Madly in Love with Downton Abbey!
Last Monday I turned on my telly around 5 just to see what was on and I caught a snippet of something on PBS. Are those Edwardian dinner gowns?
Unfortunately, I only caught, what I found out later, was the last 20 minutes of Downton Abbey's episode 3. I didn't get enough to gather what was going on, only that this Mary character seemed like a real bitch, some sort of sad romance between two servants, hubub about a flower show and the cook was going blind. I then hungry watched episodes 1 and 2 online, and gobbled 3 the following day. Since I couldn't catch it last night, I just finished the rebroadcast of 4.
I could not help but be enamoured by the beautiful scenery, realness of the story and it's characters and of course, the frocks. I knew on the surface that servitude was a good and respected position for a lower class person, but I didn't know how much and how much pride those people took in their work. To us modern day Americans, and middle class Matthew Crawley, dressing another person for a living sounds ridiculous! But to those doing the service and those recieving it, it is very important. But, some of those who dedicated their life to it have second thoughts, and it's only natural. Even much-hated Thomas is right when he says "why do we have to live through them?" But the upper crust who rely on them are indeed human as well, complete with flaws however benevolent they may be. It's just very fascinating to me to watch a lifestyle that vanished long before my grandma was born.
I'm very excited to see what the next season will bring, even though we'll probably have to wait a year (foo!) War has just been declared, who will go to war and how will it change the dynamics of the upstairs and downstairs? Who will get married and who will break up? Are there new alliances to be made? Oh, a year is too long to wait!
As for the characters: I realized that Mary isn't quite as much of a bitch as I first pegged her,but she's still an overindulged brat. On the other hand, I feel that perhaps she was born 10 or 15 years too soon. She's a beautiful and spirited woman who seems to be very afraid of the confines of marriage; she dislikes the path that her station in life is directing her, but I doubt she would be happy with the alternative. She uses her beauty and wit to hurt others and to get what she wants, and she's been long overdue for a comeuppance. Maybe Matthew's canning of her will do that and have more affect on her than Edith's outing of her to London society.
I felt sorry for Edith at first, and in some ways, I still do. She's the less pretty middle child who cleanly adheres to what's expected of her. Can you almost hear her saying "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!" when it comes to her older sister? She seems ignored by her parents for the most part. I also wondered if she was coming on to Mary's rejects to show her sister that she could get a man rather than she really had an interest in them. Talk about a sibling rivalry! I've read some fan boards, and there's a lot of flak against Edith, which I think is unfair: compared to Mary, she's less of a catch and her resentment probably stems from that and Mary's flaunting of that. I think she did really care for Sir Anthony, and despite her betrayal to Mary by sending the letter to the Turkish Embassy, I believe that Mary sabotaging her was horrible and I feel bad for her.
Lady Sybil, for all her refreshing idealism, is still a child. I have a feeling in the next season, she'll have a lot of growing up to do. She's just too innocent. I did really dig her Harem pants outfit, though! Some folks want to see a relationship between her and Branson, but for their sakes, I hope not. But, times are a-changing!
Lord and Lady Grantham don't interest me as much, but I find their relationship loving and beautiful nonethless. Aside from some snide comments from Dowager Grantham, I don't know much about how they got together, but I am very curious! Especially about Lady G's pillow talk about how he didn't love her until a year after they married! Ah, Dowager Countess Violet. "What's a weekend?" How can you not love her? It's Maggie Smith playing her for god sakes'! Her rivalry with Mrs. Crawley is so much fun!
Matthew doesn't interest me as much as the young ladies and the servants do, but I liked watching his change from a middle class man bristling at his new lifestyle to coming around to it.
I dig all the downstairs folk, even the nasty ones. Thomas is all around nasty and selfish, but can you blame him--he's homosexual in an age where he could be killed for it! Of course he has to be selfish in some ways (though this doesn't allow for his theiving and lying; and I did have some sympathy for him when Napier trashed him). Folks want to see him sent to the front lines, but he'll weasel out. I really couldn't stand O'Brien either, but I think her behavior in episode 4 has revealed that she does have a soul and feels guilt. Of course, I'd love to see Anna and Bates have a relationship beyond what they have, but it'll take a while since they're so honourable. And William and Daisy would be cute together. Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Bird really cracked me up at the end, when they united as cooks against the poor housekeeper.
Anyway, I love this show-- a well written, realistic, perfect blend of humour and drama, all tied up in a pretty Edwardian package.