Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'Downton Abbey' returns to PBS for season 2

Class barriers start to come down, but the storytelling gets soapier

By Alan Sepinwall Thursday, Jan 5, 2012 9:00 AM

Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle) and his Anna (Joanne Froggatt) in season 2 of "Downton Abbey."

Credit: ITV

It happens all the time: someone will ask me to suggest a new show to watch, and I'll name a title and start describing it, and about 10 seconds in, the other person's face will curl up and they'll say, "Oh, I'm sure it's great, but I don't want to watch a show about high school football," or "I don't want to watch a show about a guy who cooks crystal meth," or "I don't want to watch a show with spaceships and robots and clones." And I'll shake my head and lament that they won't be able to see what I saw in "Friday Night Lights," "Breaking Bad" and "Battlestar Galactica."

But even I'm not immune to that line of thinking, as I discovered last year when PBS' "Masterpiece Classic" debuted "Downton Abbey," a drama about the masters and servants at a large English country estate in the years leading up to World War I. The social mores and problems of the landed gentry have never held any interest for me, and when faced with a crush of other material to watch with more appealing subject matter, I passed on "Downton" and moved on. Even rapturous reviews from most of my fellow critics wasn't enough to sway me, and I imagine they would have looked at me the same disappointment I feel at the people who didn't want to get to know Coach and Mrs. Coach.

Then on a whim one sleepless night a few months after the series debuted in America, I put on the first episode just to see what I was missing. And I kept watching all through the night and into the next day, eventually coming to three conclusions:

1)The craft of writer Julian Fellowes and his directors and actors was top-notch. This was a show that had as meticulous an eye for detail and as sharp a wit as, say, "Mad Men" brought to the early '60s;

2)The material about the servants - particularly handicapped but stalwart valet Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle) - was endlessly fascinating to me;

and

3)Despite the high quality of the work by all involved, I still couldn't have cared less about most of the material about the noble Grantham family, as they tried to maneuver around a tricky inheritance law requiring a male heir when Lord and Lady Grantham had only daughters.

And that third conclusion finally made me empathize with the people who didn't want to watch "Breaking Bad" or "Sons of Anarchy" or "The Sopranos" because the subject matter was too great a barrier for entry. There was very little that Fellowes could have done with the upstairs part of the series to make it more engaging to me, even as I could see that it was good.

Still, I liked Bates and the other servants enough that I was very happy to get screeners of the first six episodes of "Downton Abbey" season 2, which PBS debuts Sunday night at 9. (A Christmas special wrapping up the season aired in the UK last month, but PBS didn't send it to US critics for review.) And having again marathoned a "Downton" season in short order, I came to two conclusions about this batch:

1)By having the Granthams interact more with the world as the events of the Great War begin to knock down class barriers, I was vastly more interested in what those characters were up to the second time around;

and

2)Despite that, this is probably a weaker season of the show overall.

On the first point, Fellowes takes the upstairs story in a natural progression from last year. Season one was about the last days of a particular kind of living for aristocrats like Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and daughters Mary (Michelle Dockery), Edith (Laura Carmichael) and Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay). We had to see them in their natural habitat, living as they always had and worrying about the same old rules and regulations so we could better appreciate what a shock to the system it is when many of those rules cease to matter.

So while new heir Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) is off fighting in the war, Downton Abbey itself is converted into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers. Sybil takes a keen interest in nursing - and in the family's socialist chauffeur Tom Branson (Allen Leech) - while Edith tries to figure out a purpose in life. Even Mary, the most traditionally-depicted sister, winds up dating a newspaper magnate (Iain Glen) who has enough money to move in the same social circles as her family, but none of the obsession with proper decorum.

This was all, to me, much more interesting than watching the Crawleys run around and try to figure out how to get Matthew to propose to Mary, and most of the nobles seem much more human this season than last. As Robert's mother Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, Maggie Smith gave arguably the best performance in the entire first season, but Violet was so rigid and orthodox in her thinking that I never much liked her. Here, circumstances force her to at least acknowledge that the world is changing, even if she doesn't much want to change with it, and her presence seems much warmer as a result.

But both the upstairs and downstairs storylines feel choppier than they did in the first season. The new season takes place from 1916 to 1919, but it's hard to get a sense of how much time is passing for the characters. Developments that should feel natural to these people and their situations instead seem to come out of nowhere to generate drama. Bates has to get out from under the thumb of his cruel, manipulative estranged wife so he can marry his beloved housemaid Anna (Joanne Froggatt) in a story that feels particularly soap-ish.

