Downton Abbey: The Good and the Bad

By: James Southworth

Earlier this year, I saw the trailer for the movie "Downton Abbey". I had been aware that the TV show was popular and beloved, and had always had a mild interest in watching it. The movie trailer increased my interest even more. So, I decided that it was about time I watched what is probably PBS's most popular show they've ever made. I had the expectation that I would get a show that was a bit of a soap opera with a lot of poking fun at the British high class. In some ways, I was right. However, this show really managed to surprise me. It does have its share of melodramatic moments, but overall, "Downton Abbey" is a rather great TV series with a very compelling cast of characters. It also has some surprisingly good commentary on class relations and how controversial issues were treated in the time period of the early 20th Century.

I will say that the show's first three seasons are slightly stronger than the last three seasons for the most part. From the beginning, this show does a great job at establishing what it will be like. We get to see how both the upper and lower class lived in this time period. This movie is set at a powerful house led by Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. He believes it is his sworn duty to keep the Abbey running as well as it possibly can, as it is a great source of employment for the Yorkshire area. Robert's father had monetary problems running the estate, and so the area was in financial trouble upon his passing. Because of this, Robert married Cora Levinson, a rich American heiress, whose money is put into the Abbey. The Crawleys have three daughters: Lady Mary, Lady Edith, and Lady Sybill. This makes Robert have to find a male heir to the Abbey, as in this time it was not allowed for there to be a woman heir to such a powerful estate. Overall Season 1 of the show is great, and ranks among the best the show has to offer. We get to witness a levy of great characters right away, and it was easy for me to be compelled by nearly all of them. It was a smart choice for S1 to make John Bates the sort of main character, as he is new to the Abbey, and so we get to experience things in his eyes. He is not always the main person of the show (that turns out to be primarily Lady Mary and Lady Edith in later seasons), but he still remains to be one of the most fun characters to watch. To talk about this show is talk about how the classes related to one another. This season more than any other really highlights class disparities. The rich characters are excessively rich, and the lower class are needing to work constantly in order to earn their wages. For both upper and lower classes, men are treated in higher regard than women are. Show creator Julian Fellowes shows the effects of a patriarchal society repeatedly, and he also shows the effects of a heavily class-divided Britain. He doesn't shy away from people's varying viewpoints at the time, and I really respect that.

Season 2 and 3 are where the show is at its strongest, in my opinion. Season 2 works well because of it being centered around World War I. Downton Abbey ends up being a place where wounded soldiers are taken care of, because the local hospital simply can't hold them all. I think I appreciate this season a lot because it shows how the war really changed things about how Britain runs, and in effect, how Dowton runs. We see in this season how traditionalist people are, both upper and lower class. Many are uncomfortable to change. Those that are enthusiastic about things changing are not necessarily looked highly upon. This season actually does a fairly good job of balancing its dark war tone with other subplots. After rejecting Matthew's first proposal, Mary is realizing that she does in fact love Matthew, but she can't really do anything about it since he's in the war, and is now engaged to Lavinia Swire. I do not find Mary and Matthew's romance to be overly melodramatic at this time, as it makes sense why Mary wouldn't want to be with him initially. In fact, most of the many romantic subplots in this show are not insufferable (with a couple exceptions, which I'll get into later). There are so many great character moments in this season, but I'm going to talk about characters in more detail later on. Season 2 has a somewhat unsurprising occurrence of Lavinia dying to the Spanish flu. I knew they would probably do this in order for Matthew and Mary to finally be together, but the death feels like it was built up to well. Season 3 is probably where this show is at its strongest. It has some of the biggest moments of the show, and actually surprised me in what it did with one character. Mary and Matthew are finally married now, and their relationship is a real delight to watch. What is the real meat of this season is Bates's experiences in prison. It's really quite intense to watch him deal with corruption in the form of both his cellmate and other cops. Matthew has some powerful character moments here as well, as he struggles with whether to accept Lavinia's inheritence or not, but finally comes to the realization that it's what she would have wanted. Then, a big surprising moment happens here when the youngest of the Crawleys, Lady Sybill, dies from eclampsia. Once again, this death doesn't feel melodramatic; it feels built up to. Nevertheless, it was a surprising death for me, as Sybill was a rather significant part of the show, and her death affects the way the rest of the show plays out significantly. It seems everyone is affected by the death, most primarily the Crawley family and Sybill's husband Branson. This death has a huge weight put onto it, and I appreciate that the show doesn't just forget about it in future seasons. Though Season 3 as a whole is the best season of the show, its ending death did feel like it was meant for just cheap shock value. After Mary gives birth and it seems like everything is going well for the Crawleys, Matthew dies in a car crash on the way to Downton. This death did not seem like it was logical, and almost seems to undermine the character arc the show was building for Matthew. The death was surprising, I admit, but it was not as effective as Lady Sybill's.

