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The Netflix original series, The Crown, has been well-regarded in its five-season run so far. But, that is all changing, as reviews for the sixth and final season of the show based on the British royal family in the 20th century are coming in quite negatively.
And, one review in particular is standing out. It wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill negative review of a popular television series. The British publication, The Guardian, absolutely skewered the show, calling it, “so bad, it’s an out-of-body experience”
Part of the negativity surrounds the fact that Princess Diana returns as a ghost following her death. While the show has taken some creative liberties to dramatize the story before, it’s stayed within the realm of realism. This is a huge departure for that, and really ruined the show for the reviewer.
“Beyond all its formal failures, late-period Crown is also impossibly hamstrung by being set well within living memory. Even if there were anything to engage with, the memories and consequent questions that crowd into the viewer’s mind at every stage would make it impossible. Was Charles really so astute about what her death would mean, so quickly? It seems unlikely, from everything we knew then, and the mountains we have learned since. And we know Prince Philip didn’t murmur to Harry an explanation of the crowd’s behaviour during the funeral procession (“They’re not crying for her. They’re crying for you”) because we were, effectively, there. We would have seen it. The suspension of disbelief can never be established. Ghost Diana dances among ruins.”
Currently, the show sits at a putrid 53% for season 6 on Rotten Tomatoes. When you compare that to the to the 81% it has for the entire season, that’s awful.
The first four episodes were released on Thursday, with more coming in mid-December.