It’s human nature to try and recreate pleasurable experiences. Be it a walk in the gardens, a delicious food item, a book, piece of an art or an interesting movie that withheld our attention and proved to be a loveable delightful experience. We, as humans tend to gravitate towards the familiar.

And so did I…

I had really liked the first season of Crown, a Netflix original last year. Based on the life of current Queen of England, Elizabeth II, the serial had caught my fancy. The world of kings and queens, magnificent palaces and political intrigues, were presented in this serial in an appealing and interesting manner. I particularly found the lead actress, Claire Foy in the role of the Queen Elizabeth, quite endearing.

So it was but natural that I was very excited about the Second Season of The Crown. As soon as I finished watching Wild Wild Country, I began watching or rather binge watching the Crown. And I have just finished the hectic dose of ten episodes of one hour duration each and can hardly wait to pour in my thoughts!

Well, for starters, this season has more of a mature feel to it. The actors seemed to have well settled in their respective roles, adapted their peculiar characteristics and mannerisms, and each one of them, is impressive in his/her own way.

Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth, Matt Smith as Prince Phillip, Vanessa Kerby as Princess Margaret, are the three main protagonists, with Lascelles and Michael as Queen’s secretaries and Queen’s mother, lending support. All of them seem comfortable with their roles and it was a pleasure watching them enact the events of 1956 to 1964 in England. Though what made me sit glued to the screen, was the emotional aspect of this historical drama.

The Crown is not a boring history docu series, but a lively drama, where the innermost thoughts and actions of the Royal family members, is played upon with sincerity.

Be it Prince Phillip’s misadventures involving women, his repentance, his unexpressed love for his wife, his troubled past with Nazi sisters looming in the background or his adamant authoritarian attitude towards his delicate first son Charles, I absolutely loved the way Prince Phillip’s insecurities and emotional vulnerabilities were exposed in a non judgemental way and his progress as an individual, as a husband to the Queen and as a father was presented, as realistically as possible in a biographical drama. In a way, Crown Season 2 belongs to Phillip, and Matt Smith did justice to his role.

On the other hand, Princess Margaret has retained her whimsical attitude and continues to land in a soup, though the Queen now handles her better.

The political mishappenings also continues to shake England, right from Suez Canal siege to Kennedy’s death, wrecking Prime Ministers’ tenure and giving crowlines to the not so young Queen. It was interesting, though I feel, there were not many events in this season, and thus the real history was less and more focus was on the action and reaction of the protagonists.

Here, I noticed something that I completely missed out during the first season. The entire series is written and produced by Peter Morgan, but each episode is directed by a different person. I found this strategy brilliant, as it lent a different air to each episode, despite the same cast. After all it’s a teleseries, not a film and jt’s better to vary the perspective. And here Peter Morgan comes out on top.

It would be better if you watch Crown Season One and then only proceed to this season. The twenty episodes are sure to hold your interest.

I would sum up by saying that the second season is less juicy in terms of content, though acting and direction makes up for the same. And now I am eagerly waiting for the third season.

Anupama Sarkar