I wanna turn into one of those people with a tumblr full of tint-shifted anigifs from DOWNTON ABBEY

lol j/k

good show tho!

ps i had no idea what 'ship' meant in this context until yesterday

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/

ugh this show

i look forward to it every week

but ugh this show

i complained about mad men getting less workplacey and more soapy every week, and i watched the hell out of that

Maggie Smith breezes through this with such ease it made me chuckle at times

first series was really great. second series is ridiculously over plotted. like five cast off or forgotten about plots per episode. i think the first covered a year or so, the second has covered around five years in the first few eps.

ha i keep meaning to start this thread

so, i HATE this show, but i also LOVE this show. i feel like i need to be in a support group.

new season kinda sucks though

this thread is going to be deserted in january isn't it

i didnt realize it was so popular in the UK, feels kind of like a show geared to american anglophiles

"gosford park without the wit, irony, politics, or murder"

julian fellowes turning out to be a tory was disappoint, but also like duh

so far this season is me yelling at the tv for 60 minutes and then one week later obsessively checking sidereel while i wait for someone to upload it

wait how are you all watching this already

http://www.sidereel.com/downton_abbey

i'm not watching s2 yet!

maybe waiting a week between episodes will dry it out a little bit.

yeah it might be better if i were just watching em all in a row? on the other hand theyre reallllly stretching out some of the storylines, characters are doing way out-of-character stuff, and stuff that seemed unbelievable is even MORE unbelievable when it hasnt changed like 6 years later or whatever

sybil is still a serious babe though

did u know 'lady mary' and 'matthew' were in a versh of turn of the screw together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of7bcWKK0kg

This show's timeline is more fucked than Doctor Who's.

Next season needs Matthew to go all Phantom of the Opera and start living in a cave under the house.

this thread is going to be deserted in january isn't it

christmas episode

i didnt realize it was so popular in the UK, feels kind of like a show geared to american anglophiles

― max, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 00:40 (2 months ago) Permalink

it isn't that popular in the uk though is it? like the viewerships are presumably fine, but it's not all over the papers/"what everyone is talking about". i don't know anyone who watches it except americans and my mum.

i thought i read somewhere it was like the #1 show in britain?

well, it's mainstream tv, and it's being renewed, so in that sense it's doing well for expensive drama, but it's not a ratings sensation. last year's figures: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/table/2010/dec/21/top-tv-shows-2010. there's a bunch of other dramas that get very nearly as many viewers.

i guess i have a specific definition of "popular" in mind here anyway. i haven't actually seen it (and like i say, i've only met one real person who claims to like it), so i'm guessing here, but presumably, if the anglophilia angle is lost and you and you're used to that kind of uk serial drama writing, all you've got left is a soap opera.

so i'm talking about guardian/twitter popular, not # of viewers popular

part of the problem is perhaps that itv is kind of a joke in the uk, at least among the kind of people who have important blogs. i think i actually first heard about downton abbey on gawker, and it reminded me of when american sites link to the daily mail. not mentioning daily mail (or itv) in the first 5 words is burying the lede.

there's also the julian fellowes thing, for the 0.01% of the population/100% of newspaper editors who know who he is

lol "no one I know voted for Nixon"

so i'm talking about guardian/twitter popular, not # of viewers popular

yeah I think I've seen the 'loved by the public ignored by the critics' line about it in The Sun or somewhere, because of course the so-called 'real' media are out of touch with the people. That said, none of my Sun-buying working class family watch it or know anyone who watches it either, so god knows who does.

my parents watch it, apparently

At my evening class there is a late-40s woman whose standard conversational opener during the coffee break is "ohmygod did you SEE Downton Abbey this week?!" and some 60+ women who always join in with the Downton chat while the 20-somethings all look completely blank. So it's kind of weird to see that it has a youngish viewing demographic in the US (at least, going by ILX posts).

im 30 + most of my female friends watch it (im in london)

this show is really popular with vogue editors fwiw

this show is fine. it's fun to hate on the really awful characters. didn't know the second season had started in the US yet.

