Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Crown: The Complete Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown October 29, 2024

Why the royals? What's the fascination? For as long as I can remember, England's figureheads have been a source of whispers, conversation, speculation and rumors. Even across the pond, in the good ol' US of A, the royal family has been a mystery that's drawn attention the likes of which most celebrities dream of. The ultimate tabloid fodder, the late Queen and her ilk are an enigma; one we feel we must solve, or perhaps just understand. But really, we just want to know. To see the curtain pulled back. To peek inside. To see in rooms that have been tightly shut to the public for centuries. And it works. At least for The Crown. But what happens when a series based on glimpses into the unknown lives of the royals crashes head-on into the world we live in today? Where secrets are a luxury even the princes and princesses of the UK have been unable to hold onto? What happens when The Crown approaches the age of the internet, of the peering eye that makes it infinitely more difficult to hide anything? And what happens when that series, creeping and crawling towards its endgame, goes soft; loses its nerve and falls a bit too head over heels for its subjects? The Crown's sixth season answers those questions, but the answers are rather dull and saccharine; a shame considering how riveting its soap opera trappings were in the beginning.

Rather than delivering two additional seasons, The Crown is split into two competing parts. The first half concerns itself with the relationship between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, before a fateful car accident has devastating consequences. The second focuses on Prince William as he tries to integrate back into life at Eton in the wake of his mother’s death. Through it all, the monarchy has to adjust to the increasingly invasive wave of public opinion, as well as spats and in-fighting that threaten to tear them apart. (Foreshadowing to the current estrangement between William and Harry is less than subtle.) But just when you think the series has forgotten dear Queen E, the woman who was once the absolute focal point of the show reaches her Golden Jubilee. Reflecting on the future of the monarchy, the Queen leads her family through the marriage of Charles and Camilla and the beginnings of a new Royal fairytale in William and Kate. Harry, of course, ever remains the tragic outlier.

The sixth and final season stars an excellent Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as her husband Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as her younger sister Princess Margaret, Dominic West as her eldest son and heir Charles, Olivia Williams as his long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles, Bertie Carvel as Prime Minister Tony Blair, Lydia Leonard as his wife Cherie, Claudia Harrison as Elizabeth and Philip's only daughter Anne, Marcia Warren as the ailing Queen Mother, James Murray as Prince Andrew, Khalid Abdalla as Diana's lover Dodi Fayed, Elizabeth Debicki as Charles' ex- wife Princess Diana, Salim Daw as Dodi Fayed's father Mohamed Al-Fayed, Ed McVey as Prince William, Luther Ford as Prince Harry, Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton, Matilda Broadbridge as Kate's sister Philippa 'Pippa' Middleton, Andrew Havill as Elizabeth's private secretary Robert Fellowes, Jamie Parker as her deputy private secretary Robin Janvrin and, for the finale, guest appearances by the actresses who previously portrayed the Queen, Claire Foy and Olivia Williams. The ten-episode season is divided into an opening four episodes and a closing volume of six episodes.

For a series that was clipping along at such a brisk, infectious pace, The Crown's sixth season is a drag. Rather than sully itself fully in dramatization or merely embrace warm embellishment, the controversial Netflix series' final episodes wobble from one to the next, neither of which prove all that compelling. The drama that made a reputation for pulling no punches and taking no prisoners is neatly, bizarrely apologetic in its closing storylines, absolving some characters ad nauseum and tacking on a feel-good ending that isn't earned. The performances remain the main draw, even as the writers struggle to justify a season that doesn't have nearly as much to do or say. Broad strokes and guesswork give way to maudlin sentiment and back again -- back and forth, back and forth -- as the show catches up to the internet age when those fascinated with the royal family became true voyeurs. While the Queen (and her actresses) remain stalwart, other characters seem positively uninteresting. William and Harry are especially yawn-inducing, as Harry's infamous nazi costume (the photo of which has somehow remained burned in my brain for years) enters the fray as the drama du jour; a far cry from the more intriguing and compelling faux pas of previous seasons' royals.

