Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Brown Findlay, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Siobhan Finneran, Joanne Froggatt, Rob James-Collier, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Penelope Wilton, Amy Nuttall, Lily James
Creator: Julian Fellowes
Genre: Period Drama
Rating: B+
Okay, so I spent a lot of this episode cringing for various reasons. It's a bit heavy handed, especially with the foreshadowing,and so a lot of the episode is spent going "don't do this, don't do this." Set in September 1921, about nine months after the conclusion of season three, this year's Christmas Special followed a number of plots. The main part of the Crawley family, has gone north to Scotland to see Lady Rose MacClare (James) and her parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Flintshire (Peter Egan and Phoebe Nicholls). There Lord and Lady Grantham (Bonneville and McGovern) try to help the Marquess and Marchioness with their failing marriage, Mary (Dockery) and Matthew (Stevens) fret over the impending birth of their child while also worry about the attention that Edith (Carmichael) is getting from her newspaper editor, Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards). Bates (Coyle), Anna (Froggatt), Molesley (Doyle), and O'Brien (Finneran) all make the trip, with O'Brien coming to head with the Marchioness' lady's maid. Not invited on the trip is Tom Branson (Leech), who remains behind at Downton with the staff. Here he's brought to question his role and position in the family, and whether or not he's being true to himself, by new maid Edna (MyAnna Buring), who happens to be attracted to him. Meanwhile the younger staff, lead by footmen Jimmy (Speleers) and Alfred (Milne) are hoping for some time off while the family's away, but Carson (Carter) has other thoughts about that. Also back in Downton is Isobel (Wilton), who has begun to get cozy with Dr. Clarkson (David Robb). Oh! And Mrs. Patmore (Nicol) has a suitor in new grocer Tufton (John Henshaw), although Mrs. Hughes (Logan) isn't too sure of his motives.
I enjoyed the struggle between the younger staff, who want some time off, and the older staff, who view the family being away as a time to clean the house properly. I thought it was a really great plot, especially as Mrs. Hughes supports both the younger and the elder staff, depending on which one she's talking to. I'm really glad that she wasn't the character they decided to kill off last season, simply because I don't think the house would run nearly as efficiently without her. Actually, I think all around I really enjoyed the various plots for all the main servants, even O'Brien, who's struggles for once make her look like something other than the villain.
What I was a bit more iffy on was the storylines for the Crawleys and Tom in general. Isobel's was cute and I was really into it throughout and I look forward to how, if at all, they deal with it in the next season. I hope so; I'm never really a big fan of her storylines, but I think this could be one that I'd really enjoy. I'm not too sure how I feel about the Ethel plot line - I can't help but think that we're being set up for Ethel being screwed over romantically, which I feel we've done enough at this point. I get it, Ethel is unhappy in love and going to die an old maid. Let's move on now, shall we? I kind of saw the solution to the Flintshire's problem coming a mile away, although I'm not complaining - I think Lady Rose is going to be a good addition to the cast, especially with the departure of Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay). I think, if given the chance, Rose could become my new favourite of the upstairs ladies.
The two things that I hated the most, however, was the foreshadowing about the Matthew/Mary plot and the overall Tom plot. Let's do Tom first, because the Matthew/Mary stuff is somewhat spoiler-ish. I think over the course of this series Tom is one of the characters that has probably grown and changed the most - and it's a growth and change that I really like. He was a member of the staff who fell in love with the Lord's daughter, got married, unwillingly joined the family, then gradually became accepted by the family. Now, however, without Sybil he's still a bit lost and left alone, without the family he's beginning to question how much he's changed. The overall relationship, and flirtation, with Edna, left me worried - I'm not ready to see Tom leave the Crawley family and go back to being the person he was at the start of the series, nor am I ready to see him move on from Sybil. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Now... if you've paid attention to the rumours about Downton since the end of season three, then you kind of new what was coming - and if you didn't pay attention, the show gave you plenty of opportunity to anticipate it (and I'm going to very strongly allude to it in the next bit here). There's a degree of foreshadowing that's appropriate, then there's what Downton did here. That's not to say that I didn't like the actual plot, I did and really it's exactly what I was hoping would happen given the rumours, I just didn't like sitting there going "oh, yeah, x is going to happen." In the end, it was handled nicely, but the lead up was too heavy handed.