Downton is very popular in my art school office in SF, but maybe this is not the real America.

when is this on dvd?
it is kind of a stupid show in general, but i like it anyway!
i like how someone "tenders their resignation" in like every episode. delightful!

when is the second season on DVD i mean

It Is, already.

As is the Christmas ep.

not in the US yet. looked it up, comes out next month.

these crazy sisters are so mean to each other!

About to finish the first season on Netflix with my sister. I'm 22 she's 20. In America. #datapoints

My wife and I spent two days of our vacation last week watching both seasons and the Christmas special. The second season is definitely soapier but still pretty good. I had figured the xmas ep would just be a sop to keep people interested for season 3 but it wraps up a lot of the loose ends left in season 2.

Oh, and for the survey: early-40's, American. And nobody else we know watches this.

so, i HATE this show, but i also LOVE this show

i dont really LOVE it but it is super easy to watch, like i finished a whole season in two days.

bates is such a boring character tho, i mean theyre all kinda boring but bates is the boringest.

max i'm gonna share your downton abbey post with my gf and she's gonna get mad at both of us

my sisters both really like this show and they tend to like really shitty boring things

only person i've heard about this show from irl is my mom; i am american but she is english. she hasn't actually seen it tho. if she does i predict she'll be like "oh it's such garbage" but watch it every week w/ great joy and comfort; she loves watching people eat cold toast.

i don't really have any idea what it is though. my predictions are based entirely on its being called "downton abbey".

its 'a less good gosford park'

like if youve seen gosford park, imagine a version made for british tv that looks and sounds is written like british tv, and then youve got it

yeah that's what i figured. i think she's lost count of how many times she's seen gosford park.

My standard line is that it's gosford park without any edge wit humor or irony

still super watchable and fun though

Fun fact: iPhone autocorrects gosford with hoagies

iPhone knows the score.

well, not too bad to start with. i guess SOME PEOPLE think it's gonna be horrible.

i wonder if the 'christmas episode' will be broadcast with the rest of the episodes?

british tv that looks and sounds is written like british tv

ouuuuuuuuuuch

the most annoying person i know was using this show to try and get into the pants of american exchange students, i would like to feel like this sums it up in some way but it probably doesn't

some people know this season is bad

lol i don't doubt it. the first two hour shot had some worrying signs already

max RE YOU THE one who posted this link on facebook today:

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/07/why_liberals_love_downton_abbey/

cuz it made me want to watch it now...

unless you are another max.

no that was me!

i M THE ONE

the language is starting to stick out to me as not very period anymore. did people really say "give my confidence a boost" in 1917?

yeah, probably not

i'm done with season 3 of sons of anarchy so maybe i'll move on to this on netflix.

I still am so torn on whether I should bother with this.

The whole first season only has 7 episodes, c'mon, you can do it.

did people really say "give my confidence a boost" in 1917?

the term "self-confidence" was attested by the 17th century, and "boost" has been around since the early 19th, so considering their mother is american... it's possible.

watched 3 episodes and i can't say that i'm hopelessly addicted. i'll watch the rest though. kinda wish it were better...but its okay. i guess my one and only standard for anything soapy/dramatic like this is, do i care what happens to people? i don't really care in this case. actually, i have tweo standards. my other standard is, is this better stoned? again, this show fails on that front. but, its watchable enough.

went through both series and the x-mas special in the span of a week, ending last night at 1am.

feel like the series wrapped everything up and it could end here, if they wanted; bates is such a spineless wuss it's kind of hard to even care about what happens to him.

wife calls this show 'the butlers'

this show has replaced mad men as the thing most randomly tagged on to etsy/ebay descriptions

only person i've heard about this show from irl is my mom; i am american but she is english. she hasn't actually seen it tho. if she does i predict she'll be like "oh it's such garbage" but watch it every week w/ great joy and comfort; she loves watching people eat cold toast.

