After Elizabeth makes a tone-deaf speech at a Jaguar factory, she and the monarchy come under public attack by an outspoken lord.After Elizabeth makes a tone-deaf speech at a Jaguar factory, she and the monarchy come under public attack by an outspoken lord.After Elizabeth makes a tone-deaf speech at a Jaguar factory, she and the monarchy come under public attack by an outspoken lord.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaA man reads a newspaper bearing the headline "Queen's Critic at it Again." At the right-most portion of The People daily, another story is titled "Diana Found Dead," a foreboding reference to the tragic accident decades later.
- GoofsAlthough this episode begins at a point after the main events have taken place, there's still an error with the Queen's hairstyle, of which much is made - both in the styling scene itself and Prince Philip's reaction to it. It's cut into the shorter, curlier style Her Majesty has favored to this day, but as the episode progresses, the hairstyle on actress Claire Foy reverts to the original, longer style.
- Quotes
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: All to open things up.
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Bring us more in line with the real world. Democratize us. And so it goes. The stings and bites we suffer as it slips away. Bit by bit, piece by piece. Our authority, our absolutism, our divine rights.
[footsteps approaching]
Martin (footman): [footman clears throat] Ma'am?
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: The history of the monarchy in this country is a one-way street of humiliation, sacrifices and concessions in order to survive. First, the barons came for us, then the merchants, now the journalists. Small wonder we make such a fuss about curtsies, protocol and precedent. It's all we have left. The last scraps of armor as we go from ruling to reigning to...
Queen Elizabeth II: To what?
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: To being nothing at all. Marionettes.
"Marionettes" is a fantastic episode. One of the best of a mostly very fine Season 2, and do agree too that it is the best episode of 'The Crown' since "Assassins." It does so well at making a complicated subject accessible and rootable, progressing characters and events while introducing new developments. Elizabeth's character writing and how she handles this very difficult dilemma in "Marionettes" is going to divide, and has divided, people, that did leave me pondering after watching.
So much is done brilliantly in "Marionettes." Visually, the episode is faultless. The expense really does show in the classy, sumptuous period detail and the atmospheric and elegant way it's shot. The music for me wasn't too intrusive or low-key and was beautiful scoring on its own. The main theme is not easy to forget.
Writing probes a lot of thought and is never less than intriguing and emotionally investable, it never veers into soapiness or sound too contemporary, while also not being old-fashioned. It is especially good in the showdown between Elizabeth and Altrincham, which was incredibly thought-provoking and suspenseful, and the conversation between Elizabeth and the Queen Mother (which provides the context of the episode title).
Loved the storytelling too, it's deliberate but not overly so and has subtle tension and intrigue. The situation is a complex one but never felt confusing with the way it unfolds. The conflict is handled beautifully and it was interesting to see an episode of anything where the opposition is the character that makes the most sense and did find myself being completely on their side. The character writing has a lot of meat, managing to never be too perfect or over the top unlikeable (apart from one bit with Phillip, though that was nothing compared to how he was written in "Lisbon").
Altrincham is the revelation in this case, his opposing point of view being the most fleshed out and the easiest to get behind. He's not a character who is over-the-top villainous or anything but instead somebody who speaks a lot of sense despite it being a different viewpoint. Can totally understand why Elizabeth's character writing has induced a mix of frustration towards her and sympathy for her. She struck me here as somebody caught in an incredibly difficult situation that she is completely at sea at understandably and having to deal with making such big changes going forward, but her way of handling it all is very flawed as is how she takes advice. Of the sterling cast, Claire Foy's nuanced Elizabeth and John Heffernan's well reasoned Altrincham hold things together brilliantly and there is some great support from Victoria Hamilton.
Concluding, outstanding. 10/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jun 8, 2021
Details
- Runtime1 hour 1 minute
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1