The debut of Julian Fellowes' series about an aristocratic family during the last few years before the outbreak of World War I garnered a great deal acclaim and awards, earlier this year. The success of the series led the ITV and Fellowes to continue the saga of the Earl of Grantham, his family and servants in a new season.
Series Two of "DOWNTON ABBEY" covered the last two years of World War I and the first 년 of peace during the years 1916 to 1919. Episode One began with Matthew Crawley, the heir presumptive for the Earl of Grantham enduring the last days of the Somme Offensive in November 1916. The story immediately shifted toward the personal dramas that unfolded over eight to nine episodes.
Last season focused upon the entail issue that prevented Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham from bequeathing his 제목 또는 any of his fortune to his three daughters - Lady Mary, Lady Edith and Lady Sybil Crawley and forced him to accept Matthew Crawley, a third cousin raised as a middle-class cousin as his heir. Season Two focused upon the Crawleys' attempts to adjust to the changes caused 의해 the war, their 사랑 lives and the impact of the war upon their servants.
One of the main subplots introduced in this season's first episode turned out to be Matthew's engagement to Lavinia Swire, the daughter of a 런던 solicitor. Most of the family and servants like Mr. Carson oppose Matthew's engagement to Lavinia, due to her status as a member of the middle-class and her position as an impediment to a reconciliation between Matthew and the family's elder daughter, Lady Mary. The youngest Crawley daughter, Lady Sybil, becomes a wartime nurse and faces a growing attraction to the family's Irish-born chauffeur, Tom Branson. Meanwhile, middle daughter Lady Edith learns how to drive and later, becomes a nurse's aide. Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham embarks on a campaign to ensure Matthew and Lady Mary's engagement. Meanwhile, the 스캔들 from her Season One encounter with Turkish diplomat, Kamal Pamuk, threatens to rear its ugly head for Lady Mary. She seeks help from Sir Richard Carlisle, a suitor, to nip the 스캔들 in the bud. But he exacts a price from her, for his help - an official engagement to marry. Cora, Countess of Grantham and Matthew's mother, Isobel Crawley, transform Downton Abbey into a convalescent hospital for Army officers. The two become involved in a power struggle before Lady Grantham assumes full control. Only Lord Grantham spends the rest of the war with nothing to do and sinks into a depression over his inactivity.
Most of the servants continue their household duties at Downton Abbey. Just as valet John Bates announces his intentions to divorce his wife to lady 사랑 and head housemaid Anna Smith, his wife Vera make the first of a few visits. Her threat to expose Lady Mary's Season One tryst with the dead Turkish diplomat, Mr. Kemal Pamuk, forces Bates to give up his position as Lord Grantham's valet and return to her. After being needled for being out of uniform, footman William Mason caves in and joins the Army. His decision eventually has an impact on Daisy, the scullery maid for whom he harbors unrequited love. Both the cook Mrs. Patmore and housekeeper Mrs. Hughes, pressures 데이지 into becoming William's fiancé before he leaves for the war front in Episode Three. And when William returns to Downton Abbey, mortally wounded, Mrs. Patmore coerces 데이지 into marrying him out of pity, leaving a bad taste in the scullery maid's mouth. After the trick she had pulled that cause Lady Grantham to miscarry in Season One, lady's maid Sarah O'Brien becomes increasingly devoted to her mistress. Yet, she continues to go out of her way to make life miserable for Mr. Bates, 의해 communicating with his wife. Downton Abbey's new housemaid, Ethel Parks, becomes involved with one of the patients at the Crawleys' convalescent hospital, which results in a baby for her. She seeks help from Mrs. Hughes to contact the officer's parents for financial assistance. Former footman Thomas Barrow started out the season as a medic in France. But the horrors of war drives him to deliberately expose his hand to gunfire in order to permanently leave the front. He eventually becomes a medic at the local hospital near the Crawley estate and later, as an aide at the Crawleys' convalescent hospital.
I just learned that "DOWNTON ABBEY" recently entered the 기네스 Book of World Records as the "most critically acclaimed 영어 텔레비전 show" for 2011, becoming the first co-produced U.S./British show to be recognised as such 의해 the 기네스 Book of Records. One, I did not know that "DOWNTON ABBEY" was co-produced in both Great Britain and the U.S. And two, as much as I enjoy the series, I am beginning to feel that a good deal of its acclaim might be undeserved.