― occupy the A train (difficult listening hour), Friday, January 6, 2012 7:13 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

she called me yesterday and my prediction was 100% right, she talked about how badly written it was for a while and then said "oh i guess it's coming on talk soon bye" <3 u mom

Really disappointed at lack of tint-shifted anigifs itt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/fashion/downton-abbey-inspires-themed-viewing-parties.html

pondered for literally seconds whether this should go on quid-ag or here

classic picture btw

But the award for best costume might go to Patricia Morrison, 65, even though no one will see it. Ms. Morrison, the widow of the rocker Jim Morrison and author of a memoir called “Strange Days,” watches “Downton” alone in bed, wearing sweat pants and a tiara. “I happen to have two,” she said. “Who knew you could get tiaras on eBay? But I’m deeply disappointed that nobody on ‘Downton’ has worn one so far.”

This show is kinda ok but mostly meh. Strikes me as somewhat generic and occasionally hacky aristocrat drama. Most of its moves feel familiar.

Watching with my roommate - we killed the first season inside of a week and we've caught up with what's been shown on PBS. Total soap - I don't really care what happens to any of the characters (except the foxy maid in love w/ Bates), but I want to know what happens next week dammit.

It's a treat that our Sunday night viewing is Shameless then Downton Abbey. Fiona > Mary C

ugh this shit with a burned canadian with amnesia

"gosford park without the wit, irony, politics, or murder"

― max, Tuesday, November 1, 2011 8:40 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

having just rewatched i mean re-screened gosford park, this is a truth bomb

also, with aristocratic characters who aren't all snobby scumbags from hell

so did bates axe his wifey or what

and when is that jerkoff thomas gonna get caught sexing a man

this show is redic (just finished sea 2)

second series is ridiculously over plotted. like five cast off or forgotten about plots per episode. i think the first covered a year or so, the second has covered around five years in the first few eps.

― jed_, Tuesday, November 1, 2011 8:24 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I actually don't get this complaint. it seems to tie up everything I wanted but the only thing left is them getting bates out

The Man Without A Face ep was terrible, Matthew/Mary/Sybil/Chauffeur/etc. drama plotted over waaaaaaaay too many episodes, Lord Grantham almost indulging in an affair - I dunno about over-plotted but it got too soapy in the second season.

agree to disagree maybe. idk I totally accept this show as a soap opera w/ no real deeper intent and mad men is probably exactly the same at its base except i understand it (mad men) more from an american perspective and want more THERE there

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsyfb4EBYq1qzh1f6.gif

would like to see animated version of this show w/all parts played by characters from super mario bros. universe.

well this happened.

fistfight next week?

The Man Without A Face ep was terrible, Matthew/Mary/Sybil/Chauffeur/etc. drama plotted over waaaaaaaay too many episodes, Lord Grantham almost indulging in an affair - I dunno about over-plotted but it got too soapy in the second season.

― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Saturday, February 11, 2012 7:34 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it always WAS a soap, this was just when it turned into a straight penny dreadful victorian melodrama, which i personally think is awesome

lovin this show

my other standard is, is this better stoned? again, this show fails on that front.

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly23s5bEwj1r4zdclo1_500.gif

DISAGREE

it always WAS a soap, this was just when it turned into a straight penny dreadful victorian melodrama, which i personally think is awesome

― the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Monday, February 13, 2012 8:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was just making this point to a friend of mine via email. I am a stone cold sucker for Lost Heir plot lines, although I did wish that it ended with Lord Grantham finding definitive proof of the major being a fraud (preferably through a convoluted chain of gentlemen's testimony, diary entries, circumstantial evidence), bringing everybody together for a big reveal and then having the major arrested on the spot.

bates is such a boring character tho, i mean theyre all kinda boring but bates is the boringest.

