The Crown, a Netflix original biographical drama, came out with its second season on Dec. 8, 2017. Released in bulk on Netflix, the second season continues the story of the current Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, currently played by British actress Claire Foy, and the issues she has faced as a ruling monarch and a married woman in vastly changing times.

Season one ended with uncertainty in the royal family. Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, currently played by British actor Matt Smith, is unhappy with his status in the household and feels ignored by his wife. Elizabeth’s sister Princess Margaret, played by British actress Vanessa Kirby, is furious with her older sister for dissolving her engagement to Peter Townsend.

This uncertainty is only built upon in the opening of season two, taking place in 1956, which shows Elizabeth and Philip having a heated discussion about their issues in their marriage, issues that were added to by Philip possibly cheating and the press turning on them.

Then the show cuts back to five months ago from that scene. Elizabeth, in an effort to give Philip something to do, decided to send him in on a royal tour at the end of season one, and the tour is about to leave. The two seem like a happy couple, leaving viewers wonder how everything goes wrong.

Everything going wrong gets shown in the next episodes, allowing the viewer to watch as a divorce case builds against someone close to Philip, adding to the fears Elizabeth already had of his infidelity due to a picture of a female she found in his bag. When the divorce is announced because of infidelity, which has proof, the show circles back to Philip’s and Elizabeth’s conversation from the beginning of the first episode.

From then on, The Crown focuses on Elizabeth and Philip rebuilding their marriage, leading to the birth of Prince Edward in 1964, eight years from the beginning of the season.

Season two is everything a second season of a show could be. It has the same feeling that the first one gave, mainly due to Foy. She carries the show not only by the way she delivers her lines, but by her amazing expressions. Smith also does well in his role. He is amazing at getting the audience to truly understand how he feels, delivering his lines in an emotional way.

The main criticism of this season was the lack of Winston Churchill, who was played by John Lithgow in season one. Lithgow, like the real Churchill did, took an entire scene in a masterful way. Without him, the show felt oddly empty.

It is currently unknown when the next season of The Crown will be released by Netflix, and a majority of the cast is also unknown. This is because next season will replaced the entire cast with older actors and actresses. The same will happen at the fifth season as well.

It is known, however, who is playing the title role of Elizabeth. British actress Olivia Colman will replace Foy. The rest of the cast is unknown at this time.