Downton Abbey - Am I Missing Something?

[RoJoHen]

Entertainment need not require depth.

[Gov Kodos]

I want a crossover with Absolutely Fabulous.

[Samurai8472]

The ending of the christmas special(yes I found out it was the Christmas special. PBS called it the season finale) was predictable

As soon as something good was happening I was anticipating that truck. Matthew was TOO happy.

In shows like these when someone is too happy there's tragedy around the corner.


Matthew- OH I'm so happy! Nothing can go wrong!

*TRUCK!*

Seriously, it could be a tv cliche.

[Nerys Myk]

It is. Whenever two vehicles are shown expect a crash. Especially if it's night and it's raining.

Anyone notice how much Allen Leach (Branson) looks like Anthony Andrews?

[Caligula]

Reminiscent of Victoria Principal's exit from the original "Dallas".

[cardinal biggles]

Except, thankfully, Matthew is 100% for real dead. There won't be any drawn-out melodrama involving a body double that very obviously isn't Dan Stevens wrapped from head to toe in bandages.


edit: Also, this image has been making the rounds on Facebook:

[Nerys Myk]

I wouldn't miss O'Brien.

[cardinal biggles]

They know that. That's why they'd probably whack someone we all like, like Mrs. Hughes or the Dowager Countess.

[Samurai8472]

I want a doctor who crossover with Downton Abbey

Isobel Crawley- Isobel Crawley, widow from Manchester England

The Doctor- Yes I know.

cardinal biggles wrote:

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Except, thankfully, Matthew is 100% for real dead. There won't be any drawn-out melodrama involving a body double that very obviously isn't Dan Stevens wrapped from head to toe in bandages.

1920's plastic surgery will reveal Matthew has a new face ala Micheal Knight

[auntiehill]

Nerys Myk wrote:

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I wouldn't miss O'Brien.

I loved it when O'Brien met her evil twin in Scotland. Oh, wait....that would be just "twin" in her case.

[Serial thread killer]

http://tvfilmnews.com/downton-abbey-...love-interest/

Downton Abbey Officially Casts Lady Mary’s New Love Interest!

I was hoping Edith would get some love in series 4 but never mind.

[auntiehill]

I would LOVE to Edith shine on her own, go out into the world and leave her family behind. She deserves to be a success on her own--man or no man.

[Samurai8472]

A spin-off with her in London at a newspaper office.


I was thinking with Matthew's plans to update Downton he would have fired some of the staff to cut back costs

The season would end with Carson and Mrs Hughes out of a job.

[Nerys Myk]

auntiehill wrote:

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I loved it when O'Brien met her evil twin in Scotland. Oh, wait....that would be just "twin" in her case.

The twin didn't stand a chance. O'Brien made short work of her.

[The Borgified Corpse]

Nerys Myk wrote:

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Anyone notice how much Allen Leach (Branson) looks like Anthony Andrews?

Not really.

auntiehill wrote:

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I loved it when O'Brien met her evil twin in Scotland. Oh, wait....that would be just "twin" in her case.

"Ugly twin" is more like. I was immediately struck by just how dour, frumpy, & unattractive most of the Scottish people were. If Julian Fellowes does have an agenda with this show, I think it might be something anti-Scottish.

Samurai8472 wrote:

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A spin-off with her in London at a newspaper office.

I was thinking with Matthew's plans to update Downton he would have fired some of the staff to cut back costs

The season would end with Carson and Mrs Hughes out of a job.

I'd like to see a spin-off with Mrs. Hughes & Mrs. Patmore running a bakery or a hotel or something. I suppose you could have Mr. Carson in there too.

Here is my review of the Season 3 finale:

Sybil's death was sad but not altogether unexpected because you could tell that the writers had run out of ideas for her after she married Branson.

But I fear that Matthew's death may be a crippling blow to the series. I felt that he was, for the upstairs portion at least, the key point-of-view character for the series. I mean, the show started with his arrival as the new heir. Theoretically, the show could continue without him but I think it would be rather like Northern Exposure without Joel Fleischman.

Also, without Matthew, I kinda see the family falling apart. He's the only one that even remotely understands where Branson is coming from. He's the only one that's been able to take the edge off of Mary's bitchiness. He's the only one that seems able to stand Isobel. He's the only one that likes & respects Edith. (Interestingly, he was also the only one besides Edith that knew that her new boyfriend is married.) And, I suspect he would be the only one with the right firm-but-fair temperament to be able to handle Rose.

Oh, and as if Matthew's death wasn't enough of a Jump the Shark moment, they've also added a rebellious younger cousin. Isn't adding a new young cousin a standard Jump the Shark cliche (i.e. Cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch or Olivia on The Cosby Show)?

Honestly, this has kind of soured me on the entire series. I deliberately avoided the repeat of the episode last night. And I kind of regret recommending the show to some of my friends now. (Considering how badly one of them reacted to the ambiguous downer endings of Angel & Veronica Mars, I expect the fallout from this to be severe.)

I'll still watch Season 4, if only because I still like most of the downstairs people and I'm hoping for a happy ending for Edith. (But why isn't Daisy living on the farm yet? Mr. Mason gave her a very generous offer and she bloody well better take it.) Plus, I have a morbid curiousity for how the show could possibly function without Matthew.

Oh, and early prediction: Lord Grantham is suffering from early stages of arterial sclerosis. That's why he's been more irritable this season and has shown such a colossal lack of business sense. You read it here first!

The only thing worse than this is that the British viewers got this lump of coal dumped in their stockings on Christmas! Jeez, and I thought Doctor Who's "Voyage of the Damned" was rough!