I actually like this season MUCH better than last season. Mostly because in S1 I couldn't figure out the motivations of several of the characters, esp. Thomas and O'Brien, and it was just weird to me that they were so hateful all the time to everybody. Always. This season everybody is bending a bit, and that makes sense to me. We still have the hateful Mrs. Bates, but I want to know why she's hateful, not have that be the one dimension that she's given.
I am susceptible to the melodrama of war, and this war was particularly melodramatic. So having the tragedy of it all around, unrelenting even as people find their joys, doesn't seem off to me.
I've watched "Hugo" and "Midnight in Paris" recently, both of which touch on the cultural, artistic, and human fallout of The Great War, so seeing it happen in "Downton" just fits in with all the other things. Plus, every time the Dowager Countess opens her mouth, there's something quotable tumbling out!
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-02-02 07:14 am (UTC)I am susceptible to the melodrama of war, and this war was particularly melodramatic. So having the tragedy of it all around, unrelenting even as people find their joys, doesn't seem off to me.
I've watched "Hugo" and "Midnight in Paris" recently, both of which touch on the cultural, artistic, and human fallout of The Great War, so seeing it happen in "Downton" just fits in with all the other things. Plus, every time the Dowager Countess opens her mouth, there's something quotable tumbling out!