Warning: Reviews of The Crown season 6 will contain spoilers.

The Crown has made its reputation with its use of juxtapositions. How Peter Morgan has taken seemingly disconnected stories and finding a thematic connective tissue has paid off tremendously throughout its run. This batch of episodes hasn’t utilized the stylistic choice so explicitly yet, so it’s a bit curious to see the juxtaposition within Hope Street, as the results don’t always work.

There is a lot going on in this penultimate episode, so let’s run down everything that’s jockeying for attention. First there’s Mohamed Al Fayed and his continuing crusade/insistence that the royal family deliberately played a part in Diana and Dodi’s deaths. Yes, the questions about the circumstances around Diana’s death lasted for years and years afterwards, but I don’t entirely understand why Hope Street needed to focus so much on it, when the final episodes have so clearly moved on from Diana.

It makes even less sense to spend so much time on a recreation of Diana’s death, when you could literally watch the same events only hours ago if bingeing the season. Indeed, the show uses the same footage from Dis-Moi Oui in the montage of events as the investigator reads the results. The only benefit to this storyline would be to show how it continues to haunt William, but Hope Street seems mostly focused on Mohamed’s reaction to the investigation. It seems as if the show wants to get through as many plot points as possible before the finale, because the episode quickly shifts again from the conclusion of the investigation to the Queen’s Jubilee.

But sandwiched between these two moments is the development of William and Kate’s relationship, and his attendance at her now infamous fashion show. Their chemistry together continues to work, but it all feels a little perfunctory. Kate at least provides a nice sounding board for William to confide in about his fears and insecurities. Though there isn’t much mystery about their relationship, there is a nice moment later on as William feels pulled towards attending the Jubilee, rather than getting to know Kate and her family. The crown always comes first.

I have no idea what the show will tackle in its final hour, and while Hope Street came together nicely in the end, it packed in a bit too much to be considered great. The Crown can do spectacle as well as just about any other prestige television, and the final moment on the Buckingham Palace balcony with all of the royal family members together was a sentimental and understated moment. Which lane the finale chooses to go down, as well as what the subject matter will be, remains to be seen, but it’ll feel like a bit surreal to finally see this grand experiment it come to an end.