Well, this didn't work out so well. I started this blog a year and a half ago (about) and in that time, I posted once, and that was just an introduction to my blog. This is an attempt at a re-boot, if it can be called that. I'm planning to write about all kinds of thing, not just book reviews. My first year and a half of college have taught me a lot of things, and one of those is that I really like writing my opinions on pretty much anything to do with literature or story telling in general (which includes TV shows and movies, etc.). I will probably end up writing about, or at least mentioning, The Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth in general a lot, since Tolkien is my favorite author. However, I do NOT want to write on those topics exclusively. Despite what some people may think, I am not obsessed with LOTR, and I have strong opinions about many other topics.
So, for my first real post, I want to talk about Downton Abbey. In particular, the first episode of fourth season, which just aired in America on Sunday night. This is my first year watching it as it airs, since I only just discovered it this past summer.
**SPOILERS**
If you have not seen season 4 episode 1, read beyond this at your own risk!
These are my (not so organized) thoughts on the season 4 premier.
First of all, about the servants. I am not surprised O'Brien left. After all, she was seriously contemplating it in the season 3 finale. However, I am disappointed that she just ran away in the night without giving her notice or saying goodbye. And I am not happy with her replacement. For one thing, it is not a good idea to have Edna back in the house, no matter how much training and experience she's had since she left. When she was there the first time, she was not good for Branson. I really hope she doesn't work out, or Cora realizes that she's up to no good. Edna is just as bad, or maybe even worse than O'Brien. At least O'Brien was loyal to Cora (in the later seasons) and cared about her (though apparently not enough to stay). Edna seems to have ulterior motives in wanting to be Cora's ladies' maid, probably concerning Branson. She also bodes ill for Anna. Practically as soon as she arrived, she let Thomas convince her to falsely put Anna in a bad light. Poor Anna doesn't deserve any more trouble, since she and Bates have had enough to last a lifetime. They deserve to be left alone to be happy now.
I don't like Jimmy leading Ivy on, but I'm a little bit hopeful that he's not just leading her on, and he actually does like her. I mean, those tickets are an awful lot to spend just to hurt Alfred. Speaking of Alfred, I wish he would like Daisy. He is obviously better real friends with her than he is with Ivy, and he liked Daisy before Ivy came. Plus, Daisy deserves to be happy. She had William before, but she could never be really happy with him because of the war (and Mrs. Patmore pushing her). By the time she realized that she really loved him, he was dead. Alfred and Daisy would just be so perfect together! He wants to cook, not be a footman, Daisy doesn't want to be stuck as the Cook's Assistant forever, and Mr. Mason (William's father) offered to leave her his farm, suggesting that she could run it and cook/bake things to sell. Together, Daisy and Alfred could run it and be very happy.
As for that nanny, she was horrible. I didn't like the looks of her from the start. I am so glad Thomas told Cora about her. He was honest for once in his life. I think Thomas genuinely cares about Sibby. After all, he WAS friends with Sybil, as much as a servant (excluding Branson) could be, and he was truly upset when she died.
Throughout the episode, I got so frustrated at Robert for trying to keep Mary away from everything. I understand that he was honestly trying to help her, but what she really needed was to have a job to do, to have some connection to the world again. If everyone does everything for her, she could think she has no need to continue living, and so sort of drift away. Robert should have known to listene to Branson and the Dowager. After all, the former just went through the same trauma of loosing his spouse at a very young age after only being married for a short time, and the latter has also lost her husband (and is almost always right). It is good that Mary decided to take part in life (and the running of the estate) again. If Robert were left to manage it by himself, things would probably go downhill pretty quickly. He doesn't seem to be able to (or want to) change his old ways for new, even when people show him they are better.
I could probably say much more about this, but as this post is already quite long, I will say no more. Feel free to comment! If you have seen the rest of season 4 online already, I beg you, please do not give any spoilers for future episodes.
N.B. In my book, a spoiler is any fact about the episodes I haven't seen, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Thanks!
