So I’ve only done this for one episode before, but I think for this season, I would like to compose episode reviews for Downton. It’ll give me an excuse to return to writing, however sporadic. I don’t pretend to be so self-important that people might give a damn about my opinions and viewpoints in the sea of DA reviews, but if you got a little extra time to spare, you can read these little droplets if you choose. Apologies, this one’s long, but the US ran two episodes together for the premiere, the others should be shorter…but might not be as I tend to be pretty verbose. I think it goes without saying, there are spoilers ahead.
Though spoilers from the UK airing last fall had disappointedly seeped through the binary codes of the world wide web, nothing could have prepared me and undoubtedly the 10.2 million viewers in America who tuned into Downton Abbey’s premiere episode last night for the rollercoaster of emotions we were about to endure.
We rejoin our beloved Crawley family with the Abbey and dear Lady Mary’s heart swathed in a cloud of gloom and grief as recollections of Matthew’s gruesome death come flooding back to us: images of his mangled body crushed by a car and Stewie in tears- oh wait…apologies, that was Brian Griffin's death. On the fringe of the estate, cousin Isobel matches Mary’s sullen mood but remains tragically self-removed from the family and her grandson, an absence so prolonged that even cousin Violet attempts to draw her out, seeking her old friend and punching bag. Conversely, life for everyone else has marched on through the loss of Matthew, though with a similar air of devastation, we learn Lady Grantham is forced to get on without a lady’s maid for at least a few weeks in the wake of the sudden departure by O’Brien; suffering paralleled only by being stuck at a snowed in airport with a dead cellphone battery (thus first world problems of the 1920s were born).
Mary’s insurmountable bereavement has left an affectless porcelain shell of the softened, gleaming, even at times pleasant lady we once knew in season 3. Michelle Dockery emotes that cold, steely knife-in-the-heart loss with painstaking perfection. This causes the audience to not only forgive Mary’s transgressions as she returns to her icy demeanor from season 1, nay, above and beyond Super Bitch classification when slamming Carson to the floor, but leaves a tear or two in the corner of our eyes when she collapses in his arms later in the evening. However, we won’t deny the fact that we reveled in Carson’s unfaltering stance against her suffering when she had attempted to pull that superiority card.
Yeah, boom Lady M, boom.
Along with Carson, many of the family members rally to pull Mary from her own abyss, but face the shield of the ever-protective Lord Grantham as he not only works to guard his grief-stricken daughter, but operates under the thinly veiled objective of keeping her an arm’s length away from the estate. Once (reluctantly) open to sharing the throne with Matthew, Lord Grantham appears to struggle with the concept of making room for not only a female, but his own daughter in the running of Downton. Though we’ve been jolted back to misogynistic years in seasons past, the shock still elicits agitation and the urge to backhand the archaic mule, especially when he attempted to cut Mary at the knees during dinner following the revelation of Matthew’s potential will. And the urge to backhand didn’t stop there.
From a proleptic butler who ruined poor Molesley’s chance at better suited employment to Carson’s stoic response to a broken shadow from his past; from Thomas’ inexhaustible feud against the Bateses with new pawn Edna to a classist nanny who verbally abuses dear little Sybbie. Even, for a first, Lord Grantham had taken the word of someone else against Bates and reproaches him for his wife’s alleged mistreatment of O’Brien’s replacement. Yes, the evening left me roiled and ready to take each and every one of them down in a UFC cage fight.
But, the evening was not without its warm and fuzzy moments, and no, I am not referring to each and every moment my fake TV wife Michelle adorned the screen (well, yes, actually I am) but in addition to, we had the endearing Mrs. Hughes multi-tasking in rescuing poor Charlie Grigg and simultaneously cousin Isobel, as well as patching up Carson’s pock-marked past with his old friend and still finding time to put on an apron and rescue technophobe Mrs. Patmore. Likewise, we had the at times brash Mrs. Patmore show the depth of her consideration and love for Daisy when trying to protect her heart during a potentially devastating Valentine’s Day (yeah, my mom sends me cards to make me feel less alone too).
Continuing with the noble Bates who shows no hesitation to ask the Dowager Countess for money to pull up Molesley from his despair. Then dear Edith, throwing caution to the wind for an ounce of happiness, toes the line with Michael Gregson, becoming slightly more daring, on the cusp of becoming a woman of ill-repute and earning my respect. Little Rose raised Sybil from the dead with her adventurous spirit, even going to a
Given that these two episodes were aired separately in England, I imagine the flurry of climaxes in the combined plots were not as overwhelming as in the US premiere. For whatever reasons, be it time restriction on PBS or for dramatic emphasis to come back with a bang, I felt weary after the showing (and my bladder ached as apparently PBS has not discovered the wondrous world of commercial/potty breaks). Grateful to be immersed yet again in the world of Downton, I look forward to future (and shorter) episodes to see where Mr. Fellowes leads this family, which, I am also grateful to say, has more drama than my own. And that’s quite the accomplishment, though we’ve yet to receive Emmy nods ourselves, I can almost guarantee we shall see some Hollywood gold for this season.
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