Other Doctor Lives: The Crown: Series 2, Episode 10 – “Mystery Man” (2017)

 

Season 2 finale. I’m a little reminded of Skins, which had a different “generation” with all new cast members every two seasons. In the case of The Crown, though, it’s the same characters – they’ve just jumped ahead in time to the point where they’re played by older actors. So this is the last episode that stars Claire Foy and Matt Smith.

A scandal hits the newspapers, tales of wild parties for Britain’s elite hosted by a well-positioned man who plies them with ample temptations. The news is salacious, and everyone speculates on the identity of a “mystery man” whose face isn’t visible in the photographs. Elizabeth is in the midst of a personal difficulty when Margaret drops the bombshell – there are those who think the mystery man is Philip.

I’ll be honest, this one had a hard time keeping my attention. Other slice-of-British-history-that-I-didn’t-know-much-about episodes, like “Act of God” and “Marionettes,” were involving and interesting to me, so I’m not sure why my mind kept wandering here. I feel like, either it wasn’t as well done (it feels like something that could’ve been seeded earlier in the season and brought to fruition here) or I’ve just kind of run out of steam with this show. Possibly some of both.

The acting is all good, and there are some nice moments for the “generation 1” actors making their swan song (including one last bit with Matthew Goode’s Tony.) Foy has some good material in her scenes with the current PM (MacMillan – I haven’t mentioned it before, but he’s played by Anton Lesser, a.k.a. Qyburn on Game of Thrones, so I was always prepared for him to do shady, weaselly things,) demonstrating some of how she’s grown in her relationships with her prime ministers since the early days of season 1.

Even though Philip is a major topic of discussion and the source of a lot of consternation for Elizabeth, he himself isn’t particularly present throughout the episode. He spends a big chunk of it noted more for his absence, which of course adds to the “is he the mystery man?” drama.

But when he does appear on the scene again, we’re given a long, wonderfully-acted scene between Foy and Smith in which Smith does a splendid job of making me want to smack Philip in the face. Which, I mean… it’s not like I’m surprised at this point. Of course Philip is going to be a putz and act all indignant that anyone could expect him of being anything less than a devoted, supportive husband – sure, guy. The one thing that does surprise me is him invoking George VI’s charge to him from back in the pilot (that his number-one job from here on out will be to support Elizabeth,) bringing it up as if it’s the compass he’s lived by ever since that day. That’s when I want to smack him.

The thing is, whether or not he did what people suspect he might have done, whether or not he’s upset that Elizabeth can think him capable of it, it’s ridiculous that he’s shocked, I tell you, shocked!, that his behavior throughout the vast majority of the series has given her that impression. It either displays a stunning lack of self-awareness or a shrewd talent for gaslighting his wife the queen, and based on too much of what we’ve seen from him, my gut tells me it’s probably six of one, half a dozen of the other.

That’s what really gets me, the “how could you ever believe I could do such a thing?” of it all. Fittingly, since this is Other Doctor Lives, I’m reminded of a scene from Doctor Who featuring Smith’s successor Peter Capaldi. The Twelfth Doctor is irritated at Clara fawning over the idea of Robin Hood, and he asks, “When did you start believing in impossible heroes?” Clara fondly replies, “Don’t you know?”, and the implication is clear: he’s her impossible hero, and he doesn’t even know it! Isn’t that sweet? But in actual fact, I was yelling at my TV, “Of course he doesn’t know! Last week he asked you if he was a good man and you said you didn’t know, so why on earth would he think he was your hero?” It’s that same disingenuousness, and Philip hearkening back to that scene with George VI, who was pretty lovely and way more of a man than Philip with all his posturing, adds insult to injury.

Long story short? So long, The Crown.

Recommend?

In General – Not particularly. I can’t remember the last time a show squandered its potential in my mind so thoroughly. Gorgeous production values and terrific acting, but on the whole, I just don’t come away feeling like it’s worth it.

Matt Smith – Now this is a little weird, because even though I’ve spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time in these reviews complaining about Philip, I’d tentatively recommend watching at least a few episodes for the sake of Smith’s acting, which remains very strong despite everything. So, if you’re in it purely for Matt Smith and don’t mind jumping around, I’d recommend “Wolfterton Splash,” “Hyde Park Corner,” “Smoke & Mirrors,” “A Company of Men,” and maybe “Paterfamilias.”

Warnings

Language, a little violence, sexual content (implied more often than shown,) drinking/smoking, and thematic elements (including suicide.)

Other Doctor Lives: The Crown: Season 2, Episode 9 – “Paterfamilias” (2017)

 

Not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to finishing Matt Smith’s episodes of The Crown next week, after which I definitely plan to take a break from the show. It’s a bummer, because I enjoyed it quite a bit at first, there continue to be strong moments in it, and I’d had good recommendations from people whose TV choices I trust, but for me, it just hasn’t lived up to its early potential.

Elizabeth is keen to follow advice to send young Charles to Eton for school, but Philip won’t hear of it. He’s insistent that Charles attend the same boarding school he did as a child, the school in Scotland that “made [him] a man.” He’s concerned that Charles is soft, you see, and needs toughening up. Charles’s time at the school is interspersed with flashbacks of Philip, and we learn more about his experiences there.