And "Downton Abbey" is a soap opera. So, frankly, is "Mad Men." But both shows at their best are executed so well, and also have such interesting things to say about class and culture and emotional longing, that the soap operatics flow well with everything else. Here, you've got deathbed confessions of love, possible resurrections, hidden pregnancies and every trope short of an evil twin. The ideas behind most of these developments are fine, but they get thrown at the viewer so haphazardly as to require dramatic organ music when each is introduced.

"Downton Abbey" is still a fine, handsome entertainment, and if you inherently like this sort of thing more than I ever will, I imagine you'll be very happy to return there for the new season. But even though my biggest obstacle to fully appreciating the series started to come down this season, the show has suffered in other ways.

Alan Sepinwall may be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

----

NOTE: While "Downton" season 2 has aired in its entirely in the UK and some other countries, the spoiler policy on this blog says that if it hasn't aired yet in the US, it's a spoiler. So those of you who have seen the whole thing (including the Christmas special, which I haven't as yet) can certainly weigh in with your opinion on it all, but any discussion of plot specifics is not okay and will be deleted. I won't be doing weekly write-ups of this for a number of reasons (not least of which is the knowledge disparity between the different audiences), but will come back after the season ends on PBS so we can all discuss things in great detail.

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle

Sandy

Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary is more than enough reason to watch. She's a great actress
January 5, 2012 at 10:51AM EST Reply to Comment
- RP I agree. I was re-watching the first series last week, and thought that all the Lady Mary stuff would have been ridiculous with a lesser actress, but Michelle Dockery sold it really well -- enough to make me care about her stupid #firstworldproblems.
  January 5, 2012 at 12:02PM EST
- Hudders #firstclassproblems
  January 5, 2012 at 12:16PM EST
- Vanessa Totally agree. I think Lady Mary is actually the most complex, best developed character on the show over the two seasons. With a worse actress, her character would just be one-note. I love Dame Maggie Smith (seriously, who doesn't love her) but in terms of both best character and best acting, I think Michelle Dockery deserves a LOT of credit.
  January 5, 2012 at 10:07PM EST
- Lemora Martin A first rate actress can be better than her material, and Michelle Dockery knocked my socks off. I wondered why the execrable Keira Knightley got cast in so many film roles in recent years that MD would've handled brilliantly, were she not too tall for the likes of Johnny Depp, James MacAvoy, and other shrimps. Does she do mostly stage roles? I've seen Season 2 and the Christmas Special. I've also read a detailed synopsis of Season 3 and...Whoa Nelly! If you think Michelle D. has been called upon to give gravitas and credence to some improbable and/or ridiculous dialogue/situations, wait until you see what is in store for Mary! I can't wait until Season 2 is over on PBS and we can discuss the whole thing in detail!
  January 7, 2012 at 8:59PM EST
- Jennifer Lemora Martin, you've seen a detailed synopsis of season *3*? How's that possible?
  January 8, 2012 at 5:33PM EST
- Lemora Martin This is in reply to Jennifer. You can find it by Googling Downton Abbey Season 3. Then click on HubPages.com. It should come right up. But, Be Warned: There are major spoilers.
  January 10, 2012 at 12:39AM EST
nic919

Is PBS airing the Christmas special as part of Season 2?
January 5, 2012 at 11:08AM EST Reply to Comment
- Jeff Holmes I don't see any way they can't, as it contains important plot.
  January 5, 2012 at 11:42AM EST
- nic919 Having seen it, I don't disagree, but the PBS listings don't make it clear that they are airing it.
  January 5, 2012 at 12:33PM EST
- lt PBS is airing the Christmas special as part of season 2. It will be the 7th and final episode, airing on February 19.
  January 6, 2012 at 4:00PM EST
Jeff Holmes

I have watched the entire second season including the Christmas Special. I agree with Alan's review, but I will say the Christmas Special functions (to me at least) as the true season finale. It's not a one-off as I expected it to be, and it moderately improved my opinion of the second season as it advanced some plot lines (e.g. Bates') quicker than expected.

I'd be interested to hear Alan's take on it and how it changes his view of the second season.

January 5, 2012 at 11:40AM EST Reply to Comment
- nmlop I agree 100%, Jeff. I am actually watching season 2 for the second time and could barely get through episode 3 (which in my opinion is the worst one - followed closely by episode 5). But a lot of the developments are redeemed by the Christmas special. It had some weak points, but yeah, made the whole season more cohesive and wrapped up. (And omg so much better than the Doctor Who special!)
  
