“The Crown” Season 4 Review

posted November 25, 2020 in Arts & Entertainment by Cade Miller.

Netflix’s original series “The Crown” has grown immensely since its first season in 2016. Following the life of Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family, this show has gained a huge audience not only from the United Kingdom, but worldwide.

Still with director Stephen Daldry, the show has become more and more successful. Keeping  Daldry has been a great decision for the show, bringing more viewers and bigger, more entertaining stories.

This show is a wonderful, entertaining show for a difficult genre. Season four adds to the great storyline of the reign of the royal family and makes their story full of the want for the next episode.

Getting into season four, the show spans over the years 1977 to 1990. First, they show the newest parliament leadership under the “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher as prime minister. The show dives into the complex relationship between the Queen and her first female prime minister.

But the most noticeable new character the audience is introduced to is the beloved Lady Diana Spencer. This season shows the audience the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Throughout the show, it shows how their relationship was affected by many aspects the life of a royal comes with.

The show re-casted all the characters after season two and into season three. The audience sees fantastic performances from familiar faces like Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II and Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles.

Having to introduce two key characters that weren’t in season three, the show had to cast some more actors. The audience sees newcomers like Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher and Emma Corrin as Princess Diana.

Season four allows viewers to see into the lives and feelings of many more members of the royal family. This includes Princess Margret discovering a hidden family secret, Princess Anne revealing the true feelings of the Prince and Princess of Whales’ to her mother, and support of Prince Philip to his wife.

The story arc is great for each character with the show. Not just focusing on her majesty, the queen, but viewers see many arches of all members of the royal family. The writers do a great job at giving the audience a new story for each character, not just one.

“The Crown” has been known for their symbolism in their cinematography, especially in the latest season, season four. Great use of shadows, camera angles and movement, and fantastic use of color really can make a show stand out. “The Crown” does not fall short of making wonderful shots, making this series protrude.

The editing is done phenomenally. Having to cut from scene to scene, showing a metaphoric scene of hunting and assassination, this scene stood out from the others. Making this kind of art is incredibly difficult, but they make is look effortless.

For the set, designers had to replicate many of the rooms within Buckingham Palace. With this, they could not record in the real palace. Instead, they shot in many estates around the country. These sets were created with much thought, and it turned out perfect.

Dialogue for the characters were created to look as sophisticated as possible. They are supposed to reflect highly educated royals. It is crucial to have language that would make normal citizens, especially Americans, question their use of formal words. The writers made these characters sound exactly like how a royal is thought to speak.

With the genre of historical drama does come a few slower scenes. At moments throughout this season, it does get a little boring. But compared to season one, these slower scenes do not compare. It was an issue that has been improved but not fully.

Other than slower scenes, the show is a wonderful piece of artwork. Giving an inside look at what the royal life looked like for years can be difficult to do. But the creator and actors of this show pull it off with flying colors.

Rating: 4/5

Cade Miller is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email at cam7095@psu.edu.