The Future of Downton

One movie after several TV seasons of a show doesn't give the opportunity for much--especially when the show had movie length episodes. But it was simply the idea of a Downton Abbey movie that got all of us excited. Just one last glimpse at that world.

So that's exactly what the movie provided. They didn't have the time to create complicated plots that altered the course of it all, so they simply found a plot that would showcase the setting's favorite aspects. The king is coming over, so it will be all about decorum, show, rules, etiquette, planning, and drama, too.

The twists were three: Lady Bagshaw's maid and her actual identity, Branson's interference with the assassination attempt (as well as his interest in the aforementioned maid), and Thomas's attempted venture out into the world. The third twist was a bit of history with the interests of today in mind. The  second was mainly what we had already seen before. And the first was significant enough to be the main plot.

It is, after all, the closest to new information that we received, what with hearing that Lord Grantham would have been the heir if not for the maid. It's once again an expression of the painful side of living on top, where your life is decided for you and you can't make your own choices or follow your own wishes. But it is also a way of leaning towards the future.

Downton will still exist, this film said, but not in the same way. The upper class even will still exist, but not in the same way. A woman like Lady Bagshaw can have a child whose father is not in the same class that she is; and her child can still take on all that belonged to her mother. So you can have a place like Downton run by a pair like Lucy (a former maid) and Branson (a former chauffeur) because that's the new normal.

And that's exactly how it is. Downton does still exist, though it has a different name in real life. But the family don't live there the whole year and they don't live in the whole house. Certainly there are upper class circles where most of us will never find ourselves. But people do move between circles. People rise suddenly (or slowly). And sometimes people meet people from different circles and grow close, anyway. The time of Downton did not end--but it greatly changed.

A Downton Tea

Tea is served.

Today we have Vanilla Viennese Whirls and Blackcurrant Jam from Mrs. Patmore's kitchen, accompanied by grapes, strawberries, and smoked provolone. The bread for the jam, I confess, is in fact garlic and will not be consumed along with the jam (unless perhaps just for the insanity of it); it was simply the only small enough bread I had for my tea pictures.

My tea, as well, is an odd choice. It's simply the weird herbal blend I happened to already be making; it has nettle, echinacea, tulsi, skullcap, fennel, ginger, and clove. Not quite the Downton afternoon tea blend, eh, but this is real life. And I used to be all over buying the Downton blends at World Market (where I also got the pastries and jam, of course), but I'm kind of done now; now I just stick to blending my own loose teas.

The rest is quite nice, though. Never underestimate the fun of slices of cheese along with some fruit and dessert. Currants are one of the flavors I quite enjoy and wish I could get more of. World Market used to have currant flavored gummy candies; I think they were from Germany. Those were great. I do get currant jelly from time to time, so getting a Downton Abbey jelly was a reasonable purchase. It's novelty but it's also something that I like and can enjoy eating, and it won't leave me with a random piece of merchandise taking up space when the fun's worn off and I no longer want it.

The Viennese Whirls are lovely, too. Two flaky biscuits with cream in the middle, everything tasting of sweet vanilla. I don't care for cream in and of itself; it has to have flavor. And I find these quite nice. They have the tiniest hint of plum in them to add some springiness to the taste. If I were going to have a tea party, I suppose I could just head over to see what Ruze Cake House in Downton Scottsdale has today instead of buying packaged pastries, but still, these are fun. Again, if I'm going to play Downton Abbey merch, this is the way to do it.

All this to say that the movie is almost here. Naturally, I'll come back later with my thoughts on that one.

Downton's Farewell

I don't know how I have kept forgetting to put together my reaction to the end of Downton Abbey, even though it's been I think about two weeks since I finished the series. But then once I think on it, I realize that that is exactly why I haven't gotten around to it: before the last season I thought about the show a lot, but after it finished it almost vanished out of my head.

This is, of course, not a review, simply a reaction. I think I've done one for each season of the show over the years. Season 1 I didn't care for much, but my attention started coming in during Season 2 and I suppose by Season 3 I was as hooked as everyone else. It's like a gossip show: it's just interesting to watch the characters and speculate about what they will do next.