  Great review Alan, made me think about some aspects of the show differently. I'm glad you're covering it this way!
  January 5, 2012 at 12:27PM EST
- jmr1948 Same here. I thought, mistakenly, that the Christmas Special was a one off. But it very importantly advances virtually every plot line. I also agree that this is ultimately melodrama, but great melodrama in the tradition of Dickens. I didn't realize how hooked I was until the last, unexpected development in the Christmas Special. I had such a strong emotional reaction. Won't say good or bad, just very powerful for me.
  January 5, 2012 at 4:14PM EST
- Cecil Battlewaithe Yes, at first I thought it was weird that they decided to frame the entire special within the surroundings of an "Upper Class Twit of the Year" competition, but it worked.
  January 5, 2012 at 4:24PM EST
- Genevieve I agree. The Christmas special redeemed season 2 quite a bit for me. I was a big fan of season 1, but the beginning of season 2 is choppier, and yet, dragging certain storylines. It was also soapier than I like my shows to be. Nevertheless, the Xmas special gave some resolution to a number of storylines so it felt worth the wait in the end. :)
  January 6, 2012 at 2:17AM EST
Tausif Khan

"I won't be doing weekly write-ups of this for a number of reasons (not least of which is the knowledge disparity between the different audiences), but will come back after the season ends on PBS so we can all discuss things in great detail."

I think that is fine but Dan should as he thinks it is one of his favorite shows. I understand he is quite busy during this time but I would think he would make time for his favorite show. Even if there were other things keeping you (Alan) busy I am pretty sure that you would still find time to blog about Terriers or Men of a Certain Age even though next to no one watched them. So I think it is important to feature shows at Hitfix where the masses can take part in the discussion as PBS is accessible to anyone with a television box. He (Dan) should be sharing why he feels that way. There is a lot to discuss in this series critically and is worthy of television critical blogging.
January 5, 2012 at 11:41AM EST Reply to Comment
Leon

With this show I'm one of those guys Alan mentioned. I like to think I'm a pretty open-minded viewer but I can't imagine I'd be into something like this, just not my speed. That said, I think the introduction to this review was finally enough to guilt me into giving the first series a shot.
January 5, 2012 at 11:42AM EST Reply to Comment
- Tausif Khan Anyone who thinks that Mad Men is a great show and is okay with Mad Men's pacing and tone should give this series a shot.
  January 5, 2012 at 11:48AM EST
- MoreTears @Tausif Khan -- I have seen all there is to see of Downton Abbey to date (Christmas special included), and I certainly like it, but it is far closer to being Pan Am than Mad Men. In fact, when Pan Am debuted and every US critic was going on about how Pan Am was trying to be Mad Men (which was poppycock) and failing, I was noting, mentally, that they should be comparing Pan Am to Downton Abbey, which had already been a big success on American BROADCAST television (but of course comparing a US and a UK show would be thinking too outside the box for critics). Like Pan Am, Downton Abbey is a populist, highly-Romanticized window into the past, with just as much of an emphasis on the superficial, crowd-pleasing tropes of soap opera drama. It is fun, but it is not a realistic exploration of its era, or interested in the less-obvious aspects of the human psyche, and it is certainly not artistically serious (three things that I believe ARE true about Mad Men, and raise it above the level of soap opera). Yes, Downton is better than Pan Am, but that is a difference in quality and not in essence.
  January 5, 2012 at 12:38PM EST
- nic919 The biggest difference between Downton Abbey and Pan Am is that the entire Downton Abbey cast is top notch and they can pull off cheesier storylines than weaker actors.
  January 5, 2012 at 10:04PM EST
- Tausif Khan @MORETEARS
  
  I wasn't talking about quality. In fact I am specifically avoiding a discussion on quality. I am talking about watching something that has a different tone and pacing than an action film.
  
  This is a problem I had with Moffat's Sherlock. It's tone and pacing was too jumpy and quick. It went with a lot of quick cuts and action. The highlighting of different clues in word form were particularly off putting. I felt the tone and pacing were more akin to a person accustomed to be a fan of CSI and other CBS alphabet soup procedural crime dramas.
  
  Mad Men is slow and contemplative. It allows people to focus visual communication as well as verbal and same is true of Downton Abbey. Neither show has a lot of action and is simply the exploration of the lives of individuals at a different time period than the present.
  
  Pan Am falls into the problem of trying to grasp massive audiences by having a singular story of the week like CSI and also having an action story line whether it is Kate Cameron's spy adventures (that last episode surely did end with a bang didn't it?) or Nazis invading France. Pan Am relies on big broad action to tell its story.
  
