downton abbey

Yes, I have a slew of other posts to report on, but Downton does not wait in line. Downton elbows its way through the line and demands to be written about *right away*. So here I am with my gut reactions to this week’s happenings at Downton. This week was actually another fairly solid outing for the show. Things happened, and they were things we generally care about. What a concept! Although for some random reason, the writers have decided even pets are fair game when it comes to Downton. (Either that, or they realized that in dog years, Isis […]

I just about had a heart attack last night. Denisa coaxed me into sitting down to watch Downton again, and I prepared myself for the worst. What could they do to me this time? My gut told me Schoolmarm would come back, arm in arm with Art Dude, and the two of them would wreak havoc on a Downton party while Rose made googly eyes at a new butler, Mary did a table dance, and Edith sat in the back, sighing and looking mopey. Par for the course for this season, right? I was stunned–stunned–to discover an actual decent episode

Really, at this point it’s beginning to feel almost too easy to point out the (many) flaws Downton is coming up with this season. It’s like they’re trying to see how little they can have happen. Like maybe the writers were sitting around the table one day, and one of them bet the other he could make the series go at least three episodes without having one single noteworthy thing happen. And then the others laughed and decided to give it a shot, and this is what we get. Actually, as I write that, I realize I’m wrong. It’s not

Now granted, I’m sick. I’m also in and out feverish, so it can certainly be argued I’m not “with it” at the moment. But I don’t think I’m so far “out of it” to not be able to realize that nothing is going on in this show at all right now. Nothing. Zilch. Zip. If you want an example of a TV series that does a whole lot of nothing over 45+ minutes, then look no more. I can’t think of a single plot that was really advanced at all. All we had was a nice retread of all the conflicts

Episode three is now in the record books, and I have to say that as much as I’ve been waving the flag for Downton to scale back on the over-the-top drama and shenanigans, after this week, I couldn’t help but wish they hadn’t taken me quite so literally. Think back on this episode. What happened in it? Anything? Nope. Each and every plot line just sort of spun its wheels for the episode. The characters didn’t do a whole lot of anything, and after all was said and done, I wondered what in the world the writers thought was happening