Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 5 Coup

In this episode Harold Wilson is facing pressure from the media about how he has been running the economy, which sees him turning to the defence sectary Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance) to be relieved of his duties, only the highly-respected man is only seen as a sacrifice in the media.

The Queen is seeing her horses not perform to the levels they once would and is encouraged to travel to learn more about the evolution of the horse racing industry, while the pound is struggling to compete on the worldwide market needing to be devalued, with great embarrassment to Harold Wilson.

With The Queen away, Lord Mountbatten has been offered a chance to lead a coup against Harold Wilson, one he isn’t 100% but he would like to see a change, performing his research we see just how much he will support this big idea.

With the idea in place Queen Elizabeth II is the only person that could make the coup happen and being cousin to Lord Mountbatten makes it a difficult personal decision, she must decide on whether she wants to back a plan which could change England forever or continue to support Harold Wilson.

This is another episode which isn’t as interesting as the first couple, it is more about what is happening with the government, rather than focusing on the Crown, there is a small side story that shows the Queen and her passion for horse racing which is the highlight of the episode. We do get the reflection of a life that Queen Elizabeth II would have like to do and one where she is left to make the hard decisions, which is always compelling to see.

Charles Dance is the welcome addition to the new cast and you know he will give excellent speech moments, which he does save from being just another scheming scene too, but the lack of Helena Bonham Carter and Tobias Menzies is noticeable in this episode.

Rating 5/10