The Arrival
I always thought Margaret Thatcher arrived at the palace by boat, so I'm RELIEVED to see this shot of a car explaining how wrong I was.
The Sniffle
Margaret is embarrassed that the first PM to cry in Liz's salon is also the first female PM, and Liz reassures her that plenty of them have cried in there before. "We even have paper hankies," she says, brightly, which... is that just Upper Crust speak for tissues? Interestingly, the only time Margaret cried in public was when Mark went missing -- this is noted on her Wikipedia page -- and I feel like thinking your child might be dead is a pretty darn good time to do it, so everyone can just chill out.
The Horror
I do love Olivia Colman's ability to look stricken.
The HORROR
I mostly included this so you can ogle some of the pictures in the background. Here, she's acting aghast that either she of Philip might prefer one child over another. (For the record, I do not have a favorite twin. They delight me equally and differently. So basically, my favorite is whichever one happens to be actively snuggling up to me while we watch a movie.)
The Flowers
No. 10 Downing Street sure is full of chintz.
The Fourth
This is Edward. This actor is very, very good casting for a sibling of Erin Doherty's, and as the more squirrely and less cute version of the actor who plays Andrew -- which is I think how people viewed Edward for a long time, though now of course they'd take 100 Edwards if it meant getting rid of one Andrew.
THE HORRORRRRR
Queen Elizabeth doesn't yet know that she will one day like Edward, so for now she's just deeply sad to hear that he's massively annoying.
The Third
SEE THOUGH? I'm jumping ahead to Andrew just so you can see that the casting is both great for Andrew -- they don't look alike, necessarily, but have a similarly gleaming smile -- and as the suaver brother to their Edward.
The Second
Erin Doherty is brilliant in this scene. She does so much subtle work with her facial muscles. I am glad she got all this meaty dialogue, and just wish she'd gotten actual meaty storylines leading up to it.
ELIZABETH THEE HORROR
In that George Clooney GQ interview, he talks about actors try to cry, but real people try NOT to cry, and realizing that taught him to be a better actor. Erin Doherty absolutely does this scene correctly, and it's heart-rending when you see her start to lose the battle and then rein it in again.
The Douche
This actor clearly had fun playing Mark Thatcher. He absolutely oozes dicksmack. This photo tells you literally everything you need to know about a guy who is so up his own ass, he actually insults the people who saved his life.
The Skeptic
Bless Denis. He's like, "Um... excuse me?" (In reality, he flew there to help with the search I think, because he was present when they were found and was party to a celebration dinner that cost in the five figures.)
The Forgotten
In this episode, Carol here is eminently relatable, as she listens to her brother prattle on while pouring herself a nice large glass of wine to help the intolerable boasting go down easier. And then her mother just flattens her by saying that it's not women she looks down on; it's WEAKNESS, and that her beloved father made her stronger but failed to do that for her mother because her mother was a lost cause. Just like Carol. I wonder how Maggie enjoyed Carol going on "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here" in 2005.
The Wilting Flower
This is Diana's job in this episode. Emma Corrin must have enjoyed the week off.
The First
Charles, here, is reciting poetry at his mother, and Olivia Colman is really very funny because she's looking around for anything she can possibly change the subject to without actively walking away from him.
The Conclusion
And here she is in that very boring nightie (on brand for sure), telling Philip she thinks that she's mother to the nation but an insufficient one in her own home. I know I am in the minority in thinking she does a good job, but in seasons 3 and 4, Elizabeth has had very little to do, and I think Colman mines what she gets for great moments. Like the way she sits down and settles into a chair, or here, her struggle to be vulnerable. The words on the page would be very little here without what Colman brings to it, which is genuinely affecting.