  Downton Abbey has also incorporated large events into its story but not to "say these are the people who changed the world" as Pan Am does but to say "these are the events of the world in which these people live let's see how they deal with these issues"
  
  Downton Abbey share more of its storytelling intent with Mad Men then Pan Am (as of the first season).
  
  As to your comment that American critics don't compare English shows with American shows I don't know where you got that idea as you are engaging in a conversation where an American has compared Downton Abbey to Mad Men. I also just compared Sherlock to American crime procedurals.
  
  In terms of professional critics they do it all the time to help American audiences understand or connect with an English program they are reviewing and help them understand the context of English programs.
  January 6, 2012 at 2:54PM EST
Tausif Khan

I ask this question seriously: Why has Hitfix dedicated two bloggers to covering True Blood when one of them clearly sees that there is no critical value left to covering it? That one of the bloggers believes that they should stop watching the program because it is so bad?

Why even though there is critical interest in Downtown Abbey does it get less coverage?
January 5, 2012 at 11:47AM EST Reply to Comment
- marilyn6@aol.com I assume they both have different views. I would even consider watching True Blood, so yes I agree, Downton is a equisite show. Dowager Countess and all that pomp and circumstance, it is really fun. They also seem to do well with one phone, that no one knows how to work. Charming.
  January 6, 2012 at 1:11AM EST
- Tausif Khan Dan Fienberg mainly posted his reviews of True Blood because the regular recapper took a while to writer her reviews (I am assuming the difference being Fienberg got screeners while the regular recapper didn't) and readers would get anxious to read about the show. I don't think they had the same perspective but letting readers read about the show early was the stated goal of the Fienberg posts.
  January 6, 2012 at 2:57PM EST
leocadio_penelas_gamusino

I completely agree with you about the soap opera-ish elements, which got ridiculous towards the end of the season, and how everything felt so rushed.
FWIW, I thought the Christmas special was the best episode of the season by far
January 5, 2012 at 11:57AM EST Reply to Comment
downbound

I've seen the whole thing and I would advise people to stick with it through the bad soapy elements because the Christmas Special is so good, it more than makes up for all of that.
January 5, 2012 at 12:00PM EST Reply to Comment
RyanT

I liked S2, though I probably liked S1 more. BUT the Christmas episode, for me, definitely "redeems" S2. Like someone said above, it's the TRUE finale to the season in almost every sense. Storylines are resolved. New ones are hinted at. And just... it's Christmas.

S2 MVPS: Michelle Dockery and Maggie Smith.
January 5, 2012 at 12:32PM EST Reply to Comment
fresser28

You're right, Alan. In S2 DA has graduated into full fledged soap but it's still miles ahead of any American equivalent.

It's funny; I hadn't realized how many much-loved series I refuse to watch because the subject matter seems totally alien, too depressing or completely boring to me. Despite the many friends who have urged me to see them, I never could get into The Wire (depressing), Breaking Bad (alien and depressing) or Friday Night Lights (alien and boring). And yet I've eaten up things like Downtown, Deadwood, Mad Men and Justified (all varying degrees of alien and/or depressing) with a spoon. Go figure.

It may have something to do with lead actors (I can never think of Bryan Cranston as anyone but Tim Watley and Kyle Chandler is one of the most colorless actors I've ever seen), but I think the real reason one attaches to a series is ephemeral. Something either grabs you or it doesn't.

January 5, 2012 at 2:41PM EST Reply to Comment
- fresser28 Sorry, DownTON.
  January 5, 2012 at 2:43PM EST
- Vanessa I love Friday Night Lights and Mad Men (although I think I'm in a minority in thinking that the latter's best two seasons were its first two...), but I feel similarly about the Wire. I watched the first season and it was very good but not re-watchable (and I have yet to pick up the subsequent seasons). I get the praise to some degree - it's absolutely realistic, generally well acted, and isn't dumbed down in any way. Just not my cup of tea.
  January 5, 2012 at 10:18PM EST
- Vanessa And just to further concur, I agree that Downton at its worst is definitely superior to most of what's on TV...I just stopped paying for cable and aside from football and the Good Wife, there's nothing worth watching on network television...
  January 5, 2012 at 10:25PM EST
ADM

Mary the most traditional? With the dead Turk in her bed?
January 5, 2012 at 3:34PM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall Her stories are the most traditional. She's the one stuck in "the marriage plot."
  January 5, 2012 at 8:12PM EST
canadadry

The Doweger Countess, well she is enchanting and very funny as Mary's grandmother. Her quote "what's a weekend?" the whole show is so ever satisfying . I can't wait till I see all of these actors and a brilliant series,
January 5, 2012 at 5:19PM EST Reply to Comment
canadadry

Write a comment...Leon don't beat yourself up. It is a fabulous show, but some ways , more for women. My husband loves it. Breaking Bad it isn't I don't think BB will air till this summer. I wish it comes sooner
January 5, 2012 at 5:26PM EST Reply to Comment
Craig Ranapia

"By having the Granthams interact more with the world as the events of the Great War begin to knock down class barriers, I was vastly more interested in what those characters were up to the second time around."

