The Best 7 Episodes of “The Crown”
“For Better or Worse, The Crown has landed on my head.”
When I think about The Crown, and what this show means to me, I often consider this quote. The show hinges on Elizabeth’s quest — and frankly, her ability — to ward off challenges and to find her own voice as she is surrounded by more dynamic and independent characters, each of whom is seeking to project their own images and ideas onto the monarchy.
This dynamic makes it a compelling drama, and my favorite show of the past five years. It is why I want to break down the best episodes of The Crown. It is not just a story of aristocratic, white people and their family drama, though it’s easy to dismiss it as just that. It is also a story of how a woman balances the power and the responsibility of keeping an anachronistic and majestic institution intact with her steely will and grace. The characters surrounding her — Churchill, Princess Margaret-her sister, Queen Mary-her mother, Prince Philip-her husband, and many others — bend her to their will and at the same time find themselves bent to hers.
My passionate defense of this show is well-known, my admiration is palpable, and my encouragement to watch is quite possibly nauseating and annoying. Yet here we are. I ask you to indulge me as I, through words, photos, and clips, give you the very best The Crown has to offer.
7. Season 1 Episode 2 “Hyde Park Corner”
Aired: November 4th, 2016
Directed: Stephen Daldry
Winner: Queen Elizabeth
Best Scene: The King’s death montage
The Crown is at its best when it portrays both the majesty of what the monarchy can be and, at the same time, the reality of life for those in it. Everything I love about this show is founded on “Hyde Park Corner.”
The episode juxtaposes Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) on a royal tour and her father, King George VI’s (Jared Harris) last days on earth back home in England. A timid anxiety grips the Queen as she is deputized by her father, and it appears as if the role she inhabits in this episode as monarch might be too much for her.
In the scene where she speaks with her courtier, Martin Charteris asks her what her name would be. “What’s wrong with my name?” she asks, in a moment foreshadowing her quest to protect The Crown and its image, while also trying to be herself, throughout the rest of the series. But, as her grandmother writes to her, her former self, Elizabeth Mountbatten, is now dead and replaced with Elizabeth Regina, Queen of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth.
What makes this episode so magical — what puts it in the top 7 episodes — is the scene of the King’s death. The music gives us gravity in the moment of sorrow and mourning. Death comes to disrupt a typical day for the royal family. The family’s sudden grief builds throughout the scene as Queen Mary — the King’s wife — wails in grief while the mother of the King, also Queen Mary, drops her pills, and Princess Margaret’s body is frozen with confusion and terror of losing her father. Meanwhile, chaos courses throughout the Royal family and the government as they now have to transition to prepare for Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne.
I return to this scene over and over again because of how expertly it is put together. In my first viewing, I shed a tear or two, as if their exploration of immediate despair and bedlam in death was my own. And at its very best, The Crown immerses you in this world and makes you feel as though you yourself are a character.
In the end, we are left with an important lesson from Elizabeth’s grandmother in the letter that was mentioned earlier:
“The fact is the Crown must win. Must always win.”
6. Season 3 Episode 6 “Tywysog Cymru”
Aired: November 17th, 2019
Directed: Christian Schwochow
Winner: Windsor Family Dynamics
Best Scene: Prince Charles’ speech at the Investiture
Number 6 on my list, “Tywysog Cymru.” A simple phrase in Welsh, meaning the Prince of Wales. What I love about this episode is that it is our first look at Charles (Josh O’Connor) individually outside of the brief commentary in Season 1 and the portrayal as a reflection of his father in Season 2.
He is a shy, curious child seeking to find his own interests and his own way, in a family and a country that prides itself on its uniformity, tradition, and sense of duty. The government, wary of the growing Welsh nationalist movement, proposes to send him to Wales to learn the language of the people there, before his investiture to become the Prince of Wales. His family offers him no say in the matter.
His tutor, Dr. Edward Millward, brilliantly played by Mark Lewis Jones, is a leader of the nationalist movement. Through his relationship with his tutor and the language, Charles finds that he is more alike with the nation his title will come from than his own family and nation of birth.
