Downtown Abbey Season 4

[Madeleine]

Not sure if you've had the Christmas special yet - it's not set during the Christmas period though! I vaguely remember the family all heading off to London during the summer, and that's about all I remember so I don't think much happened.

[Nefret]

The American grandmother comes by, yes? Why aren't holiday specials set in Winter?

[Divia]

What year is Downton? I can say I didnt like the fast forward 8 months. Soon we will be in the Great Depression. And that's not much fun now is it?

[Nefret]

Uh, I think early 1920's.

[princess garnet]

Saw the finale last night! I enjoyed it.

Divia, I saw 1923 shown a few minutes into the show.

Did anyone recognize the show's historian Alastair Bruce as the Lord Chamberlain as Lady Rose was presented?

Check out the 8th episode extras including Laura Carmichael's live chat. Enjoy!

Finally I was annoyed with the pledge pitch when the finale ended around 10:30 pm. Argh!

[Divia]

I always hate the pledge pitches.

I thought it over and here are somethings I didnt like this season.

The rape. Pointless I thought. What did it do to further the storyline along?

I thought the handling of Edith's pregger storyline was poorly handled. I mean common one min she was preggers the next she was gone and we as an audience didn't get a chance to experience the angst. Missed opportunity in my opinion

Mary's flavor of the month. I hate the two men who are after here. Not to mention they look alike so I'm like which one is that? Annoying.

That stupid teacher. She has got to go! She's like nails on a chalkboard!!!! And I wish men I was interested in just accidentally ran into me so often. My goodness!

[fljustice]

I watched the season finale last night and thought it worked. They wrapped up a number of story lines that would allow it to be a satisfying series finale. I understand that there is to be another season, but I could leave the series happy at this point. Here are the wrap-ups that satisfied me in that they were optimistic:

Up Stairs:

• Mary said she can now see a future for herself. She hasn't "chosen" a man, but that's okay for me.
• Mary decided (after dithering) that she can accept Bate's action and destroyed the evidence of his crime.
• Edith made plans to bring her daughter back against the advice of her aunt and grandmother (even though it will still be a secret).
• Isabel came out of her shell (even if it's with a boring aristocrat).
• Violet and Martha have a small contretemps.
• Martha and Harold avoid the marriage trap while having fun with the gold diggers. All in good fun.
• Tom seems to be moving on.

Downstairs:

• Bates and Anna seem happy and the past seems to be in the past.
• Daisy got rid of Ivy while showing her superior cooking/organizational skills.
• Baxter stood up to Thomas--with a little help from the hapless Mr. Mosley.
• Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson held hands!

[Margaret]

I came late to Downton Abbey, but have been thoroughly enjoying it! Yes, it's a soap opera all right, but a darn good one. My honey and I have been checking out the DVDs from our local library and watching 2 (sometimes 3!) episodes a night. We did seasons 1-3 last year, and had a hard time waiting for Season 4, which we gobbled up this week.

It lost a bit of steam while the Dowager Countess and Mrs. Crawley were starting to get along, so I'm happy they fell out again later in the season!