Monday, February 27, 2012

Recess: Downton Abbey

(This is wildly off-topic, but it's my blog. If you're not interested, skip this post, and come back later. I promise I'll get back on topic!)

In company with millions of others, I've recently become addicted to the Downton Abbey series. For me, the appeal is mostly visual; the magnificent Highclere Castle, the antique cars, the costumes. Then there's Maggie Smith; I'd happily tune in to listen to her read the tax code in that haughty voice.

I get a kick out of the scenes of Lord Grantham being dressed and undressed by his various valets. In my real life, all the men I know well are academics; basically, we're lucky if they remember to get dressed at all. Perhaps as a result, I have long been fascinated by all the bits and pieces of men's formal wear. They take off the jacket, and there's a vest (the Brits call it a "waistcoat" — keep up, already!) and those funny garters on the sleeves, then they take off the vest and there's suspenders ("braces") underneath; it's a fascinating package enclosing the rather yummy Hugh Bonneville.

The dialogue can be fun, especially Maggie Smith's lines, and the occasional telling remark from other members of the cast, for instance, Lady Grantham's observation: "You think raising daughters will be like "Little Women", but they're at each other's throats from dawn to dusk." I liked this moment with the obligatory more-snobby-than-the-toffs butler, Carson:
Lord Grantham (talking about his previous chauffeur): "And to think Taylor's gone off to run a tea shop! I cannot feel it will make for a very restful retirement, can you?"

Carson: "I would rather be put to death, my lord."

Lord Grantham: " ... quite so."
Downton Abbey is replete with strange, cold-fish romances. I realize it's a British production, but couldn't they have scraped up a little passion somewhere? Even the stunning youngest daughter, Sibyl, generates no apparent heat with the man she will eventually marry. (As someone wrote on an imdb board, "if you're going to run off with the help, shouldn't it be at least a little bit sexy?") Either this plotline was badly written and directed, or possibly it's telegraphing that Sibyl was only interested in Branson as her ticket out of Downton Abbey, and she'll become disillusioned with him over time. We'll see.

The central romance of Matthew and Mary got spun out way too long and got snagged on too many ridiculous scruples ("but I might conceivably offend the memory of my now-dead fiancée!") I find Mary completely unsympathetic, and I can't get too interested in Matthew. They've got some terrible lines to say, for instance when Mary confesses her episode with the Turkish diplomat:
Mary: "I'm Tess of the D'urbervilles to your Angel Clare, I have fallen, I am impure!"

Matthew: "Don't joke, don't make it little, not when I'm trying to understand."

Mary: "Thank you for that."
(What was Julian Fellowes smoking when he wrote this crap?)

The most successful romance, for me, is Edith with Sir Anthony Strallen. They seem genuinely fond of each other, which is more than I can say for Matthew and Mary or Sibyl and Branson. I find Sir Anthony likeable (not "dull as paint", as Lord Grantham claims) and his goofy, manic smile charming. He's old for Edith, and now he's lost the use of one arm, but there weren't a lot of marriageable men left after the Great War. I predict these two will be married by the end of Season 3 (you heard it here first!).

I liked Bates at first, but his continual martyrdom became tiresome ("excuse me while I interrupt the obvious arc of the plot in order to tie myself naked to a tree and get shot full of arrows!") Who murdered his wife? My money's on Sir Richard Carlisle.

Readers, have you been watching Downton Abbey, or am I alone in this? Any thoughts?

3 comments:

  1. Funny post title!



    What are your thoughts about the disfigured guy at the hospital ,who claimed to be family and if true, take Mathew's place and who also got attached to Edith? I predict he'll show up on Edith and Sir Anthony Strallen's wedding day with proof of who he is!

    I toyed with the idea Bates did kill his wife. His self destructive streak is a mile wide, Only Bates could have told the prosecutor about his conversation with the lord of the Abby about wishing his wife was "the late Mrs Bates"...WTF? Who tells the prosecutor that while refusing to tell the police he bought the race poison weeks before? Seemed to me Bates hated his 1st wife way more than he loved Anna

    Mary: "I'm Tess of the D'urbervilles to your Angel Clare, I have fallen, I am impure!"

    Matthew: "Don't joke, don't make it little, not when I'm trying to understand."

    Mary: "Thank you for that."

    (What was Julian Fellowes smoking when he wrote this crap?)


    I think he was laughing at his fans and or trying to make the by gone era come alive by using its now tired dramatic conventions. ...Mathew jumping out of his chair is another. People have told me it's more of a soap opera in season 2

    As for tepid Downton Abbey romances, the one between Lord Grantham and Jane, the maid, has to take the cake. It was creepy ...glaciers give off more thermal heat.

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  2. Oh man, I really hope we're done with the false Patrick character. What a dumb episode. I thought they made it pretty clear that he's an imposter.

    Yes, the Lord Grantham/Jane thing was a real low point. In a sense, it should have been believable -- it's not unheard of for a married aristocrat to suffer a midlife crisis and have a go at the help. But there was no chemistry there at all. I'd rather watch Lord Grantham snog his retriever, Isis.

    I think Fellowes put the Jane thing in to motivate Grantham being more sympathetic to Mary's problems, but it just wasn't necessary. It's a dumb way to think about character motivation, which is not Fellowes' long suit, come to think of it.

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  3. I can put up with bad plotlines, but the false Patrick episode was so damn ugly. Half the point of the series is the fabulous real estate and beautiful costumes. I don't tune in to Downton Abbey to look at some guy with a lousy Canadian accent and a melted face. Yukko.

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