Charles is the latest in a long line of misunderstood Windsors torn between “the shy and dull and the individualistic and charismatic,” as is mentioned in an earlier episode of season three. His speech at his investiture is the first act of defiance as he finds his own way. It is not hard to see why. Charles is treated with fragility and a silent mockery by his family. When the Queen mentions to Prime Minister Harold Wilson that he is acting, she explains it as “how he expresses himself.” Later, Elizabeth wonders if she should let Charles write part of his speech as she once did, when she was his age. His father remarks that he cannot be trusted nor has the sense of duty that Elizabeth did.
When the Prince comes back to Buckingham Palace, after the investiture and the tour, his mother has the same conversation with him in some aspects that she had with her grandmother in her letter after her father died. But Elizabeth delivers it coldly and brutally. Charles does not heed her advice and finds himself shackled by the demands that are placed on him as future king. As the episode closes and he delivers a monologue from Richard II, he doesn’t believe any of this to be worth the sacrifice of his soul.
5. Season 2 Episode 6 “Vergangenheit”
Aired: December 8th, 2017
Directed: Philippa Lowthorpe
Winner: Tommy Lassles
Best Scene: Final Meeting between the Queen and the Duke of Windsor
One of the more intriguing storylines from the entire show is David, the Duke of Windsor (Alex Jennings), formerly known as Edward VIII. First introduced in episode 3 of Season 1, we get that he, like everyone else, is tortured by the duties and privileges of royalty. I love his character for his arrogance and snobbery, but also his brilliance and sharpness when explaining a point.
In this episode, things get complicated as the Marburg papers resurface. The documents detail plainly how the Duke of Windsor was in cahoots with the Nazis and was a sympathizer of their cause. And as most of the Royal family concludes that he isn’t to be trusted, Elizabeth struggles with her personal affection for him and wants to allow him back into public life. As a Christian, the Queen wants to practice forgiveness. Evangelist Billy Graham visits around the same time to preach and has private audiences with the Queen. This, in my opinion, is the weakest part of the episode, even though I understand how it contrasts her duty as Queen and head of the family versus her personal piety and duty to God. But the portrayal is poorly acted and it doesn’t move the story as much as the showrunners would like to think it does.
But in my view what seals this episode as a favorite is the Queen’s conversation with Tommy Lascelles. Played by Pip Torrens, Tommy is ruthless, matter-of-fact, and committed to holding the family in line to their duty, even at personal cost. He is not my favorite character, but in this episode he keeps Elizabeth from making the grave mistake of allowing the Duke back into public life with information not included in the edition of the Marburg files she received. Which gives us the scene below:
The Queen delivers a cold and decisive blow to whether or not we should feel sympathy for the Duke of Windsor. What wins again is the Crown and the lessons Tommy instilled in her ever since he came into her service. Tommy is a member of the Windsor family, perhaps even more so than the estranged Duke of Windsor himself.
4. Season 2 Episode 9 “Paterfamilias”
Aired: December 8th, 2017
Directed: Stephen Daldry
Winner: Young Philip
Best Scene: Philip Building the Gate
For a while this was my second favorite episode. What makes it so great is that throughout all of Season 2 we are trying to figure out who Prince Philip (Matt Smith) is. Why is he the way that he is? We explore adult Philip in the first three episodes of Season 2, but this episode gives us background into Philip’s personal life for the first time.
Young Philip gives key insight into the man that he becomes. His assertive and bullish nature comes from a life of abandonment, and although he comes from a pampered life, there is a ruggedness that has shaped him. He has pride born from the fact that his actions have led to achievement, and the episode explores what manhood means to him. His flashbacks always come in a moment where he is about to engage with his son Charles, the future king. I love when, after his younger self has just finished building the gate, we move back to the present: Philip in a suit, staring off into the Scottish highlands, considering how he himself has gotten to where he is. It is a brilliant look into how he positions himself as a proud individualist, a man of action. But Philip is emotionally and intellectually curious and the rugged, playboy personality is more of a facade.
