[S04.E09: Avalanche]

I think the show was pretty clear that her adultery was a reaction to the way Charles acted. Which is fair enough. I mean, he basically left her alone all the time.

[S04.E02: The Balmoral Test]

Btw, can anyone explain the dibby, bibby (or whatever) game to me and what exactly Thatcher did wrong?

[S04.E04: Favourites]

Mmm….I kept thinking "Whoever the favourite is, it is clear who is the least favourite of the bunch. For both parents."

[Season 4: History Beyond the Episodes]

Okay, I already mentioned it elsewhere, but a huge disappointment for me was them basically skipping over the end of the cold war. It was such an important event, I really can't imagine that the royals didn't even discuss it or had no feeling about it. In addition, there was also Thatchers role in it...or lack of role. I mean, she basically acted as if she didn't like the notion of it ending at all. Exploring her role in it and her view on it might have been a better explanation for the various problems her policies caused other than "she always says Nononono to Europe".

 

A surprise to me was the inclusion of Andrew dismissing the morally questionable aspect of a movie about older men "educating" a 17 year old in sexual aspects. I wasn't sure if they would allude to the scandal at all, and I certainly didn't expect it happening that early.

Speaking of Andrew, it's also a little bit strange how they skipped over Fergie pretty much completely.

[S04.E08: 48:1]

Naturally Thatcher was racist. And it is true that she had little time for the Commonwealth. Thatcher's interest was more focussed on the EU, though even that was problematic due to her being into it mostly for what she could get out of it. She saw the financial opportunities, but she never got the notion of working with others on equal footing. Hence her little speech about the past Empire was a little bit odd, since she very much believed in English superiority (see all the opt-outs she got for the UK from the EU), she just had no time for the worries of those states. And, as it was pointed out, her son very much profiteered from her refusal to truly commit to sanctions. Thankfully other countries (not just Commonwealth countries) did what she had no interest in doing.

It's not mentioned in the show, but Thatcher also tried to block German reunification. The main reason was that she feared a reunited Germany would dominate the EU too much. Though in reality, what lead to Germany eventually taking such a dominant role was more the constant refusal of the Brits to play ball with everyone else.  

[S04.E05: Fagan]

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Off to google Fagan - they made it seem like he had such a calm, lovely chat with her

Yeah, the chat is made up according to Fagan himself. Apparently he went the first one drank the wine, waiting for someone to come and arrest him. The second time the Queen and a maid basically redirected him to a pantry by offering him cigarettes. I guess the break ins were some sort of call for help, but it doesn't sound like he wanted to speak with the queen. He just wanted the attention.

[S04.E02: The Balmoral Test]

Nah, this was about the wind. The direction of the wind is extremely important in order to do a precise shot. That's why in biathlon there is always a little flag close to the target, so that the athletes can check the wind during their shot. It's surprising how far a shot can miss the target when they are unlucky and the wind flares up during the shot. Diana was guessing the correct direction of the wind based on the movement of the clouds.

[S04.E03: Fairytale]

Really? Sometimes life is too strange for fiction…..I mean, I was pretty sure that something like the lunch happened, but the name of the Restaurant sounds so strange to me.

[S04.E04: Favourites]

Though I look forward to the moment when the quality of the footage gets better. Man, how the hell did we watch any of this stuff in this awful quality back then?

[S04.E01: Gold Stick]

More a very english one….

[S04.E02: The Balmoral Test]

Thatcher was a neoliberal who pushed through neoliberal policies. The cabinet members who were against her policies might have been old and posh, but they were right. She basically destroyed manufacturing in the country in favour of the finance markets, all in service of the fantasy of people having a choice how successful they are in life when in reality, the game is rigged against most of them. Plus, not everyone is about money, a lot of people are happy to have a stable income and a quiet live.

[S04.E03: Fairytale]

Honestly, I think they mostly wanted to save the money to recreate the ugly dress. Hence they always show it from angles that you can only see part of it.

[S04.E04: Favourites]

My mother is obsessed with treating us all fairly too, because in her case, her brother was always the fav. The dynamic was quite similar to what was shown in the show with the Thatcher family. Like, my grandmother literally send my uncle money all the time and then my mother had to pay the heating costs for her. And yes, my uncle became an egoistic a-hole too, and yes, it was my mother who did all the caring, just like it happened in the Thatcher family.

 

Quote

I used to think Peter Morgan was too enamored of the royal family and the queen in particular, but this season he's really pulling no punches. Now I'm wondering if he's a small-r republican. The royal family is a toxic mess and they really embody the phrase "hurt people hurt people." And they just keep repeating the cycle

Sometimes I am not sure if we are actually meant to empathize with them or meant to think "what a bunch of shit heads", but there is at least some level of honesty intermixed in it.

[S04.E01: Gold Stick]

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You have a point because I found it downright jarring that they chose to depict her ironing a shirt.  That seemed entirely out-of-character given her personalty and, quite frankly, her social status.  (Surely she had hired help that took care of her domestic chores.)

I didn't mind that, since it underlined that she actually believed in the role of the women...she just thought that she was strong enough to do the job of a man on top of it.

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True, but she had zero women. 

