Downton Abbey

This show wrapped up a few months ago with its sixth and final season, and only just recently did I finish watching the last episode.   It was broadcast by PBS – the Pretentious Broadcasting Service – though I watched it on DVD.  It features a fictitious British family from 1912 (sinking of the Titanic) to early 1926.  With the exception of Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), Cora’s mother (Shirley MacLaine) and uncle (Paul Giamattii) most of the characters are English.   DA is located somewhere in northeast England near York, a substantial distance from London.

I have to admit that my first look was from the Spike TV spoof (all of 5 minutes or so), which was nonetheless accurate.  It described the daughters as hot, way hot, and….the other one (Edith); an old woman who looks like a chicken (Lady Grantham); the people who live downstairs whose lives totally suck (the servants), etc.  Funny but true.

As noted, the show starts in 1912 with the sinking of the Titanic, runs through August 1914 to November 1918 (World War I) and continues to early 1926, just after New Year’s.  The fashions change after WWI, with England getting more liberal and less tolerant of rich people.  Edith has a newspaper boyfriend, an older guy, who relocates to Munich so he can divorce his disabled wife (German law being more liberal in that regard) but runs afoul of Adolf and his minions.  Tom and Sybill move to Ireland briefly, and some Americans and Russians are involved, but the show is 95% based and oriented towards England. 

Characters

Rich People

Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville).  The father.  Apparently he served in the Boer War with Bates.   His role in WWI is to stay home and not get killed, though wearing a uniform and having officer’s rank, as all nobles seem to get simply by being who they are.  He’s a tad arrogant but very just, and overall just plain cool.

Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern).   Half American?  All American? I can’t remember.  But she’s also very cool.  Occasionally she fights with him but mostly they get along.

Violet Crawley, Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith).  Lord Grantham’s mother, aka The Chicken Lady.  A very shrewd woman who doesn’t mind putting people down in a clever way.  Her insults are one of the best things on this show. [Cue Kelso: “BURN!!!”]

Mary (Michelle Dockery).  Oldest daughter, she has to marry Matthew because the prior heirs went down on the Titanic.  Pretty but very arrogant and not above screwing around.  I found her somewhat annoying.

Cybill (Jessica Brown Findlay).  Youngest daughter. Attractive and NOT arrogant.  She wound up with Branson, much to everyone’s surprise.  But she is super cool.

Edith (Laura Carmichael).  The Ugly One.  Despite this she’s mostly sympathetic and sets up her own magazine down in London.  And she wins big time later, but she has to go through a ton of crap before.

Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens).  The sudden heir, he’s actually bourgeois – middle class -and a lawyer.  He serves in WWI as an officer and somehow survives.  I liked him the most.

Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton).  His mom, kind of a busybody and somewhat clueless, but sympathetic nonetheless.

Poor People Who Live In the Dungeon

Carson (Jim Carter).   Here’s…. JOHNNY.   I found it remarkable that the #1 Butler was far more arrogant than any the nobles he serves.  He’s stuffy, uptight, has practically no sense of humor and generally unlikeable.

Mrs.  Hughes (Phyllis Logan).  Pretty much the top female servant, she has a heart and serves as a safety valve from Carson’s anal retentiveness.

Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle).  I am convinced this guy was in prison before.  The quiet but menacing badass.  Don’t f**k with Bates.  He’s #2 after Carson.

O’Brien (Siobhann Finneran).  Essentially the female version of Carson, but briefly aligned with Darrow until her nephew shows up and puts them at odds.  I believe she’s Lady Cora’s maid.

Anna (Joanne Froggat).  A female servant, Mary’s maid, who hooks up with Bates.  Attractive and smart.

William.  A male servant, he serves in France with Matthew Crawley, though as an enlisted man.  He makes it back… or does he?   He’s set up (briefly) with Daisy, which gives her an opportunity to show her unique stupidity.

Mrs Patmore (Lesly Nicol).  The chief cook in the kitchen.  Kind of dumpy and an improbable madam.  Mostly she tries to keep Daisy from screwing things up (with modest success). 

Darrow (Rob James-Collier)  One of the lesser butlers – these subordinate titles went over my head, but suffice to say the underlings were VERY sensitive about their ranks in the house.  Darrow was ruthless and generally had some sort of scheme going, typically blackmail.  He didn’t get along with anyone else and Bates in particular had his eye on him.  Although his social life was nil, we know he favored the guys.  Mostly unsympathetic until the end. 

Tom Branson (Allen Leech).  The family’s socialist chauffeur who bounced up across class lines even to his own surprise.  Another sympathetic character.

Daisy (Sophie McShera).  Ugly, stupid and arrogant is a bad combination.   She’s a kitchen cook.

Game of Thrones.  Iain Glen (Ser Jorah Mormont) plays an arrogant newspaper guy who is briefly engaged to Mary (S2), and Rose Leslie (you know nothing, Ygritte) is Gwen Dawson, a maid (S1).

Remarkably, the Rich People aren’t nearly as arrogant as the Poor People who work for them.  Probably that’s because the upper class have their positions by birth (until death) and while they do have many concerns, losing their position is not one of them.  The poor people have to take what they can get, so when they do get something – a posh job in a fancy house – they jealously guard it.  But Carson takes it upon himself to be arrogant and stuck up on BEHALF of his lord, holier than thou, as it were. 

Also, we assume “nobles” have money, but not necessarily.  Many have the title and nothing else.  Around the turn of the century, many wealthy Americans were amassing huge fortunes, much to the jealousy of poor nobles, and intermarrying with British nobles in mutually beneficial arrangements.  Of course, the merchants and bankers were rich long before the Rockefellers.  While this business of nobles trading titles for wealth isn’t so big here, poor or cash-strapped nobles, including the Granthams themselves, do figure substantially here.

Although it covers the whole time of WWI, very little of the show takes place in France – much to my annoyance.  Likewise, the Nazis do their mischief off camera.  More annoyance.  However, the story lines and plot twists, while nothing earthshaking or mindboggling, are still substantial enough that there’s an element of surprise which keeps the show interesting.  Mainly you care about these people and want to see what happens to them.  What I like the best is the way the Rich People – particularly Robert – are not assholes.  They’re genuinely warm and friendly to the servants and help them out.  Noblesse oblige, perhaps, but sincere and substantial.  For his part, Tom Branson starts off worshipping Bernie Sanders but comes around to Gary Johnson’s viewpoint soon enough.  The combination of compelling characters and active plot changes kept the series interesting and watchable – in fact, all the way to the end with no perceptible “peak” or “shark jumping”.  Bravo!