A Final New Year's Date with Downton

“If I could stop history in its tracks, maybe I would. But I can’t, Carson, for neither you nor I can hold back time.”  Lord Grantham

 One thing a New Year always brings is change...whether we are ready for it or not. Time will move forward and try as we might to hold on to our old styles, 45 records or landlines, culture and societal change are inevitable...no matter where you reside.  There is a sense of security about staying put, standing still, holding on to our ways of living our lives.

Change,however can be good, unless you are bidding adieu to a beloved habit.  Downton Abbey was and is a good habit, one that thanks to streaming I don't really have to completely abandon, but tonight we all have to start the process of letting Downton go. There will be no more seasons, no more intrigue, drama, romance ...the pitch perfect dialogue, perfectly staged detail on every set, the costumes and the characters along with  the unforgettably glorious wit of GrandMama will not return. 

Sunday begins the final chapter in a delicious journey with the Crawleys and their "below stairs" staff that took us from the sinking of the Titanic, through the first world war, leaving behind the Edwardian era and bringing  short hemlines, loosened mores and corsets, automobiles, electric lights, phones, the wireless ,women's right to vote and a family with its collective way of life slipping away.  We, the audience, have known that the end would come for the Downton lifestyle...most of the characters that inhabit Downton never seem to see it coming.

“I love the way it’s all unraveling,” Ms. Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley) said. “There is a feeling of people moving on with their lives and the sense of the aristocracy as a kind of endangered species. But Mary is trying to keep it going; she doesn’t really like change.”

Change in fact is what this entire series has been about.  Those that pushed for it (Sybil's dramatic entrance in evening pajamas-not to mention her running away with the chauffeur) and those that clung on-Carson and Lord Grantham's disbelief and upset with every new contraption and bit of progress that arrived on the doorstep.  With meticulous detail down to the spoons at the dinner table, with every morsel of dialogue parsed for accuracy the production of Downton Abbey captured a period in history that witnessed sweeping change to fashion, class, women's roles, mores and much to the chagrin of Lord Grantham and his Mama, tradition.  

We are left with great memories of scenes and characters that kept us watching, and in my case re-watching, season after season.  Season One will always be my favorite from the opening scenes as we see Lord Grantham descend his staircase with is beloved dog Isis, as   an ironed newspaper brings the news of tragedy of the Titanic to Downton and with it the beginning of the end of their world. 

  I have so many favorite scenes, Mary and Matthew at the train station as he goes back to war and then the pair dancing in the great hall, Sybil defying convention and attending a political rally, Anna telling Mr. Bates she loves him... but if I had to select one it would be with Maggie Smith of course.  After Sybil's death, this steely grand dame, who has a liner for every occasion and to whom every member of her family relies for core strength, is seen  physically stumbling  however briefly as she walks across the entry hall dressed in black with a an expression that reveals the woman , the Matriarch, the mother and the grandmother in grief.

So many questions to be answered before we depart....Will Carson and Mrs. Hughes actually marry?  Will Lady Edith finally be happy?  Will Tom return?  What about Daisy...shouldn't she open her own restaurant??  and poor Anna and Mr. Bates-haven't they been through enough-they deserve a happy ending, but...no doubt not everyone at Downton will have that happy ending.

  Then there is the appearance at the end of Season 5 of the wonderful Matthew Goode---perfect for Lady Mary?? How can she resist! but we will see...

 I agree with Mr. Fellowes decision to pull the curtain on the drawing room, much like Matthew Weiner did with Mad Men...sadly it is time. The series, again much like Mad Men shined a light on an extraordinary time, a time that saw women's lives and opportunities, along with their fashion, be un-corseted.   I will miss the Crawleys and every member of their staff but it is time for the doors to this great house to close.  I want to cherish the time I have spent at Downton.   For now, as Lady Mary would do, I will "go upstairs and remove my hat" then snuggle in to savor the last episodes at Downton Abbey. 

“You want to go at a high point,” he said. “You don’t want to go when everyone is relieved to see the back of you. It’s like a woman with a successful frock. There is a moment when you’ve worn it enough.” Julian Fellowes

images via PBS

A Date with Downton

Jessica Brown-Findlay(Lady Sybil) for Vogue UK

After almost a year of teasers, previews, snippets and shorts Season Three of Downton Abbey is finally here.  Sadly, I know WAY too much about the new Season.  As hard as I tried to avoid all the spoilers flying around, given that the series has already aired in the UK, I have more info than I want about the trials, tribulations, romances and fate of the Crawley Clan and their downstairs residents for Season Three of Downton Abbey.  Now the question is will that stop me from being glued to every episode?  Not a chance!

Downton Draws Downton-

David Downton's illustrations of Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary) in Oscar de la Renta for Vanity Fair

Why watch when I know what is going to happen?  Well you could ask why I have re-watched Season One more times than I can count-Thank you Netflix!  or why I selectively watch my favorite scenes from Season Two---I know who dies, I know who gets kissed...but yet I hit play again and again and again.  I can't help it-I am a Downton devotee and I am not alone!

Dan Stevens (Matthew) via Vanity Fair

 Why has Downton taken on a life of its own and become such an adored series?  Why do we wait impatiently for each episode devouring any little bit of gossip and info we can about what happens to each and every character?  Downton Abbey, much like Mad Men, captures a time and period impeccably , not simply as a back drop but as a character central to everything that happens.  The setting of Highclere Castle, the wardrobes mirroring the changing status of women as they make the transition into a Post war world-an inspiration to Ralph Lauren as well -and the characters ,the vast array of personalities all beautifully sketched and layered by creator and writer Julian Fellowes-even when they are in absurd circumstances we care and want to know what becomes of them-I like these people, even the ones I hate, I like.  

 

Shirley Maclaine as Cora's American Mother Martha Levinson

 Julian Fellowes has meticulously recreated a world and immersed his viewers in that world down to the tiniest details-everything is done as it was--from vocabulary and diction to table settings and costume to the tenuous roles and relationships between the upstairs residents and the downstairs staff.  Amidst the fiction there is history and the real lifestyle of a class structure and a way of life that war and progress in the early 20th century upended.  Lord and Lady Grantham and the exquisite Dowager Countess can only adapt or risk being swept aside and surprisingly it is Violet, the Dowager Countess, the personification of everything Downton, played with pin point perfection by Maggie Smith, who smooths the way.

 

"It’s true I think a woman’s place is eventually in the home, but there isn’t much harm in her having some fun before she gets there."  Lady Violet

 Despite all the spoiler details I know about there are so many questions and plot lines I want to see answered---will Lady Edith and Sir Anthony Strallon make it as a couple?  How about Cousin Isobel and Dr. Clarkson?  I would love to know what became of Gwen.  Wouldn't Lady Rosamund and Sir Richard make a couple worth watching?  My favorite potential pairing though would have to be Mrs. Hughes and everyone's favorite Major Domo Mr. Carson-meant to be!  Dear Mr. Fellowes, a Downton prequel would be delicious---we know the Dowager Countess had to have had chapters worth reading!!  

 Downton Abbey is lush and soapy and gorgeous---simply yummy!!  So if you are looking for me on Sunday evenings don't bother-I will be dining at Downton!

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