The Crown

As it charts the royal family’s continued expulsion from their pedestal in season five, “The Crown” remains as superbly written and as addictive as ever. ... All of the new actors, like most of those before them, are extraordinary as they capture something genuine of the public figures they play. But it’s hard to see any continuity between Josh O’Connor, who evoked Charles so powerfully in season four, and Dominic West, who takes over the role.

For four seasons, the show wove plots and emotions together to get to a point where it could thoughtfully dissect the meaning of all of it. Now, we’re here, and it has been well worth the wait.

Though nothing can rival the Emmy-winning 2020 chapters for best in series, Season 5 still proves an addictive blast of delicious palace intrigue. The new cast, led by Imelda Staunton as the Queen and a dynamite Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, will hold you spellbound.

While some of this season can feel more like setup for something bigger rather than standing on its own, The Crown remains as engrossing as ever. Again — it knows what it's doing.

As usual, the crown and its duties have a way of making everyone miserable. Except for the rapt viewer. [21 Nov - 4 Dec 2022, p.4]

Despite a slow start and some occasional missteps, Season 5 of The Crown proves to be as addictive and captivating as ever.

“The Crown” nevertheless remains as sumptuous and compulsively watchable as ever.

The fifth season really zings when the show turns a hard gaze toward the maddening ways that Elizabeth and her cohort refuse compassion and adaptation. But just as often, if not more often, The Crown cozies up to its subjects, bathes them in a reverent and affectionate glow. ... It’s almost cruel how effective Debicki is in the series, when we know what all her fascinating portraiture is heading toward.

At a time when seemingly every tabloid saga of the past half-century is getting adapted into an Emmy-bait miniseries, The Crown distinguishes itself by doing what it’s always done best: combining clear-eyed empathy, shrewd commentary and a refreshing intellectual curiosity into ten elegant hour-long episodes.

As in previous seasons, it's actually in the more contained episodes in which the show really shines.

I’m afraid the first three episodes are ditchwater dull. But here’s the good news. It gets better. Much better. And the absolute star is Elizabeth Debicki, whose performance as Princess Diana is at times freakishly good.

The twin specters of grief and dread loom over the entire season. I felt my breath catch with emotion when I caught the first glimpse of Elizabeth Debicki as a still-hopeful, still-married Diana in the season five premiere. ... At times, I caught myself feeling empathy for the show’s progressively frustrated Prince Charles — or rather, the dramatized character that a brilliant Dominic West brought to life with surprising effect, even if he is far too handsome for the role.

Fine work all around.

While the pacing early on is somewhat erratic, and certain narrative elements fall on the clunkier side (see everything with Prince William), the performances remain riveting. ... The fifth season maintains the melodramatic antics that keep us wanting more.

Season 5 ... undermines the dramatic stakes with circuitous storytelling and choppier-than-usual pacing.

Much less of this season feels as revelatory as prior installments. It’s all still executed at a very high level, mind you.

The Crown has always been both a pleasure to watch, thanks to its lush production design and soapy undertones, and a more mixed success from an artistic standpoint. Season 5 is the same, but for different reasons. While the acting is no longer stellar across the board, and a vividly evoked Queen Elizabeth no longer dominates the story, the narrative itself becomes richer than ever.

Season 5 boasts yet another cast change-up, with varying levels of success — some actors are clearly trying to immerse themselves into the real-life people they've been tasked with playing, while others toss out the occasional word in the royals' received pronunciation accent and strive for little beyond that.

An uneven campaign that reinforces a sense the Emmy-winning series risks extending its reign too long.

This season is both more simplistic and less coherent, notably when dealing with Charles. ... Where the series continues to succeed is in its big-picture study of the crown’s relationship to national tides.