The Televangelist: ‘Downton Abbey’ Season 2 Finale

Forget all your troubles, forget all your fears and go DOWN-TON! (for Christmas, anyway)

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  • PBS
  • Aww shucks



“That blessed mood,
In which the burthen of the mystery,
In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world,
Is lightened: — that serene and blessed mood,
In which the affections gently lead us on.”

In describing last night’s “Downton Abbey” I feel moved to crib a few stanzas from Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey.” Through the trials and travails of Season Two, one might have wondered if “Downton” had lost its place on the TV pedestal due to dropped narratives and medical miracles (which, I will note, even Dan Stevens in the “Making Of” show seemed to find patently ridiculous), or had the series simply run its course? The Christmas Special, doubling as PBS’s season finale, hopefully assuaged those fears. “Downton” never seemed comfortable during the war - it felt as if Fellowes wanted to make bold statements and get to the meat of the war’s impact on the house, but shied away from any real discussion or commentary. (In fact, for a far more heart-wrenching depiction of the World War I years, I recommend the recent BBC miniseries “Birdsong”).

But with the war over, things began to settle back into the writer’s comfort zone at Downton - Thomas was back in his footman’s uniform, dances are being given, the biggest worries are not those of a world at war but of love and the destiny of one’s heart. The time frame was reduced to a few holiday weekends, and the scope of of the stories narrowed to give us a deeper look at our favorite pairings - Mary and Matthew, Anna and Bates, Lady Violet and everyone. Even Rosamond’s story with Lord Hepworth, though it descended quickly and obviously into one of Fellowes’ favorite tropes, “rich man sleeps with maid,” was a fascinating little jewel into the insight of a woman who has everything but a loving companion. Rosamond speaks openly about being lonely, and her whims to take up with Lord Hepworth are indulged by her mother and brother (until Hepworth is found out to be the cad he is, having an affair with a 1920s Tina Fey impersonator) because she is a woman who already has a secure station and inheritance. The lesson seems to be that if you marry rich enough the first time and find a way to get rid of him, you may then love freely.

The sentiment of “love conquers all” was felt all over the episode, wherein people responded calmly and rationally to some shocking news. As I mentioned in the very first episode of this season, much of “Downton’s” drama is stripped away because people are just so gosh darn mature and logical. The reason why we love taking a guilty peek at shows like “The Real Housewives” or “The Bachelor” is because we are seeing people act completely irrationally and outrageously for our own addicted amusement. I’ll leave the psychology of that to the professionals, but as far as TV goes I can knowingly say that a lack of drama and obstacle can make a viewing experience rather dry. Instead of letting the secrets of Pamuk’s death be discovered by Robert and Matthew quickly and with suddenly resolution, why not have at least Robert harbor the knowledge through more of the season and really think on it? His response to Mary is to go find a cowboy to shake them all up? He still calls his youngest daughter’s husband and baby-daddy “the chauffeur,” let’s not forget, before we suddenly label Robert a progressive.