Dave and I watched the Downton Abbey season four finale last
night, and I’m now curious to know what some of you thought about it. Here’s
what I thought:
Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed this season (particularly
as it progressed toward the final episodes). Thinking about it, I realized that
the main reason for this lukewarm sentiment was the lack of a compelling
romance. Edith’s romances are always, well, icky, and the Tom/school teacher
budding romance was uncomfortable at best. With Mary now free, there could have
been at least the beginnings of something good, but no; I don’t mind the “multiple
suitors vie for Mary’s attention” plot-line, but when they are all as boring as
a pressed white shirt, who really cares? (The last guy actually started out with
potential, but he pretty much became instantly boring once he fell in love with
Mary and started being nice to her. (At any rate, he’s nowhere near as cute or
charming as a certain blonde-haired lawyer from yesteryear). And poor Mary? She
started out convincingly heartbroken, but is now back to being as unlikable
(almost) as ever. If the writers don’t come up with a better male lead to
humanize her a little, I fear we are in for a lot more of this self-absorbed
heiress, “go ahead and try to win my affections” act.
What else happened? Well, I rather enjoyed Rose’s involvement
with the black Jazz singer; he was delightfully cast. Daisy’s crush on Alfred
(really, Alfred? –when cuter what’s-his-name guy was never good enough for
you?) started out amusing enough, but if I am honest it was starting to wear
pretty thin by the end of the season. And now Ms. Crawley has a suitor? Are we
supposed to care about him or just enjoy watching her squirm whenever he brings
her flowers and the like? The Anna/Bates conflict was by far the most
interesting story-line this season, but I don’t think they did enough with it.
Anna didn’t suspect Bates a little more given the arrows of pure hatred that he
was shooting across the table at Mr. Green? Does she, like, know her husband?
Did Bates confront the villain or simply push him into oncoming traffic with
all the grace and precision of a trained assassin? After all, we now know he is
a competent forger, a skilled pickpocket, and a very smooth liar. The season
finale certainly could have done more with that, right? Speaking of the season
finale, while killing off a main character every time seems far from necessary,
I would like to be at least half-way to the edge of my seat waiting to see what will happen in the next season by the time the current season comes to an end. (To be fair though, the season finale did include an
impressive number of gorgeous costume changes amid an apparently nonstop string
of high-society events.)
As far as season five goes, all we seem to know for certain is
that the Edith baby thing will explode (can’t say I’m looking forward to
that), and that Mary will be pressured to pick a suitor (blah). They could have
thrown some new complication into Mary’s love life (and, no, boring suitor #2
turning out to be super rich does not qualify). Or why not do more with Thomas’
scheming? We get vague threats that he has dirt on the new lady’s maid all
season, but we still have absolutely no idea what those secrets might be? Even
some revelation into what happened with Edith’s guy would have been
appreciated. Is he living a double life? How ‘bout a shot of his body lying in
a ditch? Come on, give us something to bite our teeth into! While the creators of the series are still nailing
the details like setting, dialogue and humor, I’m afraid that if they don’t put
a little more effort into major plot developments –or at least give us a decent
love interest to pine after- the glory days of Downton may be forever lost
somewhere down that dirt road near the smoking remains of Mathew’s car.
I just watched the finale. Some of my thoughts (not in order of importance):
ReplyDeleteIt's embarrassing to me how jarring American accents sound when you're accustomed to listening to British ones. Mr. Levinson's valet in particular, but Mr. Levinson himself and really, all the Americans just sounded crass and stupid. I hope we don't all sound like that all the time. I suppose not being in direct comparison to Englishmen all the time helps.
I read an article the other day where the author suggested that Bates is a homicidal maniac, but the writers don't know it. I thought that was hilarious, because it could be true. Although I suppose true homicidal maniacs kill for the fun of killing, and Bates only kills when he's really angry. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt with his wife, but now that it's clear he killed Mr. Green I'm thinking maybe he killed Vera, too. But I did cheer Mary on when she decided to burn his evidence. I guess it's vigilante justice but Green's crime far exceeds Bates' in my opinion. I think I would've let it slide as well.
