Downton Abbey: To Downton or Not to Downton This Time Around?
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. Each year promises remarkable change, but the greatest upheavals -- Matth