Dangling Man
- Episode aired Nov 17, 2019
- TV-MA
- 47m
Charles visits the exiled Duke of Windsor in his Paris chateau, only to find him very ill. But will the Queen make peace with her uncle before he dies?Charles visits the exiled Duke of Windsor in his Paris chateau, only to find him very ill. But will the Queen make peace with her uncle before he dies?Charles visits the exiled Duke of Windsor in his Paris chateau, only to find him very ill. But will the Queen make peace with her uncle before he dies?
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe opening moment of the prologue of this episode, revealing the Duke of Windsor coughing up blood into a toilet, mirrors the opening moment of the Series 1 premiere, with his brother King George VI seeing blood in his spittle in the toilet.
- GoofsThe BBC interviewer, who interviews the Duke of Windsor, describes him as the "King of England for 10 months".
The BBC wouldn't describe him as such, but more as the King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There hasn't been a King of England for 300 years.
- Quotes
Queen Elizabeth II: Charles asked my blessing to visit him
[the Duke of Windsor]
Queen Elizabeth II: in France.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Whatever for?
Queen Elizabeth II: He said out of respect, but I imagine it's curiosity too. One doesn't often get the opportunity to meet a former king. Former kings are usually dead.
"Dangling Man" sadly was a disappointment. It was amazing at how much better Season 3 became after a slow start, but "Dangling Man" sees the season and 'The Crown' go backwards in quality. While "Olding" was very flawed, with a lot of change not easy to accept, "Dangling Man" for me was the weaker episode. Don't have anything to fault the performances for, but the way one character is written in particular brings it down. Not a terrible episode by all means, just nowhere near the brilliance that 'The Crown' showed many times throughout its run.
There are things in "Dangling Man" done very well. The production values are as classy and handsome as usual with a real sense of period. The music has presence while not being intrusive and knows when to tone down without being too low-key. There are parts that are thoughtful and sensitive, especially when Charles and Duke of Windsor are together.
What particularly makes "Dangling Man" is the majestic performances of Josh O'Connor (only his second episode as the primary focus and he has settled the quickest out of all the new main cast members, along with Charles Dance as Mountbatten) and of a deeply felt and nuanced Derek Jacobi. Together they are magic. Geraldine Chaplin is very good too. Charles is developed very realistically here and he comes over as a real person and not a caricature.
Having said all of that, the episode did feel a bit too over-deliberate with some of the storytelling being on the over-stretched side. It does feel a little soapy at times in the dialogue, which doesn't always flow in the same way it usually does.
Moreover, "Dangling Man" doesn't have the same amount of poignancy, harrowing quality or tension that an episode like "Aberfan" had. Most problematic is the way Duke of Windsor is written, rather one-dimensional (rather than the complex character he was in the previous two seasons) and too sympathetic in a way that contradicts how he was written before, especially "Vergangenheit". Compared to that and here, it was like viewing two different Duke of Windsors.
Overall, worth a look but not one of the must watches of 'The Crown'. 6/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Apr 23, 2022
Details
- Runtime47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1