I'm only on the first ep of season 2 but yeah how many more times can he fuck himself over by keeping his mouth shot for "honor."

the language is starting to stick out to me as not very period anymore. did people really say "give my confidence a boost" in 1917?

the one that made me lol was when Bates said something and his wife replied "AS IF!" sarcastically

mouth shut

I was just making this point to a friend of mine via email. I am a stone cold sucker for Lost Heir plot lines, although I did wish that it ended with Lord Grantham finding definitive proof of the major being a fraud (preferably through a convoluted chain of gentlemen's testimony, diary entries, circumstantial evidence), bringing everybody together for a big reveal and then having the major arrested on the spot.

― carl agatha, Tuesday, February 14, 2012 12:41 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya, that story kinda petered out and everybody seemed to forget it ever happened?

I'm glad I watched the British cuts of the last few episodes. PBS is apparently leaving some scenes out.

how much??

season 2 of this show sucked big time

all the nudity

except for the doctor's nudie scene

the topless garden party

http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2012/02/15/downton-grrrr/

ha yeah this happened.

pretty good crowd-pleasing ending, not much to say other than that really

just finished watching S1 with my sis, moving on to S2 this week despite max's valiant warnings against it. i've managed to insulate myself from the portion of tumblr that posts tint-shifted anigifs of this, so i don't know who the popular fan pairings are or anything. do people ship matthew and mary? because i want them both to drown horribly tbh.

well you're in luck because s2 starts with them taking a trip on the titanic 2

oops sorry... spoilers

My wife finally got around to watching season one, which means I watched it, too. I've seen this show before, in all its previous TV/film guises, and this one is really no better or worse. Well, it's definitely worse than a couple of my favorites, like "Remains of the Day," but it's not as bad as I expected, and the short season made it pretty palatable. There are times it descends precariously close to soapy camp, and other times it seems a little too on the nose, like "Mad Men," in the way it plays to contemporary audiences. But otherwise not bad.

just started watching this, kind of distracted by that one daughter who looks exactly like michael cera

the ugly one, you mean

I keep thinking michael cera is in this show

just a hideous monster

season 2 of this was laughably bad! looked nice, of course.

ha i was at the same 6th form as "lady mary"

i forgot to post after i watched s2, i no longer mind matthew/mary bcuz everyone else in the cast grew more annoying and made them look better in comparison.

Did anyone watch parades end last night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvw7J26V68U

this show is baaaaaaack and up to its old tricks.

just let edith marry that old man already, i feel like she's been into him for even longer than mary/matthew and sybil/branson have been going on.

this show is counterrevolutionary, finally branson shows some radical backbone and it turns out to SPOILER be b/c hed been drugged. also gleefully depicts a failed strike

but yeah decent start to the season

FELLOWES! *shakes fist*

sybil is like supernaturally hot tho

can't wait for january!

fun episode! lord grantham crying as horrifying as his 'affair' last season. the show would never do it in a million years but i think it'd be much more interesting if bates were actually guilty. part of me wonders if he'll be cleared of his wife's murder but in the interim he kills his cell mate. in self defense obv but being bates he won't allow this to be entered into evidence for fear it might risk his dewy eyed martyr rep. maclaine great already.

whatshisface sure lucks into a lot of inheritance huh

lol maclaine was a bit much

"i like the past!" "i like the future!" "i'm english!" "i'm american!"

possibly he is like a genius sociopath serial killer/grifter

yeah i feel like the writers didnt really write the maclaine scenes? like they just wrote [SHIRLEY MACLAINE DOES HER THING FOR 40 SECONDS] and it didnt turn out well

lol ya

thomas vs sarah escalated pretty quickly! lol at the dowager countess "mistaking" lord grantham for a waiter. groan at nearly every instance of 'i'm an american! and it's 1920!'.

the waiter line was the best (only good?) dowager countess line so far this season

kind of bummed the crawleys aren't going to be ballin out in high roaring twenties style this season, especially mary & matthew's honeymoon though i guess that'll all happen off-screen as with sybil & branson's marriage/married life outside of downton?

