Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Downton Abbey *Spoiler Alert*

DISCLAIMER: This blog post contains a huge plot spoiler regarding the series "Downton Abbey". If you haven't watched through to the end of Season Three, you may want to close this window right now. Seriously. 

One night Jason had fallen asleep on the couch and yet I was strangely awake. I grabbed a snack and scrolled through Amazon's instant video selection and saw Downton Abbey. I'd heard so much good about this series, so I clicked play.

And an insatiable addiction was born.

Since that time, many hours were spent in the evenings watching the trials and tribulations of the Crawley family and hanging on every elegantly pronounced word. I laughed, I cried, I felt rage. It was like the tamer British cousin of Game of Thrones for me. Jason became hooked as well and together we spent our evenings flying through all three seasons. We discussed it with my in-laws on Easter since apparently they've kept up with it but one thing struck me as odd. My mother in law kept saying how angry it made her that they were trying so hard to save Downton Abbey when financial ruin threatened the property. I inwardly wondered "Why?? Why wouldn't you want to save such a beautiful estate and such a genteel way of life?"

Then the season finale came. And Matthew Crawley, the immensely likable and totally selfless savior of the Crawley estate lay beneath his overturned car with blood running thickly through his handsome blonde hair. 

I was stunned. 

How could they do this? How could they kill off probably the most likable character in the entire series? And right after he'd finally produced a newborn heir to secure the title forever and continue the line! Then it hit me... perhaps Downton Abbey is evil...

Just look at the title screen...dark as well as light! Evil side much?


Of course! It's the house! It's the bloody house... It's alive like some Amnityville Horror of the English countryside. Until now, Lord Grantham has produced nothing except girls (therefore in sexist old England, no heirs) and it's been worried. But it can't off Lord Grantham because he genuinely loves the estate and wants to preserve it. But Sybil disses the legacy, marries an Irish Socialist, and produces another girl... and what happened to her? Yep, she's gone. Died within the walls of the home. But Matthew Crawley gets sucked in. He marries the prickly eldest daughter, falls in love with the estate, and sinks a fortune into it to save the legacy. He modernizes it to keep it afloat. He saves that estate's bloomin' arse. Then the crowning glory...he produces a male heir. The line is saved! Succession is achieved! Downton Abbey has no further need for dear Matthew. It chews him up and spits him out on the side of the road bleeding beneath his car like yesterday's rubbish. It won't off Mary Crawley though... she bleeds Downton's stubborn lifeblood like her father does and she'll need to raise the heir apparent with the same values. The house is intelligent as well as evil it would appear.

Or perhaps the writers are just cheeky bastards who like to toy with our emotions.
But I'd put my money on the house...