The Downton Abbey Movie Teaser Trailer

The teaser trailer for next autumn’s Downton Abbey movie dropped yesterday.  Let’s take a look, shall we? There is not much there.  Lovely shots of Totleigh Towers… err, I mean, Downton Abbey there.  Lots of shadow, lots of light.  Shots that could have been stock footage from the original television series.  Some crane pans (orContinue reading “The Downton Abbey Movie Teaser Trailer”

Downton Abbey: A Long-Expected Throwdown

Golly gumdrops! It took six years, the moment has been long prepared for, and at last, it arrived. Edith unloaded on Mary. "A nasty, jealous, scheming bitch." "Don't demean yourself by trying to justify your venom." Wow. #DowntonAbbey #teamedith — Allyn Gibson (@allyngibson) February 22, 2016 The backstory. Last week, Bertie Pelham, a penniless landContinue reading “Downton Abbey: A Long-Expected Throwdown”

Downton Abbey: The Shallowness of Robert Crawley

I have been stymied in my efforts to write any sort of interesting piece on Sunday’s episode of Downton Abbey, the penultimate episode of the sixth season (but the antepenultimate episode of the series as a whole). Things happened, but nothing really grabbed me, at least not in any positive ways. The most notable featureContinue reading “Downton Abbey: The Shallowness of Robert Crawley”

Downton Abbey: The Big Bad, Revealed!

For five years, I’ve liked Charlie Carson, the butler at Downton Abbey. He might be uptight, but he does it because he has standards. He’s a professional, and he’s devoted his life, competely and utterly, to the Crawley family. He has his blinders, especially where Lady Mary is concerned, true, but it’s always to aContinue reading “Downton Abbey: The Big Bad, Revealed!”

Downton Abbey: Explosively Meh

The trouble with Sunday night’s Downton Abbey is that virtually nothing happened — until a scene that one will never forget. Downton is like that. I couldn’t tell you anything else about the episode were Sybil dies. Or the episode where Lavinia Swire dies. Or the episode where Matthew dies. Of course, those were yearsContinue reading “Downton Abbey: Explosively Meh”

Downton Abbey: Enter, Ozymandias!

In Zack Snyder’s 2009 film Watchmen, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Matthew Goode played Adrian Veidt, the world’s smartest man, someone who had honed his mind and body through sheer willpower and discipline to absolute perfection and operated, for a time, as the super-hero Ozymandias. I bring this up,Continue reading “Downton Abbey: Enter, Ozymandias!”

Downton Abbey: The Comeuppance of Mary Crawley

It’s taken five years, but someone is finally calling Lady Mary out on her shit. Yes! Mary is called out by her mother for being a bully! #DowntonAbbey — Allyn Gibson (@allyngibson) January 18, 2016 The proximate cause? The wedding of Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes. Last week’s drama revolved, in part, over where theirContinue reading “Downton Abbey: The Comeuppance of Mary Crawley”

Downton Abbey: The Politics of Pig Farming

Downton Abbey vacillates between two extremes — measured costume drama and out-and-out soap opera. Last night’s episode, the second of the sixth and final season, was the latter, not the former. The episode’s main plot — an autumn farm festival — was the springboard for a number of smaller plots, but then there were otherContinue reading “Downton Abbey: The Politics of Pig Farming”

Downton Abbey: An Auspicious Beginning to the Final Season

Downton Abbey was returning. It was impossible to avoid on PBS in recent weeks. There were ad spots between shows. “The Final Season,” we were reminded again and again. PBS’s biggest show ever, winner of Golden Globes and Primetime Emmy Awards. It all got to be a bit too much. Friday night, following the SherlockContinue reading “Downton Abbey: An Auspicious Beginning to the Final Season”

Downton Abbey: Edith Crawley and the Infinite Sadface

This week, I decided Downton Abbey‘s problem is that the season is a few episodes too long. Lose an episode or two, and there’s less room for fluff. This episode didn’t feel like fluff, not exactly, but it did feel very much like the movement of pieces on the narrative board. Some important stuff happened,Continue reading “Downton Abbey: Edith Crawley and the Infinite Sadface”