truthful

It's interesting how risky nearly all the actor changes have been in this series because this is a character based show and people get attached to the actors who first played the part. I wonder if they anticipated the backlash to the changes?

The Romanov episode wasn't really about the Romanovs, but more about the relationship between the Queen and her husband. But the family, tenuous as the link was to the Queen of the 90s, was probably more interesting to Morgan as the story was less known than the fall of the Berlin Wall. The later seasons and their focus more on family drama compared to earlier seasons where historical events took a larger part in the storyline I believe is a deliberate choice by Peter Morgan to show the increasingly insular nature of the Royal Family and how they have become detached from the important events of real life.

I'm sorry, but what on earth did you want them to do in regards to the fall of the Berlin Wall? Like have a ten second conversation between the Queen and her husband about the incident over breakfast? Or maybe a whole episode of the fall of the wall as a kind of clumsy metaphor about the Royal family? I mean if you want to watch the fall of the Berlin Wall there are plenty of clips to see, you might even get to see the Queen in one of them. But Peter Morgan is telling a very obvious, very focused fictionalized version of events regarding the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It's not a documentary, which means not everything that happened during that time will be shown if it doesn't fit in with the idea and themes that he will be trying to get across in the show. But even if it was a documentary about the Queen then I hardly think the Berlin Wall and the fall of it would be referenced.

I know there were those few incidents with cameras and cars during season 5 that were meant to foreshadow the death of Diana. But the part that made me gasp in my head was when Diana mentioned, I think to her brother, how she dispensed with the royal protection officers. And that of course did actually happen. Because I believe that decision of hers to do that was most likely a contributing factor that lead to her death.

I've been thinking a lot about the next season. I obviously have no idea how Peter Morgan will end it, but I think the perfect ending would be the wedding of Charles and Camilla, followed by a montage of other weddings and celebrations. I'll get to why I think that's perfect later. But with the stuff before that there is a lot of ground for them to cover. With the deaths of Margaret and the Queen Mother. Blair and Iraq. 9/11. The millennium dome. Some other stuff. Oh and of course the death of Diana and Dodi. With the Diana death I suspect it will only be in the first couple of episodes of next season. There's been countless stuff in regards to that, so I guess whilst they'll be respectful of that moment they won't dwell too much about it because there's so much other stuff to get through over the remaining eight episodes. Anyway I think the big story for this final season will be the Queen going from despising Camilla to accepting that Charles loves Camilla and that sometimes love can triumph over duty. Because from what I read she actually sent someone to try and break up Camilla and Charles because she thought it was ruining the firm. But that someone realised that the love between Charles and Camilla was too strong. So then a sort of PR campaign was launched both public and private so that the 2005 wedding could go ahead. Anyway, I had an idea, a little speculation that one of the episodes could be a two hander between the Queen and Charles. We know that Charles did speak to his mum before he popped the question to Camilla. So that could be the basis of that episode, or it could be something else. With Charles basically wanting approval from Elizabeth as both his Queen and his mother for his relationship with Camilla. Whilst the Queen, with memories of history (including of her son), devotion to duty, and a woman of her own strong moral conviction, reluctant to give that approval to her son that so desperately craves it from her. But the point of the episode would be that it starts with the Queen asserting her power with the Charles cowering, but midway through the episode he decides to get a spine and sticks up for his love Camilla. With the end Elizabeth gives her approval to her son and Camilla. So like a shift of power would happen in that episode. Where the Queen finally becomes the mother that Charles has been wanting for nearly all his life.

I think all the first class seats were fully booked out.

https://www.avclub.com/the-crown-becomes-even-more-of-a-corleone-drama-in-seas-1849781014 Do you think the comparison makes sense? It certainly gives me a lot to think about.

Apparently he did fly business class to Hong Kong. https://www.theage.com.au/world/charles-first-class-whine-on-business-class-flight-20060224-ge1ti1.html

Unpopular opinion maybe, but I don't think either Josh or Dom have captured the true essence, the spirit of Charles. I like to think that the real Charles is somewhere in the middle of Dom's self assurance and the mewling cowardice of Josh.

If that abdication part was true then I can't decide if Charles is insanely stupid or stupidly insane. And as much as Charles is a stuffy prick I don't think he's so dimwitted or crazy to go against his own mother.

Diana really seemed like a performer at heart, with the world being her stage.

A silver lining for Major, who now having lost the election, can fully concentrate on his true calling in life: as a marriage counsellor. I really enjoyed this season compared to last season. I thought it was a lot more complex, and I found the portrayal of Diana much layered and more dimensional.

Quite a sad episode, not because of the divorce, because of all those wasted years for the two of them.

Jeez, Diana isn't really coming off great the last two episodes. Sad thing is she really thought this was her taking control back in her life, but it was just another case of people using her.

This was a very naive and lost Diana in this episode. I don't know how much that was made up by Morgan to indicate how Martin Bashir was able to manipulate her, but I didn't know whether to pity her or be frustrated by her.

