The Wild Blog in the West

A little bird told me how Series Six went down, and how it most recently ended this past Christmas.  I won't blog about my impressions until after all episodes air in the United States, but with one or two exceptions, to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Stay tuned.

I'd mentioned back in August that I was disinclined to blog recaps for  Downton Abbey  Series Five due to, well, a complete lack of interest.  After finally watching Series Five, I'd say my instincts were correct.  Series Five was a snooze for about the first two thirds, with only the final third making it a better series overall than Series Four. Overall, these are my impressions of Series Five: 1.  Even the Show Realizes How Poorly Used Cora Is.   For four previous series, Cora was little more than a cushion on the sofa, zoned out and seldom interesting unless the script called for it.  In Series Five, the script did call for it quite often.  Not only did Cora receive the attentions of an elegant art collector, but she also got to remind the audience of her life before marriage, as the daughter of a Jewish millionaire.  Cora was interesting and insightful in a way that she was rarely called upon to be, and the scripts acknowledged th...

By which I mean: should I keep blogging about episodes of this series? At this point, it doesn't matter: for us luckless Americans, Series Five of Downton Abbey  begins in January 2015.  But Downton  will begin airing in the UK and other parts of the world soon, and already promises that earth-shattering changes are on the way. The year is 1924.  Socialism is on the rise, and the Labour Party runs the country for the first time.  There will be change like never before, and Downton Abbey may not survive! Pause and consider what you just read.  Does it sound different from what was promised in previous series? Unprecedented change in the social order?  Check.  Downton may come apart at the seams?  Check.  Downstairs characters reveal a desire for social advancement?  Check.  Lord Grantham sputters with outrage?  Check.  The Dowager Countess has the perfect witticism to capture it all?  Double check. Eac...

So here we are.  Another year of Downton Abbey aired and gone... this time with no notable deaths.  Last year at this time, I made several predictions as to how I thought Series Four would go.  This year, I'm going to check how I did and make yet another set of predictions.  Watch me go! Predictions For Series Four 1.  The Viewership Numbers Will Remain Strong.   That was definitely the case.  In the UK, the series viewership numbers slipped just the tiniest bit, from 11.7 million for Series Three to 11.5 million.  The Series Four premiere broke viewership records in the U.S. and the show did better against the Super Bowl than last year. 2.  Mary and Branson Probably Won't Get Together in Series Four, But in Series Five...   Another one on the nose.  Truth be told, it was a bit of a no-brainer.  It would have been wrong for Mary and Branson to become passionate in Series Four after each lost the love of their life in Se...

It's the Christmas Special, which means a super-sized Downton episode!  This one was both less tedious and less morbid than the previous one.  While there was threat of a scandal, at least no one died this time. Plot Synopsis So we jump ahead an entire year to the summer of 1923, and as expected, virtually nothing has changed.  Nothing except Edith going to Switzerland for eight months, having a baby girl, breastfeeding her herself, then giving her away to a Swiss family before heading home.  Nope, nothing other than that. Since apparently even Rose's brother and sister in England hate her, the Crawleys will be overseeing her presentation at court and the subsequent festivities.  The entire family heads down to London, save Branson, Isobel, and Violet, to the never-before-seen Grantham House.  The servants are all flustered, and Mrs. Hughes and Daisy make a late trip down because the housekeeper at Grantham House is ill and there will be a lot of gu...

I had to use that once.  Now I shall never speak of it again. This was the final episode of Series Four, before the Christmas Special that officially closes things out.  It was one of the better Series Four episodes, and one of the better Series finale episodes, at least since Series Two.  Nothing earth-shattering happened, but some plot lines wrapped up nicely and there were a few pleasant surprises. Plot Synopsis Lord Grantham is still away in America with Thomas, so Cora has the challenge of actually exerting herself for the upcoming village charity bazaar, which seems pointless because half of the people in the village hate the other half. Even with Thomas gone, Baxter dutifully collects gossip around the house to share with him.  She tries to get Molesley to spill what he knows about the Anna-Bates situation, but he doesn't bite.  Instead, he later asks Baxter if she would like to join him for coffee.  When she refuses, Molesley tells her ...