the show would never do it in a million years but i think it'd be much more interesting if bates were actually guilty. part of me wonders if he'll be cleared of his wife's murder but in the interim he kills his cell mate. in self defense obv but being bates he won't allow this to be entered into evidence for fear it might risk his dewy eyed martyr rep

― balls, Tuesday, September 18, 2012 10:38 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

good guess. fsr part of me (basically all of me) is, like, thirsting for bates' destruction?? weird because i'm sure i would be moved by anna's mourning, and yet all i truly want whenever he's onscreen is to see him, like, embalmbed

also maybe i'm crazy and i haven't heard the x-files theme in forever (didn't really watch that show that much tbh) or maybe this is obv and has been pointed out many times but does anyone else think the 'downton abbey' theme is reminiscent of the x-files theme?

oh, totally

yeah get it edithhhhhh. i'm going to be so pissed if something ruins edith's big day, let edith be HAPPY you monsters.

american serving girl is the worst, bringing back that boring maid who got pregnant last season is second worst.

bates isn't being helped by the poor way his scenes are being written, they all follow the EXACT same format every time. anna says "i'm going to do this" and bates is like "it's no use!" or "why would you do that!" or something similarly contrary. they had the same problem with sybil/branson last season, every time they cut away to garage for a scene you knew it was just going to be them arguing.

i cracked up when bates said he was really sad that downton abbey might get sold

dogg you are in prison why are you shedding tears for your oppressors

edith is kind of monster herself tbf

dogg you are in prison why are you shedding tears for your oppressors

― marx, Monday, September 24, 2012 7:59 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

as i have said before i find this show to be counterrevolutionary

i'm going to be so pissed if something ruins edith's big day, let edith be HAPPY you monsters.

Totally. But World War gives the youth some pretty good burns to employ when Dad won't let you do what you wanna.

Can't wait for season 12 when the family is so broke they have to open up a resort hotel together with the downstairs crew.

as i have said before i find this show to be counterrevolutionary

― max, Monday, September 24, 2012 9:40 AM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol idk where but somebody quizzed a bunch of historians abt this show and one of them was like "altogether there is not nearly enough physical and emotional abuse of the household staff depicted"

shirley maclaine is so fucking unbearable in this

arghhhh they did it, they crushed poor edith's happiness. what did she EVER do to ANYBODY except cheat with that married farmer guy and sell out her own sister as a murderer to the turkish consulate???

My money was on him having a heart attack at the altar and dying right there.

arghhhh they did it, they crushed poor edith's happiness. what did she EVER do to ANYBODY except cheat with that married farmer guy and sell out her own sister as a murderer to the turkish consulate???

― i've hidden a white teen on Crimedoer Mountain (reddening), Monday, October 1, 2012 7:18 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So OTM haha. Can you believe she has stans?

o max i'm so sorry

ha that doesn't sound good

wow kind of cant believe they had the balls to do it

BUT, that aside, why on earth would branson as a radical socialist republican want to baptize his child??

the calming influence of a reactionary household?

hahah theyve calmed him enough to be religious but not enough to be an anglican

also, I knew she was toast when both she and him fiercely proclaimed their love for one another.

they kind of really telegraphed it, i just didnt think theyd follow through!!

honestly, I assumed they chose eclampsia because it often results in a coma, which offers rich dramatic possibilities. while they probably wouldn't go with showing everyone leaving her funeral and cut to her clawing at the inside of her coffin, a pre-credits sting where she's on the slab and her eyes pop open and she screams would be reasonable.

this season is really annoying me. sybil dying was a nice touch but absolutely everything else seems to frivolous and ridiculous post-war. also so sick of Mr. Bates.

How did he get outta jail? missed that bit...

most anticlimactic prison release ever

man i'm so glad they killed off the lovely and charming sybill in order to bring us a plotline where branson and matthew manage a farm

I actually came here to post that the most exciting subplot this season is Matthew modernizing Downton and making it self-sufficient.