Season 4 really struggles in its beginning episodes to adapt to the loss of two major characters. I think that maybe Matthew's death should've been waited on if that was the plan from the beginning. S4 is definitely the weakest of the show. We also see the leaving of a key working class character, Mrs. O'Brien, who never actually gets to admit what she did to Cora (if you watched the show, you know what I'm talking about). Lady Edith unfortunately is unable to get love for the third time in the show, as Michael Gregson (who was easily my favorite of the people Edith fell in love with) dies to some of Hitler's Brownshirts. I will admit that, unlike Matthew's death, this one had a compelling reason for it happening. I think what this season does best is its commentary on sexual assault, as we see how Anna has to keep her rape secret for fear that she will be ostracized by society. The commentary cuts deep, and is what keeps this season afloat. Season 4 also benefits from the addition of Lady Rose, who is perhaps one of the most fun characters of Downton Abbey as a whole. Season 5 is a bit of an improvement over Season 4. However, I did find the love triangle between Lady Mary, Lord Gillingham, and Charles Barke nearly insufferable to watch at times. It's probably the weakest romance plot in the whole series, as it's entirely obvious Mary isn't going to choose either of them. What does work romance-wise is Lady Rose's engagement to Atticus, which brings about effective commentary about how Jews were viewed at the time of the show. I appreciate how the show, once again, pulls no punches and makes the audience uncomfortable with characters' prejudices. Lady Edith proves to be a great character in the second half of the show, especially in her struggles to keep her child Marigold (who was conceived out of wedlock, a truly scandalous thing in the 20th century). Season 5 ends on a great note as Mr. Carson proposes to Mrs. Hughes, something that it feels like was being built up to from the very beginning.

Season 6 ends Downton Abbey on a very high note, as the show goes somewhat back to the basics of Season 1. It does feel a little nostalgic in that regard, and works as an effective bookend. There isn't as much over the top melodrama here, which feels right. Instead, the focus is how times are changing, and the way that Downton Abbey is running is old news. The ways of these high class people are out of fashion, and reductions in staff have to be made. In this season, we see the younger folks flexible to the change, while the elders like Lady Grantham are sticking more staunchly to tradition than ever before. What works best about this season is character interactions/arcs finally being wrapped up or coming to a head. Mary and Edith finally have the argument that they probably needed to have from the very beginning of the show. Thankfully, this leads to them resolving their differences, and Edith is even able to be happy. Lady Grantham and Isobel Crawley's friendship is as delightful as ever to watch. Robert and Cora become stronger than ever in their marriage, vowing to respect and love one another in these changing times. Isobel is finally able to be with Lord Merton, probably one of the most touching relationships in the show. Anna and John Bates have a child, which feels so earned after all the misery both of them had to go through. Mr. Moseley gets a full-time teaching position, and Thomas Barrow seems to finally be able to be happy with himself so he can be a good person to others. Mr. Carson, due to age, has to basically retire, but can still serve Downton in other ways, and him and Mrs. Hughes are able to be happy in their marriage in this new time.

Sorry if this review is getting a little long, but there's just so much to say about this show. I now want to talk about many of the great characters/performances. Even in the weaker seasons here, the cast is pretty much pitch perfect. It took me a bit to warm up to her, but I do think that Michelle Dockery is good as Lady Mary. I would've probably preferred someone else be the main character, but she was solid enough. She was a slightly weaker link, but some really strong moments from her made her a character easy to watch. On the other hand, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith is consistently excellent in the show. She has a challenging character to deal with, and she handles her many arcs with grace. But easily my favorite of the upper class characters is Maggie Smith as Lady Grantham. She does almost too good of a job at playing a snobbish, elderly, upperclass woman. I love her line delivery, as she is able to deliver some of the most witty, laugh out loud dialogue of the whole show. She is very funny, but she isn't without her touching moments. Grantham feels fully realized in every way. I think my favorite character in general is probably Allen Leech as Tom Branson, who is endlessly interesting to watch. He's the character who debatedly changes the most as he goes from a radical socialist who disagrees a lot with the Crawleys to a more somber, but still politically strong, character after Lady Sybill's death. I really think Leech does a great job at handling these transformations, and he does a good job at building intriguing relationships with other characters. Brendan Coyle and Joanne Frogatt are very easy to root for as John and Anna Bates. They're the couple with the most chemistry on screen; their love for one another is genuinely touching. Even though Branson is my favorite character, I have to say Robert Thomas-Collier probably has the strongest performance throughout the show as Thomas Barrow. He does a really good job at making you alternately despise and feel sympathy for his character. Collier does a good job at making the audience understand why his character acts the way he does, and we root for him to finally be happy. It is so nice when that finally happens. Other highlight performances of the show include Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes, Jim Carter as Mr. Carson, Lily James as Lady Rose, and Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley (Who I really wish had been in the show for its full run time).

While "Downton Abbey" isn't flawless, it's still an excellent show. Its studies of class relations, as well as its never-ending supply of great characters, is what really makes this show work. When something big happens in the show, typically it is not forgotten and effects the characters. Character arcs are built up really well, and everyone feels like they are where they should be at the show's conclusion. Even if there are problems here and there (mainly in S4 and S5), the good of this show vastly outweighs the bad. In fact, it might be enough to make this one of my favorite shows I've ever seen. If you haven't seen "Downton Abbey", check it out. You won't regret it!