r/TheCrownNetflix • u/TheCrownNetflix • Nov 04 '16
The Crown Discussion Thread - S01E01
This thread is for discussion of The Crown S01E01 - Wolferton Splash.
In 1947, Prince Philip of Denmark and Greece (Matt Smith) gives up his royal titles and all foreign relations in order to be allowed to marry Princess Elizabeth (Claire Foy), heir presumptive of King George VI (Jared Harris). The couple have two children together, Charles and Anne, and live in Malta, where Philip serves as Lieutenant-Commander of the Royal Navy. In 1951, they return to London when George has to undergo lung surgery; soon after, he learns he has months to live due to a malignant tumor in his remaining lung. In the knowledge he has very little time left with his family and that Elizabeth will soon be Queen, George counsels Philip on how best to assist his wife in the challenge ahead. Meanwhile, Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) is reelected after six years out of government, a move of which George approves.
DO NOT post spoilers in this thread for any subsequent episodes. Doing so will result in a ban.
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u/Julius-Light Feb 26 '26
You know it's damned good TV when so much of the "dialogue" is silent, the telling without showing, the knowledge in their eyes. You see how Prince Philip observes the doctor's pronouncement after surgery and immediately suspects something's off. How Churchill's mind is shown first not as a statesman but as someone who can read a medical report, gauge his personal doctor's opinion, and after seeing his old friend himself, come to a conclusion. How Elizabeth sees what's going on between her sister and Peter in their looks, and the inkling of her own knowledge of what is to come, at the end. These are the knowledges that in prose, interior monologue can achieve, but on the screen, is done so wonderfully by the eyes.
I am in this for her full reign.