The episode begins with Elizabeth and Philip's Commonwealth tour where, for reasons that were beyond me, the writers decide to emphasise the unreconstructed colonialism of both, firstly in Elizabeth's talk of Kenya as a 'savage land' before Westerners brought it civilisation and secondly with Philip's ignorant behaviour towards Kenyans—whether this was a nod to his famous 'gaffes' is mere speculation on my part—which do little to endear them as characters. The obvious parallel between Anthony Eden and Elizabeth's inexperience is laboriously drawn when Eden goes with the King to persuade him to intervene in constitutional matters and bend Churchill's ear to resign. The 'great man' himself is indulged through his quirks, although why his insistence on having young female staff members read him his daily dispatches while he splashes them with bathwater should be treated as just another charming example of Our Winston's eccentricities is beyond my ken.
It's beautifully shot, as before, and the cast do their best with writing that doesn't soar as intended but is bogged down in endless exposition—did Elizabeth really need to flat out state that she was a mechanic during the war?—but it's still dull, and rote, and the emotional impact of the death of George is virtually nil: quite something considering he was the only vaguely sympathetic character.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2019-11-18T21:51:46Z
The episode begins with Elizabeth and Philip's Commonwealth tour where, for reasons that were beyond me, the writers decide to emphasise the unreconstructed colonialism of both, firstly in Elizabeth's talk of Kenya as a 'savage land' before Westerners brought it civilisation and secondly with Philip's ignorant behaviour towards Kenyans—whether this was a nod to his famous 'gaffes' is mere speculation on my part—which do little to endear them as characters. The obvious parallel between Anthony Eden and Elizabeth's inexperience is laboriously drawn when Eden goes with the King to persuade him to intervene in constitutional matters and bend Churchill's ear to resign. The 'great man' himself is indulged through his quirks, although why his insistence on having young female staff members read him his daily dispatches while he splashes them with bathwater should be treated as just another charming example of Our Winston's eccentricities is beyond my ken.
It's beautifully shot, as before, and the cast do their best with writing that doesn't soar as intended but is bogged down in endless exposition—did Elizabeth really need to flat out state that she was a mechanic during the war?—but it's still dull, and rote, and the emotional impact of the death of George is virtually nil: quite something considering he was the only vaguely sympathetic character.