I actually came here to post that the most exciting subplot this season is Matthew modernizing Downton and making it self-sufficient.

this! have loved the last two episodes, precisely what i want from downton abbey.

2 months pass...
Did anyone watch parades end last night

― just sayin, Saturday, 25 August 2012 12:29 (2 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

2 weeks pass...

i actually watched an episode of downton abbey for the first time recently. it is such a weird show! neither the cameras nor the people move! i felt like they were all being pushed around on wheels to arrange the shots between times -- the one scene where someone said something and walked away felt like high drama

also

everyone makes very long pauses before they say anything

"That bloke Ponzi seems to be doing some remarkable investment opportunities" ...

most anticlimactic prison release ever

― akm, Monday, October 29, 2012 11:05 AM (4 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha otm, all that build up and then dude is just like "cmon stop"

tint-shifted anigif?

still have no idea what that means

let alone what it would be to turn into someone with a tumblr full of them

its like you take a gif from downton abbey and you put an instagram-style filter on it and then you have a tumblr with a lot of them

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me8jiwgpDs1qejuifo1_250.gif

i'm having trouble finding those now

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me7pnmkd0d1qcm0m3o1_250.gif

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me7newLIBB1rrdqgmo1_r1_500.gif

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me7jpf0eUM1qkyf0no1_500.gif

ty

plenty of shit like this tho

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcn1uq9U4q1qdg2p2o1_1280.jpg

omgggg

really felt like they were fumbling around for something to anchor the plot to this season, the 2 dramatic climaxes (edith left at the altar, sybil's death) both just happened without leading to anything, and yeah the estate's financial crisis and bates' imprisonment resolved themselves in the most boring ways possible. i figure they'll either rush through edith marrying the newspaper dude in the christmas special (can't remember what happened with that) or have that be a plot arc throughout the next season (but is she pretty enough?) i liked everything with o'brien's cousin & thomas a lot

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BNDM2NDUwNDU5OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTY0MzcxOA@@._V1._SX214_CR0,0,214,314_.jpg

lol when newspaper guy revealed his wife was in an asylum i was like smh this show is even more old-fashioned than i think it realizes

lol @ drawing, i could see liking bates non-ironically in s1 but surely we're beyond that now.

were people heartened or pissed off when every major character was like "oh yeah we knew thomas was gay ha ha."

i just finished season two + christmas special
watched the whole thing in like 2 weeks
WILL ADMIT that even though i have a heart of stone, i cried more than once
not reading this thread until season 3 airs

is this show so popular that there are well known stereotypes of different types of fans?

is that what this means? lol @ drawing, i could see liking bates non-ironically in s1 but surely we're beyond that now.

were people heartened or pissed off when every major character was like "oh yeah we knew thomas was gay ha ha."

i apologize for my ignorance -- i don't know anything about the hubbub surrounding this show. i can't say i even knew there was hubbub aside from the fact that i saw a "free bates" tshirt being loled at somewhere and i was like well, i guess bates goes to jail. and that was recently.

i will admit that i have enjoyed the ott camp elements as much as the genuine ones.

my knowledge of downton fandom is mostly from lol tumblr, which runs the gamut from earnest love to snark. bates get a lot of snark these days because his plotlines have been pretty cartoonishly written, especially in s3.

oh we don't have S3 yet...how could it be more cartoonish than p. gordon!?

I thought this thread got revived because of nu-Shelley Long.

oh this show

i know, right

yeah holy shit. this was a super boring christmas episode until the end.

season 3 starts on the 6th right? i put it on my calendar so i wouldn't make any other plans :-/

I wish I could get into this show because I want a show. I saw the first two episodes then never caught it again. Saw the special and couldn't get into it.

