The much awaited season 2 of The Crown, the biographical story of Queen Elizabeth II, was released on the 8th of December 2017. The last episode of the first season saw Elizabeth in hardships due to personal and professional crises. On the personal front, Princess Margaret’s (the Queen’s sister) relationship with Group Captain Townsend was too much in the public eye and gained the support of the common people, while the Church, the Cabinet and other members of the Queen’s family were against the idea of them marrying because Group Captain Townsend was a divorcee and his ex-wife was still alive. On the professional front, there is a change of power in the cabinet as Anthony Eden replaces Winston Churchill as the Prime Minister and diplomatic relations between Egypt and United Kingdom are tense.

At the end of season 1, Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh is asked to open the Summer Olympics in Melbourne in the Queen’s stead and a five-month royal tour aboard the Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia is added to his travel plan.

The new season opens with Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Philip, aboard HMY Britannia, discussing the state of their marriage, a seemingly endless game of cat and mouse. We are then shown the things that happened five months prior to the aforementioned encounter, events which lead up to the inevitable discussion.

Season 2 meanders through failing marriages, strained relationships, broken hearts, emotional scars and brazen infidelity and, more importantly, how people chose to live with it and turn a blind eye towards it even though it was gnawing at their hearts. Everyone has secrets which they’ve buried. As the episodes go by, the long forgotten, buried past is exhumed and as it comes to haunt the members of the royal family, we see that insecurities are all laid bare for the public and the press to pick apart, piece by piece.

In this world of curtsies and courtesies, a lot of things are swept under the rug that would eventually become a lump on the floor that the crown, the ministry and the country would stumble upon. Through turbulent waters, the Queen, manoeuvres the State into stability with the help of her trusted aides. At the end of the season, almost everything falls into place and the ending is a happy one. All in all, this season doesn’t hesitate. It has all the cards on the table with regards to the story and the performance of the actors is commendable. It is a fitting sequel to a stellar first season. It is a bright feather is Netflix’s cap, or, should I say, Crown.

 

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