Laughing was wrong of us, wasn’t it? We’re going to hell. But come ON; that was a ludicrous way to handle a main actor’s exit from the cast. In fact, it was so godawful that it smacked of some form of revenge on Dan Stevens by Julian Fellowes; a case of “You’re...
Downton Abbey: Nasty Boys Don’t Mean a ThingOkay, Julian Fellowes. You are back in our good graces again. If only we could rely on you to write every episode of Downton Abbey the way you write the final episodes of each season. It seems a typical Downton season can be broken down into three parts, in succession: first, table-setting;... Downton Abbey: Aristocrats on the VergeOh, Julian Fellowes, you hack. We have to laugh, because this seems to be the pattern with Downton’s creator and writer. He’ll give us a moment of sublime melodrama, like last week’s emotionally brutal death scene, in which the morals and mores of the aristocratic class... Downton Abbey: The Ugly Cry EpisodeWrecked. There we were, making fun of Cora’s crazy eyes and rapidspeak (“YOUREBEINGSILLY OFCOURSEWEHAVETOTALKTOTOM!” “IWOULDHAVESENTHERANHOURAGO!”) and Robert’s thickheaded aristocratic buffoonery, when the rug, it was pulled right out from under our feet.... Downton Abbey: Burning Down the HouseThis was kind of an odd episode, in retrospect. It had all the feeling of a table-setting episode; one where various characters and plot points are arranged just so, in order to pay off storylines later on. And those types of episodes are usually difficult to assess because it’s all so... Downton Abbey: Unlikely Turns of EventsOh dear. That didn’t take long. We’re afraid this episode represents pretty much everything that’s bad about the writing on Downton Abbey and all of Julian Fellowes’ worst instincts as a writer. The man has absolutely no sense of pacing and thinks plotting consists of... Downton Abbey: Let Me Call You SweetheartThe trick to watching any episode of Downton Abbey – if one really needs a trick to get through it at all – is to look for that one perfectly “of its time” bit of dialogue and vow to use it in conversation in the coming week. For a second, we really thought... Downton Abbey Season 3 Cast PhotoDarlings, let’s take a break from criticizing children and look at the official poster for Season 3 of Downton Abbey, which is out and ready to be discussed. And like all official Downton Abbey cast photos, perspective and physics take a back seat, as the cast are turned, through the... |
