The Netflix Original series, The Crown, has for three strong and captivating seasons depicted what the inner workings might be like within the British government, and more centrally, it’s Royal Family.

Season four brings the show up to more recognizably recent times with the introduction of who is possibly the most public member of the Royal family, Princess Diana.

With Prince Charles having been introduced in the previous season, the stage is set for some powerful dramatic moments.

Their relationship has been scrutinized, examined and commented on ad infinitum, and understandably, how the show’s creator and head writer Peter Morgan along with the cast and crew handles the depiction of these two personalities at this point in their lives, does make for a very
exciting hook.

Upon watching, it is obvious that the show does handle them very well. Both Josh O’ Connor and Emma Corrin who play the Prince and Princess of Wales respectively, are given a chance to shine in their portrayal of their characters and how their characters change as they go through their tumultuous fairy-tale-gone-wrong of a marriage.

And shine they do, with Corrin capturing Diana’s coy charisma, with her
habit of looking upward out of the corner of her eye shyly and giving a small smile that just slightly hints at some mischief. O’Connor for his part, with stooped head and pocketed hands, nails Charles’ presence
and stature.

But aside from Princess Diana, another lady not to be missed in the season is that of Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, sublimely played by Gillian Anderson.

Yes, Sully of X-Files fame has traded her badge and gun for pen and paper, and her chasing mysterious oddities for chasing after economic reform.

And it must be said she does a marvelous job of it. Subdued but firm and unflinchingly direct, she captures the essence of Mrs. Thatcher instead of drawing a straight-up impersonation. The scenes where she interacts with the Queen, played by Olivia Coleman, are particularly of note.

The Queens regular meetings with her Prime Ministers, of whom there have been many throughout the run of the show, have always been interesting to watch, but never before has the dynamic been as electric.

Having these two women who possess enormous power, yet wield that power very differently, have a discussion over tea, makes for some surprisingly arresting television.

Season four delivers the goods in spades, and is arguably the best season of the show yet. Pandemic or not, the show is worth setting aside time for to watch. And having done so, this writer is now impatiently waiting for season five.