The Crown – Season Four – Episode 1 – Gold Stick
Plot: AS Elizabeth welcomes Britain’s first woman prime minister and Charles meets a young Diana Spencer, an IRA attack brings tragedy to the royal family.
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Gold Stick starts as we see how the royal family are waiting to see who Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) latest love interest is, for now it is Lady Sarah Spencer (Isobel Eadie), the older sister of Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) who wanted to meet him. Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman) is getting to meet the incoming Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), with the two striking a new relationship that the two never thought they would have. Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) is struggling to find her motivation to return to competitive show jumping with her father Philip Duke of Edinburgh (Tobias Menzies) trying to motivate her about how proud he is of her. The royal family is struck by an IRA attack which sees Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance) and his family murdered in an explosion.
Thoughts on The Crown – Season Four – Episode 1 – Gold Stick
Thoughts – This episode starts off with a bang, bringing us the importance of the new prime minister, something that has been key to most of the Queen political interactions for years, Margaret Thatcher brings us somebody new and more complex for the Queen to deal with, we get a new threat in the IRA whose attacks will continue to give Prince Charles the struggle to fit into the royal family, losing another ally in Lord Mountbatten, the brief introduction of Lady Diana adds the future we know is coming, even if we only get the fleeting story of Princess Anne problems in the royal family. The build up to the explosion is brilliantly shot, with the family all hunting in their different ways, reflecting on how they have now become the hunted. We have the returning cast all shining like before, with Gillian Anderson stepping into the series like she had been her from the start.
Final Thoughts – Gold Stick is an excellent start to the series, bringing us the new battles the royal family will be facing, along with a new Prime Minister for the Queen to befriend. 5/5
