It has become the topic about which we talk, text and email most often, we dear friends, coworkers, digital contacts, casual acquaintances, people thrown together in the Publix checkout line. It’s rather a phenomenon, I would say, this coming together in light of deep division in our country. (So many opinions. So many binge-worthy options.) It’s nothing we planned or decided or even discussed up front, yet here we all are, parked in front of our televisions, the obsession having taken root so fastidiously it is impossible not to watch.

(This thing is so good we knitters put down our needles and Sit Up And Pay Attention, not wanting to miss a single smirk, or side glance, or eyebrow raise. And that, my friends, is saying something.)

Of course it’s The Crown I’m talking about, the little Netflix gem that’s taking the world (or U.S. and Great Britain) by storm and which is considered by many to be just about the finest television drama ever.

IT’S SO GOOD!!!

For starters, it’s the most expensive television series ever made, and this uncompromising commitment shows. Every scene comes to life in way that feels both remarkable and authentic. (I know that seems like a contradiction but I promise you it’s not.) You are in the midst of it whether in Buckingham Palace, Scotland’s Castle Mey, or the wilds of Kenya (cue the elephants!).

(I can’t help but think about washing all that crystal.)

There’s Clare Foy, the actress who plays Queen Elizabeth with such elegance and restraint you not only see the monarchy’s weight as it sits on her perfectly squared shoulders, you feel it heavy on your own. Oh the painful, gut-wrenching (not that she’d use that phrase) decisions that woman must make in the best interest of her country! And that’s not even considering her responsibilities (and forced loyalties) as head of the Church of England.

The Queen. And the Crown.

And those clothes. Oh, the clothes! Particularly Princess Margaret, who is without a doubt the most beautifully dressed woman in television history. (Vanessa Kirby sure does wear them well.)

There are a billion other reasons to covet this show. Can I really not mention:

• John Lithgow as is Winston Churchill
• The understated yet scene-stealing performance of Will Keen as the Queen’s dull but stuck-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place private secretary, Michael Adeane (Tim’s favorite character)
• Season Two’s brilliant, transcendent Episode 4, “Beryl”
• Foy’s performance opposite Lord Altrincham in Episode 5, “Marionettes” !!!!!

It is all so fascinating, so rich, so delicious.

And it’s the perfect, perfect binge for this glorious, cozy, joy-filled month of January.

(I am one happy girl.)

XXOO

30 Days of Joy