Comments | shanghaiedinla: Auld Lang Syne

shanghaiedinla

Auld Lang Syne

Jan 02, 2013 17:48

“I’m not shocked … just stunned, and desperately sad.”

[Downton Abbey S3/CS 2012 Spoilers Ahead]

These were the words of Downton Abbey’s Mary Crawley in S2 to Matthew’s erstwhile fiancée, Lavinia, when they learned that Matthew’s war injury would prevent him from fathering children or, as Matthew himself so delicately put it, being “properly married.” The CS 2012, an episode that ( Read more... )

m/m, michelledockery, anna/bates, danstevens, allenleech, mary/matthew, television, joannefroggatt, julianfellowes, daspoilers, downtonabbey, a/b, marycrawley, meta, brendancoyle, matthewcrawley

Comments 48

ext_1583544 January 7 2013, 23:58:38 UTC

Wow. This is the best discussion of this episode that I have read. I think DS is a fool to leave. My understanding is that it was not a long shooting schedule and others, MD, seemed to be doing other projects as well. I saw DS in The Heiress. He was good, not great. His performance was a little off the mark for me. But, maybe it's harder to plan an American when you are not. The 1949 movie is better.

shanghaiedinla January 8 2013, 07:32:23 UTC

I and others made similar remarks in the comments section of his Telegraph column yesterday (you should read the column if you haven't already ... it riled a lot of folks up). What exactly is he leaving FOR? None of the reasons he's given publicly seem to account for the fact that DA requires the least commitment of anything else he could be doing -- particularly if accepted their offer to come back only for 2-3 episodes per season; he's not independently wealthy and needs the work; and other than promoting Summer in February and shooting the WikiLeaks film (which he appears to have rather a minor part in) his 2013 calendar looks clear. Just doesn't add up, does it?

As for his performance, he didn't get stellar reviews. The national press liked it better than the NY press. But he wasn't singled out as being memorable.

Thanks for commenting.

ext_1584064 January 8 2013, 10:01:45 UTC

I think my main reservation with DS's departure is how he has stranded DA dramatically. In all three series he has had this big build up as the heir, the man who will save the Abbey and with his new, progressive ideas at least try to ensure that he hands it on to his son in good order. The least that JF could have done as a writer was end on a high - the baby,M/M happy, Robert happy knowing the succession was assured. That JF said there was no other way to end Matthew in my opinion reveals many of his limitations as a writer. Why not send him to India with the Flintshires? arranging that might have been the whole point of the trip to Scotland. Now we are back with all the tension of the earldom and the Abbey depending on one fragile life, and lets face it, in many ways Robert is worse off than he was in 1912. At least then he had an adult male heir he could teach and mould. Now he has a baby grandson who he's probably not going to live long enough to teach and influence in the way he wants. I am not at all hopeful about series 4. ( ... )

shanghaiedinla January 9 2013, 07:44:21 UTC

Thanks for stopping by ( ... )

ext_1584758 January 8 2013, 17:34:51 UTC

Agree with Sarah especially that series 3 should have been the last. My father who has his own small business always told me that many things in life always boil down to business decisions and in the end, I wonder if plenty of the story lines in series 3, the CS and the projected series 4 are a sop to the lucrative overseas market.

I've always thought that there's nothing wrong ending Downton with the new parents holding their baby and looking very happy and content. Or what about a final scene in the CS fast-forwarded to say the mid or late 1920s with Matthew & Mary as earl and countess surrounded by their children and in the final words of countless fairy tales "living happily ever after"? It would be a win-win situation - DA ends on a high and fans are kept happy.

This comment was very interesting:

Over the last few days, I've wondered if Stevens' friendship with Benedict Cumberbatch might have influenced his decision. After all, Cumberbatch has had some choice comments about Downton Abbey. Maybe he persuaded Stevens it was time ( ... )

shanghaiedinla January 9 2013, 09:33:39 UTC

I agree that in TV no one seems to learn the lesson that it's best to go out on top, leaving the audience wanting more. Everyone overstays their welcome. But then, we assume that the industry considers this a "mistake" when in fact I think it's quite intentional. DA has a lot of goodwill built up because of S1 and S2. And JF, ITV, Carnival/NBC Universal and PBS will milk it for all it's worth. Good decision? Artistically, no. Commercially, yes ( ... )

rms1977 January 9 2013, 18:25:58 UTC

There's no doubt Downton Abbey is at its peak in the US and especially in Hollywood. If you need any proof, just look at the ratings for the season's first episode. The show drew an astonishing 7.9 million viewers compared to 4.2 million last season. That's an amazing jump and suggests to me word of mouth has been the key driver in Downton's American success. I know I loaned my copies of the first two seasons to friends several times this past summer ( ... )

shanghaiedinla January 9 2013, 21:02:07 UTC

That's unless he saw Vamps as a big success.

