12.20.2017

Television: The Crown, "Matrimonium" & "Dear Mrs. Kennedy"

Ah, God, another Margaret episode. So many people love them, but I don't. I find the episodes that focus on her to be pretty boring. And this one focused even more on Tony, and it tried to be all arty—I mean, even more arty than the show normally is—and *yawn*.

Okay, so the whole thing begins with Margaret getting word that love-of-her-life Peter, the man she was forbidden to marry and for whom she's pledged undying spinsterhood, is marrying someone else. ::record scratch:: So now it's very important to Margaret that she get married, too, and more than that—she needs to announce it before Peter does. She cannot bear to be the jilted one, at least not in the eyes of the world.

So she goes to Tony, and he turns her down, which miffs her. But then Tony has dinner with his mother and she suh-suhs* him, and so he thinks maybe he needs to marry Margaret in order to please Mummy. Or, more than please, but beat Mummy at her own game of snobbery.

Bad reasons on both sides to get hitched, but there you have it. There's a bunch of Tony having sex with other people, all presented as, "Well, you know, artists are like that." Barf. And there's the revelation that Tony had a sort of poly relationship with a Mr. and Mrs. Fry, and that Mrs. Fry is carrying a baby that she's pretty sure is Tony's, but I don't care enough about Tony to care about that. I don't even care enough about Margaret to care about that because Margaret isn't very likable. (At least, I don't find her likable in these past couple episodes, or even sympathetic. I did last season, so I don't know what happened.) Far more interesting to watch men try to break the news of Tony's reputation to Elizabeth.

Oh, and Elizabeth gives birth to Andrew.

Then we toss all that aside because, as I've mentioned in previous posts, the concept of flow has been completely lost this season, and we get the Kennedys. You know, John and Jackie. Elizabeth is feeling old and frumpy, and she's faced with this beautiful young American first lady that even her husband is keen to make time with. One really feels for Elizabeth in this episode. We're supposed to feel for Jackie, too, but her litany of excuses for her bad behavior feels like just that—excuses. I know it had to suck for her, the philandering husband and all the exposure. But (and maybe I'm feeling my British roots here; the DNA test says I'm pretty massively British along with the French) her outpouring bordered on distasteful to me. Get thee to a therapist, woman! Don't spill it all over tea!

I recently heard that Olivia Colman will be taking over as Elizabeth in future seasons, and I can see how they're styling Claire Foy in that direction. Ms. Foy has done a lovely job, and we'll miss her, but of course Elizabeth can't stay young forever. That was kind of the point of the Kennedy episode. I have faith in Ms. Colman's talents; she's done so well over a broad variety of work. So I'm looking forward to seeing her in this.

But! Before that happens, there are still two final episodes to watch. I'll bring them to you once I've had the opportunity to indulge.

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