Article first published as DOWNTON ABBEY Review at Seat42F.
The British series DOWNTON ABBEY returns to PBS this week
with the first two hours of its fourth season. It’s been six months since the
events of last year’s finale, and while life has gone on for much of the
household, there are a couple of individuals finding it hard to get past their
sorrow. This is the focus of much of the first couple of installments, though
likely won’t dominate the year.
DOWNTON ABBEY is the kind of series that takes a long time
to make changes. Characters and plots do grow, but the development is slow,
over the course of many episodes or even seasons, rather than immediate. That
means that the latest episodes feel more like a continuation of the same
familiar tale than the start of anything new.
Many fans have been waiting most anxiously to find out how
Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) is doing. Having lost her husband, Matthew, in the
season three finale, as one might expect, Mary is anything but adjusted in
season four. She is numb with grief, not having dealt with her feelings yet, even
though a good amount of time has passed. This leaves her unable to function
much at all.
Those who surround Mary are divided over how to treat her.
Her father, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), thinks she should be protected
from the world, shut away until she is ready to come out. Brother-in-law Tom
(Allen Leech) and grandmother Violet (Maggie Smith) think quite the opposite,
believing that putting Mary to work will draw her out of her cocoon. A few
others get the chance to put in their opinions before this is resolved.
The question raised here is not necessarily the best way to
move on from sadness, but what is right for the individual in question. While
Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton), the departed’s mother, is also lost at first, the way Mary and
Isobel come out of it, similar as it may be, definitely relates to their
personalities. Grief is a deep emotion, tricky to navigate, and DOWNTON ABBEY
does a fair job working through these situations, keeping them interesting and
authentic to the characters.
Although Matthew is dead, he still instigates one more
development, which makes quite a bit of impact late in the two hours. It’s not
something hokey or contrived, really, but rather a natural story point for the
established characters. Without spoiling anything, I will say the person most
affected is Mary, and fans of the couple should be quite pleased. It also moves
the story along in a direction that should be seen coming, but feels a bit
surprising, in a good way. I look forward to see where it goes from there.
Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael), Mary’s sister, also faces
some change in her life. Hers is a bit more predictable, but still, it’s nice
to see plot for an interesting character.
The servants’ side of things is no less served. Mr. Molesley
(Kevin Doyle) finds himself out of work now that Matthew is deceased, cards
from secret admirers shake up the house (which leads to an incredibly sweet
scene that I didn’t see coming), someone who rejected a potential romantic
partner may be changing their mind, a new appliance is added to the kitchen,
and a figure from Mr. Carson’s (Jim Carter) past reaches out. All of these are
fun and compelling stories that keep the same spirit fans of the show love. It
also helps balance out the more depressing stuff, making for a nice flow and
tone.
Of course, not everyone sticks around forever. As had been
widely reported last summer, Mrs. O’Brien (Siobhan Finneran) is out, a fact
dealt with very early on. But, in keeping with DOWNTON ABBEY’s propensity to
bring back familiar faces, even those who seemed to be brief stories that
already ran their course, O’Brien’s replacement is someone we’ve seen before.
And she’s not the only one from earlier seasons whose name pops up again.
I don’t completely like the method of O’Brien’s departure as
I’m not completely sure it’s in keeping with who she is. O’Brien is known to be
extremely loyal to Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), ever since that incident a few
years back. Yes, O’Brien doesn’t always feel appreciated (because she isn’t),
and her leaving is telegraphed last season, but it still seems just a little
off. Hopefully this will be resolved with a future appearance, as the story
leaves the door open for a return, at least in a guest starring capacity.
Besides O’Brien’s successor, another new staff member is
present at the start of the season. Nanny West (Di Botcher, Stella) is charged
with taking care of Mary’s son and Tom’s daughter. I won’t say you’ll like
Nanny West, but I definitely found her subplot entertaining.
And Cousin Rose (Lily James) is now part of the central
cast. She gets into trouble, of course, and as the young rebel in the house,
will probably be a driving force behind story this season.
DOWNTON ABBEY is a memorable drama series that I look
forward to. Judging by these first two hours, that won’t be changing anytime
soon.
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