Act of God

When you create a historical series, you don't need to falsify history so you can pander about climate change, sorry but this is just disingenuous. I really like this series, it's a good start but people shouldn't praise the falsifying oh history, it's what the communists used to do.

The episode focuses mainly on a single event, and its effects on the government and the populous. By making everything everything in the episode tie together like this, it lends the narrative an urgency and unity that has been in some ways lacking up to this point. Mind you, if every episode were like this, it could start to feel episodic. But thrown in with a bunch of more diverse ones like this one was, this kind of episode comes as a refreshing, exhilarating change of pace.

A thick fog has fallen over London, and Churchill is in denial about its significance. His refusal to act provides an opportunity for others to act against him, destabilizing the entire political situation. Because of the fog, the characters are forced to remain indoors most of the time, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere which is heightened by the rising political tensions. This atmosphere is emphasized by the beginning and end of the episode, which contrast it with beautiful flying sequences.

This is a very good episode, with a self-contained plot and well-constructed atmosphere.

'The Crown' started off great and went from strength to strength throughout the whole of the first season. From the very start of its inception 'The Crown' managed to be an exceptionally well made, written and acted series, with absorbing storytelling too, and became one of 2016's major hits when it first began (had no personal doubt that it would be as this is exactly my kind of thing). Anybody interested in the Royals should consider seeing at least one episode.

"Act of God" is a great fourth episode and sees the first season still going strong. "Hyde Park Corner" and "Windsor" to me had slightly more tension and Elizabeth had more character progression in those episodes too, but all the things that made them and the first episode "Wolferton Splash" as wonderful as they were are absolutely here in "Act of God" with equal effect. To me it didn't matter that liberties were taken with the truth, believing firmly in judging a film/show/episode on its own merits and "Act of God" fares wonderfully on its own in this regard.

Once again, "Act of God's" production values are superb. The production and costume design are both classy and sumptuous, but it's the photography that stands out in this regard. Much of it is quite stunning and some of the best of the whole of Season 1, at the best worthy of a film. The music is neither too intrusive or too low key.

It's on point in the writing as well, it always intrigues and provokes a lot of thought. The story is deliberately paced but not dull, the situation does have some tense conflict, thanks to the chillingly claustrophobic atmosphere, and it worked very well as a separate story from the previous three episodes. All the characters are written well, especially Churchill.

Similarly, the acting can't be faulted. Love Claire Foy's nuanced Elizabeth (her expressive face and eyes) and John Lithgow is entertaining, formidable and at times vulnerable as Churchill (it didn't ever matter to me that Lithgow is too tall for Churchill because the interpretation was always spot on).

Concluding, wonderful fourth episode. 9/10

This is such a wonderful series. I feel that they have shown respect for British history without candy-coating it. The pomposity of the Royals is quite astounding. There is a scene where the elderly former queen tells young Elizabeth why the monarchy is necessary and why there is the idea of divine right. When she says that they represent what is great for the commoners to have something to aspire to, it's a bit hard to take. One need only look at the treatment of others through imperialism and hatred to come to that conclusion. Can you say Scotland and Northern Ireland? The new Queen seems to ingest this but we don't get a clear picture of how much of it she buys. The episode revolves around an intense combination of fog and pollution that has filled London. People are dying or suffering. Of course, the people blame the government for what is going on, and Churchill has no interest in doing anything. The rest of Parliament is only interested in driving the old guy out, using this catastrophe to sway the people against him and introduce a vote of no confidence. Churchill has a young female aide whom he adores (though he lords it over her). Her fate changes the shape of things. Meanwhile, Prince Philip is trying to carve out a life for himself as Mr. Elizabeth, but he is under intense scrutiny. Once again, the camera work and staging is so creative.

Yes there was a fog that killed thousands, but literally none of what the film shows actually happened, if you read the history of the great fog, no one could have known what would happen, in fact efforts to clean the coal backfired under the unusual conditions. This shows up the writers environmental bias. At this point why watch anymore episodes, its based on what the author believes not actual facts.