So I did a lot of speculating in between the fifth and sixth seasons. And a lot of anticipating. But then once it was over, there wasn't anything else to speculate about and nothing more to anticipate (I know there is talk about a movie, but as there are no details yet, that's far off and as yet intangible). And when a show is (in a way) built on speculation and anticipation, is there really any way to tie it up in an ending? Now let's start the spoilers.

Downton's Fifth Run

It's happened slowly, and with time. I remember being in a literature class my sophomore year of college when the professor and quite a few of the students were Downton Abbey addicts. I didn't get it. I watched the first season and I didn't like it that much; I liked the second one a little more, but still not much. I was getting more interested by the third and fourth seasons and guess what? By the fifth season, I realized I was enjoying it.

It's a social show. There are so many characters that the plot is their interactions with one another. Mary's relationship to her men, Edith's relationship to Mary, Robert's relationship to Bates, Carson's relationship to Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Patmore's relationship to Daisy, and so on. It's a web--so the viewer has to be in a web, also. I started to find myself interested because I've never watched this show by myself, and when you're watching with other people you can talk and comment and give opinions and make predictions. And this show really lends itself to all of that.

While, I believe, there are still two more episodes of the latest season to air on TV (in the U.S., that is), I conveniently know someone who bought the DVD set last week, so I've finished the season. I think it had everything I've come to expect and even enjoy about the show: humor, sentiment, drama, a touch of the socio-political.

March Favorites

1) The Lord of the Rings Elven Leaf Brooch - Do you know for how long I've been fascinated with leaf jewelry because of this brooch? Do you know for how long the idea of having the actual piece from Weta was simply a fantasy? At long, long last, I have this beautiful brooch in my possession, complete with its little bag made of the same wool material as the cloaks in the movie. Although, naturally, I prefer the brooch as a pin, it comes with a silver chain so that you can also wear it as a necklace--which does make it easier to wear more often.

2) Grantham Breakfast Blend Tea - It isn't that I'm obsessed with Downton Abbey; it's just that, once I started collecting the show's teas, I couldn't stop. My latest addition is a blend of black tea and ginger. The label suggests adding milk, and I do find that I like it better with a splash of almond to mellow out the ginger some. I do, however, generally like it more as an afternoon or mid-morning tea than as a breakfast one.

3) Bracelets - Now that Spring is here and I'm in short sleeves much of the time, I'm trying to remember to adorn my wrists. My handy bracelet holder is an old copper candlestick I didn't have any other use for. You can see some of my beaded bracelets, green and brown leather, wooden, and the Hillywood Show one on top.

4) Doctor Who - I shouldn't be allowed to investigate anymore franchises. I really shouldn't. I don't know how much more capacity I have: every time I get into something, I have to really get into it. I made my way through the new seasons; now I'm on the classic episodes. I seem to have acquired two books, one DVD, and too many packs of Jammie Dodgers (I had never even heard of these before, then I saw them at World Market just at the time when I was watching Matt Smith's doctor bring them into the script at every turn).

5) Antonio Melani Vest - I wear a vest now. Vests are cool. No, you know I've liked vests for a long time; it's just that the vest I have, while it's the best I was able to find for a long time, has a looser fit than what I ideally wanted (probably because it's a size big). So imagine my joy at casually finding a size 0, black, Antonio Melani vest on the sale rack. Perfection. Side note: I am always amused that my two favorite Dillard's brands are Antonio Melani and Chelsea & Violent (M.S.S.P is also good)--and I frequently wear them together. I've worn this vest, for instance, over my green lace dress.

6) Cholula Hot Sauce - There was a time when I was eating tortilla chips and hot sauce every day. I would just crave the flavors and never want to stop; it was good snacking for moving through classwork.  Now I have rediscovered why this hot sauce was my favorite. Valentino and Tabasco and everything else, they just don't taste the same. To each their own.

7) Antonio Melani Flip-Flops - I've resigned myself to getting a new pair of medium-quality, plain sandals for daily use during the warmer months (aka. about half the year). Starfish aren't my favorite, but the gold color is neutral and I found these on sale a few months ago when last summer was winding down, so they work.

8) The Illustrated Jane Eyre - I stalked this copy of one of my two favorite books (the other being The Lord of the Rings, of course) for a while, trying to decide whether or not I liked Dame Darcy's illustrations. Now I suppose I've decided that I find their gothic turbulence compelling and partially fascinating, whether or not I like the style. You don't have to know whether or not you like something to like looking at it, right? And it had been a while since I'd picked up another edition of Jane Eyre.

