Downton Abbey

[MrsCatHead]

Finally watching season 2. Did Elizabeth Macgovern get a face lift? Or did they just do something horrible with her eye makeup? The writing really was horrible compared to the first season.
Also, so it's okay for Lord Grantham to lust after a housemaid but his daughter can't legally be married to a driver.

Now to watch the Christmas episode.


Eta. Don't know how that stfu icon got in there!

[Baby Fish Mouth]

I'm in the middle of season 2, and yeah, the writing is not good. I'm getting tired of Thomas' evil plotting - I wish his character was more fleshed out.

Elizabeth McGovern's voice manages to both fascinate and annoy me.

Wish Mary could wear her hair down more often. Her face looks so much softer that way.

[angelaudie]

It now has to compete in the regular drama series category at the Emmys rather than miniseries. Look, I love the show, but think there's no way it should have won over Mildred Pierce and there's definitely no way *this* season should win over a more deserving actual drama series.

I wouldn't be surprised if the was nominated for best drama but I doubt it would beat out power houses like Boardwalk Empire or Mad Men. S2's strength is in the acting and if PBS has any brains they will push hard for a nomination for Michelle Dockery who practically held the whole season together. I can't believe PBS didn't even submit her for S1!

but if were giving out awards to soaps now, then Revenge also needs a bucketload.

If by some miracle DA did win for best drama it would hardly be the first time a soapy show won. Grey's Anatomy has won for best drama. thirtysomething, L.A. Law, and The Practice are other soapy shows that have won in that category.

I agree writing wise S2 wasn't as good as S1 but I still overall enjoyed the season. But Julian Fellowes has the actors to thank for that. But the Christmas special does give me hope that Fellowes did pay attention to the criticism of S2 and is addressing it.

The soapy plot that annoyed me the most was the Robert's sudden lust for maid Jane. I know people found Matthew regaining his ability to walk (and get a hard on) to the most annoying but I really didn't. For one spinal bruising is a real condition and it does cause temporary paralysis. Dr. Clarkson wouldn't have access to the technology we have now so I can see how a misdiagnosis could be made. Now, how Matthew discovered he could move his limbs again was ridiculous but the diagnosis itself wasn't.

[Ladybug]

Elizabeth McGovern's voice manages to both fascinate and annoy me.

I know! It's somewhere between a coo and a purr.

[MrsCatHead]

Yes, I cringed when I saw where things were going with Jane and His Lordship. I think at times the parallels were too forced, and that is due to the lackluster writing.

[ladytrentham]

I've got this weird feeling that Season 3 is really going to throw a monkey wrench in the works: Mr. P. Maybe/Maybe Not of the Canadian Princess Pat Regiment will turn out to be the true heir after all. At least Bobby Ewing won't turn up in the shower...

[dwanollah]

I'm waiting for the reveal that Edith is an adopted foundling or His Lordship's by-blow or something.

I also wish that the only gay male character wasn't a scheming dickwad. I know that the two aren't mutually exclusive and all, but it does read as problematic that gay + repressed + classism = EVIIIIL.

[huntergrayson]

It doesn't read that way at all to me because I regularly forget Thomas is gay because he may be the only character on this soap who gets tons of screentime and NO love interest/romance subplot. I don't care if he's scheming, give him a boyfriend!

Fellowes has said in interviews that we might not have seen the last of The Canadian Patient. Which, ugh.

I'm actually kind of annoyed with him. He's doing a film Romeo & Juliet and is all talking about how it's going to be a strict adaptation: "People have made Romeo since [the 1968 film]" — and some very good ones — but they were set in modern Ohio or whatever," Fellowes says. "This isn't that."

I would LOVE to see Fellowes try to write a film set in modern Ohio rather than coasting on his period piece cred.

[ladytrentham]

I, also, had forgotten Thomas was gay--until I read your post Dwan! I wouldn't put it past Thomas to be having a raging underground affair with Carlisle, come to think of it. They were probably in cahoots to take out the evil Mrs. Bates No. 1. (Maria Doyle Kennedy is going to wind up specializing in playing women who do NOT want to be divorced.)

[kostgard]

They do need to give Thomas a love interest. He was a bit more interesting in the beginning when he hated Bates because he had been acting as Grantham's valet before Bates has hired and was pissed about being squeezed out. And then the duke with whom he was exchanging love letters just showed up to steal those letters to erase the evidence of their affair and to give him the kiss off. Now he just smokes and schemes. They threw him a couple bones with his terror in the trenches and his very pretty patient who died, but he's mostly just the resident asshole.