show put us through with Diana’s death, but it doesn’t quite live up to the earlier seasons that earned the series it’s prestige reputation.
THE CROWN (SEASON 6 PART 2): STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Prince William (Ed McVey) puts on some headphones and blasts The Cardigan’s sweet, sweet late ’90s single “My Favourite Game” as he stands in a darkened room staring into the abyss. This is followed by additional scenes of him staring distantly into another abyss at breakfast, and still another on the drive to Eton, where he listens to Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.”
The Gist: The first episode Season 6, episode 5 of The Crown is called “Willsmania” and that may as well be the subtitle of the entire half of this season. The season begins as William returns to school months after the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Upon his return, he’s showered with support from schoolmates, from his headmaster, and from people around the world who have sent him letters offering solace and comfort (many from young women). William’s grief seems in direct correlation with his fame – in the wake of Diana’s death, he’s become a pop star, handsome, mobbed by fans who want to comfort this sad, hot son on England. It’s gross and Wills knows it. “The whole thing has a distant feeling of déja vu,” Camilla Parker-Bowles (Olivia Williams) quips to Prince Charles, referring to Diana’s own superstardom, and she’s spot-on.
Camilla has taken on the role as the voice of reason this season, offering Charles advice on how to be. a more present father, and allowing their relationship to take a backseat for a while: she is depicted as having a complete understanding of how the media will perceive not just her but the whole royal family, so most of her interactions with Charles are over the phone, not wanting to be seen with him publicly so soon after Diana’s death. Diana may be dead, and the media circus may be partially to blame for her death, but it certainly hasn’t relented in the time since, and it’s found it’s new target in William.
Charles is also attempting to soften (on Camilla’s advice) as a father – he’s desperate to bond and be there for his boys, booking a ski trip to Whistler, actually trying to communicate for once, but it’s not helping – the more Charles tries, the more William pushes back. Add to that William’s resentment toward his family about his mother’s death: he holds his father responsible for driving Diana out of the family, into Dodi al-Fayed’s arms, and ultimately to her death, and he believes his father resents his popularity, too. Charles seems to crumble when William tells him he thinks his father hates him. While a lot of this is just the typical overly emotional baggage of an 15 year old who’s mad at the world, William has more baggage than most 15 year olds.
This season is all about William’s young adulthood as he copes with his grief and tries to move on, grappling with his dual roles as a grieving son of a woman beloved by the world, and the heir to a throne that has far too many strings attached. As we enter another era where tabloids have already informed us of certain details of William’s life, the show tries to fill in the blanks to create a more complete picture.
Our Take: The Crown Season 6 Part 1 was deeply uncomfortable for a lot of viewers, myself included, since we all had the collective understanding that it would end in a tragedy that still feels raw. While Elizabeth Debicki’s performance was incredible, the subject matter was often hard to watch. In focusing on William and his relationships – with the media, with Charles and Harry, with Kate Middleton – the show has to speculate about his inner thoughts and feelings, his resentments and grief, and it takes some big swings in doing so. Having William directly blame Diana’s death on Charles is pretty huge, and while none of us can say whether this happened for real, it makes good TV.
In real life, Prince Harry has laid all of his cards on the table, in print and onscreen, telling his truth frankly and choosing to distance himself from his family. Given his position as future King, William doesn’t have that luxury, and so he is more elusive and guarded. It’s exciting to be shown some version, even a fictionalized one, of William’s life. There’s the understanding that most of these conversations never happened exactly as we’re shown, but by depicting even a fictionalized version of the young royal’s conflicted feelings about his role as future monarch, this season hops aboard the HMY Britannia to circumnavigate The Crown back to its roots of Elizabeth’s own uncertain future as a young Queen.
If there’s one thing The Crown has always delivered in every era that it covers, it’s at least one performance that knocks it out of the park: Claire Foy, Gillian Anderson, Olivia Colman, Emma Corrin, Josh O’Connor, Elizabeth Debicki – each of them helped elevate the series to levels it could never have reached based on the script alone. These final six episodes of the series don’t have that one true standout. Ed McVey’s performance as Prince William is very good, he’s certainly able to convey William’s shy, introspective side, but it’s not on the same level as the other actors who have carried this show. Like WIlliam’s own predicament, he was expected to fill some pretty big shoes, and though he tries, it’s an impossible task.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: William rows a boat, alone, across a pond at his father’s Highgrove estate. He walks to a tall obelisk, that he then turns into a memorial for his mother, placing a bouquet of flowers at his base and mourning in solitude.
Performance Worth Watching: For the past two seasons Dominic West has felt miscast as Charles – he never quite captured the resentment, the vulnerability of Josh O’Connor’s portrayal in previous seasons, and he’s always felt too handsome for such a dorky, clunky guy. But this season, maybe because he’s not overshadowed by Debicki, he’s coming across as more believable as a father desperate to connect with his sons.
Memorable Dialogue: “It’s as if they think because I look like her, I am like her,” William says, angry that his life has become the same media spectacle that surrounded his mother.
Our Call: STREAM IT! Even though the quality of The Crown is not always consistent, I think the final season deserves to be seen. They’ve taken some big chances here and while it veers more toward soap opera than high art, it’s still some entertaining TV.
