E6 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR
parties and wears colorful
minidresses, all outside cas-
tle walls. The crown frowns,
but the public loves her.
She is the flip side of the
stuffy protocol and etiquette
that define her sister,
though she still craves to be
in the spotlight. She’s a big
hit with President Lyndon
B. Johnson, whom she
charms into sending aid to
England. (Not so much with
astronaut Neil Armstrong’s
wife, who meets her at a pal-
ace reception to celebrate
the moon landing. “Please
don’t tell me you want to talk
about children,” slurs a
bored Margaret, lighting an-
other cigarette.)
“The Crown’s” attention
to historical detail is stun-
ning as usual. It spans one of
the more tumultuous dec-
ades in modern history, pit-
ting social and political up-
heaval as well as modern
technological advance-
ments against the cloistered
lives inside Buckingham
Palace. Be prepared to
Google, a lot: “Prime Min-
ister, 1960s, ousted in a
coup?” “Image of Lord Louis
Mountbatten” (played in the
series by the eloquent but al-
ways slightly dangerous
Charles Dance). “Aberfan.”
Sweeping historical sig-
nificance aside, it’s the inti-
mate, internal battles make
this season just as riveting
as — if not stronger than —
the last two. The Duke of Ed-inburgh has made peace
with his role as the queen’s
arm candy, but the former
pilot is now facing a midlife
crisis. What purpose has he
served, and what will he
achieve, if anything, before
he dies? Perhaps he would
have made it to the moon if
not for his bloodline.
The crown has stunted
the real ambitions of all whoorbit the throne. It’s cut
them off from the rest of the
world and almost guaran-
teed they’ll never marry out
of love (poor Charles). Aging
and opportunities lost go
hand in hand throughout
Season 3. The queen, who
refers to herself as an “old
bat,” laments in a rare, vul-
nerable moment that she’d
dreamed of breeding horses
until “the other thing came
along.” And Prince Charles’
great-uncle Mountbatten, a
decorated war hero and in-
fluential politician, isn’t
done when he’s ousted from
government: He tells his
aged, dying sister, the mys-
terious Princess Alice
(Google it), that he stillneeds to be in there, fixing
things, because he “still
cares” about England.
“One of the few joys of be-
ing as old as we both are is
that it’s not our problem,”
she says. “There came a mo-
ment, around the time I
turned 70, when it dawned
on me I was no longer a par-
ticipant, rather a spectator
... then it’s just a matter of
waiting and not getting in
the way.”
Nuanced and powerful
dialogue runs throughout
the series, and in the hands
of the stellar cast, it makes
for indelible moments.
Heir to the throne Prince
Charles emerges midseason
as a student at Cambridge
who’s found a hobby he’s
passionate about: acting.
Then comes the call to duty
and the dashing of dreams.
He’s sent to Wales during an
independence movement
that doesn’t want him. He
immerses himself in the cul-
ture, learns to speak Welsh
and miraculously turns the
region in his favor after deliv-
ering a heartfelt speech.The warmth he engen-
ders, however, doesn’t ex-
tend to his mother. There’s
no “well done,” or even a pat
on the back, when he re-
turns.
The queen is disappoint-
ed with all the emotion in his
speech.
“To do nothing, to say
nothing, is the hardest job of
all,” she says to her crestfall-
en son. “It requires every
ounce of the energy we have.
To be impartial is not natu-
ral, it’s not human. ... [They
want us to speak], but the
minute that we do, we will
have declared a position, a
point of view, and that’s one
thing as the royal family we
are not entitled to do. That’s
why we have to hide it, keep
things to ourselves.”
“I have a beating heart, a
character. A will of my own.
... Mummy, I have a voice,” he
pleads.
“Let me let you in on a se-
cret. No one wants to hear
it.”
Oh, dear. Pour the tea.
Put on the armor. “The
Crown” is back.‘The Crown’ is weighing ever heavier
PRINCE CHARLES, played by Josh O’Connor, is strictly taught by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman, seated at right), in Season 3 of “The Crown.”Des WillieNetflixPRINCESS MARGARET, as portrayed by Helena
Bonham Carter, finds a decade made for her: the ’60s.Sophie Mutevelianplace after the fall of the
Empire but before the rise of
the First Order. Per Disney,
the character is “a lone gun-
man in the outer reaches of
the galaxy, far from the au-
thority of the New Repub-
lic.”
The new warrior who
emerges in the wake of
Jango and Boba Fett is a
masked and caped bounty
hunter (Pedro Pascal)
whose cold heart will be
challenged by the greater
good, and maybe even a
creeping sense of compas-
sion, on his new mission.
“The Mandalorian”
starts out with business as
usual: “I can bring you in
warm or I can bring you in
cold,” he callously tells a
slippery creature he’s bring-
ing in.
But on the job handed
down by Greef Karga (Carl
Weathers) and The Client
(Werner Herzog), he discov-ers the target is far more
complicated than a sleazy
alien with gambling debts.