I was going to call this "Gone to the Pigs" or something of the like, but that was too silly.  Besides, while the pigs subplot was memorable, it was not the meat of the episode.  Pun intended. Plot Synopsis First, Downton Abbey is in a tizzy because Lord Grantham received a telegram from Cora's family in America, stating that they want him there right now .  For some reason, they think that having him testify before a Senate committee is a good idea, him being an upstanding English earl and all.  However, Bates does not want to leave Anna and begs for Thomas to take his place.  This simple request unleashes so much turmoil that one would think the nation had declared war again.  Before everything settles, Mary knows that Anna was violated, but not that Lord Gillingham's valet was responsible.  Anna refuses to disclose any more details to her. Before Lord Grantham leaves, Violet comes to wish him off.  If it's not clear by the way she cough...

Most of this episode was fairly quiet, like the last one.  However, this one had several good moments, and that's before the "secret" was revealed at the end. Plot Synopsis First, I'll get the never-ending love quadrangle out of the way.  Thankfully, this is the end and now Daisy can get a good plot line.  She begins this episode thrilled that Alfred is staying at Downton, only for her happiness to be dashed when Alfred receives a letter informing him that one of the accepted candidates dropped out, so he gets to fill the position.  When it's time for him to leave, he tells Daisy that he's sorry he hurt her, and that she will make a man very happy, just not him.  His honesty is refreshing, but couldn't he have said that a few months earlier?  How many months -- no, years  -- has this plot line dragged on?  Daisy manages to wish him luck, and they end on a good note. Later, Jimmy tries to take advantage of Ivy after they see a Valenti...

That "some stuff happened" is all I can recall.  Various things happened to the different characters, but it's all a bit of a blur, with only a few distinct moments.  Alfred on Top Chef .  Bates threatening Mrs. Hughes.  The guy who brought Pamuk to Downton making a second appearance.  I would end the recap right there, but that wouldn't be fair, would it? Plot Synopsis Oh let's see... Edith may be pregnant, given that she claims that she is going to London to see to Gregson's affairs but instead goes to the doctor's office.  No one else in the family cares, and when Edith claims she knows how it feels to be an outcast in the house, Mary snarks at her.  Will those two ever have a real relationship? Some boring shit happens with Violet and Isobel -- I don't remember.  Something about Violet's new gardener watering in Violet's house and a letter on her desk going missing.  Whatever was the problem, it appears that everything is a-okay i...

I remember reading comments to this effect, and I'm inclined to agree: I'm just not feeling Series Four so far.  I'm sure if I poured through last year's reviews, I would come across similar comments.  Sybil's horrific death didn't happen until Episode 4, and the other excitement happened more toward the end of Series Three.  Yet even in Episode 3, we had Branson escaping Ireland by the skin of his teeth , leaving Sybil behind to face the "pigs."  Here we have... a polite black jazz singer dancing briefly with Rose.  And Mary getting another marriage proposal.  And Edith competing for the title of Unluckiest Woman in the Western Hemisphere. Plot Synopsis The house party lasts a day or two longer after That Scene, which means that Anna must share a dinner table with the repulsive Green, who smirks delightedly while Mrs. Hughes gives him a thousand-watt stare.  Unfortunately, because no one knows what Green did to Anna, that leaves the other housem...

No sooner has Series Four gotten started than it gives us its first darkly disturbing episode.  As if Sybil's torturous, horrible death wasn't enough to make us shiver, now this?  I had read about this episode and storyline on Internet message boards, so I knew it was pretty hot and controversial. Yet unlike the Sybil episode, which seemed to deliver a thunderclap of doom from its opening moments, this one is actually fairly lighthearted until That Scene, where everything changes.   Plot Synopsis The Crawleys are throwing a house party for 16 people and several notables are invited, including Lord Gillingham, an attractive young viscount whom Cora invited to tempt Mary out of her seclusion.  He arrives with his valet, the flirtatious Mr. Green.  Another guest to the party is Edith's beau, Michael Gregson, who tries to ingratiate himself with Lord Grantham, only to get the cold shoulder.   There to entertain the guests will be Australi...