Downton Abbey: Season 4 (2013)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• Mrs Hughes can be really hardcore when she wants to be (looking at how she helped Branson and handled Edna – very cool, very brutal).
• How much Mary has grown into a more business-centric woman, it’s very good.
• Obviously Cousin Violet is right up here again, the woman still makes me laugh, and was probably the best thing aside from Tom in this season.
• Green getting paid back for his heinous crime. I really didn’t think the show would go through with that story arc, but then they did, and holy crapsticks, that was intense.
• Carson and Mrs Hughes have always been quite close – but it seems that they are (pretty please) getting closer, sort of romantically? Oh, pretty please! Can you tell that this is something that would make me very happy?
• How Cousin Violet and Mrs Crawley are actually quite fond of one another, yet neither will ever, ever admit it.
• How much the times have changed from when the show started to where it is now – the way of life for everyone is changing.
• How Tom is still grieving for Sybil, but doing his best to find a way to cope. Also, after everything, he has still not written off his humble roots, and never treats the servants like crap.

What I didn’t like:

• This Edna story still being in circulation. Could she just back off of Tom Branson and leave it at that?! Ugh, she is a vile creature.
• How this season never really found its legs. It seemed lost and confused, and like it had no idea which direction to take after Matthew’s death.
• Speaking of – he was dead six months and Mary was already coming out of her shell slowly with other men. Not being funny, and yes, she must be happy, but really, this was just a bit much for me.
• The histrionics of this season – they never, ever stopped. I mean every season is dramatic, for sure, but this season felt like such a drag, and that I wasn’t a very big fan of. Oh well.
• Thomas. I swear, he will never stop irritating me. The sly snake. I know that the show tries to give us a human side to him every now and again, but it falls flat cause I just know better than that, and we have always seen his worst side.
• Mrs O’Brien just running off in the dead of night. Yes, that suits her character and all, but just abandoning Cora does not – she was very fond of her.
• The way William handled the Ivy/Daisy situation, and then goes back to Daisy in the end, as though that is okay. Please. Not cool. You don’t get turned down by one then run for the other.
• Mrs Crawley still annoys the heck out of me. For reals. Add Sprat (Cousin Violet’s butler) to that list – the man has no manners, and even Cousin Violet thinks he can be rude to those that are not on society’s good list, and that is saying something.
• Cousin Rose is quite the annoyance, if we are being honest. I did not like her inclusion in the story, and her character is spoiled and bratty and entitled, and I cannot stand it. Ugh. And she tries to get under her mother’s skin, and being so spoiled she doesn’t even care if Jack Ross gets hurt in the process, as long as she has gotten back at her mother.
• Edith and Mary are back to being super nasty to each other, though both are lost in their own grief, that’s what makes this what it is, though no less acceptable.

Rating:
Well. I didn’t expect to get such a bland season, but there we have it. Not bland in the sense of no drama, because goodness knows that there was overkill of that, but this season was just not nearly as good as the others, and it was certainly not my favourite. It was quite a drag to get through.

For one, we get more of Cousin Rose, and her spoiled nature and air of entitlement get under my skin right quickly. Plus she is just so annoying and squeaky and whiny. There was the whole story arc with the black singer, Jack Ross, and I would have supported that romance wholeheartedly if it was not just a device for her to make her mother mad. He did not deserve that, and loved her enough to let her go to not be a pariah in society, and that speaks volumes to me about his character. Then there is this whole thing of Mrs O’Brien fleeing in the dead of night. Sure, that is how her character would work, but I just cannot see her suddenly dropping Cora in the lurch – she was so loyal to that woman. Oh, well, I guess that is what it is.

Matthew being gone was horrible, and Mary certainly wasn’t doing well, but I was pleased to see Carson, Cousin Violet, and Tom banding together to draw  her out of her shell, and if definitely gives us a whole different Mary to work with – a girl who is smart, using her brains, and actually doing something with her life other than changing dresses, attending dinners, and being courted. Sadly, though, that brings us back to Edith and Mary swiping at each other all the time, being ugly to each other. I had really hoped we had moved on from this. Also, Edith really has no luck in the world, and her courtship with the married Michael was bad enough, but when he disappeared and left her pregnant? By golly. I think I am also starting to accept in this season that we will never, ever be rid of Thomas. For reals. It sucks. What a pest.

Goodness, I was stoked to still have Tom Branson around, you all know  how much I love him, but the drama here! That Edna snake irritated the crap out of me,  but I was pleased to see how Mrs Hughes stepped in to handle that situation. I mean whoa lady, well played! I will always appreciate that, while Tom has moved up in the world,  he does not treat anyone like less than him. What an admirable trait. Also, I really liked seeing how Cousin Violet and Mrs Crawley were together in this season. That is the sweetest, strangest little actual friendship brewing there, and it entertains me. I felt so bad for Mrs Crawley after Matthew passed, and I must say she is less grating here again as the mother in mourning than she has been the last few seasons.

