Since Diana never had a chance to be a young adult and grow up, her marriage was one of teen excitement with little thought for its implications. Surely, she had dated and partied a little, but the prospect of marrying the future king made her giddy and excited. But she had no idea what it would be like to marry a stodgy guy who had little spontaneity and who was already in love with another woman. This episode goes through the processes of the evil Martin Bashir who used the poor woman's naivete to get a damning interview with the BBC. This doesn't have the effect Diana was promised and the awful journalist slinks off out of sight.
6 Reviews
Review of the episode from an artistic POV
redallen2329 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Firstly, I am not a royalist or someone from the UK, so I'm coming from a completely unbiased viewpoint when reviewing this. Those loyal to the monarchy, I imagine, will never truly appreciate or agree with the Crown as a whole.
With that said, coming from a viewer who watched a well crafted episode of television, I applaud the writers, music supervisors, editors etc because my heart was racing throughout most of this episode, and the pacing was great. I thought many of the specific themes happening throughout were done well, especially the "modern world" theme, we saw how the BBC chairman and director butted heads around the programming, Prince William introducing modern TV to the Queen. That end scene where the Queen was watching Prince William flip through the channels and seeing all this TV programming that clearly overwhelmed her and made no sense to her...which why would it, she has shown that her way of thinking has been that of tradition. There were really some great things happening throughout and I think as a work of television art, this was by far the best episode of the season!
With that said, coming from a viewer who watched a well crafted episode of television, I applaud the writers, music supervisors, editors etc because my heart was racing throughout most of this episode, and the pacing was great. I thought many of the specific themes happening throughout were done well, especially the "modern world" theme, we saw how the BBC chairman and director butted heads around the programming, Prince William introducing modern TV to the Queen. That end scene where the Queen was watching Prince William flip through the channels and seeing all this TV programming that clearly overwhelmed her and made no sense to her...which why would it, she has shown that her way of thinking has been that of tradition. There were really some great things happening throughout and I think as a work of television art, this was by far the best episode of the season!
Martin Bashir not Portrayed as Awful as he was
news-surfing-813-88762612 November 2022
Martin Bashir is depicted as a slimy journalist, the kind of journalist who gives others a bad name. As the Dyson Report suggested, he manipulated Diana from the beginning. Series 5 of The Crown illustrates this but does not paint him in a negative enough light. Diana was only 20 when she married Charles. To say she was young, naive and not well-educated is an understatement. It would have been easier than shown on The Crown for Bashir to manipulate her by playing to her paranoia. I wish the writers had shown him in a more negative fashion. Also, The Crown's writers' depiction of the BBC is not as harsh as it could have been. Greedy media companies, hungry for sensational "stories" no matter who they hurt has always, and will always be, the name of the game. Again, the episode shows poor innocent Diana getting caught up in Bashir's ambitions, the BBC's desire to scoop the story for prestige, and Charles and Cruella's disgusting, sordid affair (it matters not one bit that they married!). Ugh.
Dismal developments
dierregi17 November 2022
Despite the mostly negative reviews this season is getting, some of the episodes are not that bad. Annus Horribilis and Ipatiev House were actually quite good and this one maybe a bit less so, but still a decent episode.
From a structural point of view it works quite well. The parallel between Diana's interview and Guy Fawkes' plot maybe is not too original but works very well, thanks to the timing. In Diana's case, the powder explodes some days later than the 5th of November, exactly on Elizabeth and Philip wedding anniversary. Such a malevolent touch.
That interview is such a perfect example of victimhood, egotism and narcissism that to this day never cease to disgust me. Obviously, most of the public had a different reaction, but then that's what narcissists are good at... fooling people.
The saddest part of Diana's conspiracy is that it unsettled so much the structure of British society that it turned into a cesspool of gossip and meanness even worse than before.
The saddest part of this episode is definitely end, with a crushed Queen Elizabeth sitting in silence in a large, cold, obsolete room together with the other innocent victim of so much spite, the little William caught between a rock and a hard place.
From a structural point of view it works quite well. The parallel between Diana's interview and Guy Fawkes' plot maybe is not too original but works very well, thanks to the timing. In Diana's case, the powder explodes some days later than the 5th of November, exactly on Elizabeth and Philip wedding anniversary. Such a malevolent touch.
That interview is such a perfect example of victimhood, egotism and narcissism that to this day never cease to disgust me. Obviously, most of the public had a different reaction, but then that's what narcissists are good at... fooling people.
The saddest part of Diana's conspiracy is that it unsettled so much the structure of British society that it turned into a cesspool of gossip and meanness even worse than before.
The saddest part of this episode is definitely end, with a crushed Queen Elizabeth sitting in silence in a large, cold, obsolete room together with the other innocent victim of so much spite, the little William caught between a rock and a hard place.
Episode 508
bobcobb30131 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
After all the over the top build, the look at what went into securing the interview, we finally got the interview, and we only saw a few brief clips of it. Juxtapositioning it against the celebration seemed like the right idea on paper, but it ended up distracting from the importance of both of the events in the history books.
This was the big payoff they had spent so much time building up to and it just did not deliver.
I have to think there could have been something better to focus on this season than this, but this did not get the job done and I have my doubts about it making an impact come award season.
This was the big payoff they had spent so much time building up to and it just did not deliver.
I have to think there could have been something better to focus on this season than this, but this did not get the job done and I have my doubts about it making an impact come award season.
It just drags on
verag6828 January 2023
I really enjoyed season 1-4 of The Crown but I'm finding it hard to stay tuned with season 5. I find myself fast forwarding quite a bit and I'm really getting very tired of all this Diana drama. Sure, it was a big thing for the monarchy back then, I understand, and it's an important part of the British monarchy's history. But seeing Elizabeth Debicki's sorry eyes and tilted head 60 minutes non stop is tiresome to say the least. The last two episodes were just about her.
Also, if Diana really behaved in such a naive, stupid way as she's portrayed, then I totally fail to understand all the hype around her.
Also, if Diana really behaved in such a naive, stupid way as she's portrayed, then I totally fail to understand all the hype around her.
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