Critical Condition: The Crown (Season 2)

The Crown | Netflix, from Friday

➢ “The Crown’s second season is captivating in a way that almost isn’t fair. The costume drama, which follows the early years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) … sounds like it should be a dry slog through the too-familiar territory of rich and famous people feeling sorry for themselves — a less soapy, more stodgy Downton Abbey. But because The Crown is executed so well — from the magnificent locations and historical table-setting to the fantastic, scintillating lead performance by Foy — this well-trodden material is turned into a rich and compulsively watchable narrative about history, celebrity, and the inescapable difficulties of being a person.” — Variety.

➢ “Expanding the focus beyond Claire Foy’s Queen Elizabeth hurts, but Peter Morgan’s Netflix drama remains a strong depiction of power and privilege … It’s a season of transition for The Crown and for Elizabeth — literally, since Olivia Colman will move into the role — and part of that transition is awareness of the compromises necessary to maintain the institution. That process involves dedicating time to some less beloved figures and there’s some frustration, but ample fascination to that.” — The Hollywood Reporter.

➢ “The second season wastes no time plunging once more unto the binge-ready breach … Morgan’s creation works so well as a whole because it’s consistently well written and lushly filmed — so lush it almost shames a small screen — but its greatest strength once again is in the casting. As much as every silent footman and aristocratic party guest seems hand-chosen, it’s the stars who don’t just carry the script but all the spaces in between, too.” — Entertainment Weekly.

➢ “It is tasteful, emotionally rich and teeming with smart historical observations [but] series two has slightly less to say than the first, even if it is covering rather more tumultuous times … As with series one, though, it is Claire Foy’s consistently sympathetic portrait of the Queen that is at the centre of The Crown … Foy’s Queen is a character you root for at every stage of the drama.” — The Telegraph.

➢ “The Crown [is] a series which sets out to capture the portrait of a sovereign, but consistently relegates her to the role of mere pawn in the lives of others. It’s a move that becomes increasingly frustrating with this second outing … In the end, Elizabeth occasionally breathes life, but it’s hard not to feel within The Crown a general sense of limpness.” — The Independent.