11 Reasons I Am Hopelessly, Helplessly Obsessed with Downton Abbey
11) The best rejection line ever: "One swallow doesn't make a summer."
10) Edwardian hats. Serious gorgeousness. I want them all, especially the fantastic mourning concoctions Maggie Smith gets to wear.
9) Evil characters who are believably evil. Like O'Brien and Thomas. (Normally I would be all over Thomas and his pretty, nasty self, but I can barely contain my loathing every time he comes onscreen.) Also, Edith (although I might just over-identify with Mary to the point that I have classified her as evil unjustly).
8) Maggie Smith being as dour as humanly possible. Ohmygoodness. Like the scene in the first episode when she shields herself from the electric lighting with a fan.
7) Branson. Somehow, they took the cliché lower class Irish revolutionary and made him into the world's most adorable chauffeur. He's totally going to get his heart broken, too.
6)PAMOOK. Whose name is shouted, hissed, and exclaimed at varying volumes with increasing intensity throughout the series.
5) Badass lady characters, in general. The women really carry this show, despite the many love interests, and I don't think it does poorly by any of them, even the ones who irritate me. They're all strong in their own ways, with their own flaws and insecurities. And! And! I can genuinely believe that they are Edwardian women, not 21st-century women in Edwardian garb, which is excellent.
4) Anna and Bates. Seriously, could they be any more adorable?
3) Sybil and her meddling, mischievous ways.
2) Matthew Crawley. It's basically true love. I adore every bit of his pompous middle-class self.
1) Mary has been placed among my favourite female characters of all time. I could write you essays about why she is awesome, and I still feel like I wouldn't express all of the reasons. I love that she's a snob and a perfect ice-bitch and vain and self-aware enough to realise it, but is also incredibly vulnerable and hurt and miserable. And that the writing never tries to excuse her behaviour, but makes her ultimately sympathetic anyway.
Ah! So much excellence!
10) Edwardian hats. Serious gorgeousness. I want them all, especially the fantastic mourning concoctions Maggie Smith gets to wear.
9) Evil characters who are believably evil. Like O'Brien and Thomas. (Normally I would be all over Thomas and his pretty, nasty self, but I can barely contain my loathing every time he comes onscreen.) Also, Edith (although I might just over-identify with Mary to the point that I have classified her as evil unjustly).
8) Maggie Smith being as dour as humanly possible. Ohmygoodness. Like the scene in the first episode when she shields herself from the electric lighting with a fan.
7) Branson. Somehow, they took the cliché lower class Irish revolutionary and made him into the world's most adorable chauffeur. He's totally going to get his heart broken, too.
6)PAMOOK. Whose name is shouted, hissed, and exclaimed at varying volumes with increasing intensity throughout the series.
5) Badass lady characters, in general. The women really carry this show, despite the many love interests, and I don't think it does poorly by any of them, even the ones who irritate me. They're all strong in their own ways, with their own flaws and insecurities. And! And! I can genuinely believe that they are Edwardian women, not 21st-century women in Edwardian garb, which is excellent.
4) Anna and Bates. Seriously, could they be any more adorable?
3) Sybil and her meddling, mischievous ways.
2) Matthew Crawley. It's basically true love. I adore every bit of his pompous middle-class self.
1) Mary has been placed among my favourite female characters of all time. I could write you essays about why she is awesome, and I still feel like I wouldn't express all of the reasons. I love that she's a snob and a perfect ice-bitch and vain and self-aware enough to realise it, but is also incredibly vulnerable and hurt and miserable. And that the writing never tries to excuse her behaviour, but makes her ultimately sympathetic anyway.
Ah! So much excellence!