Okay, so I spent a lot of this episode cringing for various reasons. It's a bit heavy handed, especially with the foreshadowing,and so a lot of the episode is spent going "don't do this, don't do this." Set in September 1921, about nine months after the conclusion of season three, this year's Christmas Special followed a number of plots. The main part of the Crawley family, has gone north to Scotland to see Lady Rose MacClare (James) and her parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Flintshire (Peter Egan and Phoebe Nicholls). There Lord and Lady Grantham (Bonneville and McGovern) try to help the Marquess and Marchioness with their failing marriage, Mary (Dockery) and Matthew (Stevens) fret over the impending birth of their child while also worry about the attention that Edith (Carmichael) is getting from her newspaper editor, Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards). Bates (Coyle), Anna (Froggatt), Molesley (Doyle), and O'Brien (Finneran) all make the trip, with O'Brien coming to head with the Marchioness' lady's maid. Not invited on the trip is Tom Branson (Leech), who remains behind at Downton with the staff. Here he's brought to question his role and position in the family, and whether or not he's being true to himself, by new maid Edna (MyAnna Buring), who happens to be attracted to him. Meanwhile the younger staff, lead by footmen Jimmy (Speleers) and Alfred (Milne) are hoping for some time off while the family's away, but Carson (Carter) has other thoughts about that. Also back in Downton is Isobel (Wilton), who has begun to get cozy with Dr. Clarkson (David Robb). Oh! And Mrs. Patmore (Nicol) has a suitor in new grocer Tufton (John Henshaw), although Mrs. Hughes (Logan) isn't too sure of his motives.
I enjoyed the struggle between the younger staff, who want some time off, and the older staff, who view the family being away as a time to clean the house properly. I thought it was a really great plot, especially as Mrs. Hughes supports both the younger and the elder staff, depending on which one she's talking to. I'm really glad that she wasn't the character they decided to kill off last season, simply because I don't think the house would run nearly as efficiently without her. Actually, I think all around I really enjoyed the various plots for all the main servants, even O'Brien, who's struggles for once make her look like something other than the villain.
What I was a bit more iffy on was the storylines for the Crawleys and Tom in general. Isobel's was cute and I was really into it throughout and I look forward to how, if at all, they deal with it in the next season. I hope so; I'm never really a big fan of her storylines, but I think this could be one that I'd really enjoy. I'm not too sure how I feel about the Ethel plot line - I can't help but think that we're being set up for Ethel being screwed over romantically, which I feel we've done enough at this point. I get it, Ethel is unhappy in love and going to die an old maid. Let's move on now, shall we? I kind of saw the solution to the Flintshire's problem coming a mile away, although I'm not complaining - I think Lady Rose is going to be a good addition to the cast, especially with the departure of Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay). I think, if given the chance, Rose could become my new favourite of the upstairs ladies.
The two things that I hated the most, however, was the foreshadowing about the Matthew/Mary plot and the overall Tom plot. Let's do Tom first, because the Matthew/Mary stuff is somewhat spoiler-ish. I think over the course of this series Tom is one of the characters that has probably grown and changed the most - and it's a growth and change that I really like. He was a member of the staff who fell in love with the Lord's daughter, got married, unwillingly joined the family, then gradually became accepted by the family. Now, however, without Sybil he's still a bit lost and left alone, without the family he's beginning to question how much he's changed. The overall relationship, and flirtation, with Edna, left me worried - I'm not ready to see Tom leave the Crawley family and go back to being the person he was at the start of the series, nor am I ready to see him move on from Sybil. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Now... if you've paid attention to the rumours about Downton since the end of season three, then you kind of new what was coming - and if you didn't pay attention, the show gave you plenty of opportunity to anticipate it (and I'm going to very strongly allude to it in the next bit here). There's a degree of foreshadowing that's appropriate, then there's what Downton did here. That's not to say that I didn't like the actual plot, I did and really it's exactly what I was hoping would happen given the rumours, I just didn't like sitting there going "oh, yeah, x is going to happen." In the end, it was handled nicely, but the lead up was too heavy handed.
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