Where this episode has fails for me is that the dialogue falls short. “Paterfamilias” is built on emotional tension and memories, and normally I am a sucker for that stuff, but I would have rather had the dialogue where Philip expresses his emotional tensions. Dialogue that complicates his feelings about how he grew up and his family. Also, he is quite the bully towards Charles, forgetting his own lessons of how he came to discover himself and became comfortable in his own skin. The prince is also downright nasty to the Queen in their interactions. For all Elizabeth’s failings as a mother, explored in Season 3, she is absolutely right in her assertion that Charles needs to be in a nurturing environment to thrive.
In watching The Crown I have tended to defend Philip, except for in this episode. I always leave frustrated by his behavior, his inability to communicate his own emotional and psychological state, and his lack of empathy towards Charles. But that’s also what makes the episode a compelling watch and one of the best of the show.
3. Season 1 Episode 9 “Assassins”
Aired: November 4th, 2016
Directed: Benjamin Caron
Winner: Winston Churchill
Best Scene: Winston Churchill and Graham Sutherland’s final conversation
My top three episodes are all directed by Benjamin Caron, and it makes sense. He is a seasoned British TV Drama director, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. His episodes are always the most tension-filled, usually have the best dialogue, and bring to conclusion storylines that have been driving the season or multiple seasons. He is the best at capturing the crux of Elizabeth’s dilemma; personal feelings versus public duty.
But this episode is primarily focused on issues that are bringing down both the Prime Minister and the Queen. For Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) it is age, contrasted in his protege Sir Anthony Eden and the artist Graham Sutherland. Churchill is in denial, as many great men are, thinking that he can escape age and remain forever great. His fight is gloriously set against the backdrop of his 80th birthday.
“That’s not what I hear. I hear you are a shadow of your former self. That when you walk the pills rattle around inside you!” Churchill says to Eden in his home in Chartwell.
“You’re not just painting me, you know. You’re painting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and everything that great office represents. Democracy. Freedom. The highest ideals of government and leadership. Just remember that,” Churchill remarks defiantly to Mr. Sutherland hours later.
It is remarkable to see that this man is still deep in his pride at this stage of his career. The Queen finds herself in a different struggle. She is becoming more estranged from her husband, as he and his secretary Mike Parker are always off having a “good” time. Princess Margaret’s every word drips with a seething hatred for Elizabeth. The Queen’s only ally seems to be Porchy, a family friend and one-time suitor, who advises her on horse breeding. She struggles to maintain relationships with the people that she loves in order to stay sane in what is one of the loneliest positions in the world.
The true assassins are not those that oppose the Queen and Prime Minister, but their struggles in their long years of public service with their own insecurities. “Age is cruel,” Mr. Sutherland remarks to Winston after he rejects the painting. And that cruelty — regardless of whether we’re young or old — gnaws at our decision-making.
I wish Elizabeth showed more fight in this episode. She gives a speech to Philip at the end, but as the show begrudgingly does sometimes, it puts her more as a spectator of the life around her rather than a dynamic human capable of fighting for herself. It is frustrating because Claire Foy is a brilliant actor who exudes a unique strength in the role.
Her speech at Downing Street in honor of Winston is memorable, as it’s the end of Churchill’s time as Prime Minister and also the end of her innocence as Queen.
That’s why this episode is so brilliant. It has the ability to portray different storylines with the same lesson, and lets us know that neither has really learned their lesson at all.
2. Season 3 Episode 3 “Aberfan”
Aired: November 17th, 2019
Directed: Benjamin Caron
Winner: Anti-monarchists
Best Scene: Aberfan Mass Funeral
In watching this show, I have become an ardent monarchist. I think that the Queen, for the most part, is struggling in a position where she can’t win. She is forced into tough choices. But her behavior in “Aberfan,” is indefensible. It would seem to me that, with 116 children dying at school, all of her Royal traditions and rules should’ve been thrown out the window. The people of Aberfan needed comfort and someone who could share the emotional toil of the tragedy.
Watching this episode you can tell the pain of Aberfan is still very raw in people’s minds today. The episode displays the anguish of those in power who have ventured to see what has happened after a colliery spoil tip collapsed. I’ve remarked consistently throughout this piece that the best part of The Crown is its ability to make the melodrama of the show feel personal. The anguish is palpable when Prime Minister Harold Wilson goes to the scene amidst the sounds of people from all across the community clawing to find a child alive or find a body. The silence they perform in order to see if they hear a child’s voice tears your heart in two.
