The Crown (2016-)

The Crown (2016-)

Season three picks up with a new cast as it covers from the mid-60′s to the mid-70′s. I”ve heard said this season is more filler until we get to season four which will feature Margaret Thatcher and Charles and Diana. 

Stand outs for me are Erin Doherty as Princess Anne and Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles. Growing up Windsor could not have been easy at all. Charles had enough baggage and then to fall in love with someone his family didn’t approve of - oh, my. Anyway, O’Connor does a great job as the awkward, troubled Prince of Wales - complete with awkward, slouching posture.

Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies portray a kind of more mellow Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. It’s hard not compare them to Claire Foy and Matt Smith from the first two seasons. I think Tobias does a better job playing Prince Phillip - the Apollo episode is one of the best episodes of the season. Olivia does well as the Queen, but is maybe not as flashy as Foy. 

Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Daniels replace Vanessa Kirby and Matthew Goode as Princess Margaret and her husband, Lord Snowdon. I’m a bit biased, but I missed seeing Matthew Goode as Tony - especially since we only saw him for a handful of episodes in season 2. Both do great jobs though as Margaret and Snowdon. It was quite the dramatic relationship. 

Can’t wait to see what happens in season four!

Just a quick hello.

First time post. Just a quick wave to the universe. I’m a big fan of classic films, classic rock, classic TV, Doctor Who, all things British. Am a huge reader - mysteries are my true love - but add a romance and I’m lost. My current obsession is A Discovery of Witches by Deb Harkness - it has it all - suspense, mystery, fantasy, romance. I’ve read all the books and binged the first season of the show so many times. 

Anyway, I’m still new to this universe, but hopefully I can post my thoughts and dreams without fear. I’d like to watch them fly to the stars and see how how they can soar. 

Sometimes I don’t think I’m prepared for this life.

It’s been a tough few years, dear world. I’ve been depressed for awhile now. I’ve been stuck in a dead end retail job that I hate for years. I could never seem to find a way out of it. Now the business is closing and I’m forced to find a new job. I can’t seem to get a non-retail job. I feel ready to move on, but no one wants to even look at me. I went to college and have a degree in English. I just feel like I’ve wasted so many opportunities that I don’t know what to do anymore. 

I feel like I just wasn’t meant for this life. I think I would have done well as a wife in the 1800′s - looking over the household, minding the children. Even if it had been a marriage arranged by my family, I think I could have found a way to be happy. I would have been alright. I could have been a cook or housemaid in a large manor house in the early 1900′s. I could have been a kindly spinster aunt - but probably would have ended up like Miss Bates in Emma. I could have been a baker’s wife in the 1500′s or the wife of a knight in the 1400′s. 

I don’t know. I just feel like I don’t fit in anywhere and I can’t do anything right. I can’t even find a decent job. In interviews I sound nervous and awkward and stammery. 

I wish I could be brave and follow my real dream - to be a writer. If I couldn’t write, I wish I could paint or sculpt or carve - show creativity in some visual way. I like to cook, but don’t have the experience to succeed anywhere. 

This is all a very frightening time for me. I’ve never been good with change. .New things scare the crap out of me until I get used to them. I just wish I had someone to talk to about all of this. My family doesn’t discuss things like personal thoughts and fears. I don’t have any friends that I’m really close to anymore. What’s a girl to do when her main ambition is to read, watch a good film, listen to music and take a long walk. I don’t want to rule the world - just live in a little piece of it that’s meant for me.  

If I could talk to younger me

If I could go back in time and talk to the young me, this is what I would say: 

1) Don’t let anyone bully you out of your dreams. Otherwise you’ll be left with no career and hating yourself.

2) Don’t let fear overrule your world. Move to a different state and stay there. Try new and scary things. Don’t be afraid to show emotion and be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to fail - at least you tried. Don’t be afraid to be different. Normal is so boring.

3) It doesn’t get much better but it can always get worse.

4) It’s ok to be single. Some people just are.  And if there’s no happily ever after for me, that’s ok too. 

5) Learn to drive. Life is much easier if you can. Plus, folks won’t look down on you like you’re a freak. 

6) Save your money. Even if it’s a little bit a week. 

I wish I had done a lot of things differently. Hopefully, it’s not too late to change. 

I’ve discovered a new-to-me book series by Tasha Alexander. Her heroine is Lady Emily Ashton, a recently widowed young woman in the late 1800′s. She learns her late husband was wrapped up in a art forgery scheme. She begins to investigate and learn more about his passions - namely art and Greek history. She learns more about herself and learns that she enjoys her newfound freedom and fortune and doesn’t rush to get back into the typical role of proper Victorian English lady. As I was reading, I pictured Jenna Coleman as Emily and (of course) Matthew Goode as Colin Hargreave, Emily’s late husband’s friend and future suitor. I enjoy reading more of these books and the future adventures of Lady Emily!

Matthew Goode and Vanessa Kirby were so electrifying as Tony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret in The Crown (2016-).