SummarySeason two begins in 1916, with heir Matthew Crawley fighting in the Battle of the Somme while the staff at Downton tries to keep things as they were before the war, even as the estate serves as a military rehab center.
SummarySeason two begins in 1916, with heir Matthew Crawley fighting in the Battle of the Somme while the staff at Downton tries to keep things as they were before the war, even as the estate serves as a military rehab center.
Judging from the first eight hours, it truly will be grand. Downton Abbey looks for all the world as though it’s steaming steadily toward happy or at least contented endings for one and all.
Watching Downton Abbey is like curling up with a really satisfying book, and I can't think of a better way to get through one of the crueler months of winter. This is one of those shows that after finishing it, I immediately began to envy those who had yet to experience the pleasure.
The cast is so uniformly good, frankly, it’s tempting not to single anyone out, and Fellowes continues to juggle the dizzying assortment of plots with what appears to be effortless ease. That said, one can see him repeating himself in some of the flourishes as the season progresses.
On 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.
Let's not kid ourselves, this is mainly escapist entertainment fare.... I'm sorry, but I cannot feel good about watching a drama that celebrates--yes, celebrates--one class of people oppressing another.