1. Great writing:
If you think Downton Abbey is only prim and proper, you're in for a pleasant surprise. It's not afraid to be funny and a bit scandalous too. The story lines are rich, well-thought out and engaging. (Well, except for that amnesia burn-victim and Edith- what was that about?!)
2. Great characters:
The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) is a hoot.
Love her lines- her sharp barbs and how she speaks her mind. She's funny. Watch below...
Watch Downton Abbey: The Best Maggie Moments on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.
Lord Grantham- he's a good man, a bit flawed, but a good man and a good father. He's real, and I like him.
Anna and Bates- yes let's put them in there together. They are wonderful- devoted, loyal. They are worth cheering for.
Matthew- handsome, loyal, in love with Mary- he's a keeper.
Lady Edith- I like Edith- I really do. I feel sorry for her and hope they give her something good next season and for heaven's sake someone younger and better than that old guy!
Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes- They run the house in an impeccable manner yet are both big softies.
O'Brien- OK, she's not my favorite but ever since the incident, she seems to be a bit of a better person.
And Thomas- Nobody likes Thomas- he's a weasel, but he is ALWAYS smoking which is funny and over the top at this point.
3. It's beautiful.
The house, the scenery, the costumes, the people- it is all so lovely.
4. The accents.
Seriously - everything sounds better in a British accent.
5. No commercials.
Uninterrupted goodness.
Downton Abbey: It's quite simply the best show I've ever watched. I can hardly wait until season 3 in September!
What did you think of the season finale last night? Did you love it as much as I did?
43 comments:
i only saw the last few minutes and i was jumping up and down! yayayayayayay!!!
I love it so much, thanks for the introduction to it earlier this year! I was screaming at the tv to Matthew the whole time, 'marry her already!!!!' and I was so excited when he proposed. eek! Can't wait for next season.
I absolutely love Downton is there anyone out there who doesn't! Maggie Smith is such a hoot she is perfect for that part.
LOVE IT! Just saw the latest last night. I love Maggie Smith! I also love how Lord Grantham reacted to finding out about Mary and Pamuk. Bring home a cowboy! Though I wish he had been a bit more fatherly to Sybil. Guess he'll have to suck it up now that she's expecting! Can't wait to see Shirley MacLaine as Cora's mom. Her with Maggie Smith in a scene? Woohoo!
YES!!!
I keep re-watching the episodes on the computer as I'm sewing. This series has me mesmerized. I told Amy (Sukie) that we are all going to dress in Downton period costumes when we come to Sewing Summit this year. That last photo is a stunning shot isn't it?
How long will we have to wait for season 3?
I can't comment on the finale since I'm behind. Just watched Season 2 Episode 3 last night. We have a snow day today so I'll probably get another episode in during naptime! ;) Thanks so much for the Spotlight on Saturday. It was fun!
Just started watching this past week. I'm on season one, episode 3. I am really enjoying it, but thinking that I should savor it and only watch on episode a week or something.
I absolutely love Downton Abbey! I am a big fan of Masterpiece Classics and was immediately hooked! I agree, it is so beautiful, the people, the house, the scenery. The history on the real house, Highclere Castle is fascinating too - www.highclerecastle.co.uk/. The writer used some of his own family history and history from friends to write most of the story lines. Even the incident with the Turkish gentleman was something that really happened, it was found in a diary (the only record of the incident). I could go on and on, I find it all so fascinating! I enjoyed your post!
hello there!
You know you have to read British blogs with a British accent from now on!! They are so much better lol.
Oh. My. Gosh! I was counting on you to have watched it. OK. Let's dish! What on Earth am I going to do without the Dowager Countess until September? Seriously, I'm going into mourning.
As far as the Patrick (burn victim)/Edith storyline. I'd bet money that that will come up again in Season 3. Think about it. He'll be more healed up, and probably armed with some proof to his identity. Wouldn't that put a wrench into things for Mary and Matthew!
I think I cried at least 3 times last night, and shouted at my telly (I call it a telly now, since I'm sort of nearly British from watching the show) several times, usually at Thomas. Really REALLY love to hate that guy! And O'Brien? Don't get me started!
And how sweet was Daisy when she realized that she would have somebody who cares about her in Williams father. WONDERFUL.
*taking a breath* WHEW!
I blame you, you know. YOU were the one who got me started on the show with all your twitter chatter!
Oh, and um.....THANK YOU! :)
I'm right there with you. We've taped the season finale and will watch it tonight.
I still have an hour to go. My husband doesn't care for it. I think he's nuts. Did you see the paper dolls?
http://www.vulture.com/2012/02/print-out-vultures-downton-abbey-paper-dolls.html?mid=twitter_nymag
Hey girl! You got me on to this show in the first place. When you mentioned it almost 2 months ago, I looked it up and have become HOOKED!! I don't even watch tv, and all I can do is think about when I can watch "my show" online :) hehe! Yes, so love love love the show! September- seriously??!! But at least the finale ended half way decent so I can be calm til then :) So awesome- gonna watch it again this week- I am sure I missed some things- seems I catch even more the more I watch it :) HAve a marvelous holiday!
