Downton Abbey

The popularity of this series is too great for me not to be skeptical. I've seen many great period series, among the best of which I consider The House of Eliott, which is in a similar vein to Upstairs, Downstairs, of course. For someone who thinks they've discovered something new in Downton, it's a bit striking, but if you strip away the general hype, it remains a fairly watchable show about what happens above and below stairs. We'll revisit those developments in British society after 1912 and, if we hang on, we'll also relive the many adventures of the Roaring Twenties, which of course were not as tumultuous as one would hope. But that's why we have other stories, set among the middle class or the artistic elite of continental Europe or North America. (02/18/2019)

It really hasn't been easy to give this series a chance, but years later, after the hype had died down, I found some time for Downton Abbey. I don't particularly go for "good old England," but this is a little extended arm of The Forsyte Saga, The Remains of the Day, and Gosford Park, so it's not all that unique. It's just a nice relaxing nothing. If you like to spend time in the early 20th century, you won't mind this. Next time, feel free to read the same genre in book form and maybe you'll understand the magic of light period reading. (04/02/2018)

In Season 2, we lived through the horrors of World War II with the Abbey, several decisive social changes, and found out who was happy to return to the old ways after the war and who wasn't. We also got romance for the master of the house, for the darlings from the world under the stairs, and for many others. Only Lady Mary always pretended that her love life was the most demanding of all. Regardless, one of her sisters had an affair with a married worker, while the other married a political activist. Granny, played by Maggie Smith, got an apt storyline here and there and we all finally breathed a sigh of relief when the Christmas special went well. And now let's move on to the next season. (04/09/2018)

How good is Season 3 of Downton Abbey, you ask? It goes with the times. The first post-war years are full of changes in thinking, fashion, economics, and in every conceivable aspect of life. It's a joy to see the fashion of the early 20s on members of a high society family. Lady Edith is simply blooming, Mary is newly married... and interesting things are also happening among the lackeys and maids. Everyone has their own little drama or stimulus. There's prison drama and a guest appearance by Shirley MacLaine. If anyone was tired of secession or the trenches, now they will find what they are looking for. Only the final film is different - it has a Scottish flair for a change. Of course, the next season will continue in the style of the Roaring Twenties, albeit in the English style. Anyway, the important thing is that they are already talking about going to the movie theater, not just the circus. ;) (04/16/2018)

It's hard to believe that Season 4 is so modern. Edith writes for the newspaper, Mary chooses between new suitors, and Downton hosts a young relative from Scotland who is a true frog of her time. A visit to the royal court is about to take place, and new blood is bubbling under the stairs... but there are also downsides. Unplanned motherhood, and a racially mixed family. It's as if we've run out of general themes and our friends at the BBC just wanted to remind us that virtually nothing has changed in the last hundred years. After one world war, one world has disappeared and there is no going back. We need to spread our wings and let the modern age flow. (04/28/2018)

I'm really enjoying the year 1924 in this series. Indeed, the urgency of political change, the impact of war, and other major dramas have all passed. It's finally time to get to know fashion and culture. People were going to the movies to see the John Barrymore movie Beau Brummel. Lady Mary attended the truly great show in London as if she was in The House of Eliott. :) The estate has a radio for the first time and all the women wear heavenly costumes. Relationships are also becoming more and more civil and it's a joy to see. Season 5 is nice and relaxing. The only thing that resembles the shadow of politics are the nostalgic friends of the grandmother from pre-revolutionary Russia, but they just passively pass through the estate... Luckily. Next time, we'll be saying goodbye. (01/02/2019)

The first few episodes were very routine. It would seem that the development of some characters has been forgotten and conflicts are being re-created where they were resolved long ago. Then, suddenly they started coming back, long since mourned, and the whole thing started to cycle into itself. Oh, the sacred memories of Lady Sybil! Lady Mary, for a change, had a suitor with an interest in motoring, and Lady Edith was still dealing with the drama of her unacknowledged child, with the gap between old and new widening under the stairs... Yet I admit that the final drama of how much of a bitch Lady Mary is reawakened my curiosity. It's really not easy to choose Downton as a darling show where especially high society women should be loving every minute of it, and then face the fact that the main character is utterly vain, uninteresting, and awkward in every way. Fortunately, Lady Edith's stories from the milieu of her magazine are much better, and the cohort of characters in the immediate vicinity also entertains. Including the touching story of a broken homosexual and Karl Marx in a chef's apron. Yes, I'll probably never see a historical saga from the first half of the 20th century without preconceived stereotypes, but I can hope, can't I? I'm also not worried that there won't be a sequel. At least the film has already been announced. (02/19/2019)