And she pretty much choose to keep it that way. As others pointed out around this time other countries which had MALE leaders already had women in some political positions. Granted, usually related to "Family" or any offices which are considered as "soft" (and which are habitually given to women nowadays btw), but this through and through male cabinet of Thatcher was kind of unusual during that time. I mean, while she was PM, Norway way lead by Gro Harlem Brundtland, who paved the way for a LOT of women. And during the era Kohl the number of female ministers rose from one to three (one of them being naturally Angela Merkel).

[S04.E01: Gold Stick]

To a degree, yes, but Thatcher could have helped to lift up a few women in the party, and she never did. And when I say "lift up" I don't necessarily mean the position of a minister. She was in power for eleven years, a lot of time to make at least some small changes. But that was never her in her interest, she cared more about her big plan, and about keeping her donors happy.

[S04.E02: The Balmoral Test]

At least eyeore didn't constantly expect that the world revolved around him and it was everyone's job to cheer him up.

[S04.E01: Gold Stick]

Quote

Did Margaret Thatcher REALLY say that about women?  That they (we) are emotional?   I wasn't even born (my mom was still pregnant with me at the time) when she became PM?

Not sure if she said that, but it sums up her attitude pretty much. Frankly, Imho there has never been a female Prime minister, not really. Because being female isn't just about gender, it is also about a certain attitude. Thatcher acted like a man (and a pretty macho man) to get where she was, and she had no time to even touch the system. I guess she thought that women's right were a waste of time because women just could lift themselves to the top if they just wanted to, because she managed to do it.

I always wondered if she would ever be ready to admit that her version of a better Britain was a complete failure if she saw the results today. But I guess she just would blame others for being "too weak".

[S04.E02: The Balmoral Test]

Well, her attitude at the games is apparently pretty much in line with who she was. Thatcher was sneering at pretty much everyone, and she was very "english", in the worst sense of the word. Frankly, this attitude towards Scottland is pretty common in Westminster.

 

[S04.E10: War]

So...all in all I think I liked this one slightly better than the last season, but honestly, I still could use a little more history and a little less circular whining. I think that four episodes about the woes of Charles and Diana were one too much (and honestly, the idea that "he is a mature man and she is a child" sounds kind of ridiculous considering that she acts way more like an adult than he does in the show).

But I think what bothered me the most is that they just skipped over what Thatcher actually did to the country (other than vague mentions about it being different than beforehand and even more vague mentions regarding Europe) and over this small insignificant event which is the end of the cold war. I mean, I know that they can't cover everything, nor should they, and I certainly didn't expect a whole episode about it, but I certainly expected more than an aside mention of Bush, Kohl and Gorbatschow. I admit, I was kind of looking forward to see the reaction of the royals to it (After all, it is one of the top ten events which happened between the 1950s and now for sure).

Plus, its a good thing that the next season is already announced, because this one feels unfinished. Which, frankly, it didn't have to be. They just could have ended with the notion of an end of an era between Thatcher leaving and British troops leaving Germany, thus basically concluding the aftermath of WWII. But due to the huge focus on Charles and Diana, this feels like half of a story, because everyone KNOWS that is half of a story.

But I guess most people would want exactly that from a show like this, as much Charles of Diana as possible. I might be one of the few who is actually more interested in events which haven't been part of every single royals special in the last 20 years.

[S04.E03: Fairytale]

Honestly, it was a little bit over the top for me...menage a trois? Please. Honestly, if that really happened I can't imagine the Diana would have went through with the wedding.

[S04.E01: Gold Stick]

Yeah, it is kind of strange that Anne is present pretty much all the time, but there is nothing really about her outside of two or three scenes. She is just there to provide commentary.

[S04.E01: Gold Stick]

I was a little bit disappointed that there was at no point ANY discussion about the political backgrounds of the event. It seemed to gloss over all the events which actually lead to the explosive situation in the first place.

[S04.E02: The Balmoral Test]

I am not sure who I disliked more...the stupid tests and expectations, or being so idiotic to turn up without proper shoes and then, after accepting the invitation to hunt, not asking for some proper clothing.

I have to give it to them, they really nailed Thatcher...scoffing about elitism and yet being completely elitist in her own way. And through and through sexist, despite being a women.

This episode also kind of amused me because it reminded me of the fact that Kohl (the chancellor of Germany) really liked to invite foreign guests on "his turf". Which is this case meant a meal of "good old rural German cuisine" in the fitting setting, featuring his favourite, "Saumagen" (a dish which boiled in the stomach of a pig and served in it) and beer. It's well known that Thatcher despised it. But then, she despised Germans in general. I guess hence the mention of the German heritage of the royals in the episode.

[S04.E04: Favourites]

So far this season has mostly managed to make me dislike the characters more and more and more….if I hear one more time how thankful the land supposedly has to be, I'll consider the writers completely delusional (which they most likely are). But this episode was pretty interesting...not that I was surprised abut the "result" of the question. I was surprised about the whole "movie about older gentlemen having sex with underage girls" thing. I didn't expect that they would even go there, I was convinced that they would try to completely sidestep the whole issue.

Is it bad that I was actually confused for a moment when they mentioned four children? I completely forgot about Edward.

[S07.E29: US Presidential Election]

Maybe he waits until Trump is actually out of the White House....