LOLOL! And it's astonishing, isn't it, that DS had better things to say this year about working on Vamps than he did DA?

Movies and shows that might have been ready to promote him as "Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey" may feel it's safer to look in another direction.Sadly, I think it will have a far greater (negative) impact on the show than it will his career. However, I certainly don't think it will help his career. Rather I don't think it will have much impact one way or another. I think, in the long run anyway, he will have the career he would have had if he had stayed another year. The problem is, I think he's overestimated his appeal in terms of having a big film career. And after the comments he made about not enjoying the vagaries of shooting a TV series, any creator/writer or casting director for a show here would I hope think twice before casting him. Besides, what kind of appeal does he have as a morally ambiguous protagonist or antihero (which are the roles he covets)? None. He' ( ... )

Thread 7

ext_1583544 January 10 2013, 02:29:32 UTC

Who is Cumberbatch? That Sherlock fellow who looks like a horse? Plus, why listen to someone with a name like that for career advice? Talk to Clooney. DS's career will be fine, according to his American agent. Not great, according to me, but fine.

I don't like how DS's blog dragged in our American porches. Don't drag an American institution into your tawdry career moves, DS. Oh, and while you are admiring America, DS, take a page from a great American writer, Ernest Hemingway, and tone it down.

As far as DS tweets, he's doing funny things with his name and chasing away haters...that's such a wonderful way to cultivate a fan base. DS, you made your bed on the porch, now man up and deal with it.

The one actress I think has carried herself well in all this is MD. Of course, I will watch S4 for her and hope she gets some great moments. She strikes me as fairly humble and appreciates what the series has brought her.

shanghaiedinla January 11 2013, 08:56:32 UTC

Plus, why listen to someone with a name like that for career advice?

Touché. :-)

Talk to Clooney.

I agree. THAT is a model for making the transition from a hit TV drama to film. He stayed with ER for I believe at least 5 full seasons -- and those were 22-episode seasons. He came back occasionally to reprise his role when asked. He's never said anything but complimentary things about his time on ER. He had a legitimate film career -- not just a fledgling one -- when he left, having already done several feature films. Everyone knew he was leaving; he didn't taunt fans about his future.

It's like night and day, the difference in the ways Clooney and Stevens handled their respective departures. In fact, I think it would be difficult to find an actor in the States who would be sympathetic to Stevens' reasons for leaving DA when he did and in the manner he left.

legalease January 10 2013, 06:21:40 UTC

I am here via eolivet and I just wanted to let you know that you have perfectly vocalized my problems with DA and why I won't be watching S4. I hope you don't mind, but I have linked your post on my Tumblr account. You explained the arguments in my head that I wasn't able to get down on paper (or computer keyboard!). I also will not be watching S4 and for me Downton Abbey ended with 308. I have not seen the CS and I have no intentions to watch it. I have no idea if DA has a future beyond S4, but I take heart in the fact that the UK ratings for the CS were significantly lower from last year and I eagerly anticipate the U.S. fan reactions once the CS has aired on PBS. Regarding Stevens, considering he has few prospects on the horizon, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he tries out for the U.S. pilot season. Where he'd be going from a U.K. TV series highly popular in the US to a US TV show that may or not make it past its first episode. Sigh. I really, really do not get this guy.

shanghaiedinla January 10 2013, 09:02:17 UTC

Thanks for stopping by. Of course you can link this post -- I don't mind at all. (What is your tumblr URL, BTW? You can PM me, if you like.)

One day though ... perhaps when the disappointment is not so raw, I would encourage you to see the CS for closure (but not on a major holiday, LOL -- still can't quite comprehend that decision). The M/M scenes prior to the last two minutes of devastation are beautiful. And as eolivet so beautifully put it herself, "if you could spend 90 more minutes with a loved one, wouldn't you take it even if you knew how it would end?" But believe me, I do understand how you feel ( ... )