Downton Abbey
We recently got onto the Downton Abby bandwagon. For months I had heard lots of good things about it from quite a few people, so we decided to give it a whirl. In the two or so weeks since we started, we’ve watched an episode a night. Considering we haven’t really watched more than 3 episodes of TV a week since the baby was born, that says something.
It’s hard to peg exactly what’s so engaging about the show. It’s done very well, the actings good, the sets and costumes really pull you into the world. But that can be said for a lot of shows. There’s not much in the way of action and the drama is very silly in some ways. But that’s kind of the point really. It’s a show about people and people are silly about their drama. The setting itself is also far more interesting than you would think on first inspection.
The era around World War I is something that is not well explored in popular history and culture here in the US. Everyone knows a lot about WW2 but the first war is arguably the more important, historically. Aside from it directly leading to WW2, it also serves as a major transition point in at least most Western societies. The war didn’t cause any of these changes, it can be argued the changes were partly to blame for the war itself, but it did accelerate them.
The show reminded me a lot of Ken Follett’s “Fall of Giants” which I just recently finished reading. Aside from just Follett’s masterful story telling, it focused on many of the same things, though in greater detail. Life went from something set and fixed for everyone, to completely different in a few short years.
In some ways, the changes that occurred during this period are being reflected again now, 100 years later. Probably not at such drastic level, though that will be for history to judge. And hopefully not at such a terrible cost. With luck, our societal shift will come with much less blood shed.
Now, the show does have some elements common to TV which made some things fairly predictable. Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen it. We’ve just gotten a start on season 3 and I was pleased to learn that this was the most recent release. We’ll be completely caught up with the rest of the world in a few days.
I’ve managed to avoid major spoilers but before we started I did learn a few things about whats coming up, which is unfortunate. I prefer surprises. But I do know at least two characters die. My money is currently on Matthew and Mrs. Hughes. We’ve gotten far enough in the season for her to have a cancer scare and it be declared benign. This suggests that she lied and its malignant or we’re just dealing with early 20th century medicine.
As for Matthew, it’s pretty obvious someone is going to die in a horrible car accident. He bought a shiny new car at the start of the season and there was an off hand comment about cars being the safest way to travel. It might be someone else in his car instead but since he’s the heir, drama would suggest he has to die. But will Mary be pregnant before he does? Maybe but probably not.
Now, for what’s already transpired, the Anna/Bates story started out nice and I really liked those two. But it kind of dragged on a little long. The show has covered an era of eight years so far, that’s a long time for a courting. Which isn’t to say it’s unrealistic. The whole jail thing almost feels a little much. Bates is the whipping boy for the show.
The Mary/Matthew thing almost was the same way but it worked okay. They finally ended the will they/won’t they aspect before it went to far and became annoying. The whole bit where Lavinia dies was a bit too convenient though. It was nice that they made use of the Spanish Flu, since that’s a major world pandemic most people never hear about.
While the extended time frame of the show does have some unfortunate repercussions, such as dragging the Anna/Bates story, it is also very much part of the shows charm. Instead of sticking to a very small window of time, this allows them to more fully explore the societal changes that are occurring. You really get a sense that things have changed between 1912 and 1920.
I highly recommend the show and look forward to finishing the last season. Then I’ll have to wait a year for the next season just like everyone else. 🙁