I actually felt the opposite - as if, in a funny way, the First World War was so serious it weighed down the story telling. And respecting your spoiler rule, there's a plot involving Lord Grantham in the back end of the season that came out of nowhere, was so far out of character you could hear the plot creaking, and went nowhere in particular.
January 5, 2012 at 9:31PM EST Reply to Comment
- Viginti While narratively that plot didn't eventuate I felt that it played an important role character wise, after all it had to have an effect on how he judged the actions of his different daughters.
  
  Could it have been cut? Sure, but I still think that it had its purpose, though I guess we can't say much more about all of that.
  January 5, 2012 at 10:02PM EST
- @Vignti: Without breaking the spoiler rule, that's a fair point I hadn't properly thought through. I just wish Fellowes had set it up and paid it off a lot better.
  January 6, 2012 at 12:51AM EST
- Canadianskeezix It was still a superior to the plot involving "possible resurrections" (to borrow Alan's vague wording).
  
  Some of the soapier plots in Season 2 were sillier than Season 1, and thus the overall quality of the second season paled somewhat in comparison, but nonetheless I'd say if one enjoyed S1 one would still S2. And I agree with others who say that the excellent Christmas special largely redeemed S2.
  January 6, 2012 at 2:10PM EST
- @Canadianskeezix: When it comes to frothy soapy ridonkulosity. nothing beats Lady Mary's Turk-killing vejayjay of Doom from series one. But in a weird way, I think World War One was a wet blanket - the campy melodramatics don't really sit well with mained soliders in the ballroom. :)
  January 6, 2012 at 2:33PM EST
Vanessa

I'm glad you decided to take a look at the show, Alan...as far as I'm concerned it's better than most of what's on TV now, even if season 2 wasn't as good as season 1. I actually found both the upstairs and downstairs components compelling in seasons 1 and 2. I think Lady Mary is a really interesting character and I liked seeing the challenges Matthew faced in trying to incorporate himself into the world of Downton Abbey. The acting, the ambiance and the storylines are generally fine (with a few exceptions), but the major problem in my mind was the jumpiness of season 2 (some of the cuts are rather jarring) and overly quick resolutions to plotlines that would have been great...had they just lasted more than 20 minutes. With better pacing and editing (and the excision of one or two egregious plotlines), this would have been just as good as season 1. Having said all that, I loved the Christmas special and it actually DID bring together a lot of season 2 (and suggest directions that I'm hopeful the show will take in season 3).
January 5, 2012 at 10:36PM EST Reply to Comment
marilyn6@aol.com

DID I see someone mentioning PAN AM in the same blog as DOWNTON ABBEY. pleeese, nooo. It is even in the realm of comment. could not wrap myself around the wire or friday night lights, but regard those as very good shows I do not watch. No disrespect! DA is beqautiful! the writing, the sets, the acting.
To me nothing will touch Breaking Bad. I think the summer cannot come fast enough for Bryan, AARON Vince to bring us a real roller coaster ride. What a challenge they must have after last year. How can they live up to that?
Alan, I do think DA DOES WARRENT a comments from you or Dan. It really is a gem.
January 6, 2012 at 1:04AM EST Reply to Comment
- marilyn6@aol.com Lady Edith, ffinally, I have to say she must be, or FELLOWES wants her to be. When Carson collapsed, she was screeching "what about my dress"{!! still love the show
  January 9, 2012 at 1:52PM EST
- marilyn6@aol.com Sorry, I forgot to say lady Edith is really stupid.
  January 9, 2012 at 1:53PM EST
C

I had no interest in seeing what I thought was a stuffy British miniseries until I saw it on Leslie Knope's word cloud. I thought if Leslie loves it enough to make the word cloud, it must be good. And she was right, I loved it and can't wait for season 2.
January 6, 2012 at 2:22AM EST Reply to Comment
Sareeta

Once I forced myself to sit through a couple episodes of season 1, I found it charming. What I like best is how it actually feels like it is taking place back then. From the costumes and the manner of speaking to the way the actors and actresses compose themselves, it looks and feels very authentic. I find the "upstairs" stories more interesting than the soapy aspects of the servant's lives. I still need to watch the final episode of season 1.

