downton…seriously?!

I just finished the 3rd season of downton abbey, and I am REALLY disappointed. I figure since I’m usually at least a few months behind on TV shows than most people, that everyone’s watched it already. If you haven’t…then you might want to stop right here because SPOILER ALERT!!


Ok I’m going to give you time to close your browser…


Alrighty, if you’re still reading this then I can only assume you’ve either seen season 3 or just don’t care all that much about the show. If you proceed with reading...I am not responsible for any sleepless nights you may have as a result of spoilers in this post. Well, let me tell you that it was a very odd season. First off, Robert just has a crap year. You basically see Robert be the voice of reason for the first two seasons, giving us the impression that he is wise and noble. Then in season 3 he just hams it up. He has the big financial blunder in the beginning of the season (who puts all their $$ in a Canadian railroad?! Canadians are not to be trusted…plus you have to remember to diversify!!), then he follows it up by making a decision that kills off Sybil. Plus he sucks at cricket. Geez…

Speaking of Sybil…they killed her off!! What in the world…this decision kinda made me mad. She was the voice of reason in that show, in a family where two older sisters were at each other’s throats, she was the goodie-two-shoes progressive kid that would still mess up every once in a while but it’d still be ok. Plus she was kinda cute. And they killed her off!!

And then they decided to kill off matthew too. Right after he had his kid. As a matter of fact he was going to tell people at Downton that his kid was born, and he hit a freakin truck! Seriously it’s like there’s a limit on how many people can be on the show…if one person is born someone’s gotta die. Seriously I don’t think there is a single baby on this show with two living parents. Major Bryant fathered a son and gets knocked off in WWI, Sybil bears a child and dies of something nobody’s ever heard of, then Matthew watches his son be born only to die of a freakin car crash.

Aside from the onscreen deaths (some say I should not be this emotionally invested in my tv characters…I disagree), the storyline could be better in some parts too. Basically, Edith gets jacked in pretty much every episode. For pretty much the whole first season, I hated Edith. She was just cold-hearted and bitter, which is pretty annoying. But going into season 3 it just seems that she gets screwed over left and right. Honestly, I don’t think i know of a more unfortunate tv character…ever! Can’t she just have a little bit of happiness?!

Personally, it kinda sucks that Bates has been in jail for pretty much all of season 3, not really because I feel bad for him that he’s in jail, but more so because it’s kind of pointless to have him have no interaction with anyone but his wife. He was at his best when he was going up against Thomas and O’Brien. Now he’s just walking in circles and not doing much. I have a feeling Anna is going to have a baby and he’s going to fall down a well or something. Maybe get swallowed by a giant fish.

Good thing Granny is still there. If she gets taken out by the flu or an airship, I’m not gonna watch anymore. That would be the last straw. I’m going to give Julian Fellows one more season to right the ship…if season 4 brings death to granny, I’m calling it quits and going back to How I Met Your Mother. C’mon PBS…give me a good reason to go to my phone and pledge that $10/month.