Anyway, another jam packed season to be sure, but one that let me down on so many levels. This season struggled from the get go to find its feet, and made it a chore to get through. There was more drama than you could shake a stick at, and there were times I felt like it was all just too much. I don’t really have all that much to say about this, to be honest. Oh well. Hopefully next season looks up again.

Downton Abbey: Season 2 (2011)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• The stark differences shown between wartime battlefronts and then the jarring peace that is experienced in other places (such as at Downton).
• The relationship between Lady Mary and Carson.
• Sybil and Branson – I have always liked this pairing, because it does not fit in with the times, so it gives it a dangerous edge. Plus they just look gorgeous together. Granted, the show takes forever while dancing around this thing, but Findlay and Leech have fantastic chemistry, and I was rooting for them from the off.
• How much Edith has improved. Goodness, what a piece of work she was in the beginning! She has definitely gotten better, though I am still no fan of hers.
• Cousin Violet does have a heart, though she never, ever wants that part of her to be seen. A big scene this was evident was when Daisy and William were getting married, and she was crying, but passed that off as a bad cold. Silly woman.
• Lavinia Swire. I know we were (technically) supposed to hate the girl, but she was so pure, so good, so sweet, that you could not help but like her, and feel for her when Matthew was so obviously still in love with Mary.
• That Christmas episode was absolutely fantastic.
• Daisy and Mr Mason – so sweet.

What I didn’t like: 

• Cousin Isobel just peeved me this season. Last season she was some annoying comic relief – this season she was a control freak, nasty, pushy, and just plain down rude. No love for that.
• How Lady Mary can really just be a spoiled brat (this is specifically looking at how she handled the whole Carson not joining her and Sir Richard at their new home).
• This whole Robert Crawley scenario with the housemaid, Jane. I was not a fan of that at all, and felt it was most uncalled for.
• Thomas being back. The man is so evil, cowardly and underhanded and annoys me endlessly!
• Ethel and her whole pregnant, baby, can’t work thing. I know it sounds cold, but she made a stupid decision, and is holding everyone else accountable for it. She’s also pushy to boot.

Rating:
Seriously addictive show! We start up with the war in full swing, and it seems that everything is changed. Downton is still functioning, but with minor changes. Bates is still gone, and Anna’s heart is still broken, and it sucks. Times were certainly different, as this season showcases how desperate all the men seemed to be to serve in the war to show their loyalty to the country, no matter what. Robert Crawley was especially offended on being a “mascot” and that he was not going to be sent to the front, while William was prepared to leave his father just to join the effort.

I was highly unimpressed to see Thomas back so soon, and evidently that slippery snake has not changed his ways. Maggie Smith, as always, entertained me endlessly with her aversion to technology, and the way she dealt with both the telephone and the gramophone was, naturally, hilarious. Only Carson is her equal when it comes to technology!

Sybil made me so happy this season, as she was really in her element, having studied to be a nurse and caring for people. She was respected. Branson hanging around was awesome, and I was thrilled to finally see their relationship progress to something. I was not a fan, however, of the subplots that came in and ended without really giving much closure. For instance, Robert being a total twat and having that affair with the maid was something that horrified me, I always thought he was made of sterner stuff, and they dance around it and then the maid leaves. Done. Poof. Gone. No more. Really?! After the entire fuss that was kicked up about it, I would have assumed more. Also, for instance, Patrick returning. That was a thing and then bang, all gone. Oh well.

Mary’s new beau was definitely a smarmy and nasty character, and I was not impressed. Matthew, of course, is still just pure perfection for me, and I was so sad when he was so terribly wounded at war, I could not bear to think of him wallowing in such a depression, thinking himself less a man because of his wounds. But holy joy for us, things changed! Yay! I am really starting to get worried about Carson’s health… his heart just doesn’t seem able to bear things anymore. Mrs O’Brien, still sly as a fox, has definitely changed her tune quite a bit at times. She is still cold and cruel, but she is no longer as bad as she previously was when she was with Thomas, and her loyalty to Cora is astounding.

I must say that Cousin Isobel really just worked on my nerves this season, it was not as amusing as last to watch her. The way that Downton was totally changed was interesting and frustrating in equal measure, because there was some extreme amusement to be found there, but there was also things that were irritating. Again, the divide between the rich and the poor was highlighted fully here, with the rich being more concerned about some of the space being used up as opposed to the assistance that was generated.

As much as Mary peeves me, I actually really just want her and Matthew to be together, because he does love her. Too much. It was sad to see the way the whole thing with Lavinia Swire went, but it did clear the path for them to be together. Edith has changed a lot, and with all her flaws and all she is no longer deadly nasty and cruel as she was before. I was terribly sad, then happy, then worried, then depressed watching the whole Bates/Anna story. Finally he gets shot of his wife, everything is smoothed over at Downton and he returns, but then his wife dies and Bates is in trouble, and he marries Anna and is then arrested… good gracious me, not happy times. Oh my goodness, again there is just far too much to talk about here and just not enough space! Go watch this, immediately, maybe then we will all be on the same page about it!