I just started watching it on Saturday after seeing every blog I follow talk about it! I'm two episodes in and my husband is even watching them with me :)
We love it. We only started watching a couple of weeks ago. It comes on opposite our other favorite show The Good Wife. Thank goodness for DVR!! I taped several episodes yesterday during the marathon. We are addicted!
♥♥♥ Downton Abbey! Last night's episode was GREAT! I'm pulling for Bates to get out of prison and Thomas to either really straighten up his act or to be caught being the bad boy he is and get the boot. Finally Matthew and Mary are getting together... unless another wrench gets thrown in next season. So many great characters and story lines. I am sure Patrick or Peter or whoever he truly is will be back next season. Maggie Smith - love all of her movies. She's a phenomenal actress.
I'm watching the season finale as I write this - didn't read any of the previous comments just in case there were spoilers there! I only discovered Downton Abbey last week - and have managed to stream all of season one and all of season two just in time for the finale - but couldn't ask my husband to watch it with me, because I'd spend all my time explaining the characters!
I am fully on board. I didn't want to watch any of season 2 until I got my hands on season 1 and luckily I was laid up on the couch with a nasty head cold last week and my friend supplied the 3 DVD set, so 7 hours of TV later, I was utterly smitten with the entire thing. I watched last night even though I haven't seen the beginning of Season 1. Now after reading your comments I need to know what the deal is with burn victim!! I thought the scene with William's father and Daisy in front of his fire was incredibly touching (cried) and loved that Mary and Matthew finally got properly engaged (cried). Maggie Smith cracks me up every time!
I just loved this program, everything about it - the actors, the story, the costumes, the era, the Abbey, the kitchen we are fortunate that it came over to the states. I hope I can wait till September. I wonder when it is being shown in the UK?
We haven't seen season 2 yet here is Australia! There hasn't even been any mention of it. Hopefully we'll see it soon. I just loved season 1.
I don't get PBS, but I see that they have the series online so I can watch it. Now I'm intrigued.
I tape it and I'm actually watching it right now as I type. I LOVE it.
My DIL is a fan. Perhaps I need to tune in. Love Maggie Smith.
LOVE the series! I didn't know last night's episode was the season finale until the "next time on Masterpiece Classics" announcement was for something else! I'll be going through serious withdrawal until September!
Heh, I finally went to watch it, and discovered it isn't on Netflix here, and ITV seems to want to charge us a fortune for the DVD version. Guess I'll skip it for now!
As for point 4, well, if you were ever round her on a Saturday night at pub chucking out time, you might rethink that ;o)
This is one of the best shows ever! Can't believe that we'll have to wait until September, however!
I am seriously in love with Downton Abbey. I also will go into withdrawal until September. Here is my prediction for next season: the true killer of Bates' first wife will turn out to be the newspaper guy who was engaged to Mary (I never remember character names). I think his motive is that she (Bates' first wife) was going to take the story elsewhere and if it got out her would no longer have any control over Mary.
Andrew & I are 4 episodes in season 1 and it is even better than I hoped. He is even loving it. Great all around, can't wait to get caught up!
Yes, I enjoyed watching Downton and am waiting for the next season to start! I like Karen M.'s theory.
La la la not reading any comments as I have only seen the first 3!
x
I've heard from so many people, that I NEED to watch, but sadly Netflix Canada doesn't have it!!
Love this show - I've only started watching for season 2. I have an online only business for retreats and trips - considering launching my first Online Challenge based on DA. I'm interested in thoughts, ideas - would you do it? Looking into logistics now.
Oh I am sooooo excited!!! I forgot about the finale last night, but it is recorded. Guess what I will be doing tonight???? Sewing and watching Downton Abbey!! (That is, after the treadmill). It is a fabulous show and I really enjoyed your post!
I'm not reading any of the other comments because I haven't watched Sunday's show yet but I'm hooked! This season was way too short :(
Not to burst your bubble but they're starting to film in Sept. we have to wait till Jan!! for season 3. I think I'll delay watching the season finale till then just to make it last longer. The theory works in my head. ;)
I am trying not the read the comments because I don't want to know too much about season 2...we don't get it here in Australia until later in the year. I wonder if I could get it off the internet earlier?
If you like all this, and haven't watched it yet...may I suggest "Gosford Park" it's a bit slow but I absolutely ADORE it....it's an American movie that came out around 2002 I think....Bob Balaban directed...i love it!
Waited all week for the finale! We had family over who didn't go home until 10:30pm so we stayed up late and watched it. Loved every minute. Can't wait for more!
Love the way you have promoted the very best show on TV. It's coming back in September? We don't have to wait until next January? Yay!
Once I caught on, I cheated and downloaded all the episodes- which came out a few months earlier in the UK. I watched the finale last month ;) LOVED it.
If you want to be super geeky, there is a bit of nerd on nerd rivalry going on. NPR vs. PBS. NPR recently put out an article detailing the inaccuracies of the language used in the show. http://www.npr.org/2012/02/13/146652747/im-just-sayin-there-are-anachronisms-in-downton
I wonder if the producers of the show knew that they'd have such a dedicated following in the quilting community? :)
My hubby and I were browsing netflix last night and I remembered this post, so we decided to watch it. We have only seen the very first episode of the first season, but my husband is more hooked than I am! It's great! :) Thanks for the suggestion! :)
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