My mum and my sister Sadie just finished the first season of Downton Abbey last week! I'd wanted to see it for quite some time and, naturally, I had heard many good things about this series from various sources and so I was so excited when my dear mother bought the first season for us for Easter! We didn't watch it right away- Hornblower kind of got priority if you know what I mean :)- but last week we finally started it and we watched the entire thing throughout the course of a few nights! It was actually even better than I'd anticipated, and I can't wait to see the second season!
I probably didn't have to add as many pictures as I did to this review- especially of Matthew Crawley- but I really couldn't help myself! Silly girl. You'd think I was a fan or something. :)
First of all, the Crawley family.
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| I'm really not sure what's going on in this picture, but it was one of the only ones I could find of just the two of them. I have absolutely no idea why the Earl is sitting on the floor. |
I liked the Earl of Grantham. He was a decent, honest, fair man. I initially had a bit of a hard time thinking of him as a good character, since the only thing I've seen Hugh Bonneville in is Daniel Deronda as Henleigh Grandcourt, who, if you don't know, is simply horrible. But fortunately that didn't last long, and I grew to like his character very much. The Countess I was not so fond of. First of all, it took awhile to get used to tolerating her accent- which, by the way, I am fairly certain is not real- and even though she was "nice" and all that, I just wasn't terribly fond of her. It wasn't that I really disliked her or anything, she just wasn't my favourite. And how did she fail to see that O'Brien was a tyrant? I mean, it was just a little obvious! But I suppose she had been her maid for many years and it had probably never occurred to her that she was not 100% trustworthy.
Mary was....well, not my favourite either, let's just put it that way. And I cannot BELIEVE I did not recognize her as Erminia from Return to Cranford! *Hangs head in shame*. She was clever and beautiful and snobby and insincere, with a disposition similar to that of Gwendolen Harleth in Daniel Deronda. In fact, that's who she reminded me of at first. I did sympathize with her, because that whole incident with Mr. Something-I-Can't-Read was not entirely her fault, but after a while it seemed like she was just constantly whining about how she was "a lost cause" and would never be happy and blah blah blah. Alright, we get it. So I suppose it just got a little old. Let's just say that if she gets married to Matthew in a later season- which I'm pretty sure she will, because that's just the way these things go- I will be considerably disappointed.
I don't really have much to say about Edith. I feel like we don't get to know her very well- she's kind of "the boring sister"- but she seemed kind of....pathetic. But even though I didn't especially like her, I thought her relationship with
Sybil was my favourite sister, and I also thought she was the prettiest (Mary's insincere smile sort of began to annoy me after awhile.) It seemed towards the beginning of the season that we weren't going to see much of her, but then I was glad when she became a bigger part of the story. She played the part of the youngest sister very well, I thought, and I loved how she was so interested in . I really liked her friendship with Branson, the chauffeur (sink me if those two don't get together!), and how she helped Gwen finally get a position as a secretary. She could be disobedient and even a little rebellious, but overall I thought she was a very capable, genuinely nice character.
Maggie Smith, of course, gave a brilliant performance as the Dowager Countess of Grantham- but we all knew she would, didn't we! She was quite hilarious in her old-fashioned, straitlaced ways, and she had a great many saucy lines that have become some of my new favourites. "I must have said it wrong." Her rivalry with Mrs. Crawley was quite funny to watch, and she played the part of the opinionated, slightly overbearing "Granny" fabulously. Bravo, Maggie Smith!
Matthew Crawley was just simply charming. I had never seen Dan Stevens in anything before this, (although I have heard that he plays Edward Ferrars in the 2008 Sense and Sensibility), and I think he is quite a nice young actor. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I think he could play a very charming Edward. I myself will always be loyal to Hugh Grant, but since someone had to play Edward in "The New One", I'm glad it was Dan Stevens. Not that that fact makes me want to watch the 2008 Sense and Sensibilty, but still! Matthew was definitely one of my favourite characters. He was quite sensible, honest, capable, and yes, handsome. Which a young man should be if he possibly can! I also really liked his mother, Isobel Crawley- Penelope Wilton is just so cute! I first saw her in Pride and Prejudice (2005) as Mrs. Gardiner, which wasn't a huge part, but since then I've seen her in Wives and Daughters and now this and I have come to the conclusion that she is simply adorable.
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| Mary and Matthew walking together. |
I really liked most of the servants. Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes were both very nice, which I was glad of, because all too often the housekeeper or the butler is a bad character and then that messes everything up for everyone else. They were both perfectly strict but fair, and I liked them immensely. William was so sweet, Gwen and Anna's friendship was so cute and Mrs. Patmore, fierce as she was, made me laugh. "No, I put them out for the fairies."