One might assume that I dislike "DOWNTON ABBEY". On the contrary, I like it very much. I became a big 팬 of the series when its first season aired. But I also noticed certain flaws in Julian Fellowes' depiction of Downton Abbey's inhabitants that continued to both flourish and increase in Season Two. There were aspects of Season Two that I admired. The cast, led 의해 Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern continued to give first-rate performances. Michelle Dockery and Maggie Smith's performances seemed to stand out with most 팬 and critics. I cannot say that I agree with them. I suspect that Fellowes' detailed attention to Dockery's character and Smith's witty one-liners made them 더 많이 인기 than the other characters. The series' early 20th century costumes remained exquisite as ever, thanks to Susannah Buxton and Rosalind Ebbutt's designs. And aside from the few combat sequences, the series' production values and designs continued to be top-notch.
The 초 season of "DOWNTON ABBEY" provided some truly memorable moments. The Spanish Flu sequence in Episode Eight impressed me, with the exception of how the epidemic claimed its only victim. People might find this surprising, but I have always enjoyed Laura Carmichael's portrayal of middle daughter, Lady Edith. She was never a villainess to me, when Season One aired. I understood her problems. However, I was happy to see that her character developed further when she finally overcame her resentment toward older sister, Lady Mary. I also enjoyed watching the experiences of former footman Thomas Barrow in the season's first two episodes. The scenes featuring his combat experiences in France and his work with Dr. Clarkson and Lady Sybil Crawley at the village hospital really impressed me. One other character that made Season Two bearable for me, turned out to be Mrs. Hughes, the family's housekeeper. Her down-to-earth nature, along with her efforts to help housemaid Ethel Parks and her 코멘트 about Lady Mary pretty much anchored the season for me.
Unfortunately . . . when it came to Season Two, the bad outweighed the good. One of my complaints about Season One was that the only characters that seemed to display any real complexity were members of the aristocratic Crawley family. Aside from a few scenes, most of the servants continued to be portrayed in a one-dimensional manner. In Julian Fellowes' world (without Robert Altman and Bob Balaban looking over his shoulders), the only good working-class character was one loyal to his 또는 her employer.
From the moment she was introduced arrogantly proclaiming her desire for a life outside of service, Ethel Parks was doomed. Unlike Gwen Dawson from Season One, she did not seek 또는 acquire the help from a Crawley to rise in the world. She slept with an officer and paid the price with a baby and unemployment. Fellowes seemed to have ceased portraying former footman Thomas as a one-note villain and portray him in a 더 많이 sympathetic light in the season's first two episodes. 의해 the time Thomas returned to Downton Abbey as a medic at the estate's convalescent hospital, the former footman returned to his usual sneers and sharp comments. Only he did so, standing in the doorway 또는 sitting at the servants' table, sneering. And when he tried to earn enough money through the black market to start his own business at the end of the war, he discovered that he had been swindled. Thomas was forced to seek work at Downton Abbey again. I cannot help but wonder if he would have been 더 많이 successful if he had sought the "noble" help of Lord Grantham 또는 some other member of the Crawley family.
The subplot involving Daisy, William and Mrs. Patmore disgusted me. Period. I found it bad enough that Mrs. Patmore bullied and cajoled 데이지 into a deception 의해 becoming William's fiancée and later, his wife. In the "Christmas Special", Fellowes decided to condone Mrs. Patmore's bullying 의해 allowing 데이지 to form some kind of relationship with William's dad. It was sickening to watch and I cannot believe that Fellowes would actually finish a subplot on this note, because many of the 팬 wanted 데이지 to be in 사랑 with William. Mr. Carson remained ridiculously loyal to the Crawleys and 더 많이 importantly, to Lady Mary. In fact, his loyalty led him to consistently make insulting and snobbish remarks about Matthew's middle-class fiancée, Lavinia. Anyone could have perceived this as part of Fellowes' efforts to portray Mr. Carson in an ambiguous light. Unfortunately, Fellowes' one-dimensional portrayal of Lavinia as a dull "goody-goody" have led many 팬 to embrace Mr. Carson's disapproval of her. On the other hand, Fellowes did an excellent job in assassinating the family's radical chauffeur, Tom Branson. His friendship with Lady Sybil had created a shipper's following 의해 the end of Season One. But once Fellowes ridiculed Branson's radicial beliefs in two scenes - his plan to embarrass a visiting British Army general, which backfired; and his casual dismissal of the Romanovs - he became one of the most disliked characters of Season Two. And many 팬 expressed disapproval when Lady Sybil began to hint some kind of attraction toward him, claiming that their relationship lacked any chemistry. The hypocrisy toward Branson, generated 의해 Fellowes' conservatism, was astounding to witness. Even Sarah O'Brien did not fare well. Although she became 더 많이 loyal toward the Countess of Grantham following the latter's miscarriage in Season One, O'Brien continued her hostility toward John Bates even when Thomas 로스트 interest in the valet. And the reason behind O'Brien's hostility remained consistently vague, until she dropped it altogether in the wake of Bates' arrest.