I do not at all understand how anyone can compare this to Mad Men though. I mean, Downton is good, but the acting on Mad Men is superb and that show is so much more imaginative.
January 6, 2012 at 8:24AM EST Reply to Comment
debbie

I kinda wish more analysis would be devoted to this show 'cause I didn't come across it until PBS Prime did a mini-marathon a couple of weeks ago with S1 episode 1 and 2. I couldn't really put my finger on what hooked me (I thought the performances were okay and the storylines got to be pretty over the top at times)...although I did really enjoy getting glimpses of the food they were serving, but that's just my bizarre interest in antiquated recipes. Oh well, at least I have a new show to watch.
January 6, 2012 at 11:25AM EST Reply to Comment
Big D

Finally, a review that acknowledges that while this maybe a quality show, it is okay not to care about it.
January 6, 2012 at 10:54PM EST Reply to Comment
OzK

On the whole, I feel that season 2 (even with the addition of the excellent Christmas special) suffers from the time pressures arising from needing to capitalise on the success of season 1. The whole piece felt a little rushed, a little less well thought through, with certain plot lines that kind of fizzled. And, as Alan says, the pacing is questionable. But there is still much to enjoy, with Dowager Violet owning my single favourite one word line, that had me howling aloud with laughter. Despite the flaws I'm still a fan, and I look forward to season 3.
January 7, 2012 at 6:52AM EST Reply to Comment
beet

DA is a fun but it's not in the same ballpark as MM. It's a lot lighter in terms of what it's trying to say and how it's written. DA is a soap opera with a lot of silly but fun plot points. MM seems to have a point in everything the characters do. Maggie Smith is awesome!
January 8, 2012 at 2:44PM EST Reply to Comment
marilyn6@aol.com

Just the ticket . quote from the Dowager Countess from last year. Fabulous show.
Alan and Dan, you should review this show. Seem to treat it like a bad rash. You have decided not to regard DA as brilliant. Please give it a review next week
January 9, 2012 at 2:50AM EST Reply to Comment
marilyn6@aol.com

"Just the ticket" as the Dowager Countess said last year.
Tonight was as amazing, beautiful. Alan, this should be reviewed weekly, It is the very best.
January 9, 2012 at 2:52AM EST Reply to Comment
marilyn6@aol.com

I am going to watch this again, but did I see a few people walking into other bedrooms without knocking? Great show..
January 9, 2012 at 2:56AM EST Reply to Comment
Chris

Excellent entertainment. Fortunately it is on PBS. If were on any of the major networks it would be like a football game- 20 minutes of the show and 40 minutes of commericals.
January 9, 2012 at 8:40AM EST Reply to Comment
Nat King Kong

Loved season 1, but the first episode of season 2 the writers seemed to be throwing everything out there so quickly, it definitely felt rushed and sadly much weaker than season one. I also just rewatched Gosford Park, and, of course, that comparison doesn't help DA (it's pretty hard to match Gosford Park for upstairs/downstairs entertainment. Any of you who haven't seen it and enjoy DA, go watch Gosford immediately!).
January 11, 2012 at 12:37AM EST Reply to Comment
marilyn6@aol.com

IT SEEMS DA is the most watched show on television. It even made the new york post in a gossip column. Maybe you can review it weekly. Most people love it. It is more talked about this season than last. Maybe it's those 18-49 yeqar old viewers that influence comment. Many bpeople are 53 and still like certain shows!
January 20, 2012 at 11:00AM EST Reply to Comment
- not_Bridget I'm older than 53 & remember loving the original Upstairs/Downstairs. I found the first series of Downton a bit soapy--featuring a guest appearance by The Fatal Bar of Soap, no less! Beautifully produced, of course.
  
  So far, I've found series 2 lacking. Why did they skip the first two years of the war? Important history was ignored and we missed some vital character development. Bates/Anna have been going nowhere & The Chauffeur/Youngest Daughter have been going nowhere. Now, in 1916, Lord Grantham has just began wondering why he can't go fight & the Two Younger Daughters have just begun wondering whether they ought to Do Something. Mary's eyebrows remain impressive. Isobel was spirited & polite in the first series & is now a harridan. O'Neill & Thomas (to date) are still villainous...
  
  The charm-free Chauffeur name-checks The Easter Rising, Conscientious Objection & Socialism (as gave The Youngest pamphlets on Women's Suffrage last series)--just so Lord Julian can dismiss those nasty lower-class matters & get back to the soap opera. Except the wonky timing isn't helping the relationship stuff, either. There is NO spark between the Chauffeur & The Youngest....
  