If they keep this up, by season five just saying "I love you" out loud on this show will get you instantly beheaded by a passing hot air balloon.

loved the plot in the xmas special about how branson needs to be ok with his elevated social status and not hobnob with his lessers, no matter what that vixen says

fukken thomas dude

and poor mrs padmore :(

Is there a tumblr of people making Cora Face? I'd like to see as many people making that face as possible.

didn't watch lol

I'm so excited - I spent this weekend watching Season 1 and Season 2 for the first time, and now I just have the Christmas ep left to go and I can watch last night's new episode :D :D

I kinda surprised myself by how much I like it!

I didn't think I would like it either, but it's just crazy enough.

It's just Jane Austen-y enough to hook me. Also Carlson reminds me of Sam the Eagle <3

fell asleep during the s3 christmas special, will rescreen soon but kind of feel like the downton abbey era might be over for me

the two hour premiere felt a bit long, i'll say that
i also find sybil extremely boring

well then

sorry if she is your favorite sister

by far

she's a "strong character" and super pretty, but i feel like she's so predictable
Edith is my favorite because she clings to everything she has so desperately and could go off the rails at any moment -- that makes the show more interesting for me

also seeing Mary become LADY Crawley is kind of weird and interesting

Sybil just keeps doing what I expect her to do, and that's kinda boring to watch imo

has someone clocked how many mary eyerolls there were?

xp (this post could be a spoiler to u depending on how much you have or haven't seen)

marrying the chauffeur & joining a revolution not so predictable imo

eh, i think so
even though she's english she totally seems like an american girl doll to me

i saw that chauffeur thing coming from a mile away
also the bobbed hair

Enjoying the Thomas vs. O'Brien story. It's like Alien vs. Predator.

I was trying to remember when & why they started beefing. Something about Thomas's war profiteering?

i love o'brien and her conflicted feelings toward cora

I was trying to remember when & why they started beefing. Something about Thomas's war profiteering?

They've been hot and cold at different times, but now it's because her nephew is a potential threat to Thomas' tenuous place in the hierarchy.

I think she would beef with just about anyone -- she's that kind of lady who is motivated by her insecurities. It's why she's so interesting when she shows real emotions!

Somebody has a novel take.

Well yeah, you can't really watch the show -- or at least, you can't really enjoy it -- without suspending disbelief and judgment on the entire class structure. Especially compared to Gosford Park (like max says above), it feels like Gone With the Wind-level romanticization. But what would you expect of Baron Fellowes of West Stafford? So, of course the NRO crowd loves it.

(All I can figure is that Gosford Park's acid edge came mostly from Altman.)

man that ending destroyed me

of which? the season or the xmas special?

it's hard to talk about this show when people haven't seen the whole thing yet

xmas spesh

whoever said upthread that OBrien v Thomas = Alien v Predator was otm

according to my twitter feed the PBS viewers made it to a Certain Episode tonight.

yup

RIP this show

I made it to that Certain Episode last night. ;_;

That one broke my heart.

The 2 hour one from Sunday had some great Maggie Smith zings.

the 2 hour one involved cricket as a major plotline, why am I still watching this

Huh. I didn't find it hard to avoid spoilers about what happened in the final episode of S3, and I guess I was pretty surprised, but I was more surprised by how much Edna looked like Debbie Harry in a maid's costume. I've come to the conclusion that everyone looks totally adorable with one of those little frilly white things on their heads.

The end of S3 took me totally by surprise. I knew that something big happened earlier on because my twitter feed was suddenly full of intentionally vague protestations about the show, but the end I did not see coming at all. Also: :(((((((

The end filled me with RAGE, especially when they followed it up with a pledge drive.

I went immediately to the internet to see whether it was some kind of a trick and it wasn't. I understand why Fellowes had to do what he did, though.

Are we allowed to say specifics on this thread now that the season is over in the USA?

http://24.media.tumblr.com/4c9a0549174e21b161429fbad1d2a406/tumblr_mfyfxfBJAZ1r8z0vro1_500.jpg

;_;

i'm *still* mourning

Seriously. About the 100th time I said that I couldn't believe it, Jeff was like, "Can you stop thinking about that show now?" Answer: no, I cannot.

this show had already been declining pretty hard but i really cannot see it recovering from its losses this season

Dan Stevens said ages ago he wasn't coming back for season 4.