It's almost as if the writers' room was as divided in the challenge of wrapping up the series as the season itself. Where to end? Where to tie up loose ends? What to do about those pesky kids? How to integrate young adult drama into a series about the aging royalty? What to do about the Queen, as she approaches her twilight? The solution, simple as it is, is quite disappointing: tie it all up in a neat bow, complete with a happy wedding, the mistakes of young princes, and an admittedly classy and welcome return of previous actresses as the Queen, aged and weepy, speaks with her past selves in an effort to bridge six seasons and three distinct portrayals of Elizabeth II. It... works? Sort of? Not really? It depends what you want. If you've come to enjoy the company of the royals, you'll be pleased. If you want more dirt, more substance, more conflict and more intrigue, well, welcome to my club. You'll be nonplussed. The series goes out with a whimper, thankfully focusing on the Queen in its final few episodes -- the show is always at its finest when Elizabeth is front and center -- but making amends with the likes of Philip and Charles, and doing very little heavy lifting with the still-grieving Harry. Watching the brothers on two different tracks in regards to dealing with their mother's death is the stuff of great drama, but the show struggles to plant seeds of future division and their handling the weight of the public eye and a possible future crown. Ultimately it's all one giant diversion. The show began with Elizabeth and ends with Elizabeth (albeit with cheap nods towards her eventual passing), and that's for the best. The rest of the royals -- chained more than ever to the series' writers -- fail to deliver good television, as does the sixth season as a whole.

The Crown: The Complete Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sure, you can simply stream The Crown on Netflix anytime you want. Why spend the extra cash on the series' Blu-ray releases? Because, like previous seasons, The Complete Sixth and Final Season looks far, far better via its 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation than its streaming counterpart. Gone is the macroblocking, banding and hitches that litter Netflix's stream. Here we have near perfection, without any significant encoding issues and with plenty of room on each disc for the episodes to peddle their visual wares. Colors are intentionally subdued but quite lifelike, with occasional bursts of color offering some punch. Scenes in which William meets and initially courts Kate are brimming with primary power; bold, flashy hues with which the halls of Buckingham can hardly compete. The majority of The Crown's settings are suitably subtle, to the point of antiquation. Skintones remain lifelike and black levels deep regardless of setting, and the slight sepia toning of the Queen's scenes are gorgeous, with such flawless contrast leveling that light and shadow are given full reign, lending the series' some of its finest filmic qualities. Detail is excellent too, with natural edge definition and revealing fine textures, not to mention pinpoint shadow delineation that allows the aforementioned lighting to conceal as much or as little as the cinematographers desire. A bit more of the richness in palette of the William and Harry outings would be appreciated elsewhere, particularly when it comes to sequences like Charles and Camila's wedding (which appears a tad monochromatic to my eye), but so it goes. The Crown's sixth Blu-ray release doesn't disappoint. Kudos to Sony for continuing to release shows on Blu-ray even when streaming services offer the same episodes for less. They're not the same episodes. They're lesser in quality. This is the way to watch the likes of The Crown.

The Crown: The Complete Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Crown's sixth season offers yet another strong DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, even if its best traits are kept under wraps until William and Harry venture out into public. Parties, fashion shows, night clubs and other events feature plenty of low-end oomph, which the LFE channel is more than happy to throw its weight behind. The rest of the series is business as usual: quiet, light-footed sonics that offer more in the way of spatial acoustic nuance than bark and bite. The rear speakers are actually at their best when there is quote-unquote little to do, creating a convincing sense of space and place with each locale. Vast rooms sound as large as they should, while smaller quarters are intimate. Directionality is precise and involving, crafting an immersive experience that really sneaks up on you. Dialogue is perfectly prioritized and intelligible throughout, dwarfed only when its meant to, as is the case when William and Kate have their first awkward conversations next to a roaring dance floor. And the music? Whether by way of club speakers or, more typically, the series' score, there isn't a misstep. The Crown's lossless audio doesn't falter.

The Crown: The Complete Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Crown: The Complete Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray release is a 4-disc set with a standard case; one which holds all four discs on a single, elongated spindle. It's not exactly the most efficient or user-friendly option, but then studios have long struggled to find a multi-disc case that pleases everyone. There also isn't a slipcover. Strange, considering previous season releases included one. The real disappointment, though, is the extras, which amount to a paltry three featurettes on Disc One:

• A Family Saga (HD, 9 minutes) - William and Harry come of age.

• The Royal Weddings (HD, 7 minutes) - Capturing the beauty and pageantry through production design.

• A Lasting Legacy (HD, 8 minutes) - The Queen, in all her glory.

The Crown: The Complete Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Crown's final episode is easily the best its sixth season has to offer, as the focus falls almost solely on Elizabeth II as she looks toward the future while reflecting on the past. The rest of the season is a bit of a shoulder shrug, unable to craft the scintillating drama that earned the show so much attention in its earlier seasons. But as the story approaches events we remember all too well, there's less and less of a curtain to yank back, and less and less to see that we don't already know. Stakes shrink, conflict lessens and the royals struggle to retain interest after Diana's tragic death. Thankfully Sony's Blu-ray release of the sixth season is on point. Other than the fact that there's little in the way of supplemental material, the studio's latest four-disc television release features terrific video and enveloping audio, elevating the sixth season far above its streaming counterpart.