Downton Abbey: Series 1, 2 and cast career discussion thread- Page 3

[romantico]

Posted: 1/2/12 at 8:56pm

Thanks. Series 2 of Downton Abbey comes out in February on blu ray and Dvd. I hope the Christmas special is included.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 1/2/12 at 9:59pm

I would avoid any sites like Tumblr that could be tagged to Downton Abbey. I have a friend who is obsessed and um, took a lot of agency to find Series 2 online. So I pretty much know all what went down in Series 2 thanks to her tumblr page (and yeah it was very soapy and the X-Mas special was no obsession).

[romantico]

Posted: 1/6/12 at 12:57am

Just a reminder, season 2 debuts this Sunday.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/?gclid=CNys3afbuq0CFUQRNAod1yK9AA

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/6/12 at 2:30am

Just caught the Christmas special and LOVED it. I hope PBS, for those who didn't follow Season 2 already, realizes this year not to edit it the way they did last year--obviously it's their biggest hit in sometime so...

[romantico]

Posted: 1/8/12 at 8:32pm

Just a reminder that series 2 debuts here in the states tonight.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/8/12 at 8:39pm

I'm hyperventilating, I'm so excited. Will 9 PM never come?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/8/12 at 9:00pm

I just hope my favorites make it through the war, though I'm sure that can't be the case.

I'm pretty sure Thomas is safe, being the central villain and all, Matthew is surely safe being the main love interest, Lord Grantham, well because he's Lord Grantham, all the women because they're women...so that leaves Branson, William and Bates as potential victims as far as I can see.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/8/12 at 11:13pm

That was great. Those two hours flew by and I can't wait for next week.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/8/12 at 11:35pm

I agree. No signs of slippage yet, I didn't notice any descent into soapyness.

(Spoiler?)
I should've seen Thomas's exit from the war coming - though I would've preferred if he'd broken the (presumably non-existant) Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. I thought he might get a chance at some action with all those sex-starved men. Oh well.

[madbrian]

Posted: 1/9/12 at 8:25am

I was pleasantly surprised when my 20 year-old daughter told me how many of her friends are into Downton Abbey. Their taste is generally suspect, but I now hold out a glimmer of hope for them.

[wonkit]

Posted: 1/9/12 at 12:28pm

My daughter's twenty-something friends are also very involved in this series. Hooray.

I am a Bates fan, so this episode made me happy and sad.

[romantico]

Posted: 1/9/12 at 12:40pm

I still want to see Angela Landsbury and Judi Dench join the cast.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 1/9/12 at 12:52pm

I was pleasantly surprised when my 20 year-old daughter told me how many of her friends are into Downton Abbey. Their taste is generally suspect, but I now hold out a glimmer of hope for them.

I'm a twentysomething who is hooked on the show, and have many friends my age who also love it. (In fact, I sort of casually mentioned it to a friend and she watched the first season, second season, and Christmas special in about a week.) I'm not sure what it is about the show that's attracting younger viewers (probably the gorgeous costumes and all the intrigue), but it's certainly fun to be a part of such a lively fandom.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 1:46pm

In next week's episode you get to see Albert training Joey to use a plough.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 11:23pm

I'll not have you speak of Lady Edith in that manner. I'll not have it.

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 12:27pm

I too am a young (college age) fan of the show. Its refreshing to see a show that's well written and genuinely makes me care about the characters. Yes, the spectacle of the period does help, but that's only part of the draw for me.
I also have friends who watch because of Dan Stevens and his very blue eyes- can't say I blame them :)

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 1:26pm

I'm just about college age too - and I'm certainly not the only one I know of who watches it. Young people have taste too! It may be set in 1912 onwards, but it doesn't really have the feel of a stuffy period drama like a Dickens or Jane Austen.

[Taryn]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 5:09pm

It may be set in 1912 onwards, but it doesn't really have the feel of a stuffy period drama like a Dickens or Jane Austen.

Sigh.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 6:35pm

Which is not to say I don't appreciate them too, it's just...it's just...I dunno. They take more effort, at least for me.

[wonkit]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 8:01am

Go back and read Jane Austen. It really is extraordinarily perceptive. And worth the "effort."

lol -- Dickens, personally, is my least favorite so "no comment" there.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:57am

I don't want to work today. I just want to watch more Downton Abbey.

I want to BE in Downton Abbey.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 11:52am

Downton Abbeyoncé

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 11:00pm

I loved the 2-hour season opener, but I did have one minor problem with it. It was an historical "oops."

***SPOILER AHEAD*****

It has to do with how Thomas gets out of his tour of duty on the front lines. By sticking his hand up while he's in the trenches and ... (well, if you saw it, you know the rest).

It's a sad fact of World War I that there were thousands of young soldiers who tried to get out of the war this way. It was an act of willful mutilation (shooting yourself in the hand or foot mostly), viewed as "cowardice" and considered worthy of a court-martial, which meant you would be put to death. (Some were merely sent to prison for life.)

If you've ever seen the French film "A Very Long Engagement," this is exactly what happens in the opening scenes. Five men are found guilty of this willful mutilation and are sentenced to death for their "cowardice." One of them does it exactly the same way Thomas does, even using a lighter as bait.

To have Thomas do this to himself---first of all, he would have been caught, because it was a common way to do it, very difficult to prove you had sustained the injury legitimately. Actually, one of the five men in "A Very Long Engagement" sustains a suspicious injury that he in fact didn't inflict upon himself, but they all presume he did, due to the nature of the wound, and he is court-martialed anyway.

It was an ugly war with ugly politics and protocol. But shooting yourself in the hand (or having it shot exactly the way Thomas did) would have resulted in him being courtmartialed and put to death for cowardice. At the very least, he would have been placed "under suspicion" for the injury. He would not have been sent home to run a convalescent center.

That's an "oops" in the plot.

Updated On: 1/12/12 at 11:00 PM

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/13/12 at 7:30am

That's interesting, and makes me think there are probably more examples of inaccuracy (were the upstairs/downstairs really as chummy? etc.)...I guess that's where my youthful ignorance comes in handy.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/13/12 at 8:29am

Thomas's getting away with it is contrasted by Mrs. Patmore's nephew, who does not.