Summary
Even more than in previous episodes, the focus is squarely on Diana and Dodi here as we catch back up to the premiere’s cold open.
The Diana Show continues apace in “Dis-Moi Oui”. Does anyone remember when The Crown was about the royal family? If you squint that’s still true, but even in comparison to the first two installments of Season 6, Episode 3 is very much devoted to Diana and Dodi at the expense of everyone else even tangentially involved.
We’re approaching, at least, the end of the road, though perhaps that’s not quite the right choice of words given the circumstances. As Diana and Dodi make their way to Paris, Mohamed Al-Fayed solidifies himself as the string-pulling villain of Part 1, whose manipulations and pressures were directly responsible for the tragedy that follows.
The Crown Season 6 Episode 3 Recap
The anti-Diana slant does continue a little when she explains to her therapist on the phone how Dodi has continued to shower her with gifts and attention even while he’s being pulled this way and that by the media furor and the small matter of his existing engagement. Diana’s therapist says outright that they’re working on her “addiction to drama”, which doesn’t necessarily track with what we’ve seen thus far. After all, it wasn’t Diana who hired a photographer to snap candid shots of her and Dodi while they were canoodling on the Jonikal.
Nonetheless, Diana insists she’ll return to the U.K. as soon as she can, which adds another note of tragedy to the whole thing since she was that close to potentially getting away from the entire mess unscathed. But Mohamed, who is pushing Dodi to marry Diana ASAP despite them realistically barely knowing one another, isn’t having any of that.
Say yes to me…
Dodi invites Diana to Monte Carlo for ice cream and shopping. While there, they bond a little more over being villainized by the British press and discuss perhaps getting away from it all by heading to California and finally being free. A nod to Harry and Meghan Markle or a legitimate line of dialogue? You decide, but I think we know the answer.
Anyway, they’re both spotted by tourists and duck into a jewelry store where Diana mentions wanting a gold ring from the titular “Dis-Moi Oui” range – it means “Say yes to me” in English. Dodi later tells his father that he’s going to buy the ring for Diana. Mohamed is thrilled with this, naturally. The audience, though, can’t quite buy into the romance, especially knowing what will shortly befall the pair. This is felt even more strongly when Dodi insists he’ll take Diana back to London on his private jet, he just needs to make a brief stop-off in Paris first…
The Villa Windsor and other Parisian treats
Paris is an absolute disaster from start to finish. The press are everywhere, so Mohamed instructs Dodi to take Diana to Villa Windsor, the former home of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, presently on loan from the city of Paris to Mohamed Al-Fayed so that he can cosplay as a member of British royalty. Honestly, if this guy was the villain in a Bond movie, nobody would even notice.
Diana becomes increasingly – and rightly! – frustrated with the whole thing. All she wants to do is talk to William and Harry, the former of whom was earlier glimpsed getting “blooded” at Balmoral, but the press and traffic get in the way of that. When they do finally speak, she tells William that she emphatically will not be marrying Dodi, which kind of throws a spanner in the works of Dodi’s grand proposal efforts, which he keeps trying to arrange amid all the chaos.
Why does Diana reject Dodi’s proposal?
That chaos includes a convincingly overwhelming sequence of the pair trying to eat dinner in private, which is almost impossible, and on the other side of it, Dodi’s proposal feels like a nail in the coffin rather than a welcome reprieve. Diana tells him – again, rightly – that neither of them is in any position to be getting married to one another, and trying to convince one’s father to love them isn’t a reason to do so in any case.
Dodi is awful – even his standing up to Mohamed over the phone is a complete ruse – but you can’t help but feel a bit sorry for him. His entire life has been aggressively micromanaged by a maniac who just wants to use him to increase his social standing. I wouldn’t be very well-adjusted in those circumstances either.
How does The Crown Season 6 Episode 3 end?
The third episode ends where the premiere started, with that Parisian dog walker hearing Diana and Dodi crash, being pursued at high speed by the paparazzi.
After coming up with a fiendish master plan to get back to Dodi’s apartment, the two share a final conversation about that phone call Dodi feigned. Diana knew what he was up to, but she was sure one day he’d get the chance to tell his father the truth for real.
He won’t, of course, since we know what happens next. In the back of the car, with their driver having knocked back a few bevies in the meantime, Diana and Dodi clench hands, not realizing that they’re both about to die.
What did you think of The Crown Season 6 Episode 3? Let us know in the comments.
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