As soon as the ep ended I searched "Is Matthew really dead" and found a bazillion articles from last year about Dan Stevens. The extent to which I've managed to live in a Downton Abbey spoiler-proof bubble shocks me.

still hope they all turn out to be fascist sympathizers

Surprised Oswald Mosley hasn't turned up yet.

pretty glad i bailed on this tbh

- dan stevens

still hope they all turn out to be fascist sympathizers

― zero dark (s1ocki), Tuesday, February 19, 2013 12:12 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

man THIS i would tune back in for

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00663/news-graphics-2008-_663665a.jpg

new love interest for lady mary?

i liked this season much more than last season and wasn't nearly as much a sybil or matthew fan as many but yeah i think i'm ready to cut bait, there's just clearly no plan in place here. is this the first case of american success fucking w/ the british 'know when enough is enough' tv model?

Dunno if this has been pointed out, and I've only watched season 1, but Cora is def channeling some Tom Skerritt.. the smarmy, patronising ass he plays in Contact. Can't disassociate the two now. wtf

wait did the new season of this start already?? my sister said it did, but i have seen NO tint-shifted anigifs of it on my tumblr dashboard

show jumped the shark

totally gutted of all good characters

the show hasnt been good since the first season

nah second season was great, third was pretty bad but at least had some bangers... i couldn't even make it through the first episode of this one

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no

(spoilers for new season) this is a fanciful nonsense show about servants who love toiling on behalf of the idle aristocracy, it has no business tackling a subject like violent sexual assault.

yeah i think thats it for me

absolutely no faith in the ability of this shows writers or creator to handle that plot line

gosford park is so amazing and sharp, wtf happened here

no altman

no cry

lol

this season is fucking preposterous

yeah i think thats it for me

― max, Tuesday, October 8, 2013 9:58 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Us too, pretty much. From "the best show to watch with your girlfriend" to "the worst show to watch with your girlfriend" in the space of a week.

how bad is it?

ya, this is almost making me wanna watch

well there is a ****SPOILER******

rape scene

which

actually isn't the worst thing about it. The worst thing about it is how stupid all the characters have become.

just watching this now. i agree the new season is horrible and out of its depth with the sensitive issues it is trying to tackle. also the plotline with braithwaite is a misogynistic, paranoid fantasy and i think it's weird that the show is so willing to paint her unambiguously as a villain.

this past season was better. although i spent the entire time hoping that mr bates would be hanged in prison again. what a christmas special that would have been.

i had avoided this season but bingewatched while i was sick over New Year

twasnt the best season granted, but i didnt hate it as much as i was expecting to

anyway: new season starts sunday :D

i didnt like braithwaite the first go-round, liked her about as much this time, happy to see her go (again)

plus she looks like an evil doll that came to life

the season starting sunday is the one I was just talking about (it ran in the UK over the fall).

can't believe no UKers talked about the final season (which I t0rr3nt3d finally to watch before it shows on PBS), but maybe only americans watch this show at this point.

Anyway 4 episodes in it's much better than the previous season.

new addict to this show!

:D

it's like taking over my thoughts on a daily basis i'm being rewired :D

*sings* a whoooole new woooorld

haha
hi surm!

:-) hi!

movie finished atop US b.o. ahead of AD ASTRA and LAST RAMBO

congrats, aristo worshippers

I saw the trailer in front of something and was agog that the plot of the film seemed like it was going to be “the KING is coming and we have to prepare a LUNCHEON”

That literally is the plot.

I’d call this movie a hot pile of garbage but it wasn’t even hot.

It was fine

Plotless and nearly witless

And what is wrong with these people that they don’t just take the day off when it’s offered to them? False consciousness the movie.