Anna was my favourite character in the entire show, I think. She was kind and cheerful and such a good friend to Gwen and Mr. Bates, but at the same time she could be clever and shrewd- a "naughty girl" as Mr. Bates said. At first I didn't think of her as being very pretty, but that changed quickly after I started to get to know her. The way she sought justice for Mr. Bates and kept on believing him to be an honest man even when it seemed like he wasn't was very admirable.
Which brings me to Mr. Bates.
Oh, I absolutely loved him! He and Anna together were simply too sweet for words. And when she had a cold and he brought her dinner.... my sentimental little heart just went all aflutter. Needless to say, their relationship was extremely sweet. I've only ever seen Brendan Coyle in North and South and in that he was kind of.....rough, shall we say, but in a good way. I liked Nicholas Higgins but I like Mr. Bates a great deal better. He was definitely one of my favourite characters.
Another favourite was Tom Branson, the Irish chauffeur who entered the scene about half way through the season. I knew I would like him from the very first- the fact that he was Irish may have had something to do with it! I've always had a strange affinity for Irishmen. I felt sorry for him when Lord Grantham got so angry about his taking Sybil to the political thing or whatever it was (you know what I'm talking about!) It really wasn't his fault- even as much as I like Sybil, it was her fault- and he made it very clear that he would never do anything to put Sybil in danger. I'm actually hoping that Sybil and Branson will get together in a later season- I suppose I'll just have to wait and see!
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As I said, I may have gotten a wee bit carried away with the pictures..... |
And now the villains of Downton Abbey:
Thomas was perfectly horrid. Definitely one of the worst villains I have ever seen, I knew instantly I would dislike him. He was so slimy and horrible...ugh! I can hardly bear to look at him! I really don't have anything to say about him except that I utterly loathed him and was just as glad as everyone else when he handed in his notice. Not that he won't still be in the show; I'm sure he will, I just hope he won't be bothering poor dear Mr. Bates- and everyone else- anymore. Miss O'Brien was equally ghastly. Plus she was always so cross, which made her even worse. I could very well see why the Earl wanted to be rid of her. Why the Countess couldn't see that her lady's maid was a villain was a little puzzling, but then again she wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. In short, they were both perfectly awful- the kind of villains that you just have no sympathy for, you just want them to die and be gone forever.
How many of y'all recognized this gentleman? :) Robert Bathurst is the kind of actor who just keeps popping up everywhere! To me, he will always be 1st lieutenant Eccleston, but I've also seen him as Mr. Weston in Emma and I've grown quite fond of him and his acting skills. Lord Anthony was a rather small character and wasn't really in it very much, but I couldn't help liking him- I don't think Robert Bathurst could ever play an evil character, he's just so cute! The face he made when he tasted the salty pudding was absolutely hilarious. :)
And I simply cannot neglect to mention this gentleman! Mr. Murray only had one scene in the entire first season (although, according to IMDB and as evident by this picture, he does come back), but my sister and I immediately recognized him as Mr. Bracegirdle from Hornblower! (What have I always said? Everything has at least someone from Hornblower in it- although in this case, the show was chock-a-block full of Hornblower characters!) You know when you've seen an actor as a character you really like, and then when you see him for the first time as someone else, it's like, a really big moment? Sadie and I were so excited we couldn't hardly speak- it was the biggest thing since seeing Jim-Bob Walton in The Blue and the Gray! (Although in that case, I actually fell off the couch screaming- if I remember correctly I was wound a little too tight that evening.) Anyway, Mr. Bracegirdle-Murray's appearance simply made my day!
The costumes in this series are absolutely gorgeous- definitely a new favourite to add to my Favourite Period Drama Wardrobes list! (As number one or two, probably!) Mary's and Sybil's dresses were my favourites, but really I loved them all. The styles, of the evening gowns especially, was reminiscent of Elise McKenna's dresses in Somewhere in Time, but I actually liked these better. This is probably my favourite era as far as fashion goes, although the Regency comes in close second. Some of my favourites were Mary's brown evening gown....
Mary's red evening gown....
And, of course, Sybil's adorable bloomers!
In short, I was very impressed with this series. It has its faults- if you've seen it, you know what I mean- but moreover I think its merits outweigh its faults. The acting is excellent, the music is superb, the costumes are utterly gorgeous, and it's visually stunning. It's not as much of an instant classic as Cranford or Wives and Daughters, but it really is a fabulous series. I can't wait to see the next season!
Have you seen Downton Abbey? What did you think of it?
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