Showing posts with label Downton Abbey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Downton Abbey. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - ,, No comments

Downton Abbey Season 4 Review

I'm a little behind the curve when it comes to Downton Abbey reviews. The last episode in the United States was broadcast two Sundays ago.


The fact that Season 4 wasn't my favorite hasn't stopped me from watching the "Christmas Episode" over and over again for the last two weeks. I can't figure out whether it's because of the new locale or the special guest stars or the wrapping up of several threads that makes me appreciate it the most.


But I'm getting ahead of myself. I came a little late to the Downton Abbey party. It wasn't really until Season 2. They were running some episodes on PBS from Season 1, and I think I caught the last part of the last episode. It left enough of a cliffhanger that I decided to check it out next week. With Season 2, I really fell in love.

I had to check out season 1, so I would understand the relationship between the characters, especially the sisters of Mary and Edith.

I have loved to see the scenery from this stately home. I've loved seeing the fashion how it's changed over the years, and I mostly love watching the development of the characters.


 This season it just seems like they ran out of gas. They started repeating plotlines, and the characters seem to be stuck. Naturally, we want some things to remain the same about our favorite characters, even the ones we love to hate, but we don't want them to remain static. Life is about change.


They did try one different story line. Naturally, I hated it. The beloved long-suffering character, Anna, was violently raped. I found that particularly upsetting, but that's more of a personal preference thing. I find it hard to watch violence against women. However the way the producers justified it was that they wanted to explore a woman having to go through that experience. Unfortunately, they didn't do that. It became about how it emotionally affected her husband and making sure he didn't do something foolish in response.


The last couple of weeks were less objectionable, and of course, we continue to have the house and the fashion to look at, even if it was a bit boring and repetitive story line wise.

Now, we're on to the US season finale and why I keep watching it. They do have a lot of characters close together in a town house. And you know what they say, familiarity breeds contempt, and there's quite a bit of contempt, especially between Violet and Cora's mother, Martha. Where there's contempt sparks fly!


Of course, the show is Downton Abbey and therefore the house actually has the starring role in the series. So, I guess I consider the London house as Downton South. There's a whole new house to explore. There are all the parties. There are, what I consider, the really inaccurate characterizations of Americans namely Cora's mother and brother. However the actors are really fabulous, and they seem to be able to make the most of their limited scripting.


As a bonus, Daisy gets to have a little romance. I'd really have to say though the the main draw is seen the "coming out" custom of the young ladies. They have been talking about this since the beginning of the series in one form or another. I've been curious. Then there's also seen the staff in a new locale. For the final scene, they even get to go to the sea even though Mrs. Hughes had to do some heavy duty manipulation of Carson to bring it about.


Julian Fellowes, the writer/creator of Downton Abbey really hasn't written a television show before, as far as I know. He has primarily worked in film. He hasn't had to creatively come up with this volume of material.

Maybe this season was a learning curve. I've heard some talk how Julian is working on a US version Downton Abbey, so maybe his focus is divided. Bottom line is that a 5th season has been approved. They're working on it now. If they haven't started filming it yet, they will soon.

Perhaps, the 5th season will be better. Maybe they will finally allow Edith to have more than one night of passion with a man she loves.


Maybe, they will let Thomas be a little less of an ass. In any case we still get to see the house and what the ladies are wearing. I'm not ready to give up on it yet. I can always keep the sound down if I have to.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Friday, February 15, 2013 - ,, 6 comments

Downton Abbey 2013

Preconceived notions, anticipations, they're an interesting thing. Regardless of how hard we try, we can't keep from having them. I scrupulously tried to avoid all the preview shows for this season's Downton Abbey. I can tell you it was also hard to stay away from all the talk from Britain where it was broadcast in the fall.

Season 3's Cast Photograph

Despite all this I heard a snippet here and there. It ranged from describing the season as the worst of the three to the best of all. I didn't know what to expect, but I prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. Actually, I considered not watching it at all. Silly girl.

It's terrible to say, but I found Shirley MacLaine's performance a bit wooden.

Fair warning: Spoiler Alert from here on out. ;)

I was pleased that they updated the maids uniforms to the 20th Century.