I told Brian the other day (he hasn't been able to keep up with Downton this season) that after the Matthew and Mary love story, no other story has heart. Matthew was superb and I just can't get excited about these other guys. I like Tony an awful lot, even though I'm not sure why. But he "fell in love" with Mary so quickly and with no apparent reason aside from them being childhood acquaintances...? And her apparent beauty, though I want to think he's not after her just for her looks. You're absolutely right that Charles was only interesting until he decided he wanted Mary. Then he became a lovesick puppy dog and boring as all get out. Making him an heir only made it worse...seemed to me like a plot device to keep him a competitor since Mary seemed about to give up on him because of their differences (which is exactly what would've given it all a chance at being remotely interesting). And Mary's arrogance is kind of terrible. "Let the fight begin" or whatever she said there at the end? Ugh.
The finale itself was very weird to me, and I'm not sure if it's just because it all took place away from Downton Abbey or if it was just weird. There was way too much time spent on romances and/or side plots that we couldn't care less about. Who on earth believes that beautiful Madeline (or was it Meredith) cared about Mr. Levinson? That guy didn't have a single redeeming quality. I think they brought him in just because people like watching Shirley Maclaine in action. She was pretty good, but she jars me a bit with her American accent. ;) And an awful lot of time spent worrying about saving the reputation of the Prince of Wales. Whatever...I guess that did lead to Mary's change of heart about Bates.
As for the season as a whole, I really do agree with your assessment with a couple of minor exceptions. One being that I never thought the Alfred/Daisy/Jimmy/Ivy storyline was any good...boring, boring, boring. They dragged that love quadrangle out way too long. I'm kind of glad Ivy's headed for America (I'll watch next season, even though it's not as good as it used to be). Also I thought Branson's budding romance was interesting...until the finale. That's where it got awkward. So in the end I do agree with you on that one. I do think Branson's conflict was one of the more interesting and believable storylines this season.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Crawley's budding romance isn't exciting. I liked the idea of her and Dr. Clarkson much more, but she slapped that one down without half a second's thought.
I think Anna did know or at least suspect Bates' involvement in Green's death, but she decided not to think too much about it. Her attacker is dead and she'll never have to deal with him again, and from her perspective there really isn't a thing to be gained by pursuing her suspicion, but much to be gained by letting sleeping dogs lie, so to speak. That's my take, anyway. I do have a hard time imagining that Bates would be satisfied pushing Green in front of a car without confronting him...Bates is the confronting type, I think. But I think if he had confronted him it would've been a lot harder for him to surreptitiously arrange an accident, so...maybe for once he made a rational choice, the one that got the job done with the least chance of getting it traced back to him. Though why he held on to the train ticket is anybody's guess. Plot device to make sure the audience knew he did it, I suppose. Otherwise maybe he is a homicidal maniac, treasuring up the little reminder to savor every time he puts his hand into his overcoat pocket. ;-)
I do wonder what they're going to do with Gregson's story and think you're right, it would've been nice to throw something in at the end there to keep us interested (please, no romance between Carson and Mrs. Hughes. I don't think they'd go there and I'm praying I'm right.).
I do like what's going on with Baxter and Molesley, it's sweet.
I've heard rumors that Michelle Dockery isn't going to last past next season, and as annoying as she can be at times, I don't think the show would survive without her.
I also can't imagine them continuing without Mary. At that point, it doesn't even seem like the story is about the original family living at Downton anymore. The side characters have been very fun, but they can't continue to carry the show. I think people will be ready for a fresh start.
ReplyDeleteMary can be flawed, but she should be interesting. Yes, "let the games begin"? Yuck. I also thought it was weird when she basically told Tony, "I now know I will love again, even if it isn't with you, so celebrate with me."
The Bates article sounds funny. There were moments when he was downright scary (like when he told Ms. Hughes it was "far from over" right after showing a happy face to Anna). You are right that Anna would be eager to put it behind her and keep the peace with her husband. Ignorance is bliss I suppose even if it is willful, self-chosen ignorance. I wonder if an eye-witness will recognize Bates and Mary will have to testify or something, but I hope they don't go there.
The finale was weird. It didn't feel like watching a finale. The Americans and costumes were fun, but it's just going to take a bit more than that. I mostly enjoyed the season, but there is a part of me that wishes they had ended when Mathew was still alive.