The Crown: Lisbon

December 12, 2017 9:23 PM - Season 2, Episode 3

Palace insiders try to prevent a scandal that could reflect poorly on Philip. Eden faces censure from his cabinet and the press.
posted by Cash4Lead (11 comments total)

This was the episode that ended with MrsMogur yelling "I hate all of you" at the screen. I think we have a new anti-monarchist in the house. :)
posted by Mogur at 5:45 AM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

I actually got the sense in this episode that Elizabeth is leaning heavily on What The Marriage Means For The Crown as a way to avoid talking about her own feelings of insecurity in the marriage. Like, she can say, “oh, it’s important for PR that you do this and this and that” but even when she’s yelling at him, she can’t say, “Are you being unfaithful?” (Now, some of that may be because Palace cooperation means not answering whether or not Phillip was unfaithful, but still)
posted by corb at 6:40 AM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

I agree corb - I think Elizabeth is using her official role to avoid the conflict (though in the first season, she was pretty direct in challenging Philip on his faithfulness in one episode) and manage her own emotional state. She knows that the marriage has to endure, and so she is asking what she can do - particularly in her role as the Crown - to make it bearable. It avoids the messiness of coming to an "arrangement" regarding side-action, and keeps them both focused on their roles & marriage as a matter of official function.

Though I did appreciate her calling him out on his incessant complaining (though the tie selection was a bit much, I thought).
posted by nubs at 11:16 AM on December 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

i had to pause this episode for like 10 full minutes bc i was cackling so hard at elizabeth sitting in the car outside eileen's house, lurking. like imagine you've just come home from the grocery store, you're unpacking the car, you look up, and the queen is waving awkwardly at you.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:18 AM on December 17, 2017 [12 favorites]

I've read Philip was made Prince mainly so he couldn't be subpoenaed in the Parker divorce case? In this episode they made it look like it was mainly to get him to quit pouting like a 5-year-old, which was cringeworthy.

What I did like about this episode was seeing Elizabeth a bit twitterpated as she was watching the footage of her husband as Tormund the Explorer. That's something I can easily believe about her - that she would actually like that side of him, the ruggedness. I think all the pomp and circumstance is just her job anyway, and in her free time she's stomping aroung Balmoral in her wellies, followed by a thousand corgis.

Which brings me to: am I the only one who felt crushed to be teased with only about two seconds of happy corgis? Come on, the palace should be teeming with them at all times.
posted by sively at 2:04 PM on December 17, 2017 [3 favorites]

I think next season is just going to be wall to wall corgis as the Queen gives less and less fucks about hiding them.
posted by corb at 6:01 PM on December 17, 2017 [4 favorites]

This episode allowed me to feel compassion for Philip in ways I hadn't before. Sure, he looks like a spoiled brat at the end, but there's something important in how they don't him interacting with the ship captain... Philip doesn't have a role.

This has been beaten over our heads throughout the series, but I mostly took it to be an annoying form of patriarchy. But this episode let me think about it in another way... The careless hedonist is itself a role Philip is being denied. I mean, what is he expected to do on this trip?

Philip is like Batman, but with all Alfred who will call the cops if he tries to go out and fight crime, but will also spit on him if he acts like a rich party boy. He's not allowed to be useful, but he's also not allowed to be useless. He'd be so good at being in the Navy, if they'd just let him. And he'd be so good at being an unambitious hedonist, if they'd just let him. But he's not allowed to do either, and that really must be confusing.
posted by meese at 11:02 PM on December 18, 2017 [8 favorites]

These incompetent radiomen bother me. Not even paper in the typewriter to copy the xmission- that's 50% of your job right there.

And are they sending Royal correspondence in the clear?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:26 AM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

This episode gave me a good deal of what I crave: deeply uncomfortable emotions crammed into tiny, carefully controlled packages. Like the Queen on the train, after dismissing Adeane, having worked out what he must be implying. And this wonderful exchange as Mike Parker is leaving for Australia:

Duke of Edinburgh: End of an era.
Parker: Thank you for that era.
Duke: No. No, Mike, thank *you*.
Parker, offering his hand: Sir.
Duke of Edinburgh, automatically: Philip.
Parker, more firmly: Sir.

posted by eirias at 1:31 PM on December 23, 2020

I LOL'd at Michael being forced to shave his mustache.
Philip looked very awkward in that giant crown.
Good for Eileen, though I did crack up at the Queen showing up as well.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:16 PM on March 16, 2021

Eileen Parker was so very clearly done with everyone's shit, and it was awesome. I loved her statement about Michael's "lack of enthusiasm" for being a husband and father, heh. Michael Parker was the personification of "fuck around and find out".
posted by orange swan at 9:46 PM on April 27, 2023