The Crown isn't here to sing the praises of the orderly turnover of a parliamentary democracy, but only of the lasting fortitude of Her Majesty, long may she rule.
By putting the viewer at the table with the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, The Crown blinds us to the experiences of the kind of people we know and care about in real life.
I'm assuming that creator Peter Morgan meant for it to be comedy. There's really no other explanation for why Jeremy Northam played Prime Minister Anthony Eden like he's having a nervous breakdown in every scene.
The most striking aspect of series two is the portrait of the Royal marriage as turbulent, even unhappy. It's an uneasy watch, with the viewer constantly wondering: did that really happen?
"The Crown" succeeds because it gives us this fresh perspective on the world at that time, and in many ways, the events of the royals then are not that far from what's happening today.
When The Crown connects the personal lives of England's monarchs directly to the country's fortunes, that's when the series shines brightest, exposing the fitful evolution of a family that remains one of the most compelling institutions in the world.
Many of the season's wounds are self-inflicted in particular Morgan's mystifying fascination with Prince Philip, who despite Matt Smith's best efforts still comes across as a whiny man child.
Morgan not only has a series to match his 2006 Oscar-winning movie, The Queen, but finally one to exceed it. The Crown -- the second season, anyway -- is magnificent.