  Still, it's a pretty show. And some of the acting is fine. Weekly recaps would make it easier to razz on the show's failings here, but there are other places to do that....
  
  I've read enough UK coverage to know the Christmas show is actually good. Even Caitlin Moran at the Times liked it--& her skewering of the earlier episodes was epic...
  
  January 29, 2012 at 1:04AM EST

News From Our Partners

Follow HitFix:

Follow @HitFix

Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching

Latest Posts

Upfronts 2013: CBS tinkers with playbook with 'Hostages,' single-camera sitcoms

Some experimenting, but mostly the same old, successful CBS

Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Season finale review: 'New Girl' - 'Elaine's Big Day'

A badger gets loose at Cece's wedding, and Nick and Jess ponder their future

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
'New Girl' creator Liz Meriwether on Nick and Jess, Schmidt's choice, and the fun of season 2

Has the show solved Winston yet? What stories would she redo?

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 181: Upfronts, 'Community,' 'How I Met Your Mother' & 'Mad Men'

Dan and Alan break down the first batch of fall schedules

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'Downton Abbey' returns to PBS for season 2

Send to your friends

Direct link: http://tinyurl.com/72ccube

Review: 'Downton Abbey' returns to PBS for season 2

Share this Post on ...

Direct link: http://tinyurl.com/72ccube

Review: 'Downton Abbey' returns to PBS for season 2

Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Sandy Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary is more than enough reason to watch. She's a great actress

RP I agree. I was re-watching the first series last week, and thought that all the Lady Mary stuff would have been ridiculous with a lesser actress, but Michelle Dockery sold it really well -- enough to make me care about her stupid #firstworldproblems.

Hudders #firstclassproblems

Jennifer Lemora Martin, you've seen a detailed synopsis of season *3*? How's that possible?

Lemora Martin This is in reply to Jennifer. You can find it by Googling Downton Abbey Season 3. Then click on HubPages.com. It should come right up. But, Be Warned: There are major spoilers.

nic919 Is PBS airing the Christmas special as part of Season 2?

Jeff Holmes I don't see any way they can't, as it contains important plot.

nic919 Having seen it, I don't disagree, but the PBS listings don't make it clear that they are airing it.

lt PBS is airing the Christmas special as part of season 2. It will be the 7th and final episode, airing on February 19.

Cecil Battlewaithe Yes, at first I thought it was weird that they decided to frame the entire special within the surroundings of an "Upper Class Twit of the Year" competition, but it worked.

Leon With this show I'm one of those guys Alan mentioned. I like to think I'm a pretty open-minded viewer but I can't imagine I'd be into something like this, just not my speed. That said, I think the introduction to this review was finally enough to guilt me into giving the first series a shot.

Tausif Khan Anyone who thinks that Mad Men is a great show and is okay with Mad Men's pacing and tone should give this series a shot.

nic919 The biggest difference between Downton Abbey and Pan Am is that the entire Downton Abbey cast is top notch and they can pull off cheesier storylines than weaker actors.

marilyn6@aol.com I assume they both have different views. I would even consider watching True Blood, so yes I agree, Downton is a equisite show. Dowager Countess and all that pomp and circumstance, it is really fun. They also seem to do well with one phone, that no one knows how to work. Charming.

leocadio_penelas_gamusino I completely agree with you about the soap opera-ish elements, which got ridiculous towards the end of the season, and how everything felt so rushed.FWIW, I thought the Christmas special was the best episode of the season by far

downbound I've seen the whole thing and I would advise people to stick with it through the bad soapy elements because the Christmas Special is so good, it more than makes up for all of that.

fresser28 Sorry, DownTON.

Vanessa And just to further concur, I agree that Downton at its worst is definitely superior to most of what's on TV...I just stopped paying for cable and aside from football and the Good Wife, there's nothing worth watching on network television...

ADM Mary the most traditional? With the dead Turk in her bed?

sepinwall Her stories are the most traditional. She's the one stuck in "the marriage plot."

canadadry The Doweger Countess, well she is enchanting and very funny as Mary's grandmother. Her quote "what's a weekend?" the whole show is so ever satisfying . I can't wait till I see all of these actors and a brilliant series,

canadadry Write a comment...Leon don't beat yourself up. It is a fabulous show, but some ways , more for women. My husband loves it. Breaking Bad it isn't I don't think BB will air till this summer. I wish it comes sooner

@Vignti: Without breaking the spoiler rule, that's a fair point I hadn't properly thought through. I just wish Fellowes had set it up and paid it off a lot better.

