I have watched this show religiously from the get go, but sometimes I think its politics is so obviously, unbelievably icky. Take Branson's progression this season. (Last season he was simply boring: The setting? The garage, where Branson is buffing the Renault's hubcaps. Enter Sybil. Talk talk talk. Exit Sybil. Rinse. Repeat.) He starts as the eye-roll-inducing, soup-chucking, incredibly boorish Irish Republican and is basically civilized by the great house until he's in his cricket whites in a group hug with Matthew and Lord Grantham. I think someone on Slate said that scene would only have been improved if it was a freeze frame ending like in CHiPs. The whole thing is kinda gross. It's just such an obvious caricature of a leftist, one that's so tired and obvious that I'm just surprised Fallowes would make those decisions with that character. Then there's Lord Grantham. I was so relieved when I found this piece in the Times, because it perfectly put its finger on what bugged me about him: I will of course continue to tune in. I love my stories, of course. But it's funny to me that this one has become a cultural touchstone (I felt the same way about Stieg Larssen). I can think of half a dozen Masterpiece imports that have been at least as soapy and not quite as ludicrous as this one. I can't wait for next season with more "modernizing the estate" hi-jinks! Whee!
After reading more about this kind of estate and especially how things changed around WWII, I'm pretty sure the only way they can end this series is with them having to leave Downton, no longer being part of the aristocracy that defined them at the start of the show.
So I see that after Castellan of Winterfell, the position of Head Butler of Duneagle is the next step up the Gruff Manservant career ladder.
My wife was describing the season finale to me earlier and I honestly couldn't rolleyes hard enough. This show is probably going to have an entire section of tvtropes.org dedicated to it when all is said and done. Blech.
Man, they love bringing in attractive maids, getting them attracted to house members and then getting them sacked. (in the firing sense) Downton, we need to keep them around for things other than love interests!
Bloody hell this show is boring, does anything ever happen? This coming from someone who watched Brideshead Revisited and Upstairs Downstairs as a lad with my history major mum.
Things happen. Like, uhm... that one thing. And that other thing. Who am I kidding, it's mostly just a bunch of rich people talking and DRAMA.
Nothing much happens, but my wife and I still quite enjoy it (she is still in denial over the last Christmas special), I am not sure why. Maggie Smith's one-liners certainly help!
It's trashy fun. Don't think about the politics and especially don't look into Julian Fellowes unless you want the series nearly ruined by his.
I've got the DVD's of season 2, and my favorite part of the little "we needed extras for the DVD to justify you paying this much" documentary is this interview with one of the shows period experts, a guy named Alistair. He relates in very serious and enthusiastic fashion, how he saved the day in a scene by noticing just before they started filming that one of the military badges or bars was for a campaign that hadn't happened yet! Oh my the scandal if Lord Grantham had some random war patch he shouldn't!
