Take Three: The Crown

The Crown: Season 1, Episode 3 “Windsor” (B)

This show succeeds well at making use of different time periods in its characters’ lives to drive home the meaningful nature of the current moment. Opening with the post-abdication address of the Duke of Windsor was extremely powerful, and seeing just how warm the reception from the adoring public was for him upon his return to his home country showed a stark contrast to the coldness displayed by all the members of his family, particularly his mother who called the late George her perfect son. As he was navigating being back in a place where he’s no longer in power, Elizabeth also had a difficult road to travel, trying to balance her home life with her newfound responsibilities. Philip seemed almost like a needy child giving Elizabeth his list of demands before she met with Churchill, and the prime minister was certainly taken aback by her suggestion of keeping her husband’s name. She fired back to the nation’s other leader with an acknowledgment of helping to keep him in power, and so that’s one battle won, but after sitting with her uncle, it’s clear that she’s going to lose on the home front specifically by winning. Her argument that she was also a woman and a wife didn’t hold too much water, and the look that her husband gave her when she made the announcement was cold and unforgiving. He’s more concerned with living a normal life where he can learn how to fly, and he’s not fully aware of what goes into being married to the queen.