Top 5 Episodes Of The Crown

A post shared by The Crown (@thecrownnetflix) on Oct 15, 2019 at 8:00am PDT

A few days ago, Netflix finally published the much loved as expected THIRD season of The Crown, the Netflix Original series focused on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Before judging the new episodes, we taught it could have been interesting to take a look back at the first two seasons and rank the best episodes among the first twenty, to remember what happened and maybe brace ourselves on the new Royal Palace intrigues.

1. "Hyde Park Corner" - 1x02

Directors did a wonderful job presenting the Commonwealth with a tour we will remember forever. Elizabeth and Philip were in charge of representing the ill King George, who will later be found dead by one of his servants, on February 6, 1952. In between the Commonwealth tour and the death of the King, there's an interesting meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and King George, regarding the role of the enigmatic Winston Churchill, who has received public concerns by the detractors about his abilities to govern.

Elizabeth and Philip learn of the King's death while they are in Kenya, so they immediately return to the UK, where Elizabeth will realize that she is going to be Queen of England.

Why we love it: the Commonwealth tour and the astonished reaction of Elizabeth, who finds out she is going to be Queen.

2. "Smoke and Mirrors" - 1x05

This is the episode of the Coronation, even if everything else doesn't look like being a contour for the plot, instead. The fascinating tradition of crowning the new sovereign catches our eyes every time we watch the episode, but we can't forget the role of Edward and Wallis in the episode. We get to know more about the relationship which occurs between Edward and Wallis and the Royal Family, which decided not to invite them to Elizabeth's coronation ceremony, on June 2, 1953. Before the Coronation, Elizabeth and Philip argue about his role of being in charge of the preparations, since he annoyed her with the request of not kneeling to pay homage during the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

Why we love it: the stunning Coronation ceremony.

3. "Beryl" - 2x04

After refusing to marry Townsend, Princess Margaret (Elizabeth's sister) accepts the proposal from Billy Wallace, one of her closest friends. The idea is to share the big announcement during Elizabeth and Philip's 10th wedding anniversary, thanks also to the blessing received from Elizabeth, but Margeret breaks the engagement right that night. She finds Wallace completly drunk, recovering from wounds he received from some kind of duel. The night after, Margeret meets Antony Armstrong-Jones, a photographer who will obtain the honor to photograph the Princess. Sometime later, Margaret asks "Tony" to send one of the pictures to the newspapers, without knowing that the day after she will find herself nude on the first pages, a great shock for everyone.

Why we love it: the full episode is focused on the charming Princess Margaret.

4. "Dear Mrs. Kennedy" - 2x08

Queen Elizabeth invites President John F. and Jackie Kennedy to Buckingham Palace for dinner. The two ladies seem to get along with each other very well, but the trust of Elizabeth will be betrayed the next day when she finds out that Jackie made fun of her and the Palace during a party. Irritated by the American First Lady, Queen Elizabeth travels to Ghana and meets with President Kwame Nkrumah. During their meeting, the Queen convinces Nkrumah to cut the bonds with the Soviets and realign his country to the United Kingdom, proving once again her ability to do politics. Sometime later, Jackie visits again Elizabeth to apologize for her behavior. On November 22, 1963, one of the most famous events of the XX century was taking place in Dallas: the assassination of President Kennedy. After learning the news, Elizabeth arranges for a week of mourning to be observed within the household and for the bells at Westminster Abbey to be rung before writing Jackie a letter of sympathy.

Why we love it: the Kennedies coming to London. Could we ask more than a reunion of the two "royal" families?

5. "Mystery Man" - 2x10

The Finale of season 2 is an escalation of intrigues and tragedies. First, the sexual relationship between Secretary of State for War John Profumo and model Christine Keeler becomes public knowledge, throwing the government into chaos. Then the osteopath Stephan Ward commits suicide by overdose, after a picture shot at his house sentenced a "mystery man" of immorality offenses. The similarities between the "mystery man" and Philip worry all the Royal house, also because the police find a hand-drawn portrait of Philip between Ward's belongings. Queen Elizabeth can't take it anymore and asks Philip if he knows Ward; the husband answers that he used to know him just in a minor capacity, but denied to had gone to one of his parties, reaffirming his love for Elizabeth. The year after, the Queen gives birth to her fourth child.

Why we love it: not only it was the Finale of the second season, but most importantly, Prince Philip finally showed love to Elizabeth after all the downs they went through in their relationship.