@Canadianskeezix: When it comes to frothy soapy ridonkulosity. nothing beats Lady Mary's Turk-killing vejayjay of Doom from series one. But in a weird way, I think World War One was a wet blanket - the campy melodramatics don't really sit well with mained soliders in the ballroom. :)

marilyn6@aol.com Lady Edith, ffinally, I have to say she must be, or FELLOWES wants her to be. When Carson collapsed, she was screeching "what about my dress"{!! still love the show

marilyn6@aol.com Sorry, I forgot to say lady Edith is really stupid.

C I had no interest in seeing what I thought was a stuffy British miniseries until I saw it on Leslie Knope's word cloud. I thought if Leslie loves it enough to make the word cloud, it must be good. And she was right, I loved it and can't wait for season 2.

Big D Finally, a review that acknowledges that while this maybe a quality show, it is okay not to care about it.

beet DA is a fun but it's not in the same ballpark as MM. It's a lot lighter in terms of what it's trying to say and how it's written. DA is a soap opera with a lot of silly but fun plot points. MM seems to have a point in everything the characters do. Maggie Smith is awesome!

marilyn6@aol.com Just the ticket . quote from the Dowager Countess from last year. Fabulous show. Alan and Dan, you should review this show. Seem to treat it like a bad rash. You have decided not to regard DA as brilliant. Please give it a review next week

marilyn6@aol.com "Just the ticket" as the Dowager Countess said last year. Tonight was as amazing, beautiful. Alan, this should be reviewed weekly, It is the very best.

marilyn6@aol.com I am going to watch this again, but did I see a few people walking into other bedrooms without knocking? Great show..

Chris Excellent entertainment. Fortunately it is on PBS. If were on any of the major networks it would be like a football game- 20 minutes of the show and 40 minutes of commericals.

News From Our Partners

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever What's Alan Watching is updated

Latest Posts

Recent Activity on Facebook

Most Popular on Facebook

About HitFix

Advertise on HitFix

Subscribe to HitFix

Popular Topics

Sandy

Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary is more than enough reason to watch. She's a great actress

Jennifer Lemora Martin, you've seen a detailed synopsis of season 3? How's that possible?

nic919

Is PBS airing the Christmas special as part of Season 2?

Leon

With this show I'm one of those guys Alan mentioned. I like to think I'm a pretty open-minded viewer but I can't imagine I'd be into something like this, just not my speed. That said, I think the introduction to this review was finally enough to guilt me into giving the first series a shot.

leocadio_penelas_gamusino

I completely agree with you about the soap opera-ish elements, which got ridiculous towards the end of the season, and how everything felt so rushed.
FWIW, I thought the Christmas special was the best episode of the season by far

downbound

I've seen the whole thing and I would advise people to stick with it through the bad soapy elements because the Christmas Special is so good, it more than makes up for all of that.

ADM

Mary the most traditional? With the dead Turk in her bed?

canadadry

The Doweger Countess, well she is enchanting and very funny as Mary's grandmother. Her quote "what's a weekend?" the whole show is so ever satisfying . I can't wait till I see all of these actors and a brilliant series,

canadadry

Write a comment...Leon don't beat yourself up. It is a fabulous show, but some ways , more for women. My husband loves it. Breaking Bad it isn't I don't think BB will air till this summer. I wish it comes sooner

C

I had no interest in seeing what I thought was a stuffy British miniseries until I saw it on Leslie Knope's word cloud. I thought if Leslie loves it enough to make the word cloud, it must be good. And she was right, I loved it and can't wait for season 2.

Big D

Finally, a review that acknowledges that while this maybe a quality show, it is okay not to care about it.

beet

DA is a fun but it's not in the same ballpark as MM. It's a lot lighter in terms of what it's trying to say and how it's written. DA is a soap opera with a lot of silly but fun plot points. MM seems to have a point in everything the characters do. Maggie Smith is awesome!

marilyn6@aol.com

Just the ticket . quote from the Dowager Countess from last year. Fabulous show.
Alan and Dan, you should review this show. Seem to treat it like a bad rash. You have decided not to regard DA as brilliant. Please give it a review next week

marilyn6@aol.com

"Just the ticket" as the Dowager Countess said last year.
Tonight was as amazing, beautiful. Alan, this should be reviewed weekly, It is the very best.

marilyn6@aol.com

I am going to watch this again, but did I see a few people walking into other bedrooms without knocking? Great show..

Chris

Excellent entertainment. Fortunately it is on PBS. If were on any of the major networks it would be like a football game- 20 minutes of the show and 40 minutes of commericals.

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever
What's Alan Watching is updated