I've seen people complaining how The Crown has focused less and less in regards to real world events compared to earlier seasons. I'm wondering if that was a deliberate choice by Morgan to show how the Royal family were becoming increasingly irrelevant and insular as they approached the 21st century.

It seemed like Penny was almost like a Diana replacement for Phillip. A young charming woman who could make him feel youthful in his old age. I'm sure if Diana hadn't wanted to get out he would have taken her for carriage driving lessons.

Probably because it didn't fit their portrayal of Charles last season as a miserable ogre whose only function in life seemed to be to obsess over Camilla or to mentally torture his wife.

It kind of makes any Margaret centric episode kind of hollow and repetitive knowing that she could have had the life she wanted had she not been such a snob.

To me Peter Morgan putting this episode, about a man from the outside trying desperately to somehow get into the system, next to the episode before with Diana trying to once again get out of the system, was an interesting contrast. And of course that point was driven home by having Diana and Mou Mou meet at the end. Though I didn't like the way Peter did it by making the viewer question if the Queen chose not to sit next to him because of racism or some other reason. Also I really enjoyed Elizabeth as Diana in that episode. She really captured the charm that made Diana such a beloved figure.

To me, season 4, like the other seasons, was a criticism of the rigidity of the Monarchy and how the system with its outdated values destroys lives and psyches. How both Charles and Diana really were just pawns in the game that is the Royal family. With Diana getting the more sympathetic portrayal because she was younger than Charles, whose cold indifference to his wife was much more chilling compared to the Emmy bait type yelling. Apparently Charles back then had to marry a virgin. So even if Camilla had wanted to marry him she couldn't because she of course wasn't a virgin. I don't really understand the obsession with virginity in regards to Charles and any potential future wives of his. But that was the system and he was stuck with it. Makes me think his best time to get married would have been in his early 20s, because by the time he married Diana the age gap was just far too big, and just one of a thousand reasons why their marriage did not work. Makes me wonder if his family shouldn't have been more forceful in making him marry a bit early. Though I suppose if they don't find it awful about the virginity thing, they certainly are not going to care about the age gap. Interesting how it seemed Charles was way more into Camilla then her to him. It was almost like she was to him a light toward the end of the tunnel. Like I can imagine at first he was happy to just have an affair with her, but as his own marriage crumbled he started to put more importance to his relationship with Camilla compared to her. I was horrified about the Queen's dressing down of Charles because it represented her unyielding and unbending devotion to an archaic and stuffy system. Yes, there are more important things going on then an awful marriage between two rich people, but that is irrelevant because both Charles and Diana are both human who have been trapped by the system.

I really don't think DiNozzo bullied McGee. He definitely bullied Kate, especially during season two.

I agree, season 3 is just genius. It's great in a comedic sense, but more importantly the best character work was done this season, especially with Dwight and Pam.

Just started a rewatch of NCIS. About a bit over halfway through season two. Some observations so far: - The early episodes are very dry and boring. Quite technical with all the stuff Gibbs and DiNozzo are explaining to Kate, which I guess serves as an explanation to the viewer. - Kate is an awful agent. Her instincts are wrong and even probie McGee is a better agent than her at the moment. I don't know how she got a job protecting the President because she sucks at that. -For a man who presents himself as hard nosed and strict Gibbs sure does let his team get away with a lot. He definitely should have fired Kate multiple times during season one, DiNozzo too. -The episodes didn't really click for me until McGee started to appear in them. He really was the missing piece of the puzzle in that team. - DiNizzo is an interesting character. His light hearted nature provides a good counterbalance to the seriousness of Gibbs, which I believe helped the show become as successful as it is. But there are times when he is a bit too frat boyish (which probably wasn't a stretch for Michael to play), especially during season two towards Kate. - I'll be interested to see how I react to future storylines. Especially the frog one with Tony going undercover. I remember not liking it because it had a more serious DiNozzo which I did not care for, but I suppose it was character growth for him. But thinking back I feel that i didn't like that storyline because it seperated Tony from the team. Which ruined the chemistry and dynamic of the team, and the team is what makes this show so interesting. The interaction between them. Having Tony be seperate from that because of director Shepard's own personal agenda was just wrong. Apart from character progress for Tony that storyline really had no value. - Speaking of Jenny I swear I remember like nearly ninety percent of her conversations with Gibbs going like this. Director Shepard: I'm the boss now, so you have to follow my orders. Gibbs: I'm going to completely ignore your orders because I don't respect you at all. (Then they stare at each other whilst a flashback plays of their time in Paris) So it will be interesting to see if my rewatch matches up with my memory. Also, there's the big Ari storyline over the first two seasons. It's ok so far. Not something I'm really excited about. What I liked about the Ari stuff- -Gave Ducky something to do rather than just recite medical jargon. -First sign of a more obsessive and darker Gibbs that we'll see more of in later seasons. - When they found out who he was. - When they mentioned that Ari hates being called Ari and Gibbs goes "We're calling him Ari." as a kind of psychological weapon. First time I picked up on that.