The Crown Season 4 Review : That elusive thing called kindness

There are plenty of moments in The Crown’s Season 4 that will leave you wondering why the British Royals are destined to make the same mistakes over and over again. Anyone following Harry and Megan’s breakaway from THE family will know they are not the first couple to have had trouble with the crown and its peculiar politics. Over several episodes we watch Charles and Diana’s relationship fall apart with the former wailing pitifully about how he was forced into the doomed marriage, while his aunt Princess Margaret quietly draws parallels with how she was forced to give up the love of her life and stumbled from one heartbreak to another. There is also Princess Anne, trapped in her own unhappy marriage.
Marriage, in all its ugliness, compromises and bitterness, is at the heart of the new season, that keeps referring to how the Queen and Prince Phillip had set aside their differences to make things ‘work.’ Some gyan that is evidently lost on the sparring young couple - Charles and Diana, who have nothing in common except two sons, one the future king. In fact, Charles comes across as pathetic, privileged (his mother’s words) who could never get over his mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Happiness is elusive in the royal household, and a star-struck Diana, who makes a smashing debut at the family get-together, soon realises she is trapped in a relationship that is far from ‘perfect’. We watch the shy teenager, eager to please and once ‘obsessed’ with her Prince Charming, turning into an emotional and physical wreck at his calculated indifference. With both straining at the leash, Prince Philip, who is perhaps the only person who has a soft corner for the estranged Princess, tries to talk her out of a divorce. He reminds Diana that every single person of the royal family, except the Monarch, is an “outsider” just like her. Diana, with her love for the spotlight and obvious charisma, cannot ever remain in the shadow of the crown. As the women discuss over dinner one day, horrified at how she tried to ‘hug’ the Queen and called her mama, “If she does not bend, she will break.” And we all know how that turned out.
“We are a tough bunch,” the royals say it almost with pride. And the season casts an unflinching gaze on the insensitivity and cruelty they have heaped upon their own, to protect what the Queen says, “is the integrity of the crown.” When Diana insists on carrying her newborn with her on an official tour, they disapprove. When Charles begs and pleads to be allowed to break away from the marriage, he is silenced. And when Margaret Thatcher, the first woman Prime Minister, and her husband, struggle to keep up with their parlour games, dinner etiquettes and hunting games, they smirk. How is the audience supposed to feel any sympathy for this bunch in that case? Simply because, individually, and as a team, they all suffer. The Queen realises to her horror that all her children ‘are lost’ and they only care about their titles and privileges. And Diana tells her father-in-law, she would rather be happy and end up like this sad lot, trapped in a loveless marriage.
The Queen’s tumultuous relationship with Margaret Thatcher finds a bit of play too. The season in fact opens with Prince Phillip saying: “Two women running the show. That’s the last thing the nation needs.” The Queen replies, “Maybe that’s exactly what the country needs.”
Despite their differences, the two women, who loathe any form or sentimentality, have some respect for each other and it is interesting to see how it expresses itself. There are plenty of livewire exchanges between the Queen and the PM, with standout lines as: “Power is nothing without authority.”
Olivia Colman is riveting as the Queen and mother who is far more composed while handling power hungry Prime Ministers than a son who is always craving for her empathy and a way to annul his marriage. There is no room for weakness in her lexicon, neither is there any place for someone like Diana, who enjoys being on her own, way too much. Tragic.
The exceptional writing holds up so far as do the performances. But Gillian Anderson and Emma Corrin are disconcerting to watch as Thatcher and Diana. At times it seems more of a mimicry and a caricature than an attempt to capture the soul of the terrific characters in real life.
Nonetheless, for the sheer scale and some standout performances and production design, the punch lines and the show’s ability to pique your curiosity about ‘what really happened’, it makes for a good watch.