Princess Margaret, her husband Tony, the Queen Mother and Prince Philip all weep at the tragedy — for their humanity is intact. Queen Elizabeth’s seems to have gone away, or, as she remarks later, has never been there. The audacity of her asking Philip did you weep at the funeral will never not drive me insane.
This episode’s elements — the cinematography, the directing, the acting, and the writing — fit together better than any episode of the series. It all works to deliver a blow to the soul, and it’s the first time we really question the goodness of the Queen. It is so perfect and yet, it is only second because the personal dynamics are an auxiliary. For all the brilliance of this episode, the show is all about personal politics.
Honorable Mentions:
Favorite Elizabeth Quote:
“I would ask you to consider your response in light of the respect that my rank and office deserve, not that which my age and gender might suggest.”
Favorite Shot: Season 2, Episode 2 “Lisbon”
Favorite Scene:
1. Season 2 Episode 10 “Mystery Man”
Aired: December 8th, 2017
Directed: Benjamin Caron
Winner: Queen Elizabeth
Best Scene: Elizabeth and Philip’s argument at Balmoral Castle
Claire Foy is brilliant.
The show wouldn’t be as popular, as critically well-received, or as memorable without her brilliance. I find her progression in the role, as much as the character’s progression to this point in the show, to be fascinating. You see the confidence and the gravity she takes in the role and that her character is developed by each episode. This final episode for her is like LeBron’s Game 7 in 2016 Finals. Throughout the episode, the viewer sees her as a woman hardened by her position as Queen, unwilling to put up with anyone’s games or old tricks to get under her skin.
There’s the scene when she asks Philip if he is coming to Balmoral with her. He says no, and she remarks, “how apposite” that they are being separated and after some brief back and forth, she drops it with a withering….
“You just enjoy the mountains, dear.”
Or this scene with the Prime Minister Harold McMilliam:
“A confederacy of elected quitters,” is just absolutely fantastic screenwriting, and Foy’s delivery is perfect throughout the scene all the way to her walk off at the end.
The other meaningful storyline is the Profumo Scandal and how it attaches itself to both the government and the Crown equally. We see the beginnings of the cultural revolution of the ’60s where these old, venerated institutions are torn down and the veil that once protected them is now gone. The montage between Steven Ward’s sentencing and the comedy at the theater is just perfect, well-put-together events highlighting the United Kingdom at the beginning of Queen’s reign is no longer there. Steven Ward was connected to powerful people and celebrities in early 1960’s England. He ended up connecting a member of Prime Minister McMilliam’s cabinet with a Soviet spy. He also was involved in prostitution. We are left wondering how involved the Duke of Edinburgh may have been with Ward, based upon a portrait of the Duke done by him.
We arrive now at the penultimate scene, my favorite scene ever in the show, my favorite bit of dialogue. The best 18 minutes of the show. From Elizabeth’s cold and acidic silent treatment when Philip first arrives (the music here is absolutely perfect), to Philip then asking her to address the issues head on and then to make a charge. We gasp audibly — or at least I did — when she pulls out the picture of the ballerina that she found before his trip in 1956 to the Olympics. On this last rewatch, I didn’t realize that she held on to that for seven years. The writing and the line reading is perfect here:
“But I can see this is a question of appearance versus reality.”
“No, because some things can only be perceived one way because they only have one meaning.”
“Such as….” Elizabeth looks at him in disbelief. “Such as?”
When Philip sees the picture, epiphany strikes for both of them. Elizabeth knows she should have brought up the insecurities about their marriage sooner, and Philip had forgotten the advice of her father over ten years ago. Elizabeth is the job, the essence of his duty. Loving her is the most important thing that Philip could do. He forgot that duty in the midst of his petulance and pettiness about her being at the top.
Seeing Elizabeth fight for her dignity, her marriage, for her place as Queen is a fitting place to end Season 2. It’s a fitting place to end this countdown, too, because the entire show is about her fight for The Crown and finding her place within that institution. She is the reason the show exists and why I love this show so much.