9) Tocca Florence Soap - Since Florence is my choice of Tocca perfumes, I also ended up with the Tocca Florence soap at some point. Its leafy, golden wrapping is beautiful, as is the mermaid design on the soap mold. While the scent is more perfumey than the perfume itself, the soap is so silky soft and smooth that I think I do forgive it.

10) Tootsie Fruit Rolls - I turned away from these in the Christmas aisle a couple months ago, so I couldn't resist them again among the Easter candies. You don't usually see the fruit version of Tootsie Rolls, and yet I find them such an interesting candy. Vanilla is the best flavor, then cherry. Even orange, lime, and lemon are nice. They all have the perfect blend of artificial flavorings that they just taste like whimsy and nostalgia. These and Smarties are like the best candies ever. I'm so strange.

The New Downton

So. Now that I've gotten around to watching the third season of Downton Abbey, like you to know what I thought of it?

As I explained last year, the first two seasons didn't make me such a big fan of the show as many people are. I sort of enjoyed watching it once and that was it. So it figures that, when I've heard some say that Season 3 was the worst so far, it would be the one I enjoy the most. But what factors exactly made that difference? Three things come to mind.

Most shows need some time to get on their feet, get the characters settled in, and get the audience used to the characters. In the first season, I didn't exactly like any of the characters; by Season 2, I started to be more interested in some than others. But in Season 3, I actually started to care about them--still not all of them, but some of them. That in itself can make a big difference. (If you were wondering, I usually like Branson and Anna and sometimes Daisy.)

There is also the timeline. It mildly bothered me that the show made such big leaps across time over so few episodes. Pre-war, then suddenly the war starts, then suddenly it's over, and so on. I felt like that didn't allow the small things to develop, if everything was constantly being forced forward. But Season 3 remained in a relatively small amount of time.

Last year I described the camera's fly-on-the-wall approach, saying that it left the audience to make their own judgments. I didn't always know what my reaction was supposed to be. But now I know. Carson and Maggie Smith's character deliver funny lines (unintentionally on the characters' parts). Everyone hopes for things to work out for Anna and Bates and for Mary and Matthew. So on and so forth. If I had originally fell in love with the old format, I can see how I might be slower to embrace the new, more common one. But I didn't, so I enjoy this one better.

It feels like more of a drama now, whereas before there was a certain distance from the characters' emotions, I thought. It was that distance that I didn't like. Now, however, I find myself rather wishing Season 4 weren't so far away (in the U.S., that is).

Downton Abbey

I guess I'm so late coming to many different trends because I already have too many of my own obsessions to keep tabs on--visiting at least three or four fan-sites daily takes up a little time. The advantage, however, of coming to the British period show Downton Abbey was that I could watch both Seasons 1 and 2 in a fairly short amount of time.

In recent months, the pages of Vogue have been littered with references to this show, and at least half the room (including the professor) in one of my classes consisted of addicts to it. So I couldn't walk into the show without high expectations, could I?

The first two or three episodes, though, left me a bit bored. There are so many characters, and the structure of the show follows their stories more like a fly silently watching than a camera guiding you to a specific reaction. But by the end of the first season, I was growing more interested.

What's nice about the "fly approach" of the camera is that the audience is left to make their own judgements, to choose their own favorites, to make their own predictions. There aren't many definite answers, so to speak. None of the characters, then, are entirely in the right or wrong; this reality-like approach is one of the things I think has made so many people into fans. The method of simultaneously showing what is going on in the lives of both the servant class and the upper class characters is, of course, also something people cite as part of the positives. Costumes, sets, performances are all quality.

But is all this enough to make Downton Abbey an absolutely spectacular piece around which the world crowds?

For me, it isn't. I've enjoyed the show: it has enough drama and twisting, multiple plot lines to keep your attention in the evenings. But most of it is on the surface level; it never passes the level of simply entertaining. And I'm not saying that that's a bad thing--it's just that I can't see myself re-watching these episodes ten times (as I have been known to do with other things . . . ) or calling myself a Downton Abbey fan even after its last season has closed, whenever that may be. I'll anticipate the third season and watch it, but that's all. This isn't the only period drama out there.