What Do You Mean It’s Over? Season 4 of Downton Abbey Comes to An End

It wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I realized that last night would be the finale of Downton Abbey, Season 4.  I was away last week so I had lost count of the episodes. I, along with the rest of America, had waited nearly a year for the current season to begin on January 5th and now, not even two months later, the season is over. Why, oh why, can’t they produce more episodes? Well, despite the brief season, I was not disappointed in the least while watching this season’s mere eight episodes. In fact, I was happy and relieved that there was less heartache this year and that I did not have to cry my eyes out like I did twice last season with the demise of Lady Sybil and Matthew Crawley.

It was my dad, a longshoreman checker, who first introduced me to Masterpiece Theater when I was in my teens and I’ve been watching avidly ever since. Together we watched The Six Wives of Henry VIII, I, Claudius, Upstairs, Downstairs, all introduced by the late Alistair Cooke. We also watched other BBC shows like Brideshead Revisited and Prime Suspect. We would often view a single episode twice because we had a hard time understanding the English accents. We became very hooked on all those British shows and I know my dad would have been as nuts about Downton Abbey as I am.

Almost my entire family is involved in the Downton Abbey craze, even the men. The one person not fazed is my husband whose brief interest only went as far as coming into the living room to see what was wrong  when I was sobbing uncontrollably over Lady Sybil last year. He was kind enough to sit down and pat my back. Other than that, he is not into it. 

I attended a church dinner yesterday afternoon and I found that I knew even more Downton Abbey fans than I had thought. One of the big topics of the dinner was the upcoming finale episode. Why are we all so enthralled with this “oh so British” high class soap opera?

We Downton fans all seem to love the clothes, the scenery (both the gorgeous English countryside and the interior scenes of the castle), the upstairs and downstairs intrigue, the characters, and, most especially, Lady Violet.  She always has the very best lines and makes me laugh out loud. I must say I was a little nervous when she had a bout of bronchitis that lasted an entire episode and then some this season. Lady Violet as played by Dame Maggie Smith is the most entertaining character of all and is absolutely indispensable.

We will probably spend the next few days rehashing Season 4 and speculating what next season will bring. Will things work out for poor Lady Edith and will she finally stop crying? Will Mr. Gregson re-surface? Will Anna and Mr. Bates be able to be happy for more than 5 minutes? Will Lady Mary choose between Tony Gillingham or Charles Blake? Will we find out what kind of hold Thomas has over Miss Baxter and will Mr. Molesley be her knight in shining armor? Will Tom Branson forget about going to America and find true love again? Will that sweet hand-holding scene at the seaside lead to something more for Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson? We only have to wait eleven months to find out the answers to these questions and more. So mind those spoiler alerts from across the pond and stay tuned for Season 5!