On Sunday December 18, 2011, New York’s PBS channel, Thirteen, will continue to re-air the first season of Downton Abbey in preparation for the premier of the second season of the series on Sunday January 8, 2012.
Downton Abbey Season 1 Summary
During the first season, viewers were introduced to the aristocratic Crawley family, whose family estate is situated in Northern England’s Yorkshire.
The family was thrown into turmoil in 1912 when its next two male heirs were reported among the victims of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The family soon learnt that their ancestral title and estate were to be inherited by a middle-class solicitor from Manchester.
A variety of scandals, romances, tensions, rivalries, and mishaps plagued the family until the first season’s conclusion finally saw the entrance of England into the First World War (1914-1918).
Downton Abbey Season 2
The second season of the series picks up in 1916 and follows the Crawley household through the remainder of the historically brutal war that was fought to end all wars.
The second season began airing in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2011, and it ran weekly for eight episodes. A Christmas special of the series is due to air on British television on Christmas Day.
The entire season, including the Christmas special, will be condensed, and it will air in fewer episodes on PBS in the United States from January 8, 2012.
Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, and the cast of Downton Abbey Season 2
The outstanding aspect of the series remains the performance of the very talented Michelle Dockery, who portrays the eldest daughter of the Crawley family, Lady Mary. Dockery’s impressive performance allows her character the illusion of multi-dimension, and almost any scenes without Dockery seem to fail to be interesting.
Of course, Dan Stevens also deserves praise for his strong performance as the unexpected heir, Mr. Matthew Crawley. Stevens succeeds in rendering his character likeable and sympathetic, but through no fault of the excellent actor, even he cannot fully provide the audience with a reason to forgive his character for his scripted idiocies and stubbornness in regards to his star-crossed relationship with Mary.
Audiences will become increasingly frustrated by the overly-thwarted romance of Mary and her distant cousin, Matthew. It is a storyline that is tediously stretched with the obvious intention of keeping the audience hooked by ‘never’ resolving the one almost motivated romance of the series. The romance of Mary and Matthew is mainly developed through the individual and joint performances of Dockery and Stevens, rather than through the contrived storylines and plot details of it, and Dockery and Stevens thus merit much of the credit for the success of this series.
The usually superb Maggie Smith shows more of her commanding ability in the second season than she had in the first season, but Smith could still be given more opportunity to show her talents.
Many of the supporting cast, including Jim Carter as Carson, Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes, Brendan Coyle as Bates, Joanne Froggatt as Anna, Thomas Howes as William, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, and Zoe Boyle as Matthew’s fiancé, Lavinia, give good performances, but the cast is not so strong that it can entirely conceal the weaknesses of the series.
Maria Doyle Kennedy gives a winningly noticeable performance in the relatively small guest role of Mr. Bates’ estranged and scheming wife, Vera, but it is concerning the number of sadistic and menacing characters who threaten and manipulate many of the other characters within the series.
Despite a majority of effective performances, the storylines of the series are so flawed that understandably only very few of the actors achieve obtaining and retaining audience attention in their plotlines.
Downton Abbey Season 2 Review
The second season of Downton Abbey actually does begin well. It shows the potential of being interesting and possibly absorbing escapist fluff, but by the time the season reaches its midway point, it has disintegrated.
The production values of the series assist it in being able to put up a good façade, and the background music is undoubtedly effective. Yet, the series is simply a glorified soap-opera, which is acceptable so long as it is recognized as such.
What seems less acceptable is the level to which it borrows from past works.
Was Downton Abbey inspired by Upstairs, Downstairs and a score of Vivien Leigh movies?
Much of the second season is a poor and more sensationalist retelling of Upstairs, Downstairs’ fourth season, which also explored the First World War, but fans of the predecessor period-set series will find it a small challenge to spot those similarities.
More of a challenge will be catching the many comparisons that can be drawn between lines and sentiments that resemble those previously expressed in a variety of films starring Vivien Leigh.
Michelle Dockery does exhibit some physical resemblance to Vivien Leigh, and behavioral comparisons can be drawn between Dockery’s television character of Lady Mary and Leigh’s screen portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara.
More obviously, watch out in Downton Abbey for similarities to lines and scenes from Vivien Leigh films such as Gone with the Wind, Waterloo Bridge, and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Elizabeth Fredericks - Elizabeth Fredericks is a graduate of Oxford University, and she has worked as a freelance writer since her first paid assignment as a ...