Speaking of Bates, his romance with Anna Smith turned out to be one of the biggest jokes of the season. I never thought it would come to this. Honestly. Aside from the appearance of the one-note villainous Vera Bates, nothing happened. I am trying to remember what was so interesting about their relationship. Instead, I find myself recalling how much I found Bates' martyr complex so tedious. Why on earth would he give up a job that he liked to prevent the likes of Lady Mary from facing a 스캔들 about her one night tryst with the late Kemal Pamuk? I mean . . . really! If Vera Bates knew about the scandal, half of Britain's upper-class families and their servants must have heard the rumor. Meanwhile, Anna kept making a chump of herself, while buying Bates' promises of how he was going to get rid of Vera. I wish Fellowes never brought her on the scene in the first place. I enjoyed Maria Doyle Kennedy's performance in "THE TUDORS", but ended up with one of the dullest and badly written villains in 텔레비전 history.
For once, the Crawley family did not fare any better. Lady Mary remained the only upper-class character with any real complexity and a strong subplot. I suspect that the character became a personal 가장 좋아하는 of Fellowes, and actress Michelle Dockery benefited a great deal from his writing. However, not even she 또는 Dan Stevens could overcome the maudlin romance that their characters had been saddled with in Season Two. The Matthew/Mary romance had started as an interesting one in Season One, and transformed into a cliché-riddled 사랑 story fit for a bad romance novel. The two worse moments in their relationship turned out to be that Godawful moment when Matthew (who had been reported missing) suddenly appeared at Downton Abbey during a concert, joining Mary in "If 당신 Were the Only Girl" and when Mary experienced a "feeling" the moment Matthew suffered a major wound in Episode Five. I had to struggle to keep from throwing up during both scenes. And although Lady Edith managed to overcome her resentment of Lady Mary, the two subplots that Fellowes saddled on her character went no where. The "Patrick Crawley" subplot, in which a Canadian officer claimed to be one of her father's former heirs . . . simply went no where. Her "affair" with a local farmer, which consisted of a kiss, ended just as soon as the farmer's wife had her dismissed. I have already revealed what happened with Lady Sybil's relationship with Tom Branson.
Cora, Countess of Grantham was involved in two major subplots. One involved her power struggle with Isobel Crawley (Matthew's mother) over who would manage the convalescent hospital and Downton Abbey. Poor Isobel was portrayed as a tyrannical do-gooder from the middle-class. And many 팬 cheered when Cora managed oust her from Downton Abbey. I did not. All Cora had to do was remind Isobel that she was mistress of Downton Abbey, while the latter continue to run the hospital. Instead, she resorted to a passive-aggressive means to get rid of Isobel and I ended up feeling disgusted. I was also disgusted 의해 the machinations that Cora and the Dowager Countess used to detract Isobel from keeping the convalescent hospital opened after the war ended. I found it ridiculous. They seemed incapable of simply telling Isobel that Downton Abbey would return to being a private home. Yet, once again, 팬 cheered over the aristocratic women's triumph. Sickening. Robert, the Earl of Grantham came close to being written as a complex character. He spent most of the season feeling useless, because he was unable to obtain a command and go to the front. Eventually, Robert's feelings of uselessness and abandonment led him to become romantically involved with a housemaid named Jane Moorsum. This subplot would have worked, if it had been introduced . . . before Episode Five. Aside from plotting Lady Mary and Matthew's reconciliation, Violet, the Dowager Countess spent most of the season spouting one-liners. I hate to say this, but I eventually found this tiresome. Poor Maggie Smith had been reduced to being the show's comic relief.
Thanks to Vera Bates, Lady Mary had to seek the help of her suitor, press baron Sir Richard Carlisle, to help her get rid of the blackmailing woman. In return, Lady Mary promised to become officially engaged to Sir Richard. Poor Iain Glen. Vera Bates was not the only badly written villain to appear in Season Two. Sir Richard was another. Despite his title, Sir Richard was a self-made man, who certainly did not originate from the upper-classes. Both Lady Mary and Lord Grantham did not hesitate to let him know. 더 많이 importantly, Fellowes did not hesitate to portray him as some mustache-twirling villain without any complexities, whatsoever. Which is not surprising, considering he was not an aristocrat. Poor Iain Glen. His 이전 roles were a hell of a lot 더 많이 ambiguous and interesting than Sir Richard "Snidely Whiplash" Carlisle.
I might as well face it. Season Two of "DOWNTON ABBEY" disappointed me. Sure, there were a few aspects about it that I found admirable. But Fellowes' 글쓰기 simply undermined the show's quality. I had hoped that his portrayal of the Crawleys' servants would improve from Season One. It did not. Worse, the season was marred 의해 incomplete subplots that went no where and badly written romances that left me shaking my head in disgust. I hope . . . I pray that Season Three will prove to be a lot better.