After several gunfights and
other laser-filled moments,
the job brings him to a cra-
dle. Inside is what looks to be
a baby Yoda. But the time-
line is all wrong for it to be
theYoda. So what exactly is
happening here? Hard to
say, but it’s damn cute when
their fingers touch in classic
“E.T.” fashion.
The feel of the series is
blockbuster cinema — ac-
tion-packed, predictable,
entertaining — so it’s jarring
when the first episode ends
at around 35 minutes. Thenext chapter arrives Friday.
Taika Waititi also ap-
pears in Episode 1, though
like Pascal, you’d never know
it was him behind all the ga-
lactic combat gear. Gian-
carlo Esposito, Gina
Carano, Emily Swallow,
Omid Abtahi and Nick Nolte
are among those slated to
feature in forthcoming epi-
sodes.
Waititi also directs on the
series, along with Rick Fa-
muyiwa, Deborah Chow and
premiere director Dave
Filoni, while “The Mandalo-
rian’s” showrunner is Jon
Favreau.
The “Star Wars” series is
one of several titles that
launched on the streaming
service Tuesday. Disney+,
which costs $6.99 per month
or $69.99 per year, also un-
veiled the semi-reboot “High
School Musical: The Musi-
cal: The Series,” a live-action
film remake of “Lady and the
Tramp,” the charming docu-series “Encore!” about re-
uniting high school theater
troupes and, weirdest of all,
“The World According to
Jeff Goldblum.”
The new platform is the
latest entry into a rapidly ex-
panding TV streaming
universe. Apple TV+ arrived
this month with high-qual-
ity original programming of
an artier sort.
Questions about how
all these services will com-
pete were not answered
Tuesday. (Each appeals to
a decidedly different audi-
ence, while Netflix is still
the sprawling everything-
but-the-kitchen-sink serv-
ice.) Still, “The Mandalo-
rian” pulls no punches. It’s
“Star Wars”/Disney right
down to its weird sand cre-
atures and blighted out-
posts, and a safe-but-enter-
taining start for the media
giant’s exploratory mission
into a largely untamed uni-
verse.CARL WEATHERSplays the head of a bounty hunter guild in “The Mandalorian” on new streamer Disney+.
Melinda Sue GordonLucasfilm‘Star Wars’ first plays it safe
[‘Mandalorian,’ from E1]Streaming service Dis-
ney+ launched Tuesday
morning to massive anticipa-
tion — and technical glitches.
Many users who tried to
access the $6.99-a-month
Disney app to watch heavily
promoted shows like “The
Mandalorian” experienced
problems logging in and serv-
ice failures. Some users who
had issues complained on so-
cial media about long wait
times to speak with customer
service reps.
Disney blamed the prob-
lems on higher-than-ex-
pected demand for the
product, which executives
have been touting as the fu-
ture of the entertainment
company.
“The consumer demand
for Disney+ has exceeded
our highest expectations,” a
Disney spokesperson said in
a statement to The Times.
“While we are pleased by this
incredible response, we are
aware of the current user is-
sues and are working to
swiftly resolve them. We ap-
preciate your patience.”
Disney has not revealed
viewership numbers for its
service or individual shows.
It’s unclear how many
people were affected or
how many customers tried to
use the app in the hours
shortly after it went live in the
U.S. and Canada. More than
8,000 people were having is-
sues at about 6 a.m.,
according to data firm Down-
detector.
The app also officially
launched in the Netherlands
on Tuesday. It will also debut
in Australia and New Zea-
land this month and much of
western Europe in March.
The company had been test-ing the service in the Nether-
lands with a free beta version
since September.
The glitches caused angry
responses from frustrated
customers.
Some people who tried to
log on were greeted by an im-
age of “Wreck-It Ralph” and
“Ralph Breaks the Internet”
characters Ralph and Vanel-
lope von Schweetz with the
message, “There seems to be
an issue connecting to the
Disney+ service.”
The stakes for Disney+
are high. The company is try-
ing to battle Netflix and other
players for dominance in the
increasingly crowded direct-
to-consumer entertainment
market as cord-cutting
sweeps the pay TV industry.
Disney executives, includ-
ing direct-to-consumer
Chairman Kevin Mayer, told
journalists last week that the
company had been
working tirelessly to make
sure the launch would go
smoothly. The company
waged a massive marketing
effort, spanning Disney
parks, stores and every TV
channel the Burbank com-
pany owns. Disney paid more
than $2.5 billion to
acquire BamTech, the little-
known technology firm
that provided the archi-
tecture of Disney’s push
into streaming.
The app boasts more
than 7,500 episodes of Disney
television content, more than
500 movies and dozens of
original shows, films and spe-
cials, including a live-action
version of “Lady and the
Tramp.” Disney is expected
to spend $1 billion on original
content for the service in fis-
cal 2020. The company has
projected 60 million to 90 mil-
lion subscribers will be using
Disney+ by 2024.More a case of
Disney+ breaks
the internet
By Ryan Faughnder‘The
Mandalorian’Where:Disney+
When: Any time‘The Crown’
Where:Netflix
When:Any time, third
season starting Sunday
Rated:TV-MA (may be
unsuitable for children
under age 17)[‘The Crown,’from E1]