Before we get too far into things, I have to apologize to Greg Wise (a.k.a. the man who gave the greatest Jane Austen Cad performance to date when he played Mr. Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility.) This whole time, I thought he was playing Phillip’s dad, but it turns out he’s actually Phillip’s uncle – I was confused in an early scene when Charles addresses to a letter to him as “Dear Uncle Dickie,” so I had to Google it and figure out what the actual situation was. Philip’s dad isn’t around, so that at least partly explains my confusion, but it’s also highly possible that I wasn’t paying close enough attention (side note: I was aware that Philip refers to him as Dickie, but I guess I’d figured that it was just reflective of an arms-length relationship between them, not that Dickie wasn’t Philip’s father. Whoops!)

To say that Charles (as well as young Philip in the flashbacks) goes through a time of it in this episode puts it mildly. As a thoroughly unathletic child who never had to deal with toxic-masculinity expectations on top of that, I feel for the kid as he struggles to live up to his father’s dreams for him when that’s not who he is. Alos, I have a soft spot for stories in which the servants of the ultra-wealthy know/care about them more than anyone else, and this episode delivers heartbreaking notes of that with Charles and his bodyguard.

And Philip. Oh, Philip. I will say that the flashbacks shed some more light on his childhood, in which he experienced some wildly messed-up stuff, and that invites at least a little sympathy. But man, here we see him 1) trying to force his young son to endure some of the same torment he went through in the name of teaching him about “the real world” while simultaneously 2) trying to compete with his young son over which of them had the more traumatic childhood? Dude, come on – being a caring father has been one of your most consistently-good qualities on the show, and now your insecure ego has messed with that too.

He also has the audacity to come down so hard on Elizabeth’s desire to send Charles to Eton. Not that he isn’t entitled to a different opinion or that it’s not worth a discussion between the two of them. But the way he comes at it, all, “I’m sorry, I was given to understand that this marriage would have at least some semblance of equality,” is just beyond. As if this guy hasn’t been running around largely doing whatever he wants for the last two seasons, constantly criticizing and undercutting his wife the queen while only doing the bare minimum to make her job less difficult when he can bother to care or be shamed into it. He can take several seats with that. (I know I said before that Philip started bothering me less when I stopped having any hope that he’d improve, but that’s how much of a putz he is in this episode.)

All that said, Matt Smith is pretty damn good here. One thing that I can appreciate about this performance is that, however inexplicable I find Philip and his clueless/obnoxious actions, Smith always makes it clear that Philip’s actions make perfect sense to himself. He’s especially good in a few scenes toward the end, one where he’s at the school for a special presentation and another where he’s badly attempting a heart-to-heart with Charles during a tense situation, and Smith completely sells everything that Philip is feeling.

Other Doctor Lives: The Crown: Season 2, Episode 8 – “Dear Mrs. Kennedy (2017)

Even though this episode has its rocky points, I like it on the whole. Some nice interplay between Elizabeth and the eponymous Mrs. Kennedy, and I appreciate seeing Elizabeth taking a more active role in this episode.

Elizabeth is feeling insecure on the eve of President and Mrs. Kennedy’s visit to Buckingham Palace. The glamorous, effervescent Jackie Kennedy is fast becoming the toast of Europe, and Elizabeth feels dowdy and past her prime in comparison. However, the encounter isn’t what she expects, and the aftereffects of the visit spur her to get involved in confronting stirrings of dissent in Ghana.

Naturally, any discussion of this episode needs to begin with the depiction of the Kennedys. Overall, I like what they do with Jodi Balfour’s Jackie – her characterization hits a number of interesting notes, and the comparison/contrast between her and Elizabeth allows us to explore Elizabeth a little further as well. I also like the ways that the “Camelot” persona is shown in part to be a construction, with the situation between the Kennedys being less envious in private than it is in public. That said, Michael C. Hall as JFK really takes me out of his scenes. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here, because he’s usually so effective as an actor – I feel like maybe the accent is getting in his way? I prefer this plotline when it focuses more on Elizabeth and Jackie.

But again, the Kennedys aren’t the only international dignitaries involved in this episode. We also visit the situation in Ghana, where President Nkrumah is urging leaders of other African nations to break with England and back the Soviets. Danny Sapani, who I loved so much as Tshembe recently in National Theatre Live’s Les Blancs, plays Nkrumah, so it’s neat to see him back on my screen. And throughout this plot, I like seeing Elizabeth try and take charge, making things happen on her own terms. She spends so much of the series with her hands tied by tradition or decorum, which can make for a frustrating watching experience.

Not a great episode for Philip. He spends most of his time either tacitly insulting his insecure wife by openly drooling all over Jackie Kennedy or undermining/doubting the tactics of her efforts in Ghana. In other words, nothing all that good to write home about.

It’s weird, because the first couple episodes of the show really made me think they were going to be taking a different route with Philip and it’s never panned out. Maybe it’s just reflective of my own relative ignorance about the actual man and his general deal, but it makes me wonder sometimes if this is the character Matt Smith signed up for. Not that playing an unsympathetic character needs to be a bad thing, and goodness knows period pieces about women are always going to need men to play sexist tools, but again, the first couple episodes, to me, pointed to a man whose character journey was going to be one of learning to support his wife in her new, challenging role. Did Matt Smith think that was going to be Philip’s story too, or did he always know most of Philip’s screentime would be devoted to cutting Elizabeth down and/or making life harder for her?