Let's get the bad out of the way up front. For the most part, season five is packed with stunning detail, lush visuals, and a cinematic look. That makes the presentation sound like it's all bad. We're five seasons into 'Downton Abbey's Blu-ray releases, so I'm suspecting that this is just what it'll look like no matter what. The release comes with a slipcover.Īs is common with 'Downton Abbey', the presentation is mostly great, but with some noticeable room for improvement. The discs are packaged into a standard keepcase with three disc hubs, one for each disc. Disc one contains three episodes, disc two has four, and the third disc has two. The episodes vary in length from 49 minutes to 97 minutes for the season finale. Here we have a three-disc set, all discs are 50GB Blu-rays. That's fine though, watching more than one show about essentially nothing could very well become – gasp – boring. I don't think I've ever encountered another show like it. Instead we're drawn to the time period, the way it influenced people, the way things change slowly, but surely. It doesn't rely – much – on cliffhangers to keep its audience interested. To sit on the couch, curl up under a blanket, and watch other people live their lives. With so many shows out there that require long attention spans over vast seasons, 'Downton Abbey' allows me to slow down. I don't even hate-watch it either like I did with ' The Killing'. Yet, in all seriousness, there's something about the show that keeps me watching. Much like I know many people at work without really knowing them.
Not because I like them, but because I spend so much time watching them do mundane things. Is there no end to you're the terrible hand you've been dealt?Īt this point I feel like I know each character of 'Downton Abbey' personally. We first see him trying to dye his hair with what appears to be shoe polish. Molesley (Kevin Doyle) is still, generally, the most pitiful character ever created for TV. Hughes has an uncanny ability to walk in on secret conversations, and taking that as an invitation to meddle. Carson's feathers are continuously ruffled. Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) is still skulking around in the shadows, gathering secrets, threatening to use them, getting stymied at every turn, then miraculously doing something that garners him enough goodwill that he sticks around longer than necessary. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and her general stiffness are still around, although she's now warming to the idea of 20th century ideas of sex before marriage and trying to get to know someone before you actually say yes to marriage. Her bastard baby is being cared for by some townsfolk and Edith simply walks around with a glazed look just begging for the Edith Googly Eyes website to work its magic. Edith (Laura Carmichael) does the most Edith thing she possibly can and almost burns down the abbey while wallowing in her grief that she is indeed, Edith. His usefulness is disappearing, and he wears it on his face as much as he possibly can. He sulks around the house after being informed that the villagers would rather have Carson head one of their committees instead of him. An old-world aristocrat hanging on for dear life, as the world around him changes. Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) is becoming more and more aware of his obsolescence. I have to admit though, season five dives right back into all the 'Downton Abbey' tropes I love to hate. Just watching the residents of Downton Abbey exist. Sometimes a big wave comes in and splashes my legs a little, however, most of the time I'm just there. Most of the time I feel ambivalent toward it. And all I do is just stand there, letting it wash over me. People walk around a house, have breakfast, attend dinner parties, walk around some more, attend socials, retire to drawing rooms, etc. Hughes, I couldn't help but think it's a perfect metaphor for how I feel about this show. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) frolicked on the beach with the rest of the help, fade to black.Īfter reflecting on the final episode of season four, the waves lapping at the feet of Carson and Mrs.
As season four drew to a close, forgetting its silly season three finale-wannabe-cliffhanger, we watched as the Carson (Jim Carter) and Mrs. At times it was commendable how much nothing they were able to fit into every episode. I recently joked with my wife that if 'Seinfeld' were less funny and more British it would be 'Downton Abbey'.
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