My biggest concern was whether Lady Mary and Matthew would finally get married.  It's not that I really care about these kinds of things so particularly. However, from the very beginning they've been teasing us with a "will they or won't they" kind of game. After half a dozen impediments, I was going to be very upset if they were going to try to string us along much longer.


Shirley MacLaine & Maggie Smith, could be the battle of the Titans!

You can imagine that I was on pins and needles until they finally got through the ceremony in the first episode.

Mary & Matthew, married at last.

After that, I've been enjoying it quite a lot. My only "real" objection is a loss of continuity across the seasons in one particular area. Back in season one, an "older" gentleman, about the age as the parents, was fixed up with Lady Mary as a potential suitor. She found him boring, and Lady Edith went after him. Sibling rivalry ensued, and no one got married that season. But, at the time Sir Anthony was a perfectly acceptable suitor.

Some new staff this season. This one reminds me of  Simon Baker from The Mentalist.

Six years later and after a war that was particularly lethal to Britain's young men, Sir Anthony is back in the picture. He did suffer from a permanent injury to his arm from the war, and that was sufficient to tip the scales to make him completely unacceptable as a husband for Lady Edith. She forced the issue, and they got all the way to the church.

At least Lady Edith got to wear her wedding dress.


But, it seems that Sir Anthony couldn't stand the strain and left Lady Edith at the alter. It was one of those, "I love you too much to allow you to be burdened by me." I just don't get it. Besides, in that day and age, I would think that a May-December romance would not be such a big deal. In this case, it was more like a May-September thing anyway.

The only thing that I could think of is that Edith is the middle child, and she seems to have had more than her share of "middle child" grief from her parents. That's the only internally consistent way that they can get away with their arbitrariness, but it was really pushing it for me. Not that I have an opinion or anything. ;)  Luckily, that story line ran itself out a couple of  episodes ago.

A little mugging for the camera.

Now, I'm just enjoying the ride, but I don't get to enjoy it for much longer. This Sunday is the season finale. Luckily, my VCR has been working very well. If you want to catch up, you can still watch most of the episodes on the Masterpiece Classic website, through at least March 3, 2013.

And  yes, they've already green lit season 4. :)

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - ,, 5 comments

Downton Abbey


I'm probably the last person to finally get on board with this British Edwardian Era period piece, but I'm already instantly addicted. It's only in the last couple of weeks that I was even able to pull in my local PBS station.

I was trying to figure out why I avoided Downton Abbey last year. It wasn't because I didn't have access. Even though I was deep in thesis writing, it was the winter break between semesters, so I even had access to cable and everything! lol

Yet, I remember purposely avoiding it. I heard the buzz, but I was getting some kind of negative vibe. You know how people can pretend to like something "artistic" because they're "supposed" to like opera or modern art? That's what it sounded like to me, like people were trying too hard. I also had a bad taste in my mouth about the last couple of Masterpiece Theater selections that I'd seen. There was a bit too much child abuse and child exploitation. I'm aware of it, but I can't watch that kind of stuff for entertainment.

But I digress ... The show is set at the country estate of the fictional Earl of Grantham. It follows the lives of its residents including the Earl, his wife, and his three daughters as well as the many household staff.


I could tell you that the house is magnificent, the costumes stunning, and that it is "beautifully photographed."  All of that is true ...



But those things did not drive me to the Downton Abbey website at PBS to see if I could watch the past episodes. It was the story and development of the characters that made me stay up to the wee hours of the morning as I caught up and came to understand why the people treated each other as they did.

One of the things that I liked was watching the relationship between family and staff. The fact that there even is a relationship depicted seems rather unusual for one of these films. What that does for me is humanize everyone. It helps me to have sympathy for Lady Mary, despite all of the despicable things she does, when she arranges for one of the staff to visit his mother on her deathbed.

Of course, it's terribly romantic. I am cut to the heart when two of the staff who are very much in love constantly have roadblocks put in their path. It's a wonder that I haven't gone through a box of tissue yet.


But it's not all romance. There's plenty of politics, economics, and intrigue that plays out on the screen though I'll admit that the vehicle for that bears a striking resemblance to romance. However, if you really think about it, it's really a social commentary about how women had to use manipulation because it was the only form of power they had over their own lives.


So, if you like that sort of thing, this is one of the best examples of the genre. Don't miss it. I certainly don't intend to.

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)