The Crown feels like it's going to be a show in which I fall in love with the performances, writing, camerawork, visuals, and technical aspects of a little more than I fall in love with the storytelling, themes, etc. And that is to be somewhat expected from a show like this. They can either play things safe and try to make this as historically accurate as possible (in which case there's less room for original creative ideas in terms of storytelling and character arcs), or they can diverge from fact and play around with fiction, which allows for more creative liberty but leaves viewers with feelings of "did it really happen this way?" I'm in no position to know whether or not this show portrays its events with historical accuracy, so I'm really just here for the absolute delight that is the performances and the technical aspects. It's a beautiful show to look at in terms of production and costume design, as well as cinematography. And virtually every single performance is phenomenal. Claire Foy is incredible in the central role and completely disappears and seems to embody Elizabeth, Matt Smith is perfect, Vanessa Kirby is perfect, and all of the supporting players are so good. All of these performances immerse you in the setting as much as anything else, despite many of these actors being big names and very recognizable. But far and away my favorite part of this season is John Lithgow. This has to be one of the best television performances ever, or at least it is one of my personal favorites. Lithgow is great in everything he touches, but this feels defining. He's magnificent. This show may have a ceiling on it for me just by nature of what it is, but there is still enough intrigue and enjoyment from watching these events from this time and from these perspectives (even if I have no idea how accurate they are) to keep things entertaining. And with the technical aspects adding a lot and the performances doing so much to keep you craving for more, this first season is great.
Review by Justin NumerickBlockedParent2024-02-05T03:42:51Z
The Crown feels like it's going to be a show in which I fall in love with the performances, writing, camerawork, visuals, and technical aspects of a little more than I fall in love with the storytelling, themes, etc. And that is to be somewhat expected from a show like this. They can either play things safe and try to make this as historically accurate as possible (in which case there's less room for original creative ideas in terms of storytelling and character arcs), or they can diverge from fact and play around with fiction, which allows for more creative liberty but leaves viewers with feelings of "did it really happen this way?" I'm in no position to know whether or not this show portrays its events with historical accuracy, so I'm really just here for the absolute delight that is the performances and the technical aspects. It's a beautiful show to look at in terms of production and costume design, as well as cinematography. And virtually every single performance is phenomenal. Claire Foy is incredible in the central role and completely disappears and seems to embody Elizabeth, Matt Smith is perfect, Vanessa Kirby is perfect, and all of the supporting players are so good. All of these performances immerse you in the setting as much as anything else, despite many of these actors being big names and very recognizable. But far and away my favorite part of this season is John Lithgow. This has to be one of the best television performances ever, or at least it is one of my personal favorites. Lithgow is great in everything he touches, but this feels defining. He's magnificent. This show may have a ceiling on it for me just by nature of what it is, but there is still enough intrigue and enjoyment from watching these events from this time and from these perspectives (even if I have no idea how accurate they are) to keep things entertaining. And with the technical aspects adding a lot and the performances doing so much to keep you craving for more, this first season is great.