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70Those who accept it for what it is--a funny, manipulative soap that relies on historical upheaval to frame its scarce plots--should be happy to hear that Downton’s new season is better than its last.
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91Through it all, though, Downton Abbey is still superior entertainment on a grand scale.
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80This year, by contrast [to last year], the drama flows more naturally; it cuts closer to home, and nearer the bone, allowing Smith and McGovern, particularly, deeper material than has previously been their portion
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80This is put-your-feet-up, pour-a-brandy television, a tasty import that's good company for a culture undergoing its own sometimes dizzying shifts.
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100Downton has returned with all its powers intact, not least its power to mesmerize its armies of devoted fans.
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100[Creator Julian Fellowes] never been afraid to have characters we like do things we don't like. That continues in season three, which finds plenty of new ground even as it inevitably begins treading back over some old.
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100To anyone who has followed the ups and downs of Downton Abbey, the good news begins with those first strains of John Lunn's lustrous score, and doesn't abate until Fellowes and company have wrung every last ounce of emotion from these finely embroidered characters.
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80If you've loved every minute of Downton Abbey up to now, you'll likely still love it this season.
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100Downton Abbey is like British catnip, a dazzling entertainment where saucy always trumps stuffy. It's popcorn TV with a champagne aftertaste.
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70Downton Abbey comes back stronger and more muscular this time, with intriguing and shocking new plots that provide a bit of vital momentum and an uncharacteristically wrenching dose of tragedy.
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88Season 3 gets off to a fine and frothy start.
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88This third season is more in keeping with Downton's first [season].
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100What lies ahead for Downton fans is a first-rate run of episodes that feels less hectic and more tightly focused on the family core.
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80Fellowes does a good job of keeping all of his players engaged while introducing fresh faces and bringing back old friends.
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75On the one hand, our love of the characters makes it more than possible to overlook the sloppiness of the scripts. On the other, though, it's because we do know these characters so well that we notice the inconsistencies in the first place. Again, none of this detracts significantly from our enjoyment of the series.
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75Downton in season 3 is still a soap opera (as it was in season 1, as well), but it's a smarter one; it's harder to see the puppet strings Fellowes is pulling this year to get to his desired outcomes.
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67Plotting is not Fellowes' strength, but Downton's appeal is visual.
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70Objectively, Downton is not that good and certainly not as good--well-made, well-wrought, reasoned, executed--as it once was. But objectivity only has a little do with it.
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80The melodrama is deliciously engrossing and occasionally wrenching--two episodes in the middle of season three may empty local Rite-Aids of Kleenex--but in the end, it's a light series: "light" as in the opposite of dark, not insubstantial; warm, hopeful, inspiring.
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70It tends to work a lot better as the season progresses--like a 19th Century train, this polished piece of machinery starts slow and needs to work up a head of steam in order to be enjoyed in all its Victorian glory.
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100If the Granthams are low on dough, emotionally they're richer than ever. [14 Jan 2013, p.51]
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80While some plots on Downton Abbey may be more meaningful than others, nothing in season three rings as false a note as the Patrick-has-amnesia story in season two.
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83Fans will be pleased, though they shouldn't be too surprised by the major plot development Sunday--it's obvious by half.
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83As sweet as treacle tart, the third season of Downton Abbey arrives reasonably fresh and warm. [11 Jan 2013, p.74]
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80Fellowes has a stronger hold on telling the individual tales of his well-drawn characters, and that pinpoint focus utterly redeems the series early on.
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75Downton Abbey thrives when tackling plotlines that are confined to the personal and social conflicts of the estate, both upstairs